Stand in the Office

The Come, Follow Me manual says this about section 81 of the Doctrine and Covenants: “In March 1832, the Lord called Jesse Gause to be a counselor to Joseph Smith in the Presidency of the High Priesthood (now called the First Presidency). Doctrine and Covenants 81 is a revelation to Brother Gause, instructing him in his new calling and promising him blessings for serving faithfully. But Jesse Gause did not serve faithfully. So Frederick G. Williams was called to replace him, and Brother Gause’s name was replaced with Brother Williams’s name in the revelation. That may seem like a minor detail, but it implies a significant truth: Most of the revelations in the Doctrine and Covenants are addressed to specific people, but we can always seek ways to apply them to ourselves (see 1 Nephi 19:23).” Indeed, to me this revelation contains important instruction for all of us with a calling to serve in God’s kingdom in some way. All of the instructions given originally to Brother Gause can be readily applied to our own efforts to magnify our callings.

                The revelation gives this instruction by way of introduction: “Listen to the voice of him who speaketh, to the word of the Lord your God, and hearken to the calling wherewith you are called.” Surely in our own service we must all learn to listen to the voice of the Lord and hear His word. I’m struck by this simple phrase that follows: “Hearken to the calling wherewith you are called.” We use the word calling in the church as a noun to indicate the responsibility that we have been asked to perform, and because of that usage I have failed to connect it with what the word connotates in every day language: a voice that is beckoning or reaching out. Someone “is calling” when they are trying to speak to us on the phone for example. This instruction in this verse suggests that we should “hearken” to “the calling” that we have been called with; in other words the Savior is calling us by extending this invitation to serve in a particular manner. So perhaps we should see our calling in the church as more than just a task to perform but rather a way in which the Lord is trying to reach out to us with His voice. We should hear Him in whatever way we give service.  

                No matter what the responsibility we have been given, I believe verse three in this revelation contains important instruction for that service: “[Be] art faithful in counsel, in the office which I have appointed unto you, in prayer always, vocally and in thy heart, in public and in private, also in thy ministry in proclaiming the gospel in the land of the living, and among thy brethren.” All of us have a responsibility to pray always, in public and in private, and to proclaim the gospel to others. Whether we serve in the nursery sharing the gospel with three-year-olds or in the youth program teaching teenagers or in a music calling bearing our testimony through the hymns, we all are called to be missionaries and teachers in some way. This is how we “do the greatest good unto [our] fellow beings” (v4). And whatever our calling, helping others in need will always be key to serving as He wants us to. This counsel is undoubtedly meant for each of us: “Wherefore, be faithful; stand in the office which I have appointed unto you; succor the weak, lift up the hands which hang down, and strengthen the feeble knees” (v5). The Lord’s promise to Brother Gause and to each of us is that if we stand faithful in our service, hearing His voice, praying continually, preaching the gospel, succoring the weak, and “hold[ing] out faithful unto the end,” we will have “eternal life in the mansions” of the Father.