Calling from the Lord

We recently got a new stake president and in the near future we will get a new president of the church and a new member of the council of the twelve.  I thought this might be an appropriate post to my blog.
 
This is a talk that I prepared to give if I was asked to speak when Bishop Enos was sustained and Bishop Larsen was released and as I was serving in the bishopric I was released as well. I was not asked to speak, but I thought that it might be of interest to my posterity and thus it is included in my writings. It was originally in outline form, but I have written it as I probably would have given it.

Doctrine and Covenants Section 4 states that Faith, Hope, Charity and Love  with an eye single to the glory of God are the qualifications for service in the kingdom of our Father.

The calls to serve come from the Lord and are given to his servants at his discretion. They do not always come at our convenience or when we think they ought to come.

There was not long ago a vacancy in the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. Every one thought that at the upcoming general conference that the vacancy would be filled, but the conference came and went and no replacement was chosen to fill the vacancy. I know
that some people were disappointed, and some did not understand why the vacancy was not filled, as if it were a mechanical thing and had nothing to do with the Lord. We have to wait upon the Lord. He it is that gives the direction. He also determines the time. At the appropriate time the vacancy was filled.

When we moved to California, the bishop of the Hanford ward needed a secretary of the Adult Aaronic Priesthood. As he and his counselors pondered and prayed about whom to choose they could not come up with anyone to fill the position. One of the  counselors said, "We have to fill this position." The bishop answered him that they would have to
wait, because the Lord was sending him and he hadn't gotten there yet.

When I was stake president I went to Thermopolis to choose a Bishop to replace Bishop Chadwick who was put on the high council. When I interviewed the priesthood I was impressed that brother Williamson would be the bishop of that ward. The interviews were concluded and the Lord indicated that Bishop Johanneson would be called to serve at that time. It was not long until he left and Bishop Williamson was called to serve. The Lord knows the timing and the reasons. As his servants we may or may not be privy to his agenda.

How calls come.

It is often very obvious who will be the new bishop. Occasionally the person who is called is entirely unexpected by the congregation. I have often heard people say; "I hadn't even considered him for the position." They may not have, but the Lord did.

Remember that the Lord prepares his servants.

The story is told of the need to call the first president of the Logan temple. President John Taylor met with his counselors and the twelve and after their deliberations they came up with a list of names. President Taylor went to the temple to inquire of the Lord who he had chosen to be the temple president. The prayer went something like this. "Lord, show thy servant whom thou has chosen to be the temple president of the Logan temple." The answer came back, "My servant Marriner W. Merrill." President Taylor responded. “Whom didst Thou say Lord?" The answer came, "My servant Marriner W. Merrill." His name was not on the list that president Taylor had. President Merrill was chosen and later served as a member of the Council of the Twelve.

The priesthood leader is responsible for the call. 

You may ask if he doesn't get the inspiration and still issues the call is the call from the Lord? Is the call valid? We must understand that the Lord issues the priesthood to man to act in His stead. With this power and authority also comes responsibility. The Lord holds his agents responsible for their actions. The call by his servants is upheld by the Lord, even if they do not receive the inspiration to extend it, but the Lord holds the priesthood officer responsible for anything that he does.

I once was asked by an elders quorum president for a certain man to be his counselor. I went to the brother’s house to extend to him the call to serve. As I entered the house his wife came in and sat down even though I had asked to speak to him personally. We visited for a while and I thought, "How can I interview this brother and extend to him the call when his wife won't leave?" As I was thus in thought I asked him, "Who do you know that has clerical experience?" He gave me the name of a person that I would not have thought of. We had been praying to ask the Lord who we should call to serve as stake clerk and had not been successful. The elder whose name had been mentioned had a very active wife and family, but he was marginally so and I would have not considered him. I discussed it with my counselors and the high council and then extended to him the
call to serve. He refused to accept and so someone else was chosen in his place. The story does not end here.

Some time later, it was brought to my attention that this elder was having an extramarital affair. He was not too discreet about it and the non-member employer of the young woman involved brought it to my attention. As I look back on the situation I  became aware that the Lord knew about this elder and his problems and had me extend the call at
a time when he needed to be active in the church to avoid the temptations which came into his life afterward. Had he accepted the call we may have saved him and his family much sorrow. And thus we see that calls that come from the Lord are not necessarily given just to fill a position in the church, but are given for the blessing and benefit of the
individual, their families and the people they are called to serve. I have often quoted President Spencer W. Kimball who said that a call to serve is a call to repentance. What one does with the call is up to them.

What is our responsibility in the call? 

Our responsibility is to pray and to receive our own
confirmation of the spirit. We need and are entitled to revelation. It is a shame that we do not avail ourselves of the opportunity of receiving that witness of the spirit that we are entitled to. We may have our faith tried by the call. I often told my counselors that I was sure that my call to the stake presidency was a trial for some of the saints of the stake and some never did get a spiritual confirmation of it. We are as entitled to receive the witness of the spirit of the divinity of the call of someone else or ourselves as is the person who does the calling.

Faith:

The Lord has said that he would try the faith of his people. A faithless people will not keep the commandants. They will murmur and look to other gods and stray from the Lord. It takes faith to follow the prophets and to follow a bishop who we know and have seen. "Is this not the carpenters son?", they say. It takes little faith to sustain someone
we really admire. It takes more faith to sustain and support someone who has not tickled our fancy.

One day some time ago I was holding a personal stewardship interview with a good sister who was an auxiliary president. During the interview she asked me if I really meant what I said when I set her apart. I asked her what she meant. She said, "Do you always say that to all the people that you set apart?" I said I didn't know what she was referring to.
She then said that when I set her apart I told her that her sins were forgiven her. I certainly didn't remember saying that, but I do not doubt that I did say it. I never really remember what I say in a blessing. I try to give the instruction as it is given to me by the spirit. She then told me this story.

She was raised in the home of Heber J. Grant and knew the gospel and was acquainted with the order of the church. She grew up and got married and moved to Wyoming. As a young mother with small children she felt overwhelmed when she was asked by the bishop to serve as a leader. She told him that she couldn't accept the call. She later moved to our stake and served in various capacities in the ward and in the stake and then she was called to be the president of the stake auxiliary. When she received the blessing given as she was set apart, she went home and cried. She had been concerned all those
years that the Lord and not forgiven her for refusing the call she had received.

Sometimes we do not know what to do when we receive calls from the bishop or the stake president. We may not feel qualified, we may feel overwhelmed,

 we may not feel worthy, or we may not like the calling we have received. May I offer a suggestion?

Express your concerns to the person that extends the call. Let him take it to the Lord. Then you pray to receive a confirmation. If the presiding officer feels that you still should receive the call accept it with faith. You may not receive a confirmation by the
spirit until after the trial of your faith, but I can assure you that a loving Father in Heaven will not let your petitions go unanswered. Whom the Lord calls he qualifies.

Agency

I must tell you that the Lord respects our agency. We may accept calls from the Lord or we may not. He only has our interest at heart. Brigham Young's brother was called by the prophet Joseph Smith to serve on the first high council of the restored church. He felt inadequate and decline to accept the call. The prophet urged him to accept but he would not. He felt that he was not qualified to fill that prestigious a position. I have read his account of that incident. He stated that later as he understood the gospel more he felt sorry that he had not followed the prophet’s advice. He said that the prophet never issued him a call to serve again. Although he served in many positions of leadership after the prophet died he never did overcome the feeling of remorse. As it turned out if he had accepted the call he may well have been a member of the Twelve when he died.

We do not know what the Lord has for us to do. We seek not for position but for service. I have called many men to serve in the service of the Lord. I have called a number of men to serve as bishops in this stake. I can assure you that there have not been many who have been called to serve as bishop who have not felt overwhelmed by the call and would
gladly have had someone else fill the position.

At times when we sustain a new bishop it is a good time to raise our hand to the square in the sign of covenant and rededicate ourselves to the service of the Lord and covenant with the Lord to sustain his anointed. I hope that we may in soberness realize what is going on here today and give the leadership of the ward, the stake, and the church the benefit of our prayers for them daily. That they may guide and direct us according to the will of the Lord. If we unite in prayer on a regular basis, the Lord will not let us be led astray and we will be strengthened in our testimonies of the Lord Jesus Christ. As one who has carried the burden of leadership in the past, I can say that you will never know how lonely and insecure that position can be without the sustaining prayers of the saints.