Grace, Duty, Patience and a Sense of Humor

 

Grace, Duty, Patience and a Sense of Humor 

Douglas P. Ridge

April 29, 2018

I begin by confessing that I will use in my talk material from a talk I gave exactly 11 years ago from this pulpit. Since I am sure that those of you who were present at that time remember every word of my previous discourse, I apologize for the repetition.

A few years ago I had occasion to speak on the phone with a former student who was an avid genealogist and in that connection occasionally asked me questions about the church. While Robin had repeatedly made it clear that she didn’t see her place as a church member, she did ask interesting questions. And sometimes revealing questions. On the occasion of which I speak she asked, “Are you guys a 3/4 Church or a 4/4 Church.” I was puzzled and asked what she meant, and she said, “Do you sing ‘Onward Christian Soldiers?’” “Yes,” I replied, “”Onward Christian Soldiers is in our Hymnal and we sing it from time to time.” Then she asked, “Do you sing ‘Amazing Grace’?” “Well,” I said, “Amazing Grace is not in our hymnal.” “Then you are a 4/4 church,” she said. Asked whether that had any significance with regard to our beliefs and practices, Robin explained that a 4/4 church would emphasize doing your duty and urge members to all march together. Hence the hymns have a martial air and are in march time. A 3/4 church would emphasize Grace and the bounteous benevolence of God. Hence the hymns are, well, graceful and in waltz time.

I thought I would look into this, and so I got out the hymnbook and looked in the topical index under Duty and under Grace. I find 14 hymns listed under Duty, from “Behold an Royal Army and “Called to Serve to “We are all Enlisted” and “Ye who are Called to Labor.” Sure enough, none of them are in 3/4 time, although four of them are in the somewhat ambivalent meter of 6/8. Under Grace I find 16 hymns listed and, indeed 12 of the 16 are in 3/4 time.

Well that suggests that we are not exclusively one meter or the other. To see whether we lean one way or the other I did a count of the hymn book as a whole. I found 98 hymns in 3/4 time verses 189 hymns in 4/4 time. Se we definitely lean towards the martial 4/4 time that tends to accompany the call to duty. That fits my impression as a long-time member. I remember singing such songs of Grace as “Come, Unto Jesus,” but a favorite “Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing” from the 1948 Hymnal was eliminated from the 1985 Hymnal. Clarion calls to duty from the pulpit and rousing martial hymns abound and stand out in memory. That probably reflects what actually happens in our services as well as the fact that I always felt that I came up short in responding to the calls to duty.

Grace and Duty are both essential to spirituality. It is after all, by grace that we are saved after all we can do. Grace is an interesting and important word. While here we are talking about the spiritual gift of renewal that comes in response to prayer and

repentance, Grace also refers to grace of movement. The grace that we see in sport and in dance. To me there has always been a connection between the two, including a relationship to duty. The dancer or sportsman must do her duty and study and practice and hope that the gift of Grace comes.

Jonathan Edwards may be the greatest athlete that you’ve never heard of. Edwards is an Englishman who specialized in the triple jump. In my youth the event was referred to as the hope, step and jump. The competitors try to cover the maximum possible distance in three steps. It requires both the highest order of speed and strength as well as precise timing and technique. When done well it is the picture of grace at high speed. It gives the impression of a perfectly thrown stone skipping endlessly across a still pond. Edwards had been among the best in the world, improving consistently. In July of 1995 Edwards improved by a single centimeter the world record that had been set 10 years earlier by the great American triple jumper Willie Banks. In fact before that the WR had moved typically by only a cm or two at a time. Edwards had some additional longer jumps that 1995 season that were not allowed as records because of too much trailing wind. Then in August of 1995 at the World Championships in Gothenburg, Sweden, jumping 10th of 12 finalists Edwards became to first to exceed 59 feet jumping 59 feet 7 inches, adding more than 7 inches (or 18 cms) to his world record. Then on his next jump 25 minutes later he incredibly added another 5 and 1⁄4 inches (or 13 cms) to his WR and became the first to clear 60 feet. (Note that our chapel is 52 feet wide and 49 feet front to back). Thus in a matter of less than half an hour Edwards added over a foot (or 31 cms) to his World record, a record which stands to this day. A once in a lifetime perfect effort. Edwards continued to reign as the world’s best triple jumper for some years. He won nearly all of the important international competitions including the gold medal in the 2000 Olympics. But the perfection of that moment of a lifetime never returned. Commenting on this he said, “But that glorious ‘magic’ combination of timing and speed, power and touch I felt throughout 1995 never quite returned. My purple patch had been and gone and I’m just thankful, and feel humble, that I was able to experience and enjoy such a state of grace once in my life.” Edwards is using grace here in the sense of a divine gift. That is he sees his physical power and grace as a gift of divine grace. He had studied and trained and practice for years, but the perfection of grace comes as a gift of divine grace.

When I was in school and living in Provo, Utah, my parents on several occasions took us to Salt Lake City to see the Utah Ballet perform the Nutcracker as part of our Christmas celebration. I got so I looked forward to the performances with Tchaikowski’s wonderful music, the fantastic sets and costumes and the graceful dancing. I remember one year in particular when the guest ballerina for the featured role of the Sugar Plum Fairy was a wonderful dancer named Maria Tallchief. She had been born on an Indian reservation and managed impossibly to become the first prima ballerina of the New York City Ballet. George Ballanchine choreographed his Nutcracker for her as the Sugar Plum Fairy. She moved with effortless grace. Gravity seemed to have little hold on her. I later became acquainted with a girl who had been in the corp de ballet for these

performances. She said she and her friends stood in the wings transfixed as Miss Tallchief danced her solos. The students were astonished at the ease and grace with which Miss Tallchief executed the most difficult steps and motions. My friend and her fellow dancers had taken lessons for years and wondered what wondrous gifts made it possible for Miss Tallchief to execute with such apparent ease and grace moves which the students still found maddeningly difficult. Doubtless Miss Tallchief was extraordinarily gifted, but let me here recall a story of a famous ballet teacher of many famous ballerinas. The teacher was asked, “Who were your best students?” to which she replied, “Those who came to every lesson and remembered to bring their shoes.” When we seek the gift of divine Grace in our lives, it might help if we remembered, as it were, how important it is to come to all our lessons and remember our ballet shoes.

Let me return to our hymns. We have hymns that call us to duty in march time and songs of Grace in waltz time. Consider that great pioneer anthem “Come Come Ye Saints.” It is hymn number 30 if you want to follow along. We begin in 4/4 time singing of toil and labor: (Marking the time) “Come, come ye saints, no toil nor labor fear,” At this point we switch to 3/4 time. Why do we switch? Because we are going to sing of joy, that happy cousin of grace: (Marking the time) “But with joy wend your way.” Now we switch back to 4/4 again to sing of our hard journey, (Marking time) “Though hard to you this journey may appear.” And finally one more switch back to 3/4 time. Why? Because we are singing of Grace, (Marking time) “Grace shall be as your day.” After martial reminders of the long night of difficulties, the day dawns. The light of the day is the gift of divine grace. So we sing a song of grace in waltz time. A song about the power to change, the power to drive away cares, the power ultimately to conquer death. Indeed we’ll make this chorus swell, all is well all is well. So perhaps the most beloved of our hymns is a song of grace in waltz time even though it begins as a call to duty in march time.

Speaking of grace and duty, let us consider the Book of Mormon. The keystone of our religion and our most powerful missionary tool. A search of the Book of Mormon for the word “duty” gives 7 hits Like us, the Nephites had to reminded of the duty to God. A search for the word grace, however, gives 31 hits. In the beginning of the Nephite sojourn in the new world father Lehi has this to say to his to son Jacob (II Nephi 2:8)

8 Wherefore, how great the importance to make these things known unto the inhabitants of the earth, that they may know that there is no flesh that can dwell in the presence of God, save it be through the merits and mercy, and grace of the Holy Messiah, who layeth down his life according to the flesh, and taketh it again by the power of the Spirit, that he may bring to pass the resurrection of the dead, being the first that should rise.

After the Nephite nation has disappeared, Moroni, the only survivor, closes the record with the following verses pleading with the readers he hopes to have in our day (Moroni 10:32-34)

32 Yea, come unto Christ, and be perfected in him, and deny yourselves of all ungodliness;; and if ye shall deny yourselves of all ungodliness, and love God with all your might mind and strength, then is his grace sufficient for you, that by his grace ye may be perfect in Christ; and if by the grace of God ye are perfect in Christ ye can in nowise deny the power of God.
33 And again, if ye by the grace of God are perfect in Christ and deny not his power, then are ye sanctified in Christ by the grace of God, through the shedding of the blood of Christ, which is in the covenant of the Father unto the remission of your sins, that ye may become holy, without spot.
34 And now I bid unto all, farewell, I soon go to rest in the paradise of God, until my spirit and body shall again reunite, and I am brought forth triumphant through the air, to meet you before the pleasing bar of the great Jehovah, the Eternal Judge of both the quick and the dead. Amen.

The Book of Mormon thus begins and ends with the Grace of God. The Book of Mormon is itself a gift showing the graciousness of God to us. It is a book that speaks of the Grace of God through out. The Book of Mormon is a song of grace. Were we to hear Moroni sing his pleadings and promises we would doubtless hear him singing his song of grace in waltz time. Therefore I like to think of the Book of Mormon as a song of grace in waltz time.

I suppose I should here enumerate duties adherence to which we might hope would lead to spiritual gifts by the graciousness of God. I hesitate to do this since I can think of no duties to which my adherence is in any way exemplary, and I am hesitant, perhaps selfishly, to increase my sense of unmet obligations. Instead I want to talk about two things that I have found helpful when difficulties arise that might shake confidence in the God’s graciousness. These two things are patience and a sense of humor.

First concerning patience. Once as a missionary my companions and I were assigned to set up and host a booth at the Natal Provincial Fair in Pietermaritzburg, South Africa. We ran a film of a performance of the tabernacle choir. It was projected from behind on a glass screen using a standard 16 mm projector. We had poster displays and a table with a handsome large format edition of the book of Mormon. A well-dressed, impressive looking man of about 50 came in and watched the film and spent some time looking at the Book of Mormon. He asked if there was some way he could obtain a copy of the book. But since he was African as opposed to European according to the rules of Apartheid I was not permitted to either give or sell any literature to him. I told him that those were my instructions and he went away very disappointed. I was heart-broken. He seemed a golden contact to me, and we didn’t have that many golden contacts. Things changed in South Africa with the release of Nelson Mandela from prison and the ending of Apartheid. And, of course, things have changed in the Church since 1978. Julie’s niece Sarah served a mission in the South African Natal Mission a few years ago and worked primarily with people who would have been designated African or colored

and forbidden contact with our missionaries under Apartheid. Our son Tim worked primarily with people of African descent as a missionary in the Dominican Republic a few years ago. And our ward and many others are fortunate enough to be blessed with wonderful African American brothers and sisters. I don’t know what might have become of the man whose inquiries I turned away, but the welcome changes that have occurred commend patience in the face of such disappointments and confidence in God’s ultimate graciousness.

Next in connection with a sense of humor. Hugh B. Brown, in speaking to us departing missionaries in the old Mission Home in Salt Lake City suggested that for a missionary a sense of humor is really a sense of the Lord’s support. One evening my companion Elder Jacky deWet, and I were tracting. Elder deWet was South African and always seemed wiser and more grown-up than the rest of us. It was Elder deWet’s door, but the lady of the house started in before we could say a word. She condemned us for going house- to-house. She said the Bible forbade that. She told us that we should get real jobs. She told us we belonged to a sect, that we weren’t real Bible Believing Christians. She evidently had a very long list of our crimes that she was prepared to enumerate. We walked back down the walk and she followed us, berating us vehementljy. She slamed the gate behind us and stormed back into her house and slammed the door. As we walked to the next house, Elder deWet said thoughtfully, “What do you think Elder. Should I have rather tried to sell her a copy of the Book of Mormon?” It was just the right thing to say. It was the gracious thing to say. My dark and angry thoughts disappeared and we had a good chuckle and moved on to the next house.

Finally, I would like to mention a conversation I had last summer with one of my former South African missionary companions. The occasion was our 55th high school class reunion as my former missionary companion was also a high school classmate. He had come from his California home for a missionary farewell for his favorite nephew who had especially asked him to come. My former companion was a faithful, outstanding missionary who loved the people he worked with. We all looked to him as an example and a leader and he served very effectively as an Assistant to our Mission President. He said he still loved the church and would love to be more involved but that his involvement was constrained by his current marital status. He said he was beginning to hope for a place in some junior level of the Celestial Kingdom. There must be such a place he offered. Otherwise who would plan the parties and do the decorating. I am not sure but that there is some grace in his gentle humor and that patience is the best response to it. He finds it helpful that there is less use of the first person-second person us vs them formulation in our conversations in the church and more use of the simple first person we. We are all beggars before God, after all, dependent on His Grace and Mercy. We all hope that He will be patient with us and I , for one, find myself hoping from time-to-time that He has a sense of humor with regard to my own occasional stumbles.