Easter Lesson 2021 using scriptures from the D&C

This week's Come Follow Me Easter lesson leads us to the following scriptures in the Doctrine and Covenants:

76:22 and now, after the many testimonies which have been given of him, this is the testimony, last of all, which we give of him: That He lives!

29:5. Lift up your hearts, and be glad, for I am in your midst, and am your advocate with the father, and it is his Goodwill to give you the kingdom.

38:7 But behold, verily, verily, I say unto you that mine eyes are upon you. I am in your midst and you cannot see me.

62:1 Behold, and hearken, O ye elders of my church, says your God, even Jesus Christ, your advocate, who knoweth the weaknesses of man and how to succor them who are tempted.

I had to stop to think about what these particular passages say to me and what some of the words used in these verses mean.

Advocate: (verb)

• To speak or write in favor of
• To support or urge by argument
• To recommend publicly

Advocate: (noun)

• One who does all the above
• One who pleads in behalf of another
• Intercessor
• Court related advocate

Synonyms for Advocate (noun)

• apostle
• backer 
• campaigner 
• champion 
• defender 
• promoter 
• proponent 
• supporter 
• upholder 

Also (but different) 

• attorney 
• counsel 
• defender 
• lawyer 
• pleader

Synonyms for Advocate (verb)

• bless 
• bolster 
• boost 
• brace up 
• build up 
• campaign for 
• defend 
• encourage 
• favor 
• go to bat for 
• promote 
• recommend 
• root for 
• support 
• uphold 

Also (but different)

• defend 
• plead for 
• speak for
• vindicate

Succor (noun) 

• help 
• relief 
• aid 
• assistance

Succor (verb)

• To help or relieve

Synonyms for succor (noun)

• support 
• sustenance 
• comfort

Synonyms for succor (verb)

• comfort 
• help 
• rescue 
• support

With:

• along 
• along with 
• beside 
• including 
• plus
• accompanied by

Because definitions are everything - because how we define words brings meaning to everything we hear or read - our understanding of scripture is based on definitions, of what we were taught words mean.

I was taught the word advocate when applied to Jesus meant that it was His role - as our legal representative - to plead with God the Father to not punish us because of our mistakes and failures in life. It is the old story that paints Heavenly Father as the judge, demanding that the demands of the law of justice be met. Jesus offers Himself in our place and if we believe in Him, He offers us mercy. He asks the Father to let us into heaven based on our faith in Him (Jesus).

That interpretation is a very legalistic approach to the gospel and is rooted in Augustine's teachings and Reformation or Calvinistic thought.

It is inconsistent with Restored truths that teach that God is our literal Father in Heaven. He loves us dearly and created this Earth for us and sent us here to learn to distinguish for ourselves through experience both good and evil. He knows that until we know evil we can never truly choose good. The textbook learning never does what real hands-on learning can do and we as his Spirit children had progressed as far as we could in that heavenly home.   It was time for us to have a real experience in exercising our agency.

By allowing us to exercise agency and to experience the consequences of our choices, He knew we would make mistakes that we could not undo or make right. He knew we would both hurt others and in turn be hurt by the actions of others. He knew that life would be complicated and messy, sometimes horrific. But he promised He would make it all work toward our ultimate good.

Jesus volunteered to come to Earth as the Son of God, experience all the pains of life here, so that by suffering with and for us He could draw us unto Him. When there is no one else who understands, He is there.

Using the definitions above in a non legalistic way and with the more supportive definition of Advocate, I would read this verse as follows:

Doctrine and Covenants 29:5 says Lift up your hearts and be glad. For I am in your midst [I am always available if you need me] and am I am your Advocate [I am here to cheer you on, bless, bolster, encourage, support and uphold] with the Father [he is accompanying me in this. His work and mine are the same. We love you and are here to help you through your mortal journey] and it is His goodwill to give you the kingdom [for this is my work and my glory and Father's work along with me is to do everything we can possibly do to help you along this journey!]

And if I were Jesus speaking to us I would continue with the following:

"What we can't do is remove your agency - you cannot grow into godhead by being a puppet. We cannot remove the consequences of your choices. They are your mortal teachers. Please listen to them.

We cannot manipulate your behavior or infringe upon your agency by handing out rewards whenever you choose right or punishments when you choose wrong. You must learn for yourself and you will soon see how each good choice is its own reward just as each wrong choice will bless you with the knowledge you need to choose better; to price the good if you will remain open to its lessons.

What we promise you is this - there lies before you total understanding, total healing, forgiveness and you will soon learn how important it is to forgive others.

Just remember, we have now made you the creator of the life you desire. Your final destiny - your infinite potential is to be like us and live with us and all those you love forever enjoy and eternal progressions. We hope that is what you will also choose. Will do everything we can to help you get there.

We are forever advocating for you - cheering you on. With all our love Father, Mother, Jesus, Holy Ghost AKA God."

38:7. But behold, verily, verily I say unto you that mine eyes [and my heart] are upon you [I am watching over you], I am in your midst and you cannot see me [the veil is drawn]

It is comforting to know Jesus is near, accessible, always anxious to help and support us. Come on to me, all ye who are weary. . . There are so many times when I have been weary. Take just this week. Lynn has been on a new medication and it has caused so many problems. Yesterday I just needed a break so I went shopping - just to get away for a few minutes. There's nowhere else to go in the middle of this pandemic.

Yet I remember after the divorce when I was so heartbroken. My therapist suggested it would be good to talk to someone who has been through this. I didn't know anyone who was divorced. Then one day soon after that conversation I thought of Jesus. He suffered life's woes so that He could succor us. I turned to him. I know we usually pray to the Father but this time my prayers went to Jesus -seeking the peace and comfort of my Friend. I found that comfort. Those were days when I learned how loved I was. He was with me, in my midst, and though I did not see him, I felt his presence and His healing power. I know He lives.

D&C 29

This section talks about the Savior's second coming. Scriptures referring to the second coming are always difficult because there is a mixture of reality with symbolic or figurative language.

Time: interestingly, the early saints believed the second coming was going to happen soon because of the language here in this scripture and others:

The hour is nigh

The day soon at hand

It is important to view these phrases figuratively. They are not a reference to time but to urgency.

This life is temporary. Whether at His coming here or at our own death and our arrival there - we will someday face God. If there are matters we know we need to repair,  then now is the time to ask God for help. If you had a disease that prevented you from enjoying life, wouldn't you be willing to take whatever medicine would cure that disease - and the sooner the better?

From my own personal experience, chemo and radiation were terrible but so worth the time dedicated to healing from cancer.

I have had other more personal issues that have prevented me from enjoying life. The time and effort to get past those was also a time of healing. I'm grateful that I can take those faults of mine to the Lord and get His help in changing me.  I like to say that we don't NEED to repent, we GET to repent.  The Lord will help us to change any personal failing that we bring to Him.

Some people like apocalyptic prophecies but not I. The interpretation of such passages is all about the way they are worded. It makes God seem vengeful in some of those prophecies. Do as I say or this is what will happen to you. It is unfortunate that we have to deal with such language and man's inability to " translate" revelation purely. It always goes through and interpretive step.

But what we know of God we must trust. He is our loving Heavenly Father. His relationship to us His literal offspring is not transactional. We don't get a gift every time we do something right nor are we punished every time we err. His plan allows consequences to naturally play out in our lives. He created a moral universe wherein we would learn our lessons.

So I choose to put the language of verses 14 to 21 through that paradigm and also through my own common sense of what I know as a resident of planet Earth

Between the time the Earth was created and when it will end there have been and will still be

days when the sun is dark - when pollutants are so thick we cannot enjoy the sun; days or nights when those same pollutants turn the moon red - we've seen this recently when volcanic ash was blown halfway around the world.

There have been and will continue to be:

Weeping and wailing of people due to hurricanes, tornadoes, tsunamis, holocaust, mass shootings

Hailstorms - destroying crops, automobiles and buildings

Insects in men's flesh

Bodies disintegrating - think Hiroshima and Chernobyl

The Earth is and has always been filled with abominations, atrocities, horrific events.

How much of it is caused by man? That is of course up to interpretation. But two things we know: 

1. Natural disasters happen and they affect both good and bad people. They are not sent only to the "wicked".

2. Mankind has been personally responsible for many natural disasters and we know from the past that we have polluted both lakes and air.

Are we "wicked" for this? I would rather say accountable. Accountability suggests we are doing something we can change. Isn't that a basic tenant of the gospel? We humans have agency - the ability to choose our actions, evaluate the results, and change if needed.

If we are doing something that created harm and we consciously choose not to change - well that seems like the perfect definition of wickedness. Collective wickedness perhaps. We create a whole economy based on fossil fuels and change then becomes very difficult and it is hard to blame the individual. But we suffer the consequences nevertheless and some more than others as those who live on the Gulf Coast can attest.

 The Lord does not cause bad things to happen - He is the Author of all that is good.  Earth life is filled with challenges from many different sources.  We can trust that He will now, as He has always done, strengthen us and comfort us in the midst of the storm.

D&C 24:15

And in whatsoever place you shall enter, and they receive you not in my name, he shall leave a cursing instead of a blessing, by casting off the dust of your feet against them as a testimony and cleansing your feet by the wayside.

This verse is evidence of the fact that Joseph and the church would learn "precept by precept" before it (the church) would fully understand it's purpose to gather together the family of man.

This verse is probably consistent with the air of persecution felt in the early church. They were bombarded constantly and had just cause to have ill feelings towards those whose deeds were certainly evil. Religion has the ability to bring out the best and the worst in humans. Tarring and feathering someone who threatens your own religious beliefs is warped thinking on so many levels. Mankind often sets aside the teachings of Jesus in favor of the "angry God of the Old Testament."

Religion often is more a set of beliefs rather than a set of values that guide your behavior. It is best when the beliefs are coupled with teachings that guide us to be loving and compassionate human beings.

Here is a quote from "The Little Purple Book"  (Mormon Women for Ethical Government) page 31: 

"We believe that only kindness, empathy, and pure love can adequately enlarge our souls, strip us of hypocrisy, and help us become reconciled to Jesus Christ and to one another."

That is the behavior that we would expect of a disciple of Jesus Christ.

D&C 24: 8

Be patient in afflictions for thou shalt have many; but endure them, for lo, I am with thee, even unto the end of thy days.

I do think patience has been the hardest thing for me to learn. Afflictions come but many of them (looking back with hindsight) have been blessings because they were either

1. Times I learned a lot about life and what it is to be human

2. Times I felt the Lord's hand in my life

3. Times when I learned how important a support system is

Those things were great blessings if I look at them with an eternal perspective.

But I did not endure adverse moments well and with patience while they were taking place. I've been a slow learner, a late bloomer. I'm just now starting to figure some things out.

Life is so much more complicated than I used to be able to see. That's why it's so important to be generous and give others the benefit of the doubt and never assume you understand them. It's hard enough to just figure yourself out.

So indeed "be patient" with yourself, with others, with life's challenges. Trust your Heavenly Parents' plan and put your faith in Jesus Christ who will make all things right eventually and will heal your deepest wounds.

D&C 20:29

And we know that all men must repent and believe on the name of Jesus Christ, and worship the Father in his name, and endure in faith on his name to the end, or they cannot be saved in the Kingdom of God.

This is not the only place where such language is used in the scriptures. It is the language of the authoritarian - do this or else. But God is not an authoritarian demanding obedience to his every word. He is the loving Parent who wants us to follow a path of living by principles that create Joy - to create a Zion of loving beings living in loving relationships.

Is it is about becoming - not doing.

Scriptures like this verse in section 20 make it possible to weaponize the gospel. You must believe as I believe or you are the "bad guy."

Change the paradigm and all those "bad guys" become the brothers and sisters you must love if you are to live in Zion.

The old paradigm was such a burden - to repent, believe, and endure or else. It was all about doing the right things and never stopping, every act counted. (Angels above us are silent notes taking of every action. . .)

The new paradigm is about what I am learning, how I am being changed by the experiences in life. How does Jesus guide me and heal me on this journey?

There are no winners and losers, and no "or else".  Just a simple "Come follow me" spoken by One whose love is fixed upon us.

D&C 20:12

This verse is referring to one of the purposes or outcomes of having translated the Book of Mormon: 

Thereby showing that he is the same God yesterday, today, and forever. Amen.

For the early saints The Book of Mormon, given the way it was both received and translated, was a sign that the heavens were open and God was once again speaking to man as He has in the past. They believde that He was the same now as He always had been.

I find it refreshing that we are reminding ourselves of that again as we reevaluate the doctrine and teachings regarding the true nature of God and how He (They) work(s) among men. We testify today that we have loving Heavenly Parents whose work and glory is to help us become like Them - to live the principles of happiness, to become fully realized as individuals. 

We see Joseph Smith grow into this understanding over the years of his life.  But it does seem as if Protestant teachings of sin and judgment have prevailed. The God portrayed in the Old Testament prevailed. In spite of the fact that we believe the Bible to be true only to the extent it has been translated correctly and acknowledging some parts Joseph felt were  so wrong that he began an "inspired translation" of the Bible - yet in Sunday School classes too often we see teachers and members  still try to justify every word.  When they are doing so they often vilify the character of God.

If we have loving Heavenly parents today, we had them 2000 years ago. At last we are seeing some of our LDS people reject the angry, vengeful god. It is about time!

Doctrine and Covenants 19:23-24

Learn of me, and listen to my words; walk in the meekness of my spirit, and you shall have peace in me. I am Jesus Christ. I came by the will of the father, and I do his will.

So many passages of scripture lend themselves to music.  I cannot speak the Lord's Prayer after having sung Malotte's arrangement of it so many times.  I can no longer separate the words from the music.  This passage in section 19 was used by Janice Kapp Perry in the following song:

I walked today along the path of life

No more a child protected from the strife

Now I must face whatever foes may come

And fight with strength until the battles won

I trembling fear the task is far too great

On every side the tempter lies in wait.

What can I do? I plead to him above

Then hear him speak these gentle words of love:

Learn of me and listen to my words

Walk in the meekness of my light

And I will give you peace

My love will never cease

For I am Jesus Christ.

When I was yet a child so clean and pure

I doubt it not and knew God's love was sure

I knew he; for every bird and tree

By breath and leaf, were witnesses to me.

But now the world would fill my mind with doubt

And so my soul, in search of truth cries out.

How may I know? I plead to him above

Then I recall these gentle words of love.

Learn of me and listen to my words

Walk in the meekness of my light

And I will give you peace

My love will never cease

For I am Jesus Christ.

My life is blessed to have his sacred word

To feel his love and know my prayers are heard.

Within my soul his light has found a place

It leads the way as I receive his grace

The peace I feel, my joy and sacred things

Surpasses all the world could ever bring.

With humble heart I take a valiant stand

I will obey this gentle sweet command

Learn of me and listen to my words

Walk in the meekness of my light

And I will give you peace

My love will never cease

For I am Jesus Christ.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WT1Mm4wJcqw