When We Need Some “Chastening”
In late December of 1832 and early January of 1833, Joseph Smith had a revelation that church members should build a temple in Kirtland, Ohio. This would be the first temple of the newly established church.
Organize yourselves; prepare every needful thing; and establish a house, even a house of prayer, a house of fasting, a house of faith, a house of learning, a house of glory, a house of order, a house of God.
D&C 88:119
However, like many of us who create well-intentioned and ambitious New Year’s resolutions in early January, Joseph Smith and his peers accomplished very little in the months that followed. In June, the Lord reminded Joseph Smith of this unfinished project.
Verily, thus saith the Lord unto you whom I love, and whom I love I also chasten that their sins may be forgiven, for with the chastisement I prepare a way for their deliverance in all things out of temptation, and I have loved you—
Wherefore, ye must needs be chastened and stand rebuked before my face;
For ye have sinned against me a very grievous sin, in that ye have not considered the great commandment in all things, that I have given unto you concerning the building of mine house.
D&C 95:1-3
- According to these verses, whom does the Lord chasten?
- Why does He chasten them?
- How do these insights affect the way we receive chastening or chasten others?
The theme of chastening comes up again in D&C 97, a revelation directed to the Latter-day Saint community in Jackson County, Missouri. The Lord commends Parley P. Pratt for his work leading the School in Zion, a seminary for elders patterned after Joseph Smith’s School of the Prophets in Kirtland, but adds:
And to the residue of the school, I, the Lord, am willing to show mercy; nevertheless, there are those that must needs be chastened, and their works shall be made known.
D&C 97:6
The following verses talk about how we can be accepted of the Lord after we are chastened:
Verily I say unto you, all among them who know their hearts are honest, and are broken, and their spirits contrite, and are willing to observe their covenants by sacrifice—yea, every sacrifice which I, the Lord, shall command—they are accepted of me.
For I, the Lord, will cause them to bring forth as a very fruitful tree which is planted in a goodly land, by a pure stream, that yieldeth much precious fruit.
D&C 97:8-9
- According to this verse, how can we be “accepted of” the Lord?
- How is seeking acceptance of the Lord different from how we tend to seek acceptance from our peers?
- What does it mean to “observe [our] covenants by sacrifice”? How do we do this?
Seeking and receiving the acceptance of the Lord will lead to the knowledge that we are chosen and blessed by Him. We will gain increased confidence that He will lead us and direct us for good. His tender mercies will become evident in our hearts, in our lives, and in our families.
With all my heart I invite you to seek the Lord’s acceptance and enjoy His promised blessings. As we follow the simple pattern the Lord has laid out, we will come to know that we are accepted of Him, regardless of our position, status, or mortal limitations.
Becoming “Chosen”
After chastening the Kirtland members, the Lord repeated something he had said often during his earthly ministry in Jerusalem.
But behold, verily I say unto you, that there are many who have been ordained among you, whom I have called but few of them are chosen.
D&C 95:5
Jesus explained the concept of “many are called but few are chosen” through parables. Let’s read one of these parables:
The kingdom of heaven is like unto a certain king, which made a marriage for his son,
And sent forth his servants to call them that were bidden to the wedding: and they would not come.
Again, he sent forth other servants, saying, Tell them which are bidden, Behold, I have prepared my dinner: my oxen and my fatlings are killed, and all things are ready: come unto the marriage.
But they made light of it, and went their ways, one to his farm, another to his merchandise:
And the remnant took his servants, and entreated them spitefully, and slew them.
But when the king heard thereof, he was wroth: and he sent forth his armies, and destroyed those murderers, and burned up their city.
Then saith he to his servants, The wedding is ready, but they which were bidden were not worthy.
Go ye therefore into the highways, and as many as ye shall find, bid to the marriage.
So those servants went out into the highways, and gathered together all as many as they found, both bad and good: and the wedding was furnished with guests.
And when the king came in to see the guests, he saw there a man which had not on a wedding garment:
And he saith unto him, Friend, how camest thou in hither not having a wedding garment? And he was speechless.
Then said the king to the servants, Bind him hand and foot, and take him away, and cast him into outer darkness; there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
For many are called, but few are chosen.
Matthew 22:1-14
- Who was “called” in this parable?
- Who was “chosen”?
- How can we be chosen?
Being called and being chosen are both passive verbs in the English language, so we may picture ourselves passively waiting for someone else to both call us and choose us. But in the parable, wedding guests were chosen because they took the initiative to come when they were called. Through their agency, they chose themselves.
In the story the king sent out his servants to all types of people. It’s the same with our invitation. It doesn’t matter what our starting point is, who we are by nature, what our background is, what talents we do or do not have, what knowledge we have, what our circumstances are. The thing that determines whether or not we are chosen is how we respond to the calling when we sense God’s invitation in our heart, and what fruit we bear as a result.
-Ann Steiner, Active Christianity
In D&C 95:6, the Lord describes those who are not chosen, or in other words, those who chose not to respond to the Lord’s calling, this way:
They who are not chosen have sinned a very grievous sin, in that they are walking in darkness at noon-day.
D&C 95:6
- How is ignoring the invitations of the Lord like walking in darkness at noon?
- How can we recognize when we are walking in darkness?
- How can we find light when we feel like we are in darkness?
Another parable about the “called” and “chosen” offers hope for the Kirtland Saints who had procrastinated their assignment to build a temple, the Missouri elders who needed chastening at school, or for any of us who are late in fulfilling our life callings, repenting of our sins, or living up to our potential:
For the kingdom of heaven is like unto a man that is an householder, which went out early in the morning to hire labourers into his vineyard.
And when he had agreed with the labourers for a penny a day, he sent them into his vineyard.
And he went out about the third hour, and saw others standing idle in the marketplace,
And said unto them; Go ye also into the vineyard, and whatsoever is right I will give you. And they went their way.
Again he went out about the sixth and ninth hour, and did likewise.
And about the eleventh hour he went out, and found others standing idle, and saith unto them, Why stand ye here all the day idle?
They say unto him, Because no man hath hired us. He saith unto them, Go ye also into the vineyard; and whatsoever is right, that shall ye receive.
So when even was come, the lord of the vineyard saith unto his steward, Call the labourers, and give them their hire, beginning from the last unto the first.
And when they came that were hired about the eleventh hour, they received every man a penny.
But when the first came, they supposed that they should have received more; and they likewise received every man a penny.
And when they had received it, they murmured against the goodman of the house,
Saying, These last have wrought but one hour, and thou hast made them equal unto us, which have borne the burden and heat of the day.
But he answered one of them, and said, Friend, I do thee no wrong: didst not thou agree with me for a penny?
Take that thine is, and go thy way: I will give unto this last, even as unto thee.
Is it not lawful for me to do what I will with mine own? Is thine eye evil, because I am good?
So the last shall be first, and the first last: for many be called, but few chosen.
Matthew 20:1-16
- Why did all of the laborers receive equal wages, although some had arrived earlier than others?
- In what ways do we sometimes display the same logic as the earliest laborers, who became unsatisfied with their pay only after they saw that others were paid just as much?
- How can we alter this pattern of thinking and develop more Christ-like attitudes?
General Primary President Rosemary M. Wixom taught these strategies for adjusting our attitudes and seeking acceptance from the Lord:
Looking out through a window, not just into a mirror, allows us to see ourselves as His. We naturally turn to Him in prayer, and we are eager to read His words and to do His will. We are able to take our validation vertically from Him, not horizontally from the world around us or from those on Facebook or Instagram.
—President Rosemary M. Wixom, Discovering the Divinity Within, 2015
- What does it mean to look “out through a window” instead of “into a mirror”?
- To take validation “vertically” instead of “horizontally”?
- How can we apply this counsel in our lives?
