Cultivating a Tender Heart
Sacrament talk delivered Oct. 29, 2017, Laie 12th Ward
by Elvin Jerome Laceda
Aloha!
While Jesus was near the temple in Jerusalem, He watched people put money for the Church into big boxes. Many rich men put a lot of money into the boxes. A widow, a poor woman whose husband had died, went to the boxes and put in two pieces of money called mites. It was not very much money, but it was all the money she had. Jesus saw her. Wanting to teach His disciples a lesson, He told them about her. He also told them about the rich men who had given lots of money. The rich men had more money at home. The widow had no money at home. In a way, she had given more to the Church than all the rich men, because she had given all she had.(The Friend, 2002)
I feel that this is a tender mercy of the Lord to me, exactly this week, last year I gave my first talk in the same pulpit but in a different ward. Thank you, Bishop. Last year as well, I talked about mostly the same thing I will share with you today. I shared about Courage to Make Decisions, I shared about Heart, the literal meaning of Courage. I will talk to you about hearts today, but not the romantic heart that you might be thinking, for I am still in search of it.
I will be sharing with you a message inspired by a talk given the last Gen. Conference entitled, The Heart of the Widow by O. Vincent Haleck, you might know him because he had served here in the Pacific for the Church ( LDS Conference, Oct 2017)
Elder James E. Talmage (1862–1933) of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles explained why the Lord commended the widow even though her offering was a relatively small donation: “The rich gave much yet kept back more; the widow’s gift was her all. It was not the smallness of her offering that made it especially acceptable, but the spirit of sacrifice and devout intent with which she gave” (Jesus the Christ, 3rd ed. [1916], 561–62). Elder Talmage also stated: “Whether it be the gift of a man or a nation, the best, if offered willingly and with pure intent, is always excellent in the sight of God, however poor by other comparison that best may be” (The House of the Lord, rev. ed. [1968], 3).
If we dissect the scriptural passages leading to the story of the Widow’s Mite in Mark chapter 12, Mark carefully introduced this story by first putting and mentioning very famous dialogue of Jesus between him and a man, the scribed asked,
“Which is the first commandment of all? And Jesus answered him, The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord:30 And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment.31 And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these.32 And the scribe said unto him, Well, Master, thou hast said the truth: for there is one God; and there is none other but he:33 And to love him with all the heart, and with all the understanding, and with all the soul, and with all the strength, and to love his neighbour as himself, is more than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices.34 And when Jesus saw that he answered discreetly, he said unto him, Thou art not far from the kingdom of God…
How can we have that kind of Heart? Three takeaways from the talk of Elder Haleck,
- 1. Give all by making sacrifices, by enduring hardship, persecution, and rejection, bearing burdens of many kinds
- 2. Senses, feels, and knows the light of truth and will give anything to embrace that truth, helps others to see that same light and come to the same measure of eternal happiness and joy.
- 3. Willingness to give all for building up the kingdom of God on the earth.
Mormon described the results of a person seeking to do good works without real intent. In Moroni 7:7–10. 7 For behold, it is not counted unto him for righteousness.8 For behold, if a man being evil giveth a gift, he doeth it grudgingly; wherefore it is counted unto him the same as if he had retained the gift; wherefore he is counted evil before God.9 And likewise also is it counted evil unto a man if he shall pray and not with real intent of heart; yea, and it profiteth him nothing, for God receiveth none such.10 Wherefore, a man being evil cannot do that which is good; neither will he give a good gift. From these verses, we learn that to be blessed for good works, we must do them with the real intent of heart. Real intent includes doing good works out of a love for God and others.
Even though her two mites were a meager contribution, to the Savior her gift was of supreme value because she gave everything. In that moment, the Savior fully knew the widow, for her gift showed Him her heart. The quality and depth of her love and faith were such that she gave knowing that her “want” would be supplied.
The heart of the widow who gave her two mites is a heart that will give all by making sacrifices; by enduring hardship, persecution, and rejection; and by bearing burdens of many kinds. The heart of the widow is a heart that senses, feels, and knows the light of truth and will give anything to embrace that truth. It also helps others to see that same light and come to the same measure of eternal happiness and joy. Finally, the heart of the widow is defined by a willingness to give all for building up the kingdom of God on the earth.
When I served a mission in the Phils. Cagayan de Oro, it was my great honor to meet and serve with these people, with great and meek hearts. Just yesterday, though I’m thousands of miles apart from my previous mission area, Tudela, I served there for 5 months, we organized a Family Home Evening for their group. These are farmers, laborers, and a soldier humble people. When we opened the area, we met about 18 people who are already LDS, and before I left the area, more than 40 faithfully attend services, and 3 of the families were sealed in the temple, and I had the great blessing of witnessing that. Until now, they are still a group, they are still waiting for approval from the Church to become officially a “branch”. However, the Full-time missionaries were pulled out last month, and the closure of the area is imminent, which we did not understand. And before the FHE ends, they told me, “Elder, we were told that tomorrow is our last sacrament meeting in Tudela”.
And I was shocked, sad and was crying, for more than 2 years, we worked hard for this to happen?. But I learned a great lesson from them, “Elder don’t worry, we are preparing, yes we are sad and even concerned how can the others travel to the nearest meetinghouse/chapel now. But we just talked amongst ourselves, we will use the multicab (a small truck) for the members to travel to the nearest ward”. Knowing that these are not familiar with Church vocabularies And might be offended, they chose not to. They even said, there might be a reason and the Lord is preparing them for something greater. The original 1-2 mile travel will now entail them additional 22 miles of travel towards the nearest ward. The feelings of frustration and sadness were replaced by peace. Knowing that the hearts of these people are in tune with the Lord, accepting all things, in building up the Kingdom of God. But until now, I had been communicating with the mission on how can we work out the area.
In scripture we read a term called, “real intent of heart”. Do you think a person can merely pretend to be righteous? Or pretend that he or she loves you, but not really?
Mormon addressed this issue in Moroni 7:6. Elder Dallin H. Oaks of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles can help us understand what it means to the have the real intent of heart. “We must not only do what is right. We must act for the right reasons. The modern term is good motive. The scriptures often signify this appropriate mental attitude with the words full purpose of heart or real intent.
“The scriptures make clear that God understands our motives and will judge our actions accordingly” (Pure in Heart [1988], 15).
Let us ponder this question:
1. What differences have you noticed when you have done good works with the right intent as opposed to having done something good with a selfish intent?
- Very interesting scenario, “I read that if a person prays without real intent, ‘it profiteth him nothing, for God receiveth none such.’ I often feel like I don’t pray with real intent. Should I just quit praying?”
President Brigham Young gave this helpful counsel on how we can gain a desire to pray with real intent: “It matters not whether you or I feel like praying when the time comes to pray, pray. If we do not feel like it, we should pray till we do” (Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Brigham Young [1997], 45).
Finally, let me tell you 2 personal stories, I also know the literal heart of a widow, I was raised by a widow most of my childhood until my teenage life. I am super blessed to have her in my life, along with my late grandfather. I know of her sacrifices and abiding love she has for me. When my parents cannot take their responsibility of raising me up, God endowed this woman along with her husband of enough strength and courage to raise me up and become what God has designed me to become. I know the heart of a widow is the heart of sincere love, compassion, and courage. When no one wants to take responsibility, he/she will stand up and to it!
My grandfather was a farmer and fisherman and my grandma used to sell produce in the local market. I know their sacrifices just make ends meet. But the greatest inheritance they gave me is my FAITH. An Abiding Faith and Love for my Savior. I am not perfect, I am still working out to “put off the natural man”, but I have learned that as we become like a child, we, in turn, become Christlike.
Jesus said, “Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light”
I know that God is aware of our individual situations, ai know that He loves us. We are His children. I know that the Book of Mormon is the word of God and this is His church. In the name of Jesus Christ. Amen
