Consecration (YW Manual 3, Lesson 28)

[I think I've fixed all the formatting. Blogger and I have called a truce for now. :) ]

"Consecration" is one of those words that we hear now and then but isn't usually part of our every-day church-talk. I don't think the girls in our classes will often answer a question like, "So what can you do to draw closer to God?" by saying, "by consecrating my life."

Yet, some of the more recent conference talks have I think been moving us in this direction. For example, there was Elder Christofferson's talk "Reflections on a Consecrated Life" from Oct 2010.

I actually enjoyed his earlier talk more, called "Come to Zion" from Oct. 2008. His summary statement is this:

Zion is Zion because of the character, attributes, and faithfulness of her citizens. Remember, “the Lord called his people Zion, because they were of one heart and one mind, and dwelt in righteousness; and there was no poor among them” (Moses 7:18). If we would establish Zion in our homes, branches, wards, and stakes, we must rise to this standard. It will be necessary (1) to become unified in one heart and one mind; (2) to become, individually and collectively, a holy people; and (3) to care for the poor and needy with such effectiveness that we eliminate poverty among us. We cannot wait until Zion comes for these things to happen—Zion will come only as they happen.

He also gives a scriptural background for the word Zion, looking both at Enoch's city and at the early attempts by Latter-day Saints. Each of his three points (unity, holiness, caring for the poor) have their own sections within the talk as well. Great information, with lots to work with.

I'll share my own understanding of consecration, in hopes that it will either help someone, or someone can help show me what I'm missing, or if we're lucky some of both. :)

Grace and Consecration are two sides of the same theological coin. God gives us everything - salvation, food, love, direction, work, etc. He gives us the very air we breathe. King Benjamin spells it all out:

21 I say unto you that if ye should serve him who has created you from the beginning, and is preserving you from day to day, by lending you breath, that ye may live and move and do according to your own will, and even supporting you from one moment to another—I say, if ye should serve him with all your whole souls yet ye would be unprofitable servants.

22 And behold, all that he requires of you is to keep his commandments; and he has promised you that if ye would keep his commandments ye should prosper in the land; and he never doth vary from that which he hath said; therefore, if ye do keep hiscommandments he doth bless you and prosper you.

King Benjamin reminds his people that God has given us everything, right from the start. He gave us our lives and then sustains us from day to day. He knows our needs and hears our prayers. He watches over everything. He is God! Benjamin and others in the Book of Mormon say that Christ came to save all, if we will receive it. And all will be resurrected, and brought back to see God, and will stay there, unless we reject Him. But a way is provided for all, to be created, to be sustained, to be taught, and to be saved. This is His Grace.

Second, "all that he requires of you is to keep his commandments." And of course, He blesses you again, with the same sustaining blessings. Thus, we can never "repay" what has been done for us. We become wrapped up in His outpouring of Grace all over again.

And even if we didn't keep the commandments perfectly, we can't escape Grace. Like a loving Father, God will continually bless us, or reach out to teach us, unless we turn completely away from Him and absolutely reject Him. (See verses 36-39 of Mosiah 2.) And in the meanwhile, He is still sustaining us with breath day to day. It seems we can't get away! At least not in this life.

King Benjamin then repeats himself:

23 And now, in the first place, he hath created you, and granted unto you your lives, for which ye are indebted unto him.

24 And secondly, he doth require that ye should do as he hath commanded you; for which if ye do, he doth immediately blessyou; and therefore he hath paid you. And ye are still indebted unto him, and are, and will be, forever and ever; therefore, of what have ye to boast?

It seems King Benjamin wants to make this very, very clear: no matter what you do, you are doing it in the context of a Graceful existence.

So, coming back to Consecration, I suppose you could say that Consecration is a response to this Grace. Once we realize that God is in charge, that everything we have is from Him, and we have nothing to boast of, and nothing we can do can repay God or cancel that indebtedness, and also that He loves us more completely and thoroughly than we can comprehend, what do we do?

King Benjamin's people fall to the earth, having seen both God's greatness and their own "nothingness." Some people have a hard time with this word, thinking it means we should have low self-esteem and hate ourselves, or else that God hates us. I don't think that meaning follows from the scriptures, however. I think the point is that we are nothing, as compared to God's power. But, ironically, it is the realization that causes us to rejoice, not despair:

12 And behold, I say unto you that if ye do this ye shall always rejoice, and be filled with the love of God, and always retain a remission of your sins; and ye shall grow in the knowledge of the glory of him that created you, or in the knowledge of that which is just and true.

You know that God loves you, and cares for you, even though you are nothing - even if you did everything right, or failed and did everything wrong, He still loves you - and remembering this allows you to recognize and be filled with His Love.

So again back to Consecration. Consecration means making something sacred - ie, making it a part of God's purposes. What was going on back in D&C 42 with the Law of Consecration was that the people recognized (or ought to have recognized) that everything they had was God's. By "Consecrating" what they had to God (or, in practical terms, to the Bishop), they were given back a stewardship that was fully recognized as God's work. They may have even been given back the exact same thing they consecrated. But their relationship changed to it. It was a way of witnessing before God that they acknowledged that all things were His anyway, and they were servants to God and not to mammon or themselves. The remainder, that was not needed for your own family, was kept to give to the poor, or to build churches, or other purposes that helped with God's work.

And this comes back to Elder Christofferson's talks, on how we in the 21st century can Consecrate our time, talents, and everything we have to God. If I'm understanding things right, it means that we change our attitude towards our time, talents and our things - it is all God's anyway, and so I will use it for His work. And, in that, I understand that God has and will support me from day to day.

Remember a few other things from King Benjamin's talk: doing all things in wisdom and order, for example. Also, King Benjamin lays out the same Zion-like attributes that Elder Christofferson lists (especially in Mosiah 4:13-19): unity (ye will not have a mind to injure one another, but to livepeaceably, and to render to every man according to that which is his due), holiness (becometh a saint through the atonement of Christ the Lord, and becometh as a child, submissive, meek, humble, patient, full of love), and caring for the poor (And also, ye yourselves will succor those that stand in need of your succor; ye will administer of your substance unto him that standeth in need; and ye will not suffer that the beggar putteth up his petition to you in vain, and turn him out to perish.)

So there's my musings on what the word Consecration means. And I'll add my disclaimer, mentioned on the sidebar, that if this doesn't quite make sense or is full of typo's, I'll blame it on the fact that my kids had to tell me about the movie they were watching (supposedly keeping them busy while I typed) about 15 times, I got 2 phone calls, and a sudden playdate was organized here at my place all during the last hour and a half. :)

So if you have a chance in between all the many things that keep you busy, let me know what you think of this reading of Benjamin and Consecration and if it has any merit (or is even coherent. :) )

Also don't forget to take a look at the BN post by jeans from 2008, who writes much more coherently than I do.