The Perfected Harvest

 This is the talk I gave June 18th, 2023.

In the most recent general conference, there were several talks that caught my attention. I will quote most extensively from Vern P. Stanfill’s “The Imperfect Harvest”, as his story was what tied the whole conference together for me.

He began his talk with a striking word picture: As a boy helping with the harvest on his family farm in Montana, he watched as the combine his father used left some grain along with the chaff. He presented his findings to his father, who said:

“It is good enough and the best that this machine can do.”

Not really satisfied with his explanation, [he] pondered the imperfections of [that] harvest.

“A short time later, when the weather turned cold in the evenings, [he] watched thousands of migrating swans, geese, and ducks descend onto the fields to nourish themselves on their long journey south. They ate the leftover grain from [their] imperfect harvest. God had perfected it. And not a kernel was lost.”

Our Savior Jesus Christ, at the beginning of his ministry, gave the Sermon on the Mount. After a list of blessings, he gave Israel His higher law, which culminated in the command, “Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.”

Later, during His ministry to the Nephite people in Bountiful, he repeated this command, with a slight variation: “I would that ye should be perfect even as I, or your Father who is in heaven is perfect.”

This suggests several things: One, that we cannot become perfect without a change to our fallen physical state; and two, that we cannot possibly attain perfection on our own merits. It is only through the sacrifice of our Savior and the merciful plan of our Father in Heaven that we can fulfill this commandment.

For many years now, we have heard the phrase ‘the covenant path’ from our leaders, especially President Nelson. This path has been instituted and restored to help us realize our full potential through the grace of Jesus Christ. The goal is for us to change so completely that we can return to and enjoy God’s presence in celestial glory.

So, how do we effect this change?

Change is repentance; it is a turning of one’s heart back to God. It is a willingness to submit to His will and timing, rather than trusting in our own strength to see us through to the end.

In 2nd Nephi 4:34-35, Nephi ends his psalm to the Lord by saying, “I will not put my trust in the arm of flesh; for I know that cursed is he that putteth his trust in the arm of flesh. Yea, cursed is he that putteth his trust in man or maketh flesh his arm.

“Yea, I know that God will give liberally to him that asketh. Yea, my God will give me, if I ask not amiss; therefore I will lift up my voice unto thee; yea, I will cry unto thee, my God, the rock of my righteousness.”

Christ Himself said, “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.

“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.

“For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” (Matthew 11:28-30)

A yoke is a bar of wood that joins two beasts of burden together at the neck. It allows a team of horses, oxen, or mules to pull far more weight than they could alone, provided they pull in tandem.

As Camille N. Johnson said in her talk “Jesus Christ is Relief”:

“It’s the great deceiver who wants me to hide from God, to turn away from Him, to go at it alone.

Brothers and sisters, I can’t go at it alone, and I don’t need to, and I won’t. Choosing to be bound to my Savior, Jesus Christ, through the covenants I have made with God, ‘I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.’

Covenant keepers are blessed with the Savior’s relief.”

When the people of Alma were in bondage, they cried for relief. When they were oppressed to the point that they could not even pray aloud, He visited them with the assurance that He would honor the covenants they had made with Him: “Lift up your heads and be of good comfort, for I know of the covenant which ye have made unto me; and I will covenant with my people and deliver them out of bondage.

“And I will also ease the burdens which are put upon your shoulders, that even you cannot feel them upon your backs, even while you are in bondage; and this will I do that ye may stand as witnesses for me hereafter, and that ye may know of a surety that I, the Lord God, do visit my people in their afflictions.”

“And now it came to pass that the burdens which were laid upon Alma and his brethren were made light; yea, the Lord did strengthen them that they could bear up their burdens with ease, and they did submit cheerfully and with patience to all the will of the Lord.”

According to the Lord’s promise, they were released from bondage in a miraculous manner, but the first thing the Lord did was increase their capacity to bear their burdens.

This is not a concept that is popular in our world today. Suffering is considered the ultimate evil, and it is assumed that any kind of suffering or distress should be immediately taken away or left behind or numbed with medication. But suffering is exactly what Christ asked us to do when he said, “If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.

“For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it.

“For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?

“For the Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father with his angels; and then he shall reward every man according to his works.”

And what works should those be?

For those following Jesus Christ on the covenant path, any thing that turns us toward Christ is a good work. But it must be done with the right desire.

Bonnie H. Cordon gave some excellent examples in the last general conference:

“. . . as we choose to seek Christ, the Spirit will witness of Him in many different situations. These witnesses of the Spirit occur as we fast, pray, wait, and continue forward. Our closeness to Christ grows through worshipping frequently in the temple, repenting daily, studying scriptures, attending church and seminary, pondering our patriarchal blessings, worthily receiving ordinances, and honoring sacred covenants. All of these invite the Spirit to enlighten our minds, and they bring added peace and protection. But do we honor them as sacred opportunities to testify of Christ?

I have attended the temple many times, but when I worship in the house of the Lord, it changes me. Sometimes while fasting, I find myself simply going hungry, but other times, I feast on the Spirit with purpose. I sometimes have mumbled prayers that are repetitive and routine, but I have also come eager to receive counsel from the Lord through prayer.”

As we turn to the Savior in every aspect of our lives, we will become more able to walk the covenant path. As we testify of Him through our actions, we become His disciples in Spirit and in truth, no matter how imperfectly we walk the covenant path.

As W. Mark Bassett said, “[T]he Savior expects us to do all we can do, and He will do what only He can do.”

Covenants give us strength through Christ to do the impossible: to become perfect in Him. Vern P. Stanfill said,

“The Savior stands ready to accept our humble offerings and perfect them through His grace. With Christ, there is no imperfect harvest. We must have the courage to believe that His grace is for us—that He will help us, rescue us from the depths when we falter, and perfect our less-than-perfect efforts.

“In the parable of the sower, the Savior describes the seeds that are planted in good ground. Some produce a hundredfold, some sixty, and others thirty. All are part of His perfect harvest.”

Remember that in the parable of the talents, the servants who put their master’s money to good use received a double portion, while the servant who hid his master’s talent with the intent to return it had it taken away. It was not the amount of money that the servants earned that pleased their master, it was their effort.

Our Savior doesn’t care about the size of our offering; He only cares whether we have planted a seed and tended it with care. What he wants is our effort, because perfection comes only through His grace, but His grace has to have something to work on.

I end with Moroni’s final plea:

“[C]ome 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.

“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 become holy, without spot.”

I know that as we accept our Savior’s invitation to follow Him and to walk His covenant path, we will, in the end, become part of His perfect harvest, gathered into His temple garner, in the company of all the saints who have followed Him through the ages. We will become His sons and daughters, called by His name, and we will at last come safely home. In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.