quieted them with a sufficient answer, but He had also declared a
fundamental principle of the state. A government cannot exist without
revenue to maintain its organization and to enforce the laws enacted
for the protection and the welfare of its citizens. Caesar was doing
much for Palestine. It was not only right, therefore, but just that
the Jews should pay taxes to Rome. And so it is in our own day. "We
believe," asserted Joseph Smith, "that governments were instituted of
God for the benefit of man." It becomes therefore the duty of every
honest citizen to do his utmost to uphold the righteous laws of the
government, and to help in the maintaining of peace and order. And
it is not only right, but just, that we should pay the taxes imposed
by the government. We all enjoy the benefits derived from civil
organization--protection, liberty, {232} illumination, trade, good
roads, and all. The man who tries, then, to evade the taxes and the
responsibilities of the government is dishonest.
[Sidenote: The Church.]
But in declaring that it is right to render to Caesar the things that
are Caesar's, Jesus also taught that man owes likewise certain duties
to his The Church, religious organization. Render, said He, "to God the
things that are God's." In line with this thought we are instructed by
another experience of the Lord's. When Jesus and His disciples came
one day in their journeyings to Capernaum, "they that received tribute
money came to Peter, and said, Doth not your Master pay tribute (the
temple tax)? He saith Yes, And when He was come into the house Jesus
prevented (anticipated) him, saying, What thinkest thou, Simon, of whom
do the kings of the earth take custom or tribute? of their own children
or of strangers? Peter saith unto Him, Of strangers. Jesus saith unto
him, Then are the children free. Notwithstanding, lest we should offend
them, go thou to the sea, and cast an hook, and take up the fish that
first cometh up; and when thou hast opened his mouth, thou shalt find a
piece of money: that take, and give unto them for me and thee."
These gatherers of tribute money, were, it appears, those who collected
the taxes for the support and maintenance of the temple at Jerusalem.
Jesus was Himself the son of God. He was the Master of the temple. He
might have been free from the tax. But Jesus recognized the fact that
the principle was right; therefore, He paid the tax. And in doing so,
He taught the lesson {233} that it is right and just for every citizen
in the kingdom of God to pay the taxes imposed for the maintenance of
the kingdom. As with the state, so with the kingdom of God, he who
tries to evade the temple tax is dishonest. "Behold," declared Jesus
to the great modern Prophet, "now it is called today (until the coming
of the Son of man), and verily it is a day of sacrifice, and a day for
the tithing of my people, for he that is tithed shall not burn at His
coming."
[Sidenote: The teachings of our own Church.]
The children of the Latter-day Saints have much for which to be
thankful. Here we are reared in the sanctity of the home, in love and
in the fear of God. Our family relations are established to continue
throughout the eternities. Here we are taught to yield honor and
obedience to established government, and to deserve the benefits
provided by it. Here we are taught to revere the priesthood of God,
to pay ungrudgingly our tithes and our offerings, and to do our best
from day to day in the upbuilding of righteousness. And this we do that
we may live and profit and prosper together; for no one can live to
himself alone.
THE REFERENCES
Mark 12:13-17. Doc. and Cov. 49:15.
Matt. 17:24-27. Doc. and Cov. 134:1.
Doc. and Cov. 64:23.
{234} THE QUESTIONS
1. What is the meaning of Aesop's fable?
2. Explain by means of the football squad how man can not live to
himself.
3. What did Jesus teach concerning man's duty to the family?
4. What are a man's obligations to the state in which he lives?
5. What does a man owe to the church to which he belongs?
6. Why should the children of the Latter-day Saints be grateful above
all other children?
{235}
{236} PICTURE: JESUS WASHING PETER'S FEET, Brown
{237}
XXXI
HE THAT EXALTETH HIMSELF
[Sidenote: The old law and the new.]
Everyone who has compared the teachings of the law of Moses with
those of Jesus must have been impressed with the essential difference
between those teaching's. The old law always emphasized the actual, or
material, elements of life, and provided punishment for deeds actually
committed. Thus the law of Moses exhorted, Thou shalt not kill, thou
shalt not steal, thou shalt not do this or that. And if one violated
this material law, he became liable to the penalty--but only if he
actually committed a deed in violation of law. Jesus, on the other
hand, went back of the act to the state of mind that prompted the act.
In other words, the essential thing in the philosophy of Jesus was not
the act itself, but the motive back of it. Instead of "Thou shalt not
kill," Jesus said, "Whosoever is angry with his brother shall be in
danger of the judgment." Jesus did not say. Thou shalt not commit acts
of immorality, but, He that entertains an impure thought is already
guilty of the immoral act.
[Sidenote: The teaching of Jesus psychological.]
Jesus was not a psychologist in the modern sense, yet this teaching of
Jesus is psychologically true. Our acts are but the fruits of thoughts
that have found lodgment, care, and nourishment in our minds. Our
minds, indeed, are but gardens. Seed-thoughts are blown into them by
this wind and by that. Involuntarily as well as voluntarily suggestions
come into the mind. Now, if the seed-thoughts that are waited into the
mind-garden are good, and are carefully tended and nurtured, the garden
{238} will bear good fruit--the acts performed will be charitable and
clean. But if the seed-thoughts that find lodgment in the mind are
noxious, and if these noxious seeds--these destructive weeds of the
mind--be tended and nurtured, then the acts resulting therefrom will
necessarily be evil.
[Sidenote: A concrete example.]
Let us turn from this abstract discussion to the concrete example. Do
you know why a good boy, who has been taught all his life to keep his
body clean from the loathsome poison of tobacco, sometimes takes to
smoking cigarettes in spite of his teaching? The reason is perfectly
clear. The boy has been tempted. A noxious seed-thought has found
lodgment in the boy's mind. Now, had the boy been really strong, had
he gone to like a good gardener, hoe in hand, and cleaned out the
weeds, the noxious plants could never have bloomed nor borne fruit. But
because the boy entertained the evil thought, gave it nourishment and
tended it, it grew and spread until the good seed and fruitage of his
conscience were crowded out of the mind. One thought, then, remained
in power; and on that thought the boy acted. He became a smoker of
cigarettes.
[Sidenote: The motive all important.]
Such examples as this might be multiplied without limit. If you will
examine your own acts, you will find that every act of yours is the
result of a preconceived thought, entertained and fed. Is it not clear,
then, that the teaching of Jesus is far better than the teaching of
the Old Law? It is more important to train the mind and to guard the
motives, than merely to guard one's acts. If one's {239} motives are
pure, wholesome, and sound, one's acts cannot but be so also.
[Sidenote: Jesus's doctrine of rewards.]
Now, just as Jesus differed in His teaching of the ultimate basis of
the moral life from the teaching of the Old Law, so He differed from
the Old Law in His teachings about rewards. Amongst the Jews of the
time of Jesus, the fear of punishment or the hope of immediate good
fortune constituted the primary motive of a good life. In other words,
rewards--more or less material and immediate--were in the Old Law the
inspiration to action. Jesus would do away with such an attitude toward
charitable living. He would have people do good for the good's sake;
He would have people live right for the sake of right living, He would
have people work righteousness for the sake of righteousness. And He
emphasized and drove home the thought that if any one worked merely
to increase his own honor and to exalt himself in the eyes of men, he
should fail, and should be humiliated in the attempt.
[Sidenote: A parable in point.]
"It came to pass," says the New Testament narrative, "as (Jesus) went
into the house of one of the chief Pharisees to eat bread on the
sabbath day, that they watched Him. . . . "And He put forth a parable
to those which were bidden, when He marked how they chose out the chief
rooms; saying unto them. When thou art bidden of any man to a wedding,
sit not down in the highest room; lest a more honourable man than thou
be bidden of him; and he that bade thee and him come and say to thee.
Give this man place; and thou begin with shame to take the lowest room.
But when thou {240} art bidden, go and sit down in the lowest room;
that when he that bade thee cometh, he may say unto thee, Friend, go up
higher: then thou shalt have worship in the presence of them that sit
at meat with thee.
"For whosoever exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth
himself shall be exalted."
[Sidenote: A sound psychological principle.]
Here again Jesus announces a sound, psychological principle. Men who
crowd and push themselves forward always arouse the ill will and
antagonism of their fellowmen; whereas those who are humble and meek
stir the admiration of their fellowmen and are advanced by them. All
our acts should be inspired, not by the desire for honor or for worldly
reward, but by the desire to work righteousness.
[Sidenote: A further illustration.]
This principle Jesus illustrated further by a direct address to the
Pharisee who had invited Him. "When thou makest a dinner or a supper;
call not thy friends, nor thy brethren, neither thy kinsmen, nor thy
rich neighbours; lest they also bid thee again, and a recompense be
made thee. But when thou makest a feast, call the poor, the maimed, the
lame, the blind: and thou shalt be blessed; for they cannot recompense
thee: for thou shalt be recompensed at the resurrection of the just."
[Sidenote: Peter and the question of recompense.]
The question of recompense has disturbed many people; unfortunately,
it is still uppermost in the minds of some. It was undoubtedly the
question of recompense that troubled Peter when he said to Jesus, "Lo,
we have left all, and have followed Thee." We may imagine that the rest
of his thought ran somewhat like this: What shall be {241} our reward?
Jesus very promptly answered, "Verily I say unto you, There is no man
that hath left house, or parents, or brethren, or wife, or children,
for the kingdom of God's sake, who shall not receive manifold more in
this present time, and in the world to come life everlasting."
"But many that are first shall be last; and the last first."
[Sidenote: The reward worth while.]
Jesus did not discourage entirely, then, the idea of rewards. But He
emphasized the necessity of the pure and upright motive, and service
for the sake of service. Then, those who serve shall receive a
reward--not material, perhaps, but spiritual--which shall fill their
lives here, and assure life everlasting hereafter. What does it matter,
after all, if one lose one's worldly possessions but gain contentment
of soul and an assurance of eternal exaltation? There are men who are
possessed of untold material wealth who would give all to gain the
simple testimony of Jesus possessed by the simplest and humblest member
in the Church of Christ. Indeed, true contentment--which is the chief
reward of a well-spent life--can come only as the result of service
unselfishly rendered. Neither wealth nor poverty can bring about the
worth-while, spiritual reward of an act prompted by a worthy motive.
And without question, many that are first, in this world, shall be last
in the day of judgment.
[Sidenote: Conclusion.]
This we have, then, to let sink deep into our hearts: Jesus would have
us guard the motives of our acts; He would have us understand that our
acts are but the outward fruits of our inner {242} thoughts; with our
motives pure, He would have us perform good deeds without thought of
reward; He would have us do good where no recompense can be had; He
would have us remain meek and humble in thought, in word, and in deed,
innocent of any selfish act. Then will He recompense us with a reward,
indeed: satisfaction, contentment, spiritual light, the goods of this
world as we shall need them, and life everlasting, the greatest gift of
God.
"Everyone who exalts himself shall be humbled,
And he who humbles himself shall be exalted."
THE REFERENCES
Luke 14:1, 7-14. Luke 18:28-30.
Mark 10:31.
THE QUESTIONS
1. What is the difference between the Old Law and the New in the
teaching about acts and motives?
2. Show that the teaching of Jesus is psychologically correct.
3. Illustrate the process of the action growing from the thought by
some instance other than that of the cigarette smoker.
4. What was the attitude of Jesus toward the doctrine of material
rewards?
5. How does the question of motive affect this doctrine?
6. Discuss the parable of the Wedding Feast.
7. Why is it well to do good where there can be no hope of recompense?
8. Explain the answer of Jesus to Peter.
9. What is the nature of the reward worth while?
10. How shall we gain the reward worth while?
{243}
{244} PICTURE: THE WISE AND THE FOOLISH VIRGINS, Wainwright
{245}
XXXII
EXTRA SERVICE
Teaching further the nature of service, and what kind of service is
pleasing to God, Jesus told His disciples the parable of the laborers
in the vineyard.
[Sidenote: The parable of the laborers.]
"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 market place, 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 you 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 {246} 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."
[Sidenote: The value of service in the world's work.]
In the world's work, there are many today who become offended for
the same reason that the laborers, who had borne the burden and the
heat of the day, became offended. But that is because they do not
understand the principle of service and wages. In every industrial or
commercial institution rewards in the way of salary or promotion are
made dependent, not upon the length of service, but upon the quality of
service and the spirit put into the service. In a certain mercantile
institution, for example--an institution with which you are perhaps
all acquainted--there was employed not many years ago a young man of
unusual ambition and energy. There were then in the department in which
he was placed, men who had been in the employ of the institution for
fifteen or twenty years. This young man gave value received in return
for the compensation he was given. He put quality into his service; he
put spirit into his service; he threw himself into his work body and
soul. Before long, he was made head of the department. Those who had
served for many years were offended, and murmured against the manager.
But the reward came, as rewards worth while must {247} always come, for
quality and spirit of service. The young man has continued to give to
the institution the best that it was in him to give; he has continued,
too, to advance; today he stands next to the superintendent, with the
outlook that ere long, when the superintendent retires, he may become
himself the superintendent. In the meantime, men of long years of
service are still in the same positions that they held when this young
man entered the employ of the institution. Promotion and reward are
based on merit.
[Sidenote: The value of service in the Church.]
If we turn now to the spiritual life, we shall find that the same
principle obtains. Length of membership, or service, in the Church
does not assure exaltation. Indeed, there are many men in the Church
who have belonged to it from childhood to a ripe old age, who may
nevertheless receive a very meager compensation. Theirs has been a
life of membership only. They have rendered little or no service; and
such service as they have rendered has been of inferior quality and
questionable spirit. In reward, they will receive whatsoever is right.
On the other hand, men who have had the privilege of belonging to the
Church in this life for only a short time may receive as large a reward
as the others, or even a larger reward than theirs. For again, these
members of few years, have in those few years rendered service of a
quality far superior to that of those of long years of membership. In
the spiritual life or in the temporal life it is true that one may hope
to get in return only as much as one gives. It is a law of physics
that action and reaction are equal and opposite. An adaptation of that
law may be applied here. {248} When we enter into service, temporal or
spiritual, our lord will give us whatsoever is right.
[Sidenote: The test of profitableness.]
A question like this may now arise in your minds: How shall we know
whether or not our service is sufficient and adequate? Another parable
of the Lord's will help us find the answer to the question. "Which of
you, having a servant plowing or feeding cattle, will say unto him by
and by, when he is come from the field, Go and sit down to meat? And
will not rather say unto him. Make ready wherewith I may sup, and gird
thyself, and serve me, till I have eaten and drunken; and afterward
thou shalt eat and drink? Doth he thank that servant because he did the
things that were commanded him? I trow (believe) not. So likewise ye,
when ye shall have done all those things which are commanded you, say,
We are unprofitable servants: we have done that which was our duty to
do."
[Sidenote: The application to the day's work.]
In any position in life, there are certain duties which we are required
to do. The cash-boy in the department store, the elevator boy, the
clerk behind the counter, the stenographer in the manager's office,
the bookkeeper, the what not, has each one a specified kind of work
to do. But if each one does only that which he is required to do, no
more, he is in a sense an unprofitable servant. He can lay claim to
no special consideration, no special reward. But if one of them does
more than merely what is required of him; if he comes early and stays
late; if he plans and toils to make the business more attractive, more
efficient; if he promotes business, then is he indeed a profitable
servant. When we enter into {249} the employ of others, it is our duty
to do faithfully all that is required of us; it is our privilege to
give extra service, to make ourselves thoroughly useful and wholly
efficient, to merit special consideration.
[Sidenote: The application to Church service.]
So is it also in the Church of Jesus Christ. There are many things
we are required as members to do. It is our duty--and a duty full of
pleasure it should be--to attend the regular services of the Church, to
partake of the sacrament of the Lord's Supper, to magnify one's calling
in the priesthood, to give offerings cheerfully to help the poor, to
pay tithing, and so forth. But if we do these things only, the duties
required by virtue of membership, we do only the things commanded us to
do. We may count ourselves unprofitable servants. To become profitable
servants, we should look after the thousand and one other opportunities
that lie about us. It is our privilege to perform extra service.
[Sidenote: An Exclamation against mere formal performance of duty.]
One day when Jesus was apparently wrought up by the hypocrisy of the
scribes and the Pharisees, He exclaimed against them thus: "Woe unto
you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye pay tithe of mint and
anise and cummin, and have omitted the weightier matters of the law,
judgment, mercy and faith: these ought ye to have done, and not to
leave the other undone."
[Sidenote: A privilege to give extra service.]
It is right that we should pay our tithes and offerings, and attend
to the duties of our membership. These ought we to do. But in doing
them we ought not to leave undone other things that may possibly be
of even greater weight in {250} the estimation of God. Reward cannot
come merely because of length of service, but must come because of the
quality and the spirit of the service. And to become truly profitable
servants, we must seize every opportunity for extra service.
THE REFERENCES
Matt. 20:1-16. Luke 17:7-11.
Matt. 23:23.
THE QUESTIONS
1. On what terms were the laborers of the parable employed in the
vineyard?
2. How can you justify the paying of the same wage to the laborers who
were employed at the eleventh hour as to those who worked all day?
3. What is the application of the lesson of this parable to man's daily
work?
4. What is its application to Church service?
5. How shall we know when our service is sufficient and adequate?
6. Why did Jesus condemn the scribes and the Pharisees?
7. Show that extra service is a privilege.
{251}
{252} PICTURE: CHRIST DRIVING OUT THE MONEY CHANGERS, Hofmann
{253}
XXXIII
A PROPHET IN HIS OWN COUNTRY
[Sidenote: A perfect man and an exemplary leader.]