I read a post this week about what a special moment it is when a speaker, teacher, or other performer focuses their attention on just one person in the audience:
God spoke to Moses in the burning bush before he had done much of significance. He called Samuel as a boy. Samson and Gideon, Isaiah and Ezekiel, Peter and Paul, Joseph of Egypt and Joseph Smith and many others have been called up onstage to experience moments of "transformation and profound personal development." In many of these cases, God called them very much just out of the audience - He knew who they could become, but they were called well before they had done anything that would mark them out as special before that moment. I think particularly of the Brother of Jared in the Book of Mormon, who saw first the finger and then spirit body of Jesus Christ before He came to earth, "and all this, that this man might know that He was God" (Ether 3:18). I thrill to reread these accounts of regular people, with whom "God spoke face to face as one speaketh unto his friend" (Exo 33:11).
Because God gives them this extra training, they in turn bring a great deal of value to others. Everyone in the audience shares in that moment, and somehow, by just touching one person, God touches all of us. The children of Israel may not have been ready for the promised land or to enter into God's presence the way Moses was, but all the people were blessed because God reached down and touched him. Seeing that God speaks to people of different nations, including Deborah and Samuel the Lamanite and Gerrit W. Gong, helps people of diverse backgrounds see that "all are alike unto God" (2nd Nephi 26:33) and He "is no respecter of persons" (Acts 10:34).
Because of seeing His interactions with a few, we can have hope and faith in His dealings with us that are less public and less visible. We trust that we too can receive revelation for our lives and callings, even in our weakness. While there is a temptation to say, "Yes, but that Stephen the martyr, and I'm just Steve" we remember that each of these people were called up onstage not because of anything they had previously done. Moses was an outcast shepherd and Peter a fisherman. There is no limit to what God can do through and make of a pliable and humble heart.
One of my favorite teachings of Joseph Smith is this: "God hath not revealed anything to Joseph, but what He will make known unto the Twelve, and even the least Saint may know all things as fast as he is able to bear them, for the day must come when no man need say to his neighbor, Know ye the Lord; for all shall know Him … from the least to the greatest [see Jeremiah 31:34]" (emphasis added).
What blessing and privilege, hope and faith, are ours because of the disproportionate value God bestows on a few publicly!
The guy he called on stage experienced a moment of transformation and profound personal development and courage. And the benefit wasn’t just for him. Everyone in the audience shared in that moment and shared in his victory. There’s no way we could all have gotten up to that podium in the time available, but somehow, by just touching one person, the speaker touched all of us. ... Whether or not we are the ones being called on stage, we share in the same transformative moment when a speaker or performer chooses to bring disproportionate value to just one of us.I thought of that idea in gospel terms. The prophets and apostles are some of those whom God calls on stage before all of us. They receive particular and especial tutelage and training, "disproportionate value" - in part because of their preparation and work before, but also because of what God then wants them to do for us.
God spoke to Moses in the burning bush before he had done much of significance. He called Samuel as a boy. Samson and Gideon, Isaiah and Ezekiel, Peter and Paul, Joseph of Egypt and Joseph Smith and many others have been called up onstage to experience moments of "transformation and profound personal development." In many of these cases, God called them very much just out of the audience - He knew who they could become, but they were called well before they had done anything that would mark them out as special before that moment. I think particularly of the Brother of Jared in the Book of Mormon, who saw first the finger and then spirit body of Jesus Christ before He came to earth, "and all this, that this man might know that He was God" (Ether 3:18). I thrill to reread these accounts of regular people, with whom "God spoke face to face as one speaketh unto his friend" (Exo 33:11).Because God gives them this extra training, they in turn bring a great deal of value to others. Everyone in the audience shares in that moment, and somehow, by just touching one person, God touches all of us. The children of Israel may not have been ready for the promised land or to enter into God's presence the way Moses was, but all the people were blessed because God reached down and touched him. Seeing that God speaks to people of different nations, including Deborah and Samuel the Lamanite and Gerrit W. Gong, helps people of diverse backgrounds see that "all are alike unto God" (2nd Nephi 26:33) and He "is no respecter of persons" (Acts 10:34).
Because of seeing His interactions with a few, we can have hope and faith in His dealings with us that are less public and less visible. We trust that we too can receive revelation for our lives and callings, even in our weakness. While there is a temptation to say, "Yes, but that Stephen the martyr, and I'm just Steve" we remember that each of these people were called up onstage not because of anything they had previously done. Moses was an outcast shepherd and Peter a fisherman. There is no limit to what God can do through and make of a pliable and humble heart.One of my favorite teachings of Joseph Smith is this: "God hath not revealed anything to Joseph, but what He will make known unto the Twelve, and even the least Saint may know all things as fast as he is able to bear them, for the day must come when no man need say to his neighbor, Know ye the Lord; for all shall know Him … from the least to the greatest [see Jeremiah 31:34]" (emphasis added).
What blessing and privilege, hope and faith, are ours because of the disproportionate value God bestows on a few publicly!
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