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“I Am the Vine, Ye Are the Branches”
Dean L. Larsen October 1976
This past week, as I read through some prospective material for the Ensign magazine, I came to these lines of verse that reflect the reaction of a housewife after her first encounter with some Latter-day Saint missionaries:
The sun shone that afternoon and so did you
As I opened the door.
Truth standing there and I concerned about my custard
And the kitchen floor.
You spoke, memories stirred and through the windows, darkly,
I watched the years
And wondered what it was I longed for
And why my tears.
You went on your way, but something lingered in the air,
Peace for my pain;
I picked up my mop, pretended that things could
Be the same again.
Since receiving a phone call several days ago from President Kimball, in an attempt to maintain some equilibrium, I’ve been pretending that things would be the same again for me; I know they will not, and I desire with all my heart the sustaining influence of the Lord and the influence of your faith and prayers as I accept this new assignment. I have told the Lord that I am his to use however he sees fit. I have also made that pledge to President Kimball, and I am sustained in that by a loving, faithful wife and a loyal family. I have the consolation of these words of promise of the Lord to his earlier servants when he said:
“Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you.
“Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine, no more can ye, except ye abide in me. “I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.“If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you. “Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples.”
I bear witness today, brothers and sisters, that the Lord Jesus Christ lives, that this is his work, that President Kimball is indeed the Lord’s prophet upon the earth. The Lord will come again to reign as King of kings and as Lord of lords. May we be worthy to be with those who serve and live with him when that time comes, I pray, and solemnly invoke his blessings upon us all this day, in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.
“…There is within each of us a divine spark of greatness. Who knows of what we are capable if we only try?”
Joseph B. Wirthlin
“……. to those of you who have been blessed by the gospel for many years because you were fortunate enough to find it early, to those of you who have come to the gospel by stages and phases later, and to those of you members and not yet members who may still be hanging back, to each of you, one and all, I testify of the renewing power of God’s love and the miracle of His grace. His concern is for the faith at which you finally arrive, not the hour of the day in which you got there. So if you have made covenants, keep them. If you haven’t made them, make them. If you have made them and broken them, repent and repair them. It is never too late so long as the Master of the vineyard says there is time. Please listen to the prompting of the Holy Spirit telling you right now, this very moment, that you should accept the atoning gift of the Lord Jesus Christ and enjoy the fellowship of His labor. Don’t delay. It’s getting late.”
Jeffrey R. Holland
“…The Master’s reward in the Final Judgment will not be based on how long we have labored in the vineyard. We do not obtain our heavenly reward by punching a time clock. What is essential is that our labors in the workplace of the Lord have caused us to become something. For some of us, this requires a longer time than for others. What is important in the end is what we have become by our labors.”
Dallin H. Oaks
The formula of faith is to hold on, work on, see it through, and let the distress of earlier hours real or imagined fall away in the abundance of the final reward. Don’t dwell on old issues or grievances not toward yourself nor your neighbor nor even, I might add, toward this true and living Church. The majesty of your life, of your neighbor’s life, and of the gospel of Jesus Christ will be made manifest at the last day, even if such majesty is not always recognized by everyone in the early going. So don’t hyperventilate about something that happened at 9:00 in the morning when the grace of God is trying to reward you at 6:00 in the evening whatever your labor arrangements have been through the day.
“We consume such precious emotional and spiritual capital clinging tenaciously to the memory of a discordant note we struck in a childhood piano recital, or something a spouse said or did 20 years ago that we are determined to hold over his or her head for another 20, or an incident in Church history that proved no more or less than that mortals will always struggle to measure up to the immortal hopes placed before them. Even if one of those grievances did not originate with you, it can end with you. And what a reward there will be for that contribution when the Lord of the vineyard looks you in the eye and accounts are settled at the end of our earthly day.”
Jeffrey R. Holland
“…Lesson number one from the Lord’s vineyard: coveting, pouting, or tearing others down does not elevate your standing, nor does demeaning someone else improve your self-image. So be kind, and be grateful that God is kind.
It is a happy way to live.”
Jeffrey R. Holland
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