Rescuing Wayward Children by Partaking of the Sacrament By Larry Barkdull
When we are beset by a complex challenge, the natural man part of us often searches his environment for methods, cures and experts that match his anxiety. But this thinking is contrary to the plan of salvation, which Nephi and Alma described as “easy.”
When we are beset by a complex challenge, the natural man part of us often searches his environment for methods, cures and experts that match his anxiety. But this thinking is contrary to the plan of salvation, which Nephi and Alma described as “easy.”
In preparing Helaman to succeed him, Alma bade his son to remember that the gospel was designed to unleash grand heavenly powers by small and simple means. A case in point, he said, was the Liahona: “And it did work for [Lehi’s family] according to their faith in God….because those miracles were worked by small means it did show unto them marvelous works.” Then Alma stated the principle:
For behold, it is as easy to give heed to the word of Christ, which will point to you a straight course to eternal bliss, as it was for our fathers to give heed to this compass, which would point unto them a straight course to the promised land….O my son, do not let us be slothful because of the easiness of the way; for so was it with our fathers; for so was it prepared for them, that if they would look they might live; even so it is with us. The way is prepared, and if we will look we may live forever.
The final mandate that Alma gave to Helaman before he sent him forth to minister to the people was this: “See that ye look to God and live.”1 It is easy!
The Simpleness of the Way
Alma was not alone in stating that the powers of heaven swing open on simple hinges. Centuries earlier, Nephi chastised his hard-hearted brothers for behaving like the faithless Israelites who complained to God and opposed Moses. Even when they were perishing from snake bites, they would not accept the Lord’s simple solution for life and salvation.
And he did straiten them in the wilderness with his rod; for they hardened their hearts, even as ye have; and the Lord straitened them because of their iniquity. He sent fiery flying serpents among them; and after they were bitten he prepared a way that they might be healed; and the labor which they had to perform was to look; and because of the simpleness of the way, or the easiness of it, there were many who perished.2
Sometimes we think it would be so much easier to believe that life could return to a dying situation, if we only had an option that equaled our concern. Thus, we seek answers from everyone and every place except from the Savior. It just seems too Sunday School, too simple, too easy.
No, we want a Savior, who dishes out deep doctrines that can only be understood by the spiritually mature – the only ones who can tap into the powers of heaven and call down blessings. But that isn’t how the plan of salvation works. The gospel is so simple and easy that little children are capable of summoning blessings that would astound older generations. Every missionary can attest that investigators often receive unbelievable outpourings of the Spirit from the moment of their first awkward prayer. Moreover, wayward children frequently feel the immediate embrace of a loving Heavenly Father, who, at the instant of their turn homeward, rushes to his prodigal children and escorts them home. It is all so easy!
The Sacrament—An Easy, Powerful Ordinance of Reclamation
Partaking of the sacrament with more purpose is one of those “easy” ways to rescue a wayward child. Worthily partaken of and understood, the sacrament sanctifies us. The sacrament serves to align our lives with Jesus Christ like a compass aligns us to true north and like the Liahona aligned the lives of the Lehites so that they could follow the line leading to the promised land. When we are faced with a child who is off course, a most useful, redeeming tool for parents is to partake of the sacrament so as to remain on course. Dan and Rita, parents of a wayward child, wrote that they could point to the sacrament as the single gospel principle that anchored them weekly to their covenants and infused them with power to press forward in faith and hope.
The ordinances of the sacrament and baptism are interconnected. Baptism is the covenant of salvation;3 Jesus Christ is the agent of salvation. When we renew our baptismal covenants by partaking of the sacrament, we recommit to the terms of baptism that ensure our salvation, and we recommit our lives to Jesus Christ, who is our Savior. The Apostle Paul suggests three great purposes for the sacrament:
The sacrament is a memorial. “This do ye . . . in remembrance of me.”4
The sacrament is a testimonial. When we partake, we “shew the Lord’s death till he come.”5 (Note that the word shew means to “proclaim or announce.”)
The sacrament is an examination. “But let a man examine himself.”6
When we partake of the sacrament, do we fulfill these three main purposes? Do we rejoice in our recollection of the wonder and majesty of the Atonement? Does our partaking of the sacrament testify of our faith in the Redeemer? Do we look closely at our lives to see if we are worthy and if we are conducting ourselves as disciples ought? Many parents who have shared their stories with me have testified that the sacrament, because it focuses on our relationship with Jesus Christ, brought them comfort, purpose, hope, and the power to face their challenges and to obtain divine assistance for their wayward children.
The Sacrament and the Holy Ghost
Nothing in the process of redeeming a wayward child is as essential as having the guidance of the Holy Ghost. The sacrament’s sanctifying promise is the constant companionship of the Holy Ghost: “Those who partake of the sacrament place themselves under covenant with the Lord to take upon them the name of Christ, to always remember him, and to keep his commandments. The Lord in turn covenants that they may always have his Spirit to be with them.”7
The sacrament’s unique promise of the ongoing companionship Holy Ghost is often missed or we associate it with baptism or living a good life. Not so. The sacrament is the designated ordinance that provides for the retention of this supernal gift.
When we are baptized and confirmed, we are commanded to “receive the Holy Ghost.” Elder Bruce R. McConkie points out that this commandment is also a right, but not a guarantee.8 Our ability to retain the companionship of the Holy Ghost is dependent upon our honoring our baptismal covenants and renewing them by means of the sacrament. Again, the sacrament is the ordinance that makes retention of the Holy Ghost possible.
The Sacrament and Sanctification
Elder Dallin H. Oaks said, “When we worthily partake of the sacrament, we are promised that we will ‘always have his Spirit to be with [us].’ To qualify for that promise we covenant that we will ‘always remember him’ (D&C 20:77).”9 Because we enjoy the constant companionship of the Holy Ghost, we enjoy the constant sanctifying power of that gift, which sanctification, in addition to all other considerations, enables us to seek redeeming blessings for those whom we love.
The Holy Ghost is the Sanctifier. Receipt of the Holy Ghost is called the baptism of fire, which follows the baptism by water. We are immersed both in water and in the Spirit. Remission of sins is not possible without the baptism of fire. Of the necessity of these two baptisms, the Prophet Joseph Smith said, “You might as well baptize a bag of sand as a man, if not done in view of the remission of sins and getting of the Holy Ghost. Baptism by water is but half a baptism, and is good for nothing without the other half—that is, the baptism of the Holy Ghost.”10 Because “no unclean thing can dwell in a divine presence,” and because “people are saved to the extent that they are sanctified,”11 we cherish and rely on the Holy Ghost, who burns out of us all impurities and creates of us a “new creature.”12
As its name implies, baptism by fire is hot. Malachi described the work of the Lord and his agent, the Holy Ghost, as a refiner’s fire.13 Both the Savior and the Holy Ghost are engaged in the work of refining souls. This knowledge is important to parents of wayward children and speaks to the theme of my writings on this subject: The redeemed become the redeemers.
Our ability to rescue and redeem a wayward soul is directly linked to our level of sanctification. Therefore, we are told that before we attempt to pluck out the mote in another’s eye we must first excise the beam from our own.14 That process requires the Holy Ghost. As we pray for the Lord’s help to rescue our children, we might be surprised that He will focus His attention on us first. The Lord might use the child’s situation to first sanctify us. If we will submit to the refiner’s fire, once we emerge from it, we will be in a much better position to help our children when they experience it.
Elder Bruce R. McConkie wrote of the sacramental covenant and the Holy Ghost as paths to redemption:
Those who partake of the sacrament worthily thereby put themselves under covenant with the Lord: 1. To always remember the broken body and spilled blood of Him who was crucified for the sins of the world; 2. To take upon themselves the name of Christ and always remember him; and 3. To keep the commandments of God, that is, to “live by every word that proceedeth forth from the mouth of God.” (D&C 84:44.)
As his part of the contract, the Lord covenants: 1. That such worthy saints shall have his Spirit to be with them; and 2. That in due course they shall inherit eternal life. (D&C 20:75–79; Moro. 4; 5.) “Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day.” (John 6:54.) In the light of these covenants, promises, and blessings, is it any wonder that the Lord commanded: “It is expedient that the church meet together often to partake of bread and wine in the remembrance of the Lord Jesus.” (D&C 20:75; Doctrines of Salvation, Volume 2, 338–350.)15
Coming to the Altar of Sacrifice
Each Sunday our attention should be focused on the sacramental table—the altar of sacrifice—where the priests of God prepare emblems of bread and water that remind us of the Lord’s sacrifice. Jesus said that He is the Bread of Life16 and the Living Water.17 In the sacramental covenant, both parties sacrifice for and make promises to each other. The Lord’s promise is the constant companionship of the Holy Ghost; our promises are those that we made at baptism, specifically, to take upon us the name of Christ, to always remember Him, and to keep His commandments. His sacrifice is His body and His blood; our sacrifice is a “broken heart and a contrite spirit.”18 The altar is where all of this takes place.
The priests of God prepare and consecrate the sacrifice and state the terms of the covenant. (Interestingly, in the Old Testament times, the sacrificing of a lamb, which foreshadowed the sacrifice of the Lamb, involved a person coming to the altar, laying his sacrifice upon it, symbolically transferring his sins to the sacrificial lamb by the laying on of hands, and then—after offering a prayer of atonement—the priests would slay the lamb and the person’s sins would die with it.)19
Today, the sacrament, like the Passover, is the memorial of our salvation and deliverance. That single hope should sink deeply within our souls as we consider the Atonement’s saving and liberating implications for our children. By living in a way that we always honor our baptismal covenants, we “retain a remission of our sins,”20 “and the remission of sins bringeth meekness, and lowliness of heart; and because of meekness and lowliness of heart cometh the visitation of the Holy Ghost, which Comforter filleth with hope and perfect love, which love endureth by diligence unto prayer, until the end shall come, when all the saints shall dwell with God.”21
The Supernal Gift of the Holy Ghost
The promise of the Holy Ghost is unequalled: “The Holy Ghost shall be thy constant companion, and thy scepter an unchanging scepter of righteousness and truth; and thy dominion shall be an everlasting dominion, and without compulsory means it shall flow unto thee forever and ever.”22
Therefore—and in no other way than this easy way—by the simple, sanctifying act of worthily partaking of the sacrament, we renew our baptismal covenant and secure the promise that we received in our confirmation of the constant companionship of the Holy Ghost. The Holy Ghost sanctifies us, which sanctification fills us with power to rescue our wayward children. It is easy to look to God and live!
Author’s Note
This article was adapted from my book, Rescuing Wayward Children. Follow this link to learn more.
Also, get a sample of my new 5-book series on Zion: The Three Pillars of Zion. Click here.
Larry Barkdull is the author of number of books, his newest being Rescuing Wayward Children and Priesthood Power: Blessing the Sick and the Afflicted. He writes a weekly column for Meridian, alternating between "Rescuing Wayward Children" and "Becoming a Zion Person." He has written an extensive 5-book series called The Three Pillars of Zion, which will be released August 1st. You may receive a free sample at www.PillarsOfZion.com. He is a longtime publisher and writer of books, music, art and magazines. He published the Tabernacle Choir Performance Library and more than 600 products for numerous authors, composers and artists. His books have won various awards: American Family Best Fiction Award; Benjamin Franklin Book Award; and the Book of the Year Award from Foreword Magazine. He and his wife, Buffie, have been married for nearly 37 years, and live in Orem, Utah. They have ten children and fifteen grandchildren.
