A Sunday school teacher of mine taught me something profound a couple months ago. It helped me understand the ordinances of the gospel in a way I will never forget.
He told me a story of how he and his missionary companion washed their clothes by hand while on their mission in a certain third world country. He was a fairly "fresh" and enthusiastic missionary who was eager to learn and begin teaching the gospel he cherished to the people he was growing to dearly love.
Part of life here was doing their laundry by hand each day. His companion, who had already been in the mission field for the better part of a year, was well-seasoned when it came to this practice and took it upon himself to show his new companion how to do it. He briefly explained the process to him and they proceeded to do their laundry. My teacher was quite excited about this new practice and was thinking something along the lines of, "Aw yeah. Washing my clothes in a bucket in a jungle by hand. This is so awesome. I'm on a mission.." He filled a bucket with river water, grabbed the soap, and got to work.
Now, these missionaries had to wear white dress shirts, dress pants, and ties every single day despite the very hot climate. Dust and dirt would get kicked up as they walked and rode and worked. As a result, their clothes would become quite the brown sweaty mess at the end of the days and required a thorough scrub in order for them to become wearable again. A gentle rinse of soapy water was not enough to clean those bad boys. This elder was thus determined to scrub his white shirts until they were perfectly clean. I imagine he felt driven to be the best he could in serving this mission, and to him this included the condition of the clothes he was going to wear.
Anyways, he put that soap to good use and scrubbed those shirts in his bucket until they were no longer encrusted in sweat and mud. He then hung them up next to his companion's shirts on their clothesline to dry and stood back to admire them. Again he's thinking, "Boo yah. Just washed my clothes by hand. I'm so cool. The gospel is true." Feeling great about his accomplishments, he and his companion proceeded to go to work elsewhere while they waited for their laundry to dry.
Upon returning to the clothesline, he was met with confusion. He went to feel his companion's shirts. The fabric was smooth and wonderfully soft and clean. Yet when he went to feel his own shirts, they were hard and crispy. They were utterly unwearable. He probably thought, "What on earth is this nonsense!?? I have 'toiled with my might' and 'labored long' and I scrubbed my shirts of all their 'impurities' until they were perfectly clean and white again and I do not understand what this crustiness means. What could I have possibly done wrong?"
I imagine his companion came over and pulled his friend's crispy shirts down from the line, chuckled to himself, and with a knowing smile said, "Hey man, you forgot to rinse the soap out of them." And thus we see, our elder was so caught up in the scrubbing he had completely forgotten to rinse out all the soap suds and the remaining grime from his shirts. The soap dried and resulted in crunchy shirts that could not be worn and needed to be re-washed. Both scrubbing with soap and rinsing with clean water were crucial in doing their laundry the right way and in having fresh, clean dress shirts to wear each day.
This story of hand-washed laundry is an analogy for the ordinances of baptism and the sacrament alongside our endeavors to repent.
The "scrubbing" is like unto the repentance process. It is forsaking your sins and turning to the Savior for forgiveness with humility and sincerity. "Thou shalt offer a sacrifice unto the Lord thy God in righteousness, even that of a broken heart and a contrite spirit." (D&C 59:8) The Lord declared to us that "no unclean thing can inherit the kingdom of heaven." (Alma 11:37) Our sins are what make us unclean. They are the "spots" the world can leave on us as we go about our lives here on earth. It can take a long while, it may even be painful, and it may take a sacrifice for you to do properly, but if you repent you WILL eventually find peace. "Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be white as snow." (Isaiah 1:18)
Robert D. Hales taught, "For the sacrament to be a spiritually cleansing experience each week, we need to prepare ourselves before coming to sacrament meeting." (Coming to Ourselves: The Sacrament, the Temple, and Sacrifice in Service) Just like you need scrubbing and rinsing to fully cleanse a missionary's dirty mess of a dress shirt, you need both repentance and baptism in order to become fully clean. Every Sabbath Day we can have the privilege and opportunity to take the sacrament.
In bearing his testimony of the sacrament, Elder Dallin H. Oaks said some remarkable truths that I would like to share.
We are commanded to repent of our sins and to come to the Lord, with a broken heart and a contrite spirit, and partake of the sacrament. In partaking of the bread, we witness that we are willing to take upon us the name of Jesus Christ and always remember Him and keep His commandments. When we comply with this covenant, the Lord renews the cleansing effect of our baptism. We are made clean and can always have his spirit to be with us.
The administration of the sacrament, and the renewal of covenants, and cleansing that takes place in the partaking of the sacrament are the most important acts in the Sabbath worship of Latter-day Saints. We do this in remembrance of the blood of the Only Begotten son, Jesus Christ. He is at the center of our faith. He is our Savior and Redeemer. (Special Witness - Elder Oaks; emphasis added)
The "rinsing" is like unto baptism. The very act of being baptized by immersion is symbolic of having your sins washed away. We have the opportunity to remember and renew the covenants we made at baptism and "rinse" ourselves when we participate in our sacrament meetings. "And that thou mayest more fully keep thyself unspotted from the world, thou shalt go to the house of prayer and offer up thy sacraments upon my holy day." (D&C 59:9) We take upon us the name of Christ, and we promise to keep his commandments and always remember Him. "It is a glorious thing to be a Christian and to live as a true disciple of Christ. Of us He said, 'They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.' To keep ourselves unspotted from the world, He expects us to avoid such worldly distractions ... on the Sabbath day." (L. Tom Perry, The Sabbath and the Sacrament)
During my teacher's mission some of the most memorable and meaningful things he experienced were his conversations with the people who wanted to be become members of this church. These individuals must have loved the Savior and were so thankful to these missionaries, and they had felt the Spirit of the Lord as they were taught this gospel. Yet when it came time for them to finally take that step to be baptized, they wondered, "Why do I need baptism if I have already repented of my sins?"
On the other hand, there were those who were newly baptized to the church and who were gradually learning more and more about the gospel of Christ. However, they still were unsure of why they needed to have "a broken heart and a contrite spirit" and repent. They asked, "Why do I need repentance if I have already been baptized?"
He provided them with the best answers he and his companion could give and then placed it into the Lord's hands as to whether or not they would join the church or learn the truth. Now, however, my teacher is certain of the answer to these questions. It is because of what is taught in the "scrubbing" and "rinsing" in this analogy that both baptism and repentance are needed. There is a reason we are asked to prepare for the sacrament. There is a divine, inspired, beautiful reason for baptism and for repentance being the way they are. It is ultimately to return to live with Him, for He is at the center of our entire faith.
I would like to share yet another wonderful quote from Elder Dallin H. Oaks.
How can we have the Spirit of the Lord to guide our choices so that we will remain "unspotted from the world" (D&C 59:9) and on the safe path through mortality? We need to qualify for the cleansing power of the Atonement of Jesus Christ. We do this by keeping His commandment to come to Him with a broken heart and a contrite spirit and in that wonderful weekly meeting partake of the emblems of the sacrament and make the covenants that qualify us for the precious promise that we will always have His Spirit to be with us (see D&C 20:77). (Sacrament Meeting and the Sacrament; emphasis added)
What a beautiful promise we have been given. To have His Spirit, the Holy Ghost, a member of the Godhead, to be with us always. Through Christ we can be made whole and clean again. We can stay "unspotted from the world" "at all times and in all things, and in all places that (we) may be in, even until death, that ye may be redeemed of God, and be numbered with those of the first resurrection, that (we) may have eternal life." (Mosiah 18:9) Now that, my friends, is incredible.
Now, I am sure I am not alone in this. Upon looking back, I have found myself "scrubbing" in sacrament meeting. That should be the time to remember Him and remember the covenants I made during the ordinance of baptism. This is the most important part of the Sabbath Day, the Lord's day. That is supposed to be set aside for my "rinsing." In the busyness of the week I may have looked forward to that Sunday's sacrament meeting, but I never intentionally prepared my mind and heart with the knowledge of the specific roles of the sacred ordinance I was going to participate in and the importance of the covenants I was renewing. Since I have begun preparing for the sacrament through repentance, my life has been greatly blessed.
I now know of the divinely intentional structure of the ordinances of this gospel. I know that repentance through Christ is the way to happiness. I know that He brings us peace. I know that the sacrament through the administration of His holy priesthood is of God, that it brings us closer to Christ, and that it gives us a way to "remain unspotted from the world" and make us clean. I know that the fulness of the gospel is on the earth today and that the sacrament and baptism and other temple ordinances are proof of it. I know the Gospel is true.
Thank you for reading with me. Happy Sunday. :)
