The Cause of Zion: no poor among us


 

The Cause of Zion: no poor among us

“If people didn’t come up with luxurious homes,

clothes and food then all those that are in need

would not have to suffer, and the rich would not

have to fear for themselves and their wealth.”

 Leo Tolstoy

 

            The Lord has repeatedly admonished us to seek after the cause of Zion, instead of riches, fame or other personal pursuits (D&C 6:6-7).  To Him Zion is when people are of one heart and one mind, live in righteousness and have no poor among them (Moses 7:18).   He establishes a correlation between being of one heart and mind and equal in all things temporal. To Him, there is a causality. If x, then y.  Zion-like righteousness and poverty cannot coexist.

 

 The Law of consecration

The Law of Consecration in our perception is one that deals with temporal matters. But the Lord doesn’t seem to think of it in those terms. To Him all things appear to have spiritual significance and none of the laws He gives are temporal (D&C 29:34) Furthermore, He clarifies that our inequality in the temporal hampers our ability to attain the “heavenly things” and damns our progression altogether (D&C 78:6, D&C 49:20). There is a similar causality here. If x, then y… This might come across as harsh. But in His unapologetic, Jewish-like manner the Lord says it how it is… Our job is to discern whether it’s Him speaking (D& C 84:52-53).

 

Culturally and doctrinally speaking the law of consecration is but a vague memory to us, living 200 years after it was originally revealed. Fortunately, the Lord has promised the coming forth of additional books of scripture in the latter days (1Nephi 13:39). One such volume is the Mentinah record, which I firmly believe was written and preserved for our day.  In more powerful and clear ways than any other scripture we have available it bears witness of the Lord’s take on the Law of Consecration. Like a dry flower inserted in between the pages of a favorite book to preserve a memory, the Mentinah record has been inconspicuously added to the volumes of available to us holy writ to preserve a spiritual memory. It serves as an anchor, grounding us in the doctrine of Christ and connecting us to our spiritual identity. During this time, it has been gently placed in our view to help us make connections and realizations that cannot be made otherwise.     

 

The arduous process of transition from telestial to terrestrial condition is as inevitable and imminent as a birth of a baby at the end of a pregnancy.   And as any birth, it can hardly be expected to be pain-free or immaculately clean. The realizations we need to make and perhaps changes to follow, like overpowering contractions may take our breath away and at least for a time, leave us speechless. As an intense contraction, the Mentinah record does just that. But aligning our vision with the Lord’s is paramount, if we are in fact expecting the Firstborn.

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Property and stewardship

Buying into the telestial make belief of ownership, we are duped into regarding our possessions as ours. However, in the Mentinah record the Lord clarifies that He sees things differently:

 

The laws and dictates of men center on property. But I say unto you, man has no property, for the world is My footstool. Wherefore, think not of your possessions as your own property. I give My substance unto you to prove you, whether you will be a good steward of My property... Wherefore, if you desire riches, remember that they are Mine and I give them to that steward who will do My bidding continually[1]. (MR, emphasis added)

The juxtaposition Mine vs. Man’s is clearly central. Herein is the number one flaw in our vision the Lord is trying to correct. Like a child that invites his friends over to “his house” to play, we forget that the house is not ours, but ultimately belongs to the One paying the mortgage.

 

Despite the excessive use of possessive pronoun, the Lord is not trying accentuate His ownership.  His primary focus is on stewardship or one’s willingness to abdicate entitlement to property. He invites all to accept the responsibility over His resources and do His “bidding continually” (MR).

 

And that which you do not require for your maintenance, you will freely give to those of My children who have need.  Yea, you shall give of your excess to the poor, to the halt, to the sick, to the needy. You shall visit the widow in her loneliness and you shall expeditiously judge the needs of the fatherless and be as a father or mother unto them (MR).

He, who generously pours out blessings “with not enough room to receive” (Malachi 3:10), who feeds the hungry by the thousand exceeding the need, who comforts, serves and gives constantly, expects us to do the same. Willingly and freely:

And this you shall do freely, with joy in your heart, not being commanded to it and not grudgingly. For he who does begrudge the needy, robs Me (MR).

The thought of begrudging the Lord, let alone robbing Him makes one shudder!!!The above statement in all too familiar overtones echoes Malachi: “Will a man rob God? Yet ye have robbed me…” (Malachi 3:8-10) Have we robbed the Lord, albeit unknowingly, by retaining our surplus?

 

 

Under condemnation

The notion of being under condemnation is not a popular one in the “Lord’s” church. Yet, the pronouncement of such status has been with us since 1832 (D&C 84:56) and this judgment for not living the Law of Consecration has not been lifted (DC 42:30-32). In light of this,  the passage below form the Mentinah record stands not as an impossible accusation, but as a second witness:

 

Behold, let him whose eyes are opened see and understand. My whole church stands upon the brink of a precipice because of the teachings of My shepherds. Verily, the times come that will test the strength of My people. In that day, if they have set their hearts upon their property, they shall be bitterly disappointed.

 

My shepherds have not taught the Law of Consecration. My little ones have been raised up with a love of money and a worship of property. My saints sit and listen to My shepherds and follow their teachings. Why should they not? Yet, man’s law of property has taken root in the hearts of men and it overshadows their souls. (MR, cf Moroni 8:33, emphasis added)  

 

The words plumet like a falling gavel and reverberate through the soul as a poignant sound of our awful situation. Like Moroni, who saw our day and knew our doing, the writer of the Mentinah record makes it clear it is us, he is talking about. Thus the phrase “in that day” is a word link to the latter-days commonly used throughout the scriptures, particularly by Isaiah, that is meant to draw us in and get our attention. Sadly, we are the people among whom the love of money has become the love of many.

 

“Verily, all tables are filled with vomit” (MR).  The word “vomit” is not used in the scriptures very frequently. It stands out, as if written in red ink. Thus, it takes no effort to see the connection to Isaiah 28, a prophetic discourse on the Shepherds of Ephraim in the latter days, who become drunk on the notions of self-importance and delusion and fail to protect their flock. The disgusting token of their debauchery, their regurgitated vomit covers the tables, which is another word for “tablets” or “word of God” in Hebrew. The Lord’s doctrines, be it milk or meat, has become neither recognizable nor appetizing. That which was supposed to be taught and to nourish, is good for neither

How has My word been altered? How has the pulpit of My church become a Rameumptum?” (MR) echoes Moroni’s “Why have ye ctransfigured the holy word of God, that ye might bring ddamnation upon your souls?” (Mormon 8:33).

                 But instead of playing “the Garden of Eden” game of pointing fingers and locating the most suitable candidate to put the blame on, perhaps it’s time we bypass all mediators and learn directly from Lord what He needs us to know about the Law of Consecration.

 

 

Trust and no thought for the morrow     

The crux of the Law of Consecration is trust in the Lord. That is “the nail in the sure place” that holds everything together:

Behold, when you covenant to keep the Law of Consecration, you covenant to trust in the Lord in all things, and to lean not upon your own understanding (MR).

With a sweeping gesture of one overthrowing the tables of the money changers, the Lord exposes the financial wisdom and prudence of the world:

Else find Me the man who takes no thought in the morrow, even as I taught My servants. Is there such a one in Zion who does not bring down upon him the hailstorm of railing from his neighbors? And what man among you who has labored all his life to provide for his family, but provided not against his old age, does not reap a whirlwind of scorn from all around him? (MR. emphasis added).

 

Indeed, in the world of social security and 401ks, thinking of tomorrow and saving up enough for the future is the norm. And taking “no thought for the morrow” is the blasphemously imprudent thing to do. Financial stability is what we seek.   But the very term “financial freedom” becomes an oxymoron in the world where we own nothing and are entirely dependent on the Lord. And attaining such ‘freedom’ means having attained absolute bondage to the very property that was intended to serve us, not the other way around.

With an indignation and a heartache that spills over as out of an overflowing cup, the Lord laments our indifference towards those in need and a refusal to share of our surplus:

Yea, the children cry unto Me and their bellies are empty. And the lame cry unto Me, and the sick. And there is no end of distinction between they who have and they who have not. Wherefore, can you show unto Me any of My Wards and Stakes wherein there are none who stand up before the body of my saints and extol their own virtues because their Lord has so blessed them, but who refuse to provide their surplus to the poor and who withhold to themselves and for the sake of their own future the bounty that I give unto them? I say there are none to be found in all My church. (MR. emphasis added).

Do we let our children go hungry, other than on fast Sunday? To the Lord all of His children’s needs are equally important. Current needs take precedence over future ones. And if His children are hungry today, why are we putting away for “the morrow”?

 

 

From individual to collective

More often than not, the general sentiment about the law of consecration is that in order for it to be fully implemented there needs to be a leader that will come on the scene and “make it happen”. Intuitively we recognize the massiveness of the task. However, transition into the higher law doesn’t occur en masse. Whether getting baptized, initiated into temple ordinances or receiving the Second Comforter (3 Nephi 11:13-14) the interplay is always one on one with the Lord.  

Transitioning into a higher law requires that we break, cease following or reevaluate the lower law. Thus, one can stop paying tithing in favor of living the Law of Consecration.[2]Perhaps, paying tithing to the church can morph into paying it to the Lord. And making these choices with other like-minded people just might facilitate this process. Such approach requires that we step further into our Agency and judiciously start making choices that before used to be as easy as filling out a donation slip.

The process of birthing into the higher law will look differently for all of us, just like labor can be prolonged and arduous, or intense, but relatively quick. How quickly or slowly we choose to give back to the Lord what is already His, is up to us…  

All of us, individually and collectively, are like the rich young man, whom Jesus loved. We stand before Him, certain that we have kept all the commandments, checked off all the boxes and met all the requirements. Then, He invites us to sell everything we have, give it to the poor and follow Him (Mark 10:21). This is His idea of becoming “perfect” (Matt. 19:21). The Hebrew word used here is derived from the root to the word שלום shalom (Strong's #7965). Shalom or Salem, is recognized by most as “peace”. The additional meaning that is often overlooked is “complete”. One who is complete has shalom[3] Once again, the divine arithmetic defies human logic. More is actually less, when it comes to material possessions. And in order to become complete, instead of adding on, one needs to give away.            

The Mentinah record powerfully teaches us the Law of Consecration and extends, along with Doctrine and Covenants and the Bible, an invitation to live it. And, as if the above records were insufficient, the Ang Akltan, a volume of scripture to the people of the Philippines, stands as yet another witness of this principle to establish all truth and righteousness:

And as concerning riches you shall not be rich in the things of the world. And those things that you now possess you shall sell and give the money to the poor. And if you cannot do this you will be cast off and the work will be given unto another. But if you do this thing and do it with a grateful heart, rejoicing, then you will receive a greater reward in heaven. [4]

In the coming days the Lord just might mercifully bring forth more of such records to restore and heal our spiritual memory.

 

 

Through the records, both old and new to us, the Lord is restoring our vision of what it means to live the Law of consecration. He teaches us anew about the proper place of property, ownership and stewardship.  What it means to be consecrated, to be complete in Him.

Living the Law of Consecration doesn’t start with a leader showing up on the scene and directing us to put everything in a communal pot. No leader can force us to share willingly and freely what the Lord has said belongs to Him. Only we can decide to follow and fully trust Him from one day to the next.  

Ushering in the laws of Zion begins in the inner chambers of our hearts, as we allow more Light and Truth to circulate.  It starts with changing our perceptions, beliefs and attitudes and overcoming the telestial inertia of the lower law, paradigms and vibrations. It might seem drastic and be painful like labor, yet breathtakingly beautiful as a newborn.

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  The engine that powers up the Law of Consecration is not an external commandment but the overpowering drive of Agency and Love, the only thing strong enough to initiate take off as we overcome telestial gravity. Being consecrated to others and the Lord will accumulate into an overflowing collective. And as our hearts are pure enough for Zion, we will have no poor among us. Until finally, we can be His people and He can be our God !!! (Jeremiah 30:22). 

 

 

 

 



[1] All quotations are from volume 2 of the Mentinah Record (MR).

[2] Sponsoring a deadly vaccine that has already been wreaking havoc in the lives of so many is a very good reason to stop paying tithing in and of itself. There are other reasons that have made paying tithing in my humble opinion quite unethical.

[3]   https://www.ancient-hebrew.org/teachings/the-rich-man.htm

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