Working Toward Zion

Foreword to Working Toward Zion by James W. Lucas and Warner P. Woodworth

God recognizes only one justification for seeking wealth, and that is with the express intent of helping the poor (Jacob 2:19). One of the disturbing things about Zion is that its appeal, according to the scriptures, is all to the poor. "The Lord hath founded Zion, and the poor of his people shall trust in it" (Isaiah 14:32). Of course, once in Zion, no one suffers from poverty, for they dwell in righteousness and there are no poor among them (Moses 7:18). The law of consecration is a minimal requirement, for "if my people observe not this law,... it shall not be a land of Zion unto you." (D&C 119:6).

In stark contrast to the pride and power struggles of the world, true Saints have always sought the things of eternity rather than material success. They labor for a higher order, even a holy order. The question I have been asked most frequently by Saints who read or hear the prices in Approaching Zion is "but what can we do? how do we do it?" 

Woodward and Lucas suggest that there is much we can and must do to consecrate our lives to the blessing of others. This book is not a call to formally enter into the united order, but for each of us to do all we can to move toward Zion in this contemporary era. Drawing upon the scripture and prophets of this dispensation, Working Toward Sion conveys a vision of how to apply God's temporal teachings here and now in the modern world economy.

Hugh Nibley

Provo, Utah

Millions will come to Zion

Millions of people that now sit in darkness—that are now, to all appearance, in the region and shadow of death, will come to Zion.

When Joseph first revealed the land where the Saints should gather, a woman in Canada asked if we thought that Jackson County would be large enough to gather all the people that would want to go to Zion. I will answer the question really as it is. 

Zion will extend, eventually, all over this earth. 

There will be no nook or corner upon the earth but what will be in Zion. It will all be Zion. I remember that the lady was answered by asking her whether she thought the ark was large enough to hold those that were to go into it in the days of Noah? “Yes,” was the reply. Then of course Zion will be just large enough to receive all that will be prepared to possess it, as the ark was.

We are going to gather as many as we can, bless them, give them their endowments, etc., preach to them the truth, lay the principles of eternal life before them, inform their minds all we have power to do, and lead them into the path of truth and righteousness; and those who will not abide the truth will apostatize. 

A few will remain, and a good share of them will cleave to the promises of the Lord, will be true in every respect, and will be accounted worthy to enter in at the strait gate. Strait is the gate and narrow is the path that leadeth to life, and few there be that find it. 

Millions will come and live in Zion when the laws of Zion reign predominant over creation; but will all be prepared to be crowned kings and priests unto God? No. You cannot imagine anything that will not be in Zion, except sin and iniquity, and reviling against God and against his kingdom. 

All classes of people will come to Zion. Will there be Methodists there? Yes; and they will have the privilege to worship a God without body, parts, and passions, just as they do now, if they choose to. 

Every person and every community will receive according to the extent of their capacity and ability. 

Every person then will be blessed, will be filled with joy, will be filled with peace, with light, and intelligence according to the endowments with which they are endowed. Will all become kings and priests? No; not even all that will embrace the fulness of the Gospel.

(1861, BY Gathering ¶5–7 • JD 9:138)

Universal liberty and happiness

 

5. The gospel is designed to produce universal peace in the earth. Wars are pregnant with crime, and are productive of numerous calamities. The gospel gives peace to all who receive and act under its influence. It produceth a peaceful disposition in all who receive and obey it; teaching them to live in peace with all men, and to promote peace to the utmost of their power. If all men acted under the influence of the gospel, they would be all men of peace.

... The gospel never tells one man to hate another, to treat him ill, or to be at variance with him, it teaches us to love all men and to treat them with courtesy. Real Christians, will ever be found the most peaceable men in society, the greatest friends to amity and concord. Every principle in the gospel has a tendency to peace. Where the gospel has been long extant, laws of war have been adopted, which have diminished its horrors, and produced symptoms of a peaceful tendency amid all the confusion and din of arms.

The scriptures plainly foretell that when the gospel shall universally extend, and its influence be universally felt, wars shall cease to the ends of the earth, the nations shall beat their swords into plough shares, and their spears into pruning hooks, nation shall not lift up sword against nation, and none of them shall learn war any more. The gospel has a natural tendency to produce this peaceful and happy. state of things on the earth.

6. Christianity is designed to unite all mankind together as one family. It brings them all together under one dispensation of divine grace and mercy, and reveals God to them as their common parent. It teaches that we are to regard all men as our neighbours, and to love our neighbours as ourselves. The gospel shows that God hath made all men of one blood, that they are all brethren, and ought to treat each other as such. It makes brotherly love among Christians an indispensable law, and an invariable rule of conduct. It proves that true self - love and social are the same, and binds men together by the tenderest sympathies, and a continual interchange of mutual good offices.

It draws those together who come under its influence, by the strongest ties of affection, and bonds of mutual interest. The disunion, and discord, which have so long prevailed among Christians is not to be ascribed to Christianity; but to the want of more of its genuine spirit, and to a disregard of its maxims and rules.

The declared design of the gospel is to reconcile all men to God, and to one another: to put a total end to all animosity, strife, feuds, and disaffection: to connect them together so closely that Jews and Gentiles shall be like one new man: to gather together in one, and re - head as one body, all things in Christ. This is spoken of under the idea of a new creation, and we are assured it will be completed.

7. Christianity is intended to produce universal liberty. This it is calculated to effect, not on the ground of visionary schemes; but on the solid basis of universal knowledge and virtue: Mankind never can be truly free any further than they become wise and virtuous: and the gospel is intended to lay the foundation of universal liberty, by making all men wise and virtuous.

It recognizes the true dignity of man, is the best possible Bill of his Rights, and the surest Bond for their preservation. By its light and influence becoming universal, and all men feeling and obeying that light and influence, prisons and fetters, captivity and corporeal restraint will be rendered unnecessary, as every one will do right from inclination, and none will be found disposed to oppress others.

Christianity has done much towards the establishment of rational liberty, in those nations where it has been suffered to operate freely: nor is there a nation, of any magnitude, to be found that enjoys any considerable degree of liberty without Christianity; consequently, the gospel ought to be regarded as the charter of human liberty, the instrument of its restoration where it is lost, and of its preservation where it exists.

A time of universal liberty and security is clearly foretold in the scriptures, when, in its figurative but emphatical language, they shall sit every one under his own vine, and under his own fig tree, none daring to make them afraid. This also conveys the idea that universal ease and plenty will obtain.

 

8. Thus we come by a view of these subordinate designs, to the grand conclusion, that Christianity will effect universal happiness. As all the works of God in nature and providence are subservient to the happiness of his creatures, so all the operations of his gospel, and the methods of his grace are subservient to the same glorious end. When men universally be come enlightened, be freed from all superstition, are filled with the hope of immortality, become truly righteous, live in the enjoyment of peace, brotherly love, liberty and plenty, they must be happy : universal happiness will be the natural consequence of such a state of things.

No sounds of discord will assail the ear; but the voice of melody and praise salute it : continually.

No sights of horror pain the eye; but the whole scene around, like a smiling paradise, cheer and delight it.

The feelings will no longer be harrowed up with scenes of distress which cannot be alleviated; but the visible joys of others will sweeten the cup of individual pleasure. The causes of unhappiness will be all removed.

Much of the misery of man arises from ignorance, more from superstition, more still from vice, and the whole is aggravated by personal and national contests, broils, animosities, envy and hatred: and where slavery adds her bitter cup, a cold damp is cast on every enjoyment, and he become a wretched being.

But we have seen that when the pure gospel universally spreads, and its influence is everywhere felt and its authority revered, these evils will be removed, the principal causes of unhappiness will be no more;, consequently the whole world will be happy. So far as men understand the gospel, and obey its influence, they are happy now, let this be universally the case, and the effect is obvious, all must be made happy. That it is the design of God to make all mankind happy is clearly revealed; that a being of infinite wisdom and power can accomplish this design cannot reasonably be doubted; that it will be accomplished we are assured in the sacred scriptures.

We are directed to look forward to a time when all sighing and sorrow shall be done away; when God shall wipe away all tears from the eyes of his creatures; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain; when all the works of God shall praise him: when every creature which is in heaven, and on the earth, and under the earth, and such as are in the sea and all that are in then, shall unite in one song of praise to God and the Lamb: when no enemy to the glory of God, or the happiness of man, shall remain; but God shall be all in all.

Richard Wright, Instruction for Youth

A blessing, not a burden.

President Thomas S. Monson once declared, "Church membership should be a blessing, not a burden."

So it is with establishing Zion. It takes work, but we do the work with joy.

"Therefore with joy shall ye draw water out of the wells of salvation." (Isaiah 12:3; 2 Nephi 22:3)

The water doesn't spring forth spontaneously; we have to dig the well and draw it out. But the fruit of our labor, as well as the labor itself, is joyful.

17 The fear of the Lord was upon all nations, so great was the glory of the Lord, which was upon his people. And the Lord blessed the land, and they were blessed upon the mountains, and upon the high places, and did flourish.

18 And the Lord called his people Zion, because they were of one heart and one mind, and dwelt in righteousness; and there was no poor among them.

(Moses 7:17–18)

1 At the end of every seven years thou shalt make a release.

2 And this is the manner of the release: Every creditor that lendeth ought unto his neighbour shall release it; he shall not exact it of his neighbour, or of his brother; because it is called the Lord’s release.

3 Of a foreigner thou mayest exact it again: but that which is thine with thy brother thine hand shall release;

4 Save when there shall be no poor among you; for the Lord shall greatly bless thee in the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee for an inheritance to possess it:

5 Only if thou carefully hearken unto the voice of the Lord thy God, to observe to do all these commandments which I command thee this day.

(Deuteronomy 15:1–5)

A Feast of Fat Things

 

Today, on the last day of 2020, I'd like to recommend a phenomenal talk on establishing Zion by Sharon Eubank, first counselor in the Relief Society General Presidency and director of Latter-day Saint Charities.

You can find a published version of the video presentation here:

https://digitalcommons.law.byu.edu/clarkmemorandum/68/

Except:

THE ZION REVOLUTION

Finally, I speak about the revolution that creates Zion. This stage will be difficult and messy because Satan uses all these revolutions for his own twists and misery. Pollution from technologies engulfs the earth. Filth, debasement, and inhuman acts are communicated to every remote corner of the earth. Politics falls into brute violence as human rights are violated for power. 

As opposition increases toward the end of the earth, the polarization will grow stark.

Either you believe in God or you do not. Either you are willing to work in harmony with others or you are not. Either you will keep the rule of law for the good of society or you will not. Zion will be built by those who are willing to unify their hearts and minds for peaceful progress, dwell in obedience to law, and eradicate all kinds of poverty. Everything outside of that will eventually destroy itself.

Latter-day Saint Charities, the collective humanitarian efforts of Latter-day Saints themselves, is striving through both givers and receivers to unify hearts and minds for peaceful progress and to address issues of poverty. Its work, essentially, is to help lay the foundation stones of a Zion society. This would include sharing expertise freely so we can be of “one mind,” working side by side with others very different from us so we can be “of one heart,” keeping the laws of heaven and earth so we can “[dwell] in righteousness,” and building up our characters so there will be “no poor among [us].” (Moses 7:18)

Zion and temples

Brigham Young:

By-and-by Zion will be built up; Temples are going to be reared, and the holy Priesthood is going to take effect and rule, and every law of Christ will be obeyed, and he will govern and reign King of nations as he now does King of Saints. Pretty soon you will see Temples reared up, and the sons of Jacob will enter into the Temples of the Lord. What will they do there? They will do a great many things. When you see Zion redeemed and built up—when you see the people performing the ordinances of salvation for themselves and for others (and they will hereafter), you will see simply this (but I have not time this morning to tell you only a little part of it). About the time that the Temples of the Lord will be built and Zion is established—pretty nigh this time, you will see (those who are faithful enough), the first you know, there will be strangers in your midst, walking with you, talking with you: they will enter into your houses and eat and drink with you, go to meeting with you, and begin to open your minds, as the Savior did the two disciples who walked out in the country in days of old.

About the time the Temples are ready, the strangers will be along and will converse with you, and will inquire of you, probably, if you understand the resurrection of the dead. You might say you have heard and read a great deal about it, but you do not properly understand it; and they will then open your minds and tell you the principles of the resurrection of the dead and how to save your friends: they will point out Scriptures in the Old and New Testament, in the Book of Mormon, and other revelations of God, saying, “Don’t you recollect reading so and so, that saviors should come up on Mount Zion?” &c.; and they will expound the Scriptures to you. You have got your Temples ready: now go forth and be baptized for those good people. There are your father and your mother—your ancestors for many generations back—the people that have lived upon the face of the earth since the Priesthood was taken away, thousands and millions of them, who have lived according to the best light and knowledge in their possession. They will expound the Scriptures to you, and open your minds, and teach you of the resurrection of the just and the unjust, of the doctrine of salvation: they will use the keys of the holy Priesthood, and unlock the door of knowledge, to let you look into the palace of truth. You will exclaim, That is all plain: why did I not understand it before? And you will begin to feel your hearts burn within you as they walk and talk with you.

You will enter into the Temple of the Lord and begin to offer up ordinances before the Lord for your dead. Says this or that man, I want to save such a person—I want to save my father; and he straightway goes forth in the ordinance of baptism, and is confirmed, and washed, and anointed, and ordained to the blessings of the holy Priesthood for his ancestors. Before this work is finished, a great many of the Elders of Israel in Mount Zion will become pillars in the Temple of God, to go no more out: they will eat and drink and sleep there; and they will often have occasion to say—“Somebody came into the Temple last night; we did not know who he was, but he was no doubt a brother, and told us a great many things we did not before understand. He gave us the names of a great many of our forefathers that are not on record, and he gave me my true lineage and the names of my forefathers for hundreds of years back. He said to me, You and I are connected in one family: there are the names of your ancestors; take them and write them down, and be baptized and confirmed, and save such and such ones, and receive of the blessings of the eternal Priesthood for such and such an individual, as you do for yourselves.” This is what we are going to do for the inhabitants of the earth. When I look at it, I do not want to rest a great deal, but be industrious all the day long. For when we come to think upon it, we have no time to lose, for it is a pretty laborious work.

(1850s, 1852, BY Extensive ¶66–69 • JD 6:294–JD 6:295)

seek to bring forth and establish the cause of Zion;

 

1 A great and marvelous work is about to come forth unto the children of men.

2 Behold, I am God; give heed unto my word, which is quick and powerful, sharper than a two-edged sword, to the dividing asunder of both joints and marrow; therefore give heed unto my words.

3 Behold, the field is white already to harvest; therefore, whoso desireth to reap, let him thrust in his sickle with his might, and reap while the day lasts, that he may treasure up for his soul everlasting salvation in the kingdom of God.

4 Yea, whosoever will thrust in his sickle and reap, the same is called of God.

5 Therefore, if you will ask of me you shall receive; if you will knock it shall be opened unto you.

6 Now, as you have asked, behold, I say unto you, keep my commandments, and seek to bring forth and establish the cause of Zion;

7 Seek not for riches but for wisdom, and behold, the mysteries of God shall be unfolded unto you, and then shall you be made rich. Behold, he that hath eternal life is rich.

8 Verily, verily, I say unto you, even as you desire of me so it shall be unto you; and if you desire, you shall be the means of doing much good in this generation.

9 Say nothing but repentance unto this generation; keep my commandments, and assist to bring forth my work, according to my commandments, and you shall be blessed.

(Doctrine and Covenants 6:1–9)

Nibley on King Benjamin's address

Hugh Nibley's classic essay, "Work We Must, but the Lunch Is Free," includes a discussion of King Benjamin's address. Here is an excerpt:

Benjamin now recognized that they were ready to “hear and understand the remainder of my words,” because at last they were “awakened... to a sense of your nothingness, and your worthless and fallen state” (Mosiah 4:4–5), aware that they could only put their “trust in the Lord,... keeping his commandments;... Believe in God;... believe that ye must repent;... always retain in remembrance, the greatness of God, and your own nothingness, and his goodness and longsuffering;... If ye do this ye will always rejoice, and be filled with the love of God” (Mosiah 4:9–13). 

That being so, “ye will not have a mind to injure one another, but to live peaceably, and to render to every man according to that which is his due” (Mosiah 4:13). And who decides what is due him? Not you! The Lord will tell you that: “And ye will not suffer your children that they go hungry, or naked, [or] ... transgress the laws of God” (Mosiah 4:14). Lunch will be provided, and “ye will teach them to love one another, and to serve one another,” with no fighting or quarreling among themselves—this was not to be a competitive society (Mosiah 4:15). 

And beyond your family, “ye yourselves will succor those that stand in need of your succor; ye will administer of your substance unto him.” 

A beggar is one who asks, for some reason or other not having what he needs: “Ye will not suffer that the beggar putteth up his petition to you in vain, and turn him out to perish” (Mosiah 4:16). He begs because he is hungry, and we must all eat to stay alive—to turn any beggar down, for all you know, is to sentence him to death—it has happened (Mosiah 4:16). The usual pious appeal to the work-ethic—there is no free lunch—will not do: “Perhaps thou shalt say: The man has brought upon himself his misery; therefore I... will not give unto him of my food, nor impart unto him of my substance that he may not suffer, for his punishments are just”—I worked for mine! (Mosiah 4:17). 

Indolent and unworthy the beggar may be—but that is not your concern: It is better, said Joseph Smith, to feed ten impostors than to run the risk of turning away one honest petition. Anyone who explains why he denies help to another who needs it, says Benjamin, “hath great cause to repent... and hath no interest in the kingdom of God” (Mosiah 4:18), which kingdom is built up on the law of consecration. 

“For behold, are we not all beggars?” That is no mere rhetoric—it is literally true: we are all praying for what we have not earned. No one is independent: “Do we not all depend upon the same Being, even God, for ... food and raiment, and for gold, and for silver and for all the riches which we have?— You are dependent for your lives and for all that ye have and are” (Mosiah 4:19–20). And that is just what you must consecrate to the building up of the kingdom: “O then, how ye ought to impart of the substance that ye have one to another” (Mosiah 4:21–22). 

We all give and we all receive, and never ask who is worthy and who is not, for the simple reason that none of us is worthy, all being “unprofitable servants” (Mosiah 2:21). “And if ye judge the man,” who asks for your “substance that he perish not,” and find him unworthy, “how much more just will be your condemnation for withholding your substance, which doth not belong to you but to God,” who wants you to hand it on, and is testing you to see just how willing you are to hand it back to him when he asks for it—not at some comfortably unspecified date, but right now (Mosiah 4:22). 

Benjamin says he is speaking here to the rich, but the poor may not hold back either, for everyone should have enough but not wish for more; hence the poor who want to be rich, who “covet that which ye have not received,” are also guilty (Mosiah 4:24–25). In giving, the poor may keep what is sufficient for their needs, and food, clothing, and shelter covers it (Mosiah 4:26), for the rule is summed up simply, that every man “should impart of [his] substance to the poor, every man according to that which he hath”—which is also the wording of Deuteronomy, for all have a right to food, clothing, and medical care, “both spiritually and temporally according to their wants” (Mosiah 4:26; 18:29).

Seeing eye to eye

 

And the Scriptures say that when the Lord shall bring again Zion her watchmen shall see eye to eye. They shall see alike, they shall comprehend alike, they shall be under the same influence. 

What else shall it do? It shall show you of things to come. You shall be enabled to look through the dark vista of the unborn future, to draw aside the veil of the invisible world, and comprehend the things of God; to know your destiny and the destiny of the human family, and the events that will transpire in coming ages and times.

That is what the Holy Ghost will do, and therein is the difference between that Spirit and the little portion of that spirit which is given to every man to profit withal.

John Taylor; Journal of Discourses, 23:376.

The living of religion is the greatest sermon

From "A Final Testimony" by Hugh B. Brown, counselor in the First Presidency.

_____

When I speak of defending our religion, I do not mean such defense as an army makes on the battlefield but the defense of a clean and upright and virtuous life lived in harmony with an intelligent belief and understanding of the gospel. 

As Mormons, we should do with religion as we do with music, not defend it but simply render it. It needs no defense. The living of religion is, after all, the greatest sermon, and if all of us would live it, we would create a symphony which would be appreciated by all.

There are many churches in the world today, and in those churches are many people and many kinds of theology. I would like to distinguish between theology and religion. Religion is my preference. Someone has said, "I hate botany, but I love flowers." I would say that I do not care for theology, but I love religion....

The Mormon church has a religion aside from its theology, which, if followed, dominates the life of individuals and leads them up out of the grueling surroundings which life may have placed them in, and teaches them that they are children of God and that being children of God they are of royal blood. 

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has this practical view of religion: that religion should help us here and now; that we should not have to wait until after we are dead to get any benefits; that religion as understood and applied makes men and women more successful, happier, more contented, gives them aspiration and hope; that religion is the vitalizing force, religion is that which gives men and women an ideal, an ideal so high that it may be seen from both sides of the valley of life. 

The religion of the Latter-day Saints teaches youth that as children of God, they are expected to acquire experience as they go through life and that experience will ripen into knowledge, that knowledge will ripen into wisdom and intelligence, and that their greatness will be in proportion to their intelligence.

So the religion of the Latter-day Saints is not just theory from a book or taught in church. The gospel is a plan of which God is the author, a plan of which we are all necessary parts....

My religion sweetens my life. My religion, if properly lived, helps me to be a better friend to my associates, a better neighbor, a better citizen, a better father, a better man. If I am sincere in it, my religion forbids me to do to my neighbors what I would not want them to do to me, either in word or act. My religion, in other words, is that which is the greatest part of me.

https://sciencemeetsreligion.org/lds/brown-final.php

The solution to all social problems

Suppose that the Son of Man said to mankind in the present ages, ‘What seek ye?’

What would be the answer? Many would say: we seek pleasure; some, wealth; others, fame and power; but the most thoughtful would answer, ‘We are seeking the light of the ages, as mankind has ever sought. We are seeking a social Utopia. We want a society in which we may be relieved of some of the ills of mankind, free from the troubles and toils of life.’

With every progressive age of the world, intellectual, noble minded leaders have sought a better way of living than that which was current. The good life, a social Utopia, has been the quest of the ages. To sense the need of reform has been easy; to achieve it has been difficult and well-nigh impossible....

The Church, established by divine inspiration to an unlearned youth, offers to the world the solution of all its social problems.

God help us and qualify us for the mission of carrying to the world this light. May we labor even more zealously than heretofore for the establishment of a social order in which God’s will shall be done on earth as it is in heaven—a kingdom of God which shall foster the brotherhood of man and acknowledge the fatherhood of God. May we so live that men seeing our good deeds may be led to glorify our Father in heaven, I pray in. the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.

(1930s, 1930, April, 4th Session, Elder David O. McKay, ¶52 • CR)

 .

-- David O. McKay; Conference Report, April 1930, 78-83.

Zion, a sunny place

 

Zion means, literally, a "sunny place" or "sunny mountain." It first designated an eminence in Palestine on which Jerusalem is built. In the Doctrine and Covenants, Zion has three designations: First, the land of America; second, a specific place of gathering; and third, the pure in heart.

-- David O McKay; “Zion Shall Flourish,” Improvement Era, February 1959, 33.

No fence around Zion

Crater Lake, Oregon, October 31, 2020. Click to enlarge

There is no fence around Zion or the world, but to one of discernment, they are separated more completely than if each were surrounded with high unscalable walls.

Their underlying concepts, philosophies, and purposes are at complete variance one with the other. The philosophy of the world is self-sufficient, egotistical, materialistic, and skeptical. The philosophy of Zion is humility, not servility, but a willing recognition of the sovereignty of God and dependence on his providence.

-- Stephen L Richards; Conference Report, October 1951, 110.