The giving of sacred things…

On a snowy November day a couple of years ago I found myself sitting in the Denver temple chapel, waiting for a session.  I had just missed the session now going and so had to practice patience in anticipation of the Endowment.  Just prior to renting clothes (once again forgetting my money)  dressing and entering the chapel, I had been approached by an overly zealous woman who possessed about twice my girth and energy. She needed ‘males’ to do names for her that she had found online.  She was ecstatic that I would and went on about how this would allow her to get so many more ‘names’ through.  ‘Chalk that one up in heaven’, I thought to myself.  Than continued on to my worship.

So, here I am alone in the chapel and felt it a good time to meditate.  I did and was shortly asked to open the scriptures.  I did that, and opened to section 84.  I read the whole section with a couple small insights but nothing revelatory, turned the page and read the next chapter.  Section 85 and 86 give me the willies because of their parallelism and prophecy of our times, so turning that page felt ominous.  The Lord did indeed share something with me, not at all what I expected, and it permanently grounded me in the need to worship, not perform acts.  I’ll discuss what the Lord illustrated to me in a sec, but first, lets go back to Nephite times…

If there is any single type that I pay especial attention to in the BoM its the existence and downfall of the Established church organizations contained therein.  Instructive to us is the story of the church which Christ established, as it was after the Law of Moses was fulfilled and when Apostles were called.

In verse 27 of Fourth Nehpi the people were beginning their full scale falling away from the truth.  They were building churches at a record rate, growing in numbers.  They had just recently gotten rid of consecration and were dividing into societal classes.  At this stage of the churches existence they, “ did deny the more parts of his gospel, insomuch that they did receive all manner of wickedness, and did administer that which was sacred unto him to whom it had been forbidden because of unworthiness. And this church did multiply exceedingly…”  I have always attributed this to the sacred things we are given in the temple.  However, it could be just as easily applied to any of the ordinances, sacrament, etc… or to Priesthood.  Seeing the easiness of the way today for a child to receive Aaronic Priesthood as a naive lad, get older become a priest and eventually receive the Melchizedek Priesthood, at the age of 18 in preparation for leaving on a mission reminds me of this scripture also.  Its like age is the ladder of worthiness a man must advance-not commitment to covenant and Zion or from revelation.   Also from my understanding of history, not too long ago in Josephs day it took much more to become a member of the Melchizedek Priesthood.  The BoM attests to this too when describing those who receive Melchezidek Priesthood  “on account of their exceeding faith and repentance, and their righteousness before God, they choosing to repent and work righteousness rather than to perish; Therefore they were called after this holy order, and were sanctified, and their garments were washed white through the blood of the Lamb. (alma 13)”  This is not the order of things today.  And to receive both portions of the priesthood endowment took much work too, rather than being flippantly given to every young person who decides they’ll  go on a mission or every one who wants to get married.

The first chapter of Isaiah describes a similar scenario. As always, applying them to us that they be not dead words;

Hear the word of the Lord, ye rulers of Sodom; give ear unto the law of our God, ye people of Gomorrah. To what purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices unto me? saith the Lord: I am full of the burnt offerings of rams, and the fat of fed beasts; and I delight not in the blood of bullocks, or of lambs, or of he goats.  When ye come to appear before me, who hath required this at your hand, to tread my courts?

In the first sentence he refers to OUR God, signifying a covenant relationship with Him.  Isaiah is talking to the leaders of the covenant people and describing the society they live in as Sodom and Gomorrah (who kept not their first estate, but that’s another story-jude 1).  No doubt in MY mind that we the covenant people are living that type of degenerate society today.    He then refers to a bunch of proxy sacrifices that the covenant people are making.  He is obviously not referring to any other culture but our own, as it is us who make temple worship a part of our life today, the covenant people living in Sodom.    We today go to a temple and perform proxy work for the dead. In this verse the reference is to dead animals, all clean-in the temple we do the work for dead people.

The lady in my temple story above is an example of the zeal with which we perform ‘temple work’.  We create long lists of names of people and do as much proxy work as we can as fast as we can.  Modern conveniences of internet, planes, etc… have allowed ‘work’ to be done at a record pace.  It is not uncommon to go to church and hear an Aaronic Priesthood leader brazenly state that “we did baptisms and confirmations for 500 names on Saturday”.  Isaiah tells us in the above verses that the Lord is full of these things and asks us, “To what purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices unto me?”  WHY are you doing this work in this way? We will likely ask, why not?  The purpose for coming to the temple is then stated, “ye come to appear before me”.  But not really, we come with the focus of performing work for the dead, doing names as fast as possible, ‘performing the work’.  He states that this distraction is forcing us to “trample my courts”.  Who hath required this of us?

In the next couple of verses He rails on our constant Sunday meetings, our fast and testimony Sundays and subsequent potluck dinners.  He hammers home the point that we worship for the wrong reasons.  We worship to be seen, to be heard to perform the work.  He tells us he is full of them and can take them no more.  WE are distracted, Idolatrous etc…”Bring no more vain oblations; incense (prayer) is an abomination unto me; the new moons and sabbaths (fast and testimony), the calling of assemblies (many meetings), I cannot away with; [it is] iniquity, even the solemn meeting (even the temple!).  Your new moons and your appointed feasts (potlucks break the fast meetings, christmas, thanksgiving, etc..) my soul hateth: they are a trouble unto me; I am weary to bear them.”

The point of bringing up this section of Isaiah is to discuss the proxy work we do so readily and quickly in temples today.  Our effectiveness is getting better and new programs will aid in the swiftness and efficiency.  However, as the Lord explains above, the multitude with which we do them isn’t necessarily a good thing.  For one thing it is incredibly distracting from the purpose of the temple, which SHOULD be to seek the face of the Lord.  For another it puts the focus of temple worship on the proxy service performed, the dead goat, rather than the miracle of finding God.

Going back to my experience in the Denver temple, sitting there alone in the chapel I read the following lines in section 85:

It is contrary to the will and commandment of God that those who receive not their inheritance by consecration, agreeable to his law, which he has given, that he may tithe his people (consecration is the tithe!), to prepare them against the day of vengeance and burning, should have their names enrolled with the people of God. Neither is their genealogy to be kept, or to be had where it may be found on any of the records or history of the church. Their names shall not be found, neither the names of the fathers, nor the names of the children written in the book of the law of God, saith the Lord of Hosts.

I would have never applied this to temple work had I not had the experience with the zealous lady or had the time alone to ponder in the chapel.  I think the Lord was trying to tell me something on what we have done to temple worship.  We are a distracted bunch of people.  We live idolatrous fast paced lives outside of the temple and have multiplied our genealogies and sacrifices within the temple, bringing our frenzied minds and baggage to worship.  As Isaiah described above, we do it on Sunday and we do it at the temple too and he is weary to bear it.

By doing temple work so fast and for as many people as possible are we not giving sacred things to people who would not have them?  We know for sure at least that we are keeping vast endless genealogies of people who care not for the things of God.   Revelation and honest concern for our family members past would serve us much better than relying on the systems of the arm of flesh to generate lists of people to perform work for.  Than, we would be going to the temple with the salvation in mind of our departed, and seeking the face of the Lord in revelation to aid the work.

Section 85 doesn’t end there, as I have chronicled in past articles.  In the next verse Joseph details his vision of the events surrounding the revelation given by the One Mighty and Strong and the seperation of Gods people it causes.  I find it instructive that the events of the setting in order nearly upon us were brought to Josephs mind in answer to the commandments given in the first half of the section, which tell  us to consecrate ourselves and our people and not keep the names of those who refuse this covenant on our records

Consecration and the inheritances of the saints are to be had in order.  They are to be given by revelation and the priesthood.  By treating them lightly and performing them quickly to whomever, we give the inheritance of the saints to generations of people not prepared for such beautiful burdens.

Lets REPENT!  If we go to the temple lets do it to seek his face, to receive instruction for that cause.  If we go for a person in proxy, let us do it by revelation and seeking the kingdom of God and His Zion by building up righteous kings and priests within that structure.   If we do it by distraction we do as the Nephites did, giving that which is sacred (Zions inheritance and endowment) to those who are unworthy and don’t even want it, as pearls before swine.