"I require all"

I've finally made it to the end of the semester!  This has truly been one of the longest and most intense semesters of my life, and just the mere contemplation of the fact that I am only 3.5 class periods, 1 book, and approximately 20 pages of writing away from being finished with it makes me very happy indeed.  And then on the flip side I realize that all of that must be done before noon a week from Thursday, so it will be a very busy week and a half.  But come December 14 at 6 am as I board the plane to Denver or Phoenix (I forget which) en route to Utah, I will be very a very happy man.  I will also be very grateful if my second bout of sickness this semester (this time mixed with the worst asthma flare up I've had in a decade) will be completely over by then.  Needless to say, it's been an eventful week.

But today as I've been thinking about my eventful week and everything I need to accomplish in the next week and a half before three weeks of joy and emancipation, I have come to the realization that I am grateful for challenges and difficult requirements.  Challenges and difficult requirements allow us opportunities to experience the Lord's blessings in ways and at times that we would never be able to experience if all were ease and luxury.  For instance, if someone had asked me on Sunday how I would feel if I knew that by Monday night I was going to become so sick with my asthma and a second cold that I would end up needing to visit the doctor three times this week, I would likely have told you that this scenario was one of the worst possible things that could happen to me right now.  There was simply too much to be done, and being sick was not on my list of desired experiences.  But being ordered onto bed rest and having to miss two classes and a discussion group turned out to be great blessings because they gave me time to write without needing to worry about class for a couple of days.  Somehow, the Lord knew what I needed and was able to use these circumstances to help me.

Joseph Smith Jr. Journal, 12 July 1838, manuscript text of D&C 119 from Joseph Smith Papers Website

I came across another example of this lesson today as I began studying for my lesson on tithing next Sunday.  Characteristically when I study for a lesson on a specific doctrine, I go first to the most specific text I can remember on that doctrine.  Today I turned to D&C 119, which gives us the definition of tithing as paying "one tenth of all [our] interest annually" and reminds us that tithing is to be "a standing law unto [the Lord's people] forever" (D&C 119:4).  I wasn't expecting to stay here long, as the definition in verse four was all that I had come for.  But the historian inside myself got the better of me and I decided that it was important for me to read the verse in context, and since it was such a short section that wasn't hard.  What I found there, however, completely changed my views of this section and sent me looking for more material in my trusty copy of The Joseph Smith Papers Journals Volume 1 (abbreviated JSPJ).

I wanted to know the context in which this revelation had come about.  I knew that the revelation had been given on July 8, 1838, not long after Joseph Smith and the body of the Saints had moved from Kirtland to Missouri.  The Prophet's Journal (pictured above) didn't give much context, except for showing the question that had preceded the revelation.  The leaders of the Church apparently had asked, "O! Lord show unto thy servants how much thou requirest of the properties of thy people for a Tithing?" (JSPJ 1:288)  This was a curious question to me.  It isn't often in the Church that we ask the Lord "How much do you want?"  In some regards it seemed to me like the Brethren were asking, "How much do we have to ask for?"  And while I am probably reading too much into the words on the page, it seemed to be a question asked with a measure of trepidation.

But then I began to consider the context in which they were asking this.  The Church was less than a year removed from the collapse of the Kirtland Safety Society, an event which had dramatically affected the membership and leadership of the Church.  Several members of the Quorum of the Twelve had apostatized and been excommunicated along with other high ranking officials who had questioned Joseph in the aftermath of the collapse.  Further, the whole nation was in the middle of a deep financial panic and depression, an event that ruined banks and businesses all across the country.  Joseph, Sidney, Brigham, and others had escaped Kirtland by the skin of their teeth.  And now, here in Missouri (where against all possible odds, things were only set to get worse), they had communities and temples to build.  Such things cost money, but asking for money from the Saints must have seemed to threaten to undo the remainder of the Church.  How could Joseph, at a time like this, approach the impoverished Saints with a message about tithing?

Given this context, the Lord's answer surprised me.  He did not start out by defining tithing as one tenth.  He started out by saying "Verily thus saith the Lord, I require all their surplus property to be put into the hands of the bishop of my church in Zion, for the building of mine house, and for the laying of the foundation of Zion and for the priesthood, and for the debts of the Presidency of my Church" (D&C 119:1-2).  I was impressed that in this situation, the Lord did not lower the requirement of asking for the all of the Saints.  Tithing was a commandment in addition to, not in place of, the Law of Consecration.  The Lord reminded the Saints that He required their all and He reminded them why He required it: to build temples, to erect Zion, and to do the work of the Church.

Given the circumstances, this may seem like a lot to ask.  It may seem unmerciful and perhaps even cruel to ask so much of a people who had so very little.  As a missionary few commitments were harder for me to ask of my investigators than tithing, because I knew how little they had and I know how scary a proposition tithing can be.  But I am grateful for a God who does not lessen the requirements he makes upon us when times are hard and funds are low.  No, if He truly believes in us and in our potential to become like him, those are the very moments in which He must keep the requirements high and unchanged.  No person has ever been made greater by giving or doing less; by having the expectations upon them lowered.  When God asks for our all, He asks for it with the full confidence that it is a price we are capable of paying, and for which He intends to reimburse us in full.

The record doesn't indicate just what the reaction of the Saints was to this revelation, but it has been accepted time and time again by the body of the Church.  Faithful saints have discovered joy in paying their tithes and offerings, and joy in consecrating their time, talents, and means to the work of Zion.  I am grateful for a Heavenly Father who loves me enough to require my best.  He knows me well enough to know when there are things that I need His help to do.  But He never allows His concerns that I succeed to diminish the amount that He asks me to do.  There are certainly days when I fall short of those expectations (in fact, there are seldom any days when I fully measure up), But He nevertheless keeps the bar high and continues to coach me toward the goal of eternal achievement.  High bars and lofty expectations, together with a forgiving heart when I fall short, have thus become emblems of His love for me as His son.

Brett