Banished from his home wandering foreign lands Solomon lived as a beggar for some time, begging even for his daily bread. He never tired of telling people he was Solomon Judah’s great and mighty King, naturally he was thought to be a lunatic. His lowest depths were hit when he met someone who recognized him. It stirred within him memories of his past glory and made his present state all the more unbearable. He met one of his peregrinations who held a lovely banquet in Solomon’s honor. The host recounted the glory and splendor he had seen in Solomon’s court and Solomon was moved to tears and wept so bitterly that when he rose to leave he was satiated not by the rich food but by the salt of his tears.
The next day he met another acquaintance, this time a poor man who never the less asked that Solomon grant him the honor of breaking bread under his roof. He tried to assuage Solomon’s grief and said “O my lord and king, God hath sworn unto David He would never let the royal dignity depart from his house, but it is the way of God to reprove those He loves if they sin.” These words meant more to Solomon than the rich man’s lavish banquet and it served to contrast between the consolations of the two men that he applied the verse in Proverbs:”Better is a dinner of herbs where love is, than a stalled ox and hatred there with.”
For 3 long years Solomon wandered, from city to city, from country to country atoning for the 3 sins of his life by which he had set aside the commandment laid upon the kings in Deuteronomy not to multiply horses, wives and silver and gold.
Solomon eventually took a job as a cook in the royal court of the king of Ammon who raised him to the position of chief cook. And it was then he came to the notice of Naamah, the king’s daughter. The king tried in vain to persuade her to choose a different husband, even threatening to have Solomon killed.
Solomon and his wife were banished but eventually returned to Judah and Solomon regained his glory and even met with the Ammonite king.
And now I give you scriptural evidence to support the righteousness of giving and to show what the Lord means by "We are all beggars."
16 And also, ye yourselves will succor those that stand in need of your succor; ye will administer of your substance unto him that standeth in need; and ye will not suffer that the beggar putteth up his petition to you in vain, and turn him out to perish.
17 Perhaps thou shalt say: The man has brought upon himself his misery; therefore I will stay my hand, and 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— 18 But I say unto you, O man, whosoever doeth this the same hath great cause to repent; and except he repenteth of that which he hath done he perisheth forever, and hath no interest in the kingdom of God.
19 For behold, are we not all beggars? Do we not all depend upon the same Being, even God, for all the substance which we have, for both food and raiment, and for gold, and for silver, and for all the riches which we have of every kind?
Do we really own anything and if not, are we not all beggars? And how often do politicians and pundits declare that the poor are poor because they choose to be because they are just lazy and unmotivated. But scripture has something very different to say.
20 And behold, even at this time, ye have been calling on his name, and begging for a remission of your sins. And has he suffered that ye have begged in vain? Nay; he has poured out his Spirit upon you, and has caused that your hearts should be filled with joy, and has caused that your mouths should be stopped that ye could not find utterance, so exceedingly great was your joy.
And if we are called to be like him we must not turn a deaf ear to those who plead with us.
21 And now, if God, who has created you, on whom you are dependent for your lives and for all that ye have and are, doth grant unto you whatsoever ye ask that is right, in faith, believing that ye shall receive, O then, how ye ought to impart of the substance that ye have one to another.
22 And if ye judge the man who putteth up his petition to you for your substance that he perish not, and condemn him, how much more just will be your condemnation for withholding your substance, which doth not belong to you but to God, to whom also your life belongeth; and yet ye put up no petition, nor repent of the thing which thou hast done.
23 I say unto you, wo be unto that man, for his substance shall perish with him; and now, I say these things unto those who are rich as pertaining to the things of this world.(Mosiah 4:16-23)
19 There was a certain rich man, which was clothed in purple and fine linen, and fared sumptuously every day:
20 And there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, which was laid at his gate, full of sores, 21 And desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man’s table: moreover the dogs came and licked his sores.
22 And it came to pass, that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels into Abraham’s bosom: the rich man also died, and was buried;
23 And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom.
24 And he cried and said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame.
25 But Abraham said, Son, remember that thou in thy lifetime receivedst thy good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things: but now he is comforted, and thou art tormented. 26 And beside all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed: so that they which would pass from hence to you cannot; neither can they pass to us, that would come from thence.
27 Then he said, I pray thee therefore, father, that thou wouldest send him to my father’s house: 28 For I have five brethren; that he may testify unto them, lest they also come into this place of torment.
29 Abraham saith unto him, They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them. 30 And he said, Nay, father Abraham: but if one went unto them from the dead, they will repent. 31 And he said unto him, If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead. Luke 16:19-31
31 When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory: 32 And before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats: 33 And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left. 34 Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world:
35 For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in: 36 Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me. 37 Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink? 38 When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee? 39 Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee? 40 And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.
41 Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels: 42 For I was an hungred, and ye gave me no meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink: 43 I was a stranger, and ye took me not in: naked, and ye clothed me not: sick, and in prison, and ye visited me not. 44 Then shall they also answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, or athirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto thee? 45 Then shall he answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me.
Do you and those in your ward see their Lord in the hungry, thirsty, stranger, naked, prisoner, and beggar? If not, why not?
46 And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal. Matthew 25:31-46
The church that bears Christ’s name also has a great need to repent. This is FAIR's Apologetic response to those who are critical of the City Creek project.
We won’t even allow beggars to put up their petitions on cardboard signs because they aren’t allowed on church owned property. They are required to stay outside the gate. In the scripture quoted earlier about Lazarus and the rich man Lazarus who was kept outside the gate ultimately received just reward and the rich man who kept him out went to hell.
Jesus Christ is in charge of this church so do you think he would let the beggars on temple grounds? Or do you think he would build luxury shopping malls and empty church coffers in order to do that? Do you think he would set up boundaries and hire guards to intimidate the beggars?
So how do we go from worshiping a poor homeless man on Sunday to sneering at homeless people on Monday? Not to mention the other 5 days of the week? What is it about our society that encourages people to blame the homeless, the poor, the down trodden for their plight? What is it about societal norms that trump scripture, even the very teachings of our Savior? Why don’t more people speak the way these scriptures have as to the nature of giving and the eternal truths as to why it is righteous to do so? Why do people reject these truths in favor of convenient justifications and excuses for not living up to these scriptural teachings?And why does it seem that by refusing the homeless from temple property our general authority leadership seem to be leading the social Darwinism cause? Temporal riches and privilege do not make one evil, to commit the sin of Sodom and excuse yourself from responsibility for the health and well being of your brothers and sisters however, does."The Hebrew Prophet, Ezekiel, who wrote his writings much closer to the writing down of this Torah story, actually addresses directly the question of what the sin of the people of Sodom was.
He writes in his chapter 16:
48 As I live—declares the Lord GOD—your sister Sodom and her daughters did not do what you and your daughters did. 49 Only this was the sin of your sister Sodom: arrogance! She and her daughters had plenty of bread and untroubled tranquility; yet she did not support the poor and the needy.
The Hebrew word “Sodom” (סודם) is etymologically related to the Hebrew word (שדה), “fertile field.” The implication is that Sodom was a fertile farming area, good for grazing animals. The Hebrew word “Gomorrah” (עמורה) derives etymologically from the word (עומר) meaning “sheaf of grain.” By using these names for these cities, the writer is implying that the area of Sodom and Gomorrah was good for the growing of grains like, wheat, barley, oats, rye, etc. This is also why the Prophet Ezekiel states: “She and her daughters had plenty of bread and untroubled tranquility.” So, what then were the sins of Sodom and Gomorrah?
The sins of Sodom were - social injustice, waste, over-indulgence, and insolence.And here I would like to share an experience from my friend Alan Rock Waterman’s wife connie as he related it in his latest blog post:“Some years ago when her health was better than it is now, Connie was visiting friends in Salt Lake City around Christmas time. I have written elsewhereabout how Connie is spiritually intuitive. Since like attracts like, these friends of hers were similarly attuned. This was an exceptional group of people, yet really no different from the kind of folks we all should hope to aspire to. Anyway, these four friends decided they would go out and acquire enough food to provide a needy family with all the fixings to make up a traditional Christmas dinner, then simply ask God where he wanted it delivered.
So they pooled their money and went to a grocery store where they bought a ready-cooked turkey with stuffing, along with mashed potatoes, rolls, butter, gravy, a greenbean casserole, jello, a big bowl of ambrosia, a pumpkin pie andan apple pie -everything they could think of to make up a complete Norman Rockwell style holiday feast, right down to the cranberry sauce. Then they hauled those bags of food out to the car, said a prayer, and just started driving around a nearby neighborhood.
Before long, one of the women in the group said, "Here. Stop the car. Right here." They parked in front of a rundown apartment building and carried their bags of groceries up to one of the doors. A woman answered, with three children standing somewhat apprehensively behind her.
Connie said, "Hi. Can you use some dinner?"
After a moment of stunned silence while Connie and her friends excitedly showed the woman what they had brought in the sacks, the woman broke down and started weeping with gratitude. She invited them in to meet her children and told how she was down to no money, with not so much as a rotten old carrot left in the fridge. She had asked her children to stand in a circle with her to hold hands and pray that somehow God would find a way to help them get some supper that night. They were in the middle of that prayer when the doorbell rang and the food arrived.
This Is Not A Test
When Connie came home and told me of her experience, I gathered some important lessons from it that had not occurred to me before. Chief among these lessons was the realization that God is not all-powerful. There are some things even God is unable to do. For instance, God cannot come down in person and leave a box of groceries on someone's porch. God depends on us to carry out his will. We are his hands, his eyes, his ears. We are His emissaries of goodwill. All of us are expected to be God's angels on earth, ministering to each other in kindness.
When God hears a young mother's prayer, the way he acts on that prayer is by inspiring others to perform in his stead. That's what it means to emulate Christ; we do the things Jesus would do himself if he were here to do them.
So here is something to ponder: what do you suppose would have become of that young mother and her children if Connie and her friends had ignored the promptings of the spirit that inspired them to go out and gather food to take to a stranger? The answer is simple: that young family would have gone hungry.
It happens every day all over the world; people pray for help and help never comes. I don't think this is because God ignores their prayers. I think it's because those who are in positions to lend a hand often ignore God when he is whispering in their ears.”
Now let’s look at something about Sodom. People have said often that we are living in a country just like Sodom, referring to acceptance of homosexuality and pervasive sexuality in general, overindulgence basically. Beyond the misunderstanding of the true sin of Sodom and the over sexed nature of modern culture, they are right. Our country and indeed our church is giving in to the true and principle sin of Sodom, waste, overindulgence of every kind and ignoring the poor and hungry even to death.
Now we know this is why Sodom was deystroyed, but by contrast we have the city of Zion which was lifted up to Heaven by the Lord because of the righteousness of its inhabitants. But what best signifies their righteousness? (Moses 7:18) “And the Lord called his people aZion, because they were of boneheart and one mind, and dwelt in righteousness; and there was no poor among them.”
They loved their brothers and sisters as they loved themselves. They had community in its truest sense. They loved unconditionally; they treated each other with unbridled kindness and generosity. They did the opposite of what I see many Americans and even many church members doing. They did not blame on another for their hardships in life, they helped each other through them. Jesus said in Matthew 18:21-22
“Peter came to Jesus. He asked, "Lord, how many times should I forgive my brother when he sins against me? Up to seven times?" Jesus answered, "I tell you, not seven times, but 77 times.”One thing Jesus is doing is contrasting the story of Lamech, a descendant of Cain, who claimed vengeance on anyone who wronged him 77 times over. So Jesus is saying we should be as righteous as Lamech was sinful, we should be as forgiving as Lamech was vengeful. And in line with that I think Jesus is calling us to help our brothers and sisters not one time but 77 times, which in Judaism at that time was a symbol for infinity.
We as a church have been called to rebuild Zion, because a city on a hill can not be hidden. This is not just a literal truth, it will not just be a city of brick and mortar, it will be a culture that spreads to every corner of the globe the way early Christianity did in the decades following the resurrection. Because people witnessed the unconditional love Christians had for all and said “If this is what it means to be a Christian, I want to be one of them. I want to be a part of that love.” And when people see us acting as members of our church in that same light they will say the same, but that’s only if we begin to act that way.
It’s not impossible otherwise Jesus would not have told us it was. He would not have given us teachings and commandments were we unable to follow them. It’s a matter of choice, we can choose to be selfish or we can choose the right. Because as it stands now, we are closer to Sodom than to Zion.
