The Cost of Riches

 

I hope it's a wide known fact that, you cant buy happiness at Disney Land,

but that doesn't stop us from trying. 

Our world is so saturated with a greed for more money and more things. It's hard not to get caught up in the whirlwind that credit cards and mortgages create. We give up more and more cherished things as we work more and more to buy the next best thing. What are we sacrificing? 

"For what shall it profit a man if he shall gain the whole world and lose his own soul?"

Elder Christofferson shared a study in his latest CES fireside, he said, "This is not to say that we should not seek to succeed, even excel in worthy endeavors, including education and honorable work... Comparing several groups in American society at large on measures such as “income, academic accomplishment, corporate leadership, professional attainment, and other conventional metrics,” Chua and Rubenfeld say: “If there’s one group in the U.S. today that’s hitting it out of the park with conventional success, it’s Mormons." 

It seems like God is staying true to his word when He said, "And if ye seek the riches which it is the will of the Father to give unto you, ye shall be the richest of all people, for ye shall have the riches of eternity; and it must needs be that the riches of the earth are mine to give; but beware of pride, lest ye become as the Nephites of old." D&C38:39

The scriptures give us countless accounts of  people who stay true to their covenants and sacrifice worldly wealth to align their will with God. Alma gave us his position as the Chief Judge over all the Nephites to fulfill his role as a missionary and a prophet. (Alma 4:18) Similarly his companion Amuleck gave up his riches to spread the gospel. (Alma 10:4) Later these two great men were tempted by others to deny the existence of a Supreme Being in exchange for money. Their reply, "Thou knowest that there is a God, but thou lovest that lucre more than him."

Are we sometimes guilty of that as well. How much of our time is invested in worldly gain rather than eternal truths. Elder Chrisofferson counciled how we might balance the two.

"With our faith in Christ, we must see political, business, academic, and similar forms of success not as defining us but as making possible our service to God and fellowman—beginning at home and extending as far as possible in the world. Personal development has value as it contributes to development of a Christlike character."

So in a world that revolves around money, and that requires us to work for our own support, how much is enough? "It's interesting to note that in the 1990s, people were “on average four-and-a-half times richer than their great-grandparents were at the turn of the century, but they were not four-and-a-half times happier"... One antonym for greed, and perhaps the antidote to it, is contentment. The Apostle Paul stated, “I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content”(Philip. 4:11). Contentment and gratitude are essential if one is to be truly happy." -Elder Lynn G. Robbins

The Lord doesn’t expect us to seek out poverty, but His counsel is direct: “Thou shalt lay aside the things of this world, and seek for the things of a better”(D&C25:10)

The truth about Laman

In the Book of Mormon we learn about a man named Laman. He was asked by God to give up all his worldly possessions, which were plentiful, and follow his father in to the wilderness. He packed up his tent with the rest of his brothers and headed out. A short time later he was told he needed to return to Jerusalem and get the Brass Plates. He made the trek back to the city and went to speak to Laban alone trying to get the plates. He was chased out and nearly killed in the process. Laman journeyed in the wilderness for years, caring for his family and pregnant wife. They struggled with hunger, fatigue and many other trials but he kept working. When they finally reached the ocean he was again asked to trust that God was talking to his little brother and help him build a boat. None of them had made such an attempt before but his labors went in with everyone else’s to build this ship. 

After all of this, what is Laman really famous for? Murmuring. As you read the story it’s interesting to note that Laman and Lemuel did many of the same things as their brother Nephi. They sacrificed and worked and dwelt in a tent too, but they did it complaining and murmuring every step of the way. Sadly now as we hear their story we don’t remember their sacrifices we remember their doubting.  

What does that teach you about doubting and complaining and murmuring?

Murmuring is defined as a half-suppressed resentment or muttered complaint.

Many of us like Laman get up and do, but we murmur the whole way through. We attend church each Sunday, we do our calling, we do our visiting teaching, we hold family home evening and we even show up at the Relief Society luncheon. But we grumble about the inconvenient time that church starts, we gripe about the pesky 9 year old in our primary class, we whine about how hard it is to actually get a visiting teaching appointment and doubt our companion will even show up. We get discouraged by how chaotic and irreverent our Family Home Evening lesson is, and then vent to our friends about our neighbor through the entire Relief Society luncheon.  

Elder Maxwell said, “A basic cause of murmuring is that too many of us seem to expect that life will flow ever smoothly, featuring an unbroken chain of green lights with empty parking places just 
in front of our destinations!”

I am just as guilty with my murmuring spirit as the rest. I catch myself too many times being pessimistic and ornery.  “Perhaps when we murmur we are unconsciously complaining over not being able to cut a special deal with the Lord. We want full blessings but without full obedience to the laws upon which those blessings are predicated.” -Maxwell

The Lords teaches us a parable that warns against murmuring and teaches how it can lead to distraction and disobedience in D&C 101. It is broken up into 3 steps.

First, we begin to question (D&C 101:48). We question first in their own minds and then start to plant questions in the minds of others. 

Second, we rationalize and excuse ourselves from doing what they had been instructed to do (D&C 101:49). We find reasons why that rule doesn’t apply to us, or why we are the exception. Thus, they made an excuse for disobedience.

The third step inevitably follows: slothfulness in following the commandment of The Lord. The parable says, “They became very slothful, and they hearkened not unto the commandments of their lord” 
(D&C 101:50). 

In summery it really comes down to one fact. “And thus Laman and Lemuel … did murmur because they knew not the dealings of that God who had created them.” (1 Ne. 2:12.)

That fact that Murmuring causes damage to ourselves is sufficient reason to resist murmuring, but another obvious danger is its contagiousness. Even faithful father Lehi, for one brief moment, got caught up in the contagion of murmuring. (1 Ne. 16:20.)  Murmuring over the weight of our crosses not only takes energy otherwise needed to carry them but might cause another to put down his cross altogether.

Let us each recommit ourselves to “arise from the dust, and be men, and be determined in one mind and in one heart, united in all things, that ye may not come down into captivity.” (2 Ne. 1:21) I know that as I’ve gone to my Father in Heaven in prayer and asked for his help to put off the natural and complaining man that he has blessed and supported me in my efforts. He wants us to be happy! Let us follow the example of Nephi who trusted in the Lord with all his heart without a murmuring spirit.

In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.