Sermon Tone Analysis

“You shall stand up before the grey head and honour the face of an old man, and you shall fear your God: I am the Lord.”

[1]

This coming Sunday will mark the thirty-ninth year of legalised murder of the unborn in the womb for citizens of the United States.

Arising from the fatuous discovery of a “right to privacy” within the Constitution of the United States of America, four Supreme Court justices, with three concurring justices, justified slaughter of the innocent for reasons of convenience.

[2] The infamous decision known as “Roe verses Wade” has resulted in the death of approximately 55 million unborn infants in that nation.

[3] That decision by the United States Supreme Court in 1973 has served as the foundation for an ongoing holocaust perpetuated in Canadian abortuaries.

There were almost three million infants aborted in utero in Canada during the period between 1969 and 2005, [4] most following the decision of the US Supreme Court.

The third Sunday of January is traditionally observed as the Right to Life Sunday.

The date was chosen by evangelical Christians to emphasise the fundamental right of all people to life since it is the Sunday closest to the date when the infamous decision was announced in the United States.

Accordingly, this day is set aside each year to encourage us to remember that God—not man—gives life, and to learn what God has to say concerning the life He gives.

At the time the moral tsunami known as Roe v. Wade was unleashed on an unsuspecting public and an unprepared church, a seminary situated on the West Coast of the United States invited me to provide a scientific assessment of the basis for the ruling.

That assessment was published as part of a position paper drafted by Dr. James L. Higgs.

I went beyond the requested assessment, addressing what I saw as an even more fundamental terror that would no doubt result from the judgement.

I opined then, and events seem to be lending credence to my concerns, that if we failed to respect life when it is most vulnerable, then as a society we would justify taking life at any stage.

If abortion became the law of the land, murder of the mentally incompetent, murder of the physically handicapped, and murder of the elderly would shortly be legalised.

Whenever a society fails to respect life at any stage, all life is jeopardised.

God surely understood this truth and emphasised the need to have a moral standard that was not subject to the whim of the moment or changed by the cause of the day.

Is morality fixed?

Or is morality determined on a sliding scale?

Are right and wrong determined by an unchanging standard?

Or are right and wrong determined by the voice of the majority?

We who are Christians are compelled to confess that morality is fixed.

In our text today, we discover that God has established an unchanging moral standard.

Few of us read the Levitical Law for enjoyment.

Many of us consider the Book of Leviticus to be a literary wasteland.

Many Christians resolve each year that to read through the Bible.

They enjoy Genesis, perhaps even making it all the way through Exodus (or at least reading through the Ten Commandments), and then skipping to Deuteronomy, or they possibly even skip to Joshua so that they can get a little action.

To anyone reading the NINETEENTH CHAPTER OF LEVITICUS, it appears as if God has included a collection of unrelated laws simply thrown together because they do not fit anywhere else.

It seems almost as if Moses was looking for a place to park these laws.

We almost get the impression that he breathed a sigh of relief when he had at last found a place for inclusion of these miscellaneous laws.

There is a theme for the chapter, however, and in the midst of the collection of sixteen various regulations is one that speaks pointedly to the theme of respect for life—the theme for this particular Sunday.

HONOURING THE ELDERLY HONOURS GOD — I must return to the issue of whether morality is fixed or mobile.

We should ask ourselves whether a list of musty ceremonial laws can really be vital to our well-being as Christians.

Surely, there is nothing of value for us in this outdated recitation of covenantal law, living, as we do, in the Twenty-First Century?

Whenever you read a chapter of the Bible, you should take note of the phrases that are repeated.

You should carefully note key words that occur.

Ask yourself what God’s purpose might have been in including that passage in His Word.

One thing I observe as I read this chapter is the repetition of one phrase at the conclusion of each new command.

Sixteen times Moses represents God as concluding a particular law by saying either, “I am the LORD your God,” or by simply saying, “I am the LORD.”

The theme of the chapter is found in VERSE TWO and repeated by Peter in 1 PETER 1:15, 16. “As he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, since it is written, ‘You shall be holy, for I am holy.’”

The emphasis, therefore, is upon the need for God’s people to distinguish themselves from the pagans of the world.

God’s people distinguish themselves from the pagans by reflecting His holy character in the way they live.

We do not live as the world lives because we remember that we serve God and because we know that we represent Him before the world.

Our manner of life matters!

As God presents these numerous commands, He restates the Ten Commandments.

The FIRST and SECOND COMMANDMENTS reminded people to worship God only; VERSE FOUR repeats those same commands.

The THIRD COMMANDMENT enjoins respect for the holy Name of God; VERSE TWELVE teaches the identical truth.

The FOURTH COMMANDMENT demands a day for worship and refreshment of the soul, and the THIRD VERSE expects the same observance.

The FIFTH COMMANDMENT teaches respect for one’s parents, and the THIRD VERSE demands the same respect.

The SIXTH COMMANDMENT condemns murder; the SIXTEENTH VERSE demands the same respect for life.

The SEVENTH COMMANDMENT proscribes adultery, and the TWENTY-NINTH VERSE addresses the same sin.

The EIGHTH COMMANDMENT warns against theft, and VERSE ELEVEN warns against the same evil.

The NINTH COMMANDMENT debars false accusations, and VERSE SIXTEEN also warns against such falsity.

The TENTH COMMANDMENT exposes greed as a sin, and VERSE EIGHTEEN warns against the same wickedness.

The repetition of the demand to remember who gave the command and the close association with the previous delivery of the Decalogue emphasises that we live in a world with fixed laws of morality.

We do not avoid murdering others simply because we don’t want to be murdered; rather we do not murder because God says it is wrong to do so.

We do not avoid stealing simply because society has decided that stealing would disturb the Queen’s peace; but rather we do not steal because God says it is wrong to do so.

We do not sanction or engage in adultery only because it might prove messy to seek a divorce; but rather we do not practise or condone adultery because God says it is wrong to do so.

Morality is not determined by a vote of parliament, by an order in council or by a ruling issued by some court.

Neither is a moral standard instituted by a consensus within society; God establishes moral standards.

In this chapter, most of the standards presented are moral or ethical.

Even those that might be thought at first to be ceremonial prove to be moral and ethical upon closer inspection.

God expects His people to be holy; and holiness is nothing less than practical morality.

More carefully defined, holiness is separation from wickedness and separation to God.

Therefore, holy people make the effort to discover what actions and attitudes honour God.

People that are recognised as holy worship God and exalt His Name [VV.

1-8].

Holy people are concerned that the poor have a full share in covenant life [VV.

9, 10].

Within the assembly of the Lord, we would act to ensure that there are no cliques or classes among the people of God if we will be holy.

Holy people deal with their neighbours honestly, truthfully and in love [VV.

11-18].

Holy people are conscious of how their appearance and actions reflect upon the opinion others may have concerning God [VV.

19-25]; and holy people are careful to identify and to separate themselves from pagan practises [VV.26-31].

The remainder of the chapter details that holy people demonstrate kindness and justice to others, especially when those others are vulnerable [VV.

32-37].

Holy people welcome strangers—not to practise and perpetuate wickedness among the people, but to respectfully welcome them to dwell peacefully within society [VV.

33, 34].

Finally, holy people are ethical and fair in their business dealings [VV.

35, 36].

In VERSE 32, I observe that holiness is reflected when we demonstrate respect for the elderly.

It is not without significance that when presenting Himself as “the Ancient of Days” God specifically states that “the hair of His head is like pure wool” [see DANIEL 7:9].

It is reasonable to conclude that this description emphasises the dignity and honour that are due the LORD God.

Similarly, the Risen Son of God appears to John with hair “white like wool” [REVELATION 1:14].

White hair should be recognised as a distinguishing mark of dignity and honour.

“Grey hair is a crown of glory;

it is attained in a righteous life.”

[PROVERBS 16:31]

Don't despise the hoary head; that grey hair is the glory of the aged.

God affirms old age as a time of glory and fulfillment.

If old age is viewed as other than that in our day, it proves nothing more than a sad commentary on the spiritual senility of contemporary society.

Consequently, the society that has lost respect for the elderly totters on the brink of destruction [see ISAIAH 3:5].

Silver or white hair is not the symbol of decrepitude or undesirability, but rather it is the symbol of mercy from God to that generation among whom the grey haired people live.

Unlike our own myopic era, the author of Scripture asserts that old age is not a time of despair, of failing strength or withering away of powers; rather, he sees the twilight years as a time of reward.

Andrew Bonar, in commenting on this verse, wrote, “Age, even apart from its qualities, has in it solemnity.

The Lord would thus solemnise us in the midst of our pursuits.

‘Lo!

The shadow of eternity!

For one cometh who is almost in eternity.

His head and beard white as snow, indicate his speedy appearance before the Ancient of Days, the hair of whose head is as pure wool.’”

[5]

Every vulnerable individual demand our care, for it is through ministering to vulnerable individuals that God’s grace is most clearly revealed.

When the helpless are relieved, God is honoured.

In God, “the orphan finds mercy” [HOSEA 14:3].

God “protects foreigners and helps the fatherless and the widow” [PSALM 146:9].

[6] The Lord “heals the broken-hearted” [PSALM 147:3].

Therefore, honouring the elderly honours the Lord our God.

How shall we honour the aged?