Sermon Tone Analysis

Honoring God by Honoring Parents

Since moving down here to Palm Beach County, I have noticed a certain impatience some folks have in traffic.

I have especially noticed that some people, within a millisecond of a traffic light going green, expect the car in front of them to speed off like a rocket, and if this does not happen, then immediately they are laying on the horn.

Now, I’ve been told by what I think is a reliable source that the ones who do this primarily come from two states.

Two states that have had a lot of people move out of in the past years and who have moved down here to FL.

Now, I don’t want to call out or embarrass those two states, in case anyone here comes from there, but let it just be sufficient to say that the names of those two states both start with word New.

Just a few days ago, I witnessed this phenomenon of impatience at the intersection of 441 and Forest Hill Drive, when the guy in the truck next to me, the very second the light changed, was leaning on his horn.

If that were not enough, he added to the insult by screaming an obscenity out of his open window at the driver of the car in front of him.

Now, I am pretty sure the driver in front of him did not hear this insult, since the windows were up, but I got to hear it.

And it frustrated me but also saddened me, because it is sad to see a person receive an insult like that, especially since their only offense was not having their car shoot off like a rocket the second the light changed.

It is sad to say that the mistreatment of people is very common in our world.

Last week at the hospital, one of the doctors who was overseeing my care commented to me that I was so nice to work with.

He told me that many people treat hospital staff, even the doctors, with disdain.

He said they think they are better than you.

He also mentioned people from two states that start with the word New.

Now, I realize that we cannot blame all this on people from two states.

What I am getting at is that all people have an obligation to each other to treat each other with civility.

And this especially true for those called by God.

As we continue our look at the Ten Commandments this morning, I want us to be reminded of something we may be quite familiar with, the understanding that the ten commandments give us rules to live by in two major categories: The first category is our relationship with God, which is regulated in part by the first four commandments, and the second category is our relationship to society or other individuals.

This is why Jesus answered the question , what is the greatest commandment?

by quoting from the shema (sh’ ma).

Which is located in Deuteronomy 6:4-5

And then Jesus immediately followed by saying the second commandment is like it.

listen to what Jesus said: Matt22.35-40

The greatest commandment is the shema, and the second is like it.

And on these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.

And this also sums up the ten commandments.

4 commandments that help us love God and 6 commandments that help us love neighbor.

This morning we are going to begin to focus on the commandments that help us to love neighbor.

Let us remember that Jesus said that the command to love neighbor is like the command to love God.

So let us not separate the commandments into the two categories so strongly that we forget that really the obedience of all of the commandments are about our love for God.

After all, you cannot separate these commandments.

For if you love God, you will love your neighbor, and if you do not love your neighbor, you probably don't really love God either.

Another thought I want you to take away this morning is that God has set an order through these and other commandments.

His order is the perfect order.

Sin perverts the order God has determined to be right and true.

Where God’s order says that one of our illustrations for the bond with believers and the Lord is marriage, and He gives us a glimpse of the perfect to come in marriage in our own time, as imperfect as it is, then sin perverts that.

God’s order is marriage between a man and a woman, and in most cases this union produces children, but sin perverts this and says marriage can be many other things than what God said.

In God’s order, he made them male and female.

Sin perverts and says gender is meaningless.

In God’s order, government is to be made up of true servants who do all they can to benefit the people they serve.

Sin perverts so that many politicians are completely unable to resist the temptation to use their power for personal gain.

God has ordered that in our lives, there are proper authorities.

In a town, the mayor and the police and code enforcement officer are all proper authorities, to whom we must submit and pay proper respect.

In a state, we have a governor and an attorney general and many other officers we must submit to and have proper respect.

In our federal government, we have three branches.

If we would desire our government to function well, we should pray for righteous leaders at the Supreme Court, in the White House, and in congress.

We must respect these various proper authorities, and each of those also must respect the other branches.

Each branch must stay within its own scope of responsibility.

To prepare children to become adults who respect God’s order for things, God’s people are to teach their children what proper authority is in the home.

So when we arrive at the 5th commandment, we can see that part of God’s order dictates that children are to honor their parents.

It may seem short and to the point, but there is actually a lot here for us to learn from.

And by the way, you have something to learn from this even if you no longer have your parents around, or if your kids are out of the house and you think this doesn’t apply.

It does apply, because in this commandment we can see that while the focus is on children and parents, its scope goes beyond the family and shows us how we are to interact under all the authority figures in our lives.

It starts at home.

We learn the respect for proper authority as children, when we learn to honor our parents, and this makes it easier for us to honor and respect other authorities in our lives as we go about becoming adults.

Let us first look at the word here translated for us into the English “honor”.

What does this mean?

to honor, to respect, to glorify.

Think that over for a moment.

We are to honor, respect, even glorify, our parents.

Now, I have seen at times where this is slightly reduced in its power when people quote Eph6.1

I have heard this verse taught all by itself, really out of context, to children.

To take the commandment of honoring parents and making it only about obedience is to cheapen it greatly.

Why?

Because we can be obedient to a proper authority in our lives and still not give that authority and respect, or honor.

A student may obey his teacher when she tells him to take off his hat in class, but at the same time think hateful thoughts about her, or wait until her back is turned and make an obscene gesture.

An employee at work may come off of break when the boss says its time to go back to work, but inwardly be committed to laziness for the next hour because they felt they deserved a longer break.

And a child at home may go to bed when the parent told them to, but secretly stay awake playing or reading for hours after the door was closed.

You see, obedience all by itself is not the same as honoring.

And Paul did not say children obey your parents for this is right and leave it there, so why would we teach it that way?

Let’s look at what Paul wrote in full to the children of Ephesus:

So when Paul wrote about obedience, it was in the context of loving relationships.

He had written to wives and husbands right before this and right after wrote about slaves and masters.

It is a whole section on Christian relationships.

There is great guidance there.

So Paul writes to children to be obedient, and then he also quotes from the commandment, Honor your father and mother.

So there are two imperatives, or commands, Paul gives to children here.

Obey and honor.

Honor implies obedience, but obedience by itself is not necessarily linked to honor, but Paul does link it so that it is clear to all.

Paul points out this is the first commandment with a promise, that it may go well with you and that you may live long in the land.

In this phrase “that it may go well with you and that you may live long in the land”, there is both a practical and a spiritual element to this promise.

Practically, if you honor your parents, and you live this out as individuals and as a society, your society will do well.

On Mother’s Day, I preached a sermon titled “God’s church is Pro Life”, and I mentioned this is not only about pro life for the unborn, but pro life for the handicapped, and pro life for the sick, and pro life for the elderly.

And when a society practices this attitude of honoring others, and especially honoring parents and others in authority, that society will flourish.

If you model honoring your parents to your children, doesn’t that make it more likely that your children will honor you?

And who among us does not hope for our children to pay us honor, especially as we age and find ourselves in need of physical help?

So the promise is practical.

If your society chooses to love neighbor over self, the society will be healthy and flourish.

The opposite can happen as well.

A society that does not learn to respect parents will not respect any other authority either, nor will it respect the person in front of us at the traffic light whose foot is too slow to hit the gas pedal when the light turns green.

That society will also not respect the police, or the government.

It really becomes like the hell of C.S. Lewis’ The Great Divorce, with people avoiding each other more and more because they can’t stand each other.

In that story, Lewis imagines hell as a place where people move further and more remotely apart, desiring loneliness over the company of the miserable.

It’s the opposite of misery loves company, it is that misery is lonely...

The promise is also spiritual.

You see, it is an act of spiritual worship to be obedient to God, and when we are obedient to God, that comes with spiritual rewards.

So the society that teaches its children to live in respect and honor of parents and others will have spiritual blessings.

Really this command is meant to be expanded beyond children and parents, in my opinion.

I believe it can be expanded to respect for one’s elders in general, as well as respect for proper authority.