Honoring Mom & Dad

-so last week we didn’t meet because it was Mother’s Day, and next month we won’t be meeting because of Father’s Day.

-by the way, did you know both of these holidays started here in the church? Mother’s Day was started by a woman whose mom did a Bible Study on moms of the Bible over a hundred years ago. When she died, the church held a service based on her teachings to honor moms and it was huge, so they petitioned Washington and got Mom her own day. Father’s Day was started by a United Methodist Church a few miles down the road who had gone through a mine explosion that killed a lot of fathers, so they had a Father’s Day service.

-both of these holidays now legal in the US, both started by churches.

-so why these days? And why are we talking about it here? One simple little verse, I’m sure you could memorize it if you try (it’s in the bucket).

**Col. 3:20 -> 20Children, it is your Christian duty to obey your Parents always, for that is what pleases God.(GNT)

-there’s a mouthful right there, so let’s take a look at it.

1. OBEY YOUR PARENTS ALWAYS

-yeah, that’s right, it says in every little thing, even if you disagree, you are supposed to obey your parents all the time. Not just when you agree, or when you feel like it, or if it makes sense to you, all the time!

-basically, you’re supposed to be like the kid who ran away from home. I’m not sure if you’ve heard this one, but there’s a story of a little boy who was sitting on a street corner, by himself, just sitting there. This older man walked by and asked him if he was okay, he said yeah. He asked the boy what he was doing and the boy said running away from home (I’m sure none of you did that when you were little, or now). The man understood, then asked the boy why he was sitting at the corner. The boy said he wasn’t allowed to cross the street.

-I know, it’s all cute, but think about it. The boy was running away from home, but still obeyed mom and dad.

-you know, we have an example for this, you may know Him, His name is Jesus.

-there’s a story of Jesus when He was twelve, His parents had lost track of Him and found Him three days later in the Temple teaching. They get a little mad, He says He was in His Father’s House doing God’s work. They say to come home with them now! What does He do?

**Luke 2:51a -> 51Then He returned to Nazareth with them and was obedient to them. (NLT)

-remember, this is God. I’ve always wondered what it would be like to be God’s earthly parent. How do you tell Him He’s doing something bad? I mean, really, which one of us would be wrong here? But they tell Him to come with them and He obeys. Mom and dad rank pretty high.

-and I know what you’re thinking, He was twelve and away from home. You’re older, can drive, have friends who can drive, you go to PG-13 movies, it’s a little different.

-in Roman law, there was a law like this one to honor your parents. Just it was worded slightly differently so that there was no question, it counted for the rest of your life, no matter how old you were. So even now, let’s take Rich for an example, if Rich’s dad [Adult Volunteer]were to call right now and tell him to drive a few hours and get over there to help him move a couch, Roman law would be that Rich has to go do it, doesn’t matter how old or independent he is.

-let’s go back to Jesus, yeah He obeyed when He was twelve, but what about at thirty?

**John 2:1-12 -> 1Two days later there was a wedding in the town of Cana in Galilee. Jesus’ mother was there, 2and Jesus and His followers were also invited to the wedding. 3When all the wine was gone, Jesus’ mother said to Him, “They have no more wine.” 4Jesus answered, “Dear woman, why come to me? My time has not yet come.” 5His mother said to the servants, “Do whatever He tells you to do.” 6In that place there were six stone water jars that the Jews used in their washing ceremony. Each jar held about twenty or thirty gallons. 7Jesus said to the servants, “Fill the jars with water.” So they filled the jars to the top. 8Then he said to them, “Now take some out and give it to the master of the feast.” So they took the water to the master. 9When he tasted it, the water had become wine. He did not know where the wine came from, but the servants who had brought the water knew. The master of the wedding called the bridegroom 10and said to him, “People always serve the best wine first. Later, after the guests have been drinking awhile, they serve the cheaper wine. But you have saved the best wine till now.” 11So in Cana of Galilee Jesus did His first miracle. There He showed His glory, and His followers believed in Him. 12After this, Jesus went to the town of Capernaum with His mother, brothers, and followers. They stayed there for just a few days.(NCV)