“Honor Your Father”
1 Samuel 2-4
I. Introduction with children’s comments on fathers.
II. Eli and his sons Hophni and Phinehas (1 Samuel 2-4)
I want to share some stories with you today about fathers and their children. I want you to hear these stories and decide for yourself whether or not these children honored their fathers. The first of these stories is found in the Bible in 1 Samuel chapters 2-4.
Eli was a great priest and judge in the early days of Israel. He was loved by the Lord and respected by all the people of Israel. He obeyed all of the Lord’s commandments and encouraged the people to do the same.
Eli had two sons Hophni and Phinehas. His two sons were also priests in the tabernacle of the Lord as was the tradition in Israel. Eli taught his sons the ways of God from early childhood and encouraged them to be faithful to the Lord all the days of their lives. They followed dad around the tabernacle and observed the way he treated the people and practiced his ministry.
They learned that the meat of the animal sacrifices were to be boiled in the presence of the Lord and that priests were allotted a certain portion to feed themselves and their family. They learned from their father how to treat the other priests and temple maidens with respect and dignity. They learned to respect the house of God and the holy objects inside. They learned how to avoid temptation and live a life that pleases God. They also learned how to consult God when facing tough decisions and to accept his encouragement and discipline according to the situation. Eli loved his sons more than any other person and was proud of them. In fact, he hoped that one day he would be replaced by one of them as high priest and judge of Israel. He hoped that God would one day speak to his sons as he spoke to Eli in their private fellowship and that he would have an heir to lead Israel for generations to come.
As Eli grew older and older so did his sons. They worked in the temple alongside their father day after day. When Eli was them everything went well, but when they were alone or Eli was away on business they did things that made God angry.
Hophni and Phinehas quite often committed adultery with the ladies serving at the gate of the temple even though they knew it was forbidden. They would steal the Lord’s portion of the sacrifice when people brought animals to the temple for the Lord. They lied to the people and told them it was okay with God. They tried to hide these evil deeds from Eli, but the Lord told him of their wickedness. Eli talked with his sons and warned them that God would punish them and their descendants for this evil behavior, but the behavior continued and became worse. They had lost all regard and fear of the Lord.
People began to question Eli as the high priest because of the evil practices of his sons. God had enough and passed judgment on Eli and his family through Samuel. He told Samuel that Eli, Hophni and Phinehas would all suffer death because of the wickedness of the boys and the inability to of Eli to stop them. He said they would never again have a male heir to carry on the family name. You would think that upon hearing this they would have changed their ways.
Unfortunately that is not the case. They actually continued to get worse and in fact totally rebelled against God a short time later. The Philistines came out to challenge the people of Israel to war and were beating them terribly. In past wars, God instructed Eli or other leaders to take the Ark of the Covenant with them into battle and victory would be guaranteed because of the presence of God in the battle. This time Hophni and Phinehas decided they would take the Ark to the battlefield and gain recognition for themselves as the source of victory. People were not allowed to touch the Ark unless God told them to. God had not told them to move the Ark so he allowed them to be struck dead during the battle and the Ark was captured by their enemies. Upon learning of their death and the Ark’s capture, Eli fell of his stool and broke his neck and also died. All this happened to fulfill the judgment of God on Eli and his evil sons.
III. Was Eli honored by the actions of Hophni and Phinehas?
Did the fact that everyone knew Eli could not control his sons bring honor to his name? It makes parents look bad when their children do evil things even though they have been taught otherwise. Eli had a great reputation among the people for most of his life until his sons didn’t live a life that protected that reputation. They ignored all the lessons of their youth and even ignored his warnings that something bad was going to happen if they didn’t straighten out. Most importantly, they failed to learn the valuable lessons their father worked hard to teach them. He upheld his responsibilities as the father to teach his children life’s important lessons, but the failed to uphold their responsibility to uphold their family name.
IV. Grandma’s green car and the father in the corner illustration.
When I was growing up my parents had an ugly green car that looked like a boat. You have to remember I grew up in the 1970’s and 1980’s. Unless it was a mustang, camaro or firebird, cars didn’t look too cool back then. For some reason, auto makers felt that cars had to be huge to appeal to people. I even made up a song about this car when I was in fifth grade called “big green messed up machine” using the music of Prince’s “little red corvette.” I hated that car and didn’t want to be seen arriving at school in that car. It was embarrassing. After all, I was part of the in crowd and didn’t want to be made fun of like my sister and brother who were not.
One morning on the way to school, I instructed my grandmother who was driving that morning to drop me off a block away from school and let me walk the rest of the way so that no one would see the car. She refused to let me out in a bad neighborhood and put me in danger of being kidnapped so I warned her that if she didn’t pull over the car and let me out, I would open the door and jump out. Well, I guess she thought I was lying and she kept driving. Shortly before pulling up to the school, I opened the door and proceeded to step out onto the street. My foot hit the pavement at about 20 miles per hour and threw me into the air immediately. I hit the ground and rolled up to the spot where I normally got out of the car. I got up bloody and scratched up to see a crowd of people looking to see what this dumb kid did to himself. I was more embarrassed by trying to avoid embarrassment than I was by the sight of the car.
The parents I was ashamed of because they weren’t cool and dressed funny were at the school a short time later for everyone to see and know that we were related. My brother and sister I didn’t talk to at school also became known as my brother and sister that day. I spent so much time denying them because of shame. I didn’t want anyone to know that they were my family and that we drove an ugly car.
As I was speaking I remembered an opposite story I heard about a man and his father. There was a man who loved his father very much and even wanted to be like his dad when he grew up. His dad was the most handsome, funny and intelligent man he had ever seen. He was charming and always the most popular man in the room. This young man even entered the same career field as his dad and carried on the family business. Eventually the young mans mother passed away and his father became very old and Alzheimers disease began to set in. Doing the right thing, the young man moved his father in with him and his family.
The young mans wife was embarrassed by her father in law because quite often in public he would shake wildly or ramble on loudly about many different things. They would take him to restaurants and he would start to shake so bad he often tipped over tables or spilled food all over the floor creating a scene. She hated this because it didn’t look good for normal rich people to make a scene in public. She always yelled at her husband who eventually became embarrassed himself by his father’s illness. They eventually quit taking him out in public and wouldn’t invite friends over for fear of being embarrassed.
Unfortunately, the old man’s illness became worse and so did his outburst. One Thanksgiving he had such a bad episode at the table that the turkey and cranberry sauce was thrown onto the new carpet staining it forever. The young man and his wife became so outraged that later that evening they commented to the elder man that if he was going to act like a pig he would eat like a pig out of a trough in the corner rather than at the table. They no longer let him set at the table with the family but placed a wood trough on a bench in the corner for him to eat from.
A month or so later one of their young children requested large amounts of wood, nails and paint. They had no idea why their 5 year old wanted such things so they questioned the request. He pulled out plans to build 2 food troughs like the one that the elder gentleman dined from each day. They asked their son why he wanted to build those 2 troughs and his response shocked them. He said that he noticed grandpa eating from a similar bowl each day and that must be how you feed old people. He continued to tell them that he loved them so much he wanted to get a head start on getting theirs ready for when they came to live with him.
Can you imagine how they felt when he made that statement?
V. Were either of those fathers honored by their son’s actions?
Do you think that any of those fathers were honored by their children being ashamed of them? In fact, in my case I was more eager to hurt myself than to be recognized for my father’s son. In the second story, the young man neglected his father when things got tough with the wife and her embarrassment. Do you think it honored the father to be rejected because his son didn’t want to endure a little headache and teasing? I don’t think it honors anyone to know that people they love are embarrassed by them and ashamed to be associated with them.
VI. Big Fat Greek Wedding Illustration (Video Clip)
VII. Did she honor her father by her actions?
Was her father honored when she didn’t recognize who she was as his child? Did it honor her father when she was ashamed to be Greek? How do you think it made her father feel when she didn’t want to be associated with the family business and was actually embarrassed by it? She had dreams of her own that didn’t include the family (diner) She often walked around with her head hung low instead of being glad to be accepted and loved unconditionally by her father. She didn’t realize that her happiness and success was a reflection of her father.
VIII. Do You honor your father?
Do you reject the lessons taught about life and living? Have you forgotten about the right and wrong way to treat others? Do you remember the importance of honesty, purity and integrity as modeled by your father? I hope that we all heed the warnings of judgment for ignoring the lessons of our father. I hope that we all protect the good reputation of our father by making right decisions and avoiding rebellious living.
I hope that none of us are ashamed of our father and his provision for us. I hope that we are quick to show people who our father is and brag about his love and goodness. I hope that we never hide him in a corner when around people who think he’s not cool. I hope that we never reject or neglect him in the face of persecution. I hope that we are proud for people to know who we are related to and what that means to us.
I hope that we all are proud of the family business and want to be a part of and uphold the family traditions. I hope that we all hold our heads high trusting our father to always be there for us. I pray that none of us forsake our father for selfish ambitions and desires. I pray that we all know what it means to be a part of a loving, forgiving and accepting family.
I ask you again. Do you honor your father?
Before you answer that question I want you to realize that I am talking about your heavenly father, not your earthly father. Many of us have a reason to not want to honor our earthly fathers because of the way they have treated or neglected us, but none of us have a reason to dishonor our heavenly father unless we don’t know him. Even if we have a reason, it doesn’t make it right.
One of the greatest things about our father is that he is forgiving and patient with us to get it right. We honor him the most by sharing our lives with him. Herby is going to come play a song for us in a minute and I invite you to spend the next few minutes honoring your father. Show him that you are proud of him and want to serve him. Show him that you love him and want to serve him and carry on the family business of ministry.
Don’t let Father’s day 2006 pass by without showing him your love and appreciation. If there are any who do not know this wonderful father that deserves all honor and glory, come and let me introduce you to him. He has been waiting to meet you for a long time. That’s why you are here today. Don’t dishonor him by denying him one more day.
