HONOUR TO WHOM HONOUR IS DUE
Exodus 20:12; Matthew 15:1-9
Dorn Ridge Church of Christ May 11, 2014
Audio link to sermon: http://chirb.it/0M8APA
INTRODUCTION:
1.) On this Mother’s Day Sunday, I want to address an important theme from the Word of God on honouring our parents.
A.) Certainly in this room are represented various stages of our walk in life.
B.) The reality of the different stages of life can often make Mother’s Day an awkward time and subject to address.
ba.) For many people Mother’s Day is hard.
bb.) Many here today would no longer have mothers or fathers who are still alive.
2.) The theme I have chosen for today is that of giving honour to our parents.
A.) I have chosen to speak this Mother’s Day from a passage from the ten commandments.
B.) Honouring our parents is something we can do regardless of our age, or if our parents are living or deceased.
3.) In particular, I would like to specifically address three topics on this theme today:
A.) Honouring your parents is not always a value of society.
B.) Honouring your parents is a value given us from the Word of God.
C.) Honouring your parents means different things at each stage in life.
I. HONOURING YOUR PARENTS IS NOT ALWAYS A VALUE OF SOCEITY.
1.) Traditionally most societies have valued the previous generations, their values, and wisdom.
A.)This is not always the rule, and today it may even be more challenged than during previous generations.
2.) Today many forces seek to excuse us from the honour we owe our parents.
A.) Some of the music, videos, and games youth will take into their lives today can challenge the values of the family.
aa.) Prized qualities such as: Godliness, and traditional values are often mocked or ridiculed by television, and other stimuli that impact our youth and culture today.
ab.) This includes teachings directly from the Word of God including teachings on the honour we are to give to parents.
ac.) There are numerous individuals whose influence through song and video encourage young people to be disrespectful to their parents and not give them the honour that is rightfully theirs.
aca.) Past generations would have been shocked at the challenges to family in the 21st.century.
B.) Today there are just so many forces battling against the family, and traditional values of society.
3.) Perhaps this has always been the case.
A.) Maybe this is nothing new as the family and the church have always been the two strongholds upon which society has been guided, and given direction, and stability.
aa.) These two institutions have been backbones or foundation walls to establish the next generation into the best it can be.
B.) Because they have been powerful forces for the good of our nation Satan has always attacked, and tried to remove the parental honour that God himself has put in place.
4.) Today some would even argue one does not have to honour a parent if deemed by that person as unhonourable.
A.) The reality is that every parent who has been on this earth is not perfect.
aa.) Every parent on this earth including ourselves have had times we have failed in parenting and the way a situation may have been handled.
B.) But regardless of flaws or failures we have an obligation to pay honour to our parents.
ba.) This is a debt of honour that is to be without exception.
C.) It is possible that a situation would come up in which a parent could desire a child to enter into sin.
ca.) If such a situation was to come up one would have to make a choice between that decision and obedience and loyalty to Jesus Christ.
cb.) Yet even if such a situation arose, we would still be required to use respect for our parent/s and to honour them in the other areas of life.
cc.) The reason for this is simple:
II. HONOURING OUR PARENTS IS A COMMANDMENT FROM THE WORD OF GOD.
1.) To honour our father and our mother comes right from the ten Commandments.
A.) Exodus 20:12
B.) The importance of this statement is seen when we appreciate what the ten commandments actually are.
ba.) On one level these commandments were laws summarizing briefly the will of God.
baa.) In fact, the ten commandments have formed the basis of Jewish religious and civil law.
bab.) Really we cannot stop there, for the ten commandments have formed the backbone of law for many nations of the world including Canada and the United States.
bb.) Yet on another level the ten commandments including the commandment to Honour our fathers and mothers have a much deeper meaning, and importance.
bba.) You may recall a few years ago I had a series of messages on the Jewish Wedding ceremony as a symbol of our relationship to God and Jesus Christ.
bbb.) In that series, I had stated before the groom left his future bride to prepare a place for her, he would give her a written “Ketubbah” stating both his love for his bride, and also to express his expectations for his bride.
bbc.) Many Scholars feel the ten commandments were in fact that Ketubbah for the nation of Israel as God’s bride.
bbd.) If in fact that is so, then God is telling us that to honour our parents is in fact a form of Honouring God himself.
bbe.) Likewise, the opposite would also have to be true that if we do not honour our parents that we are dishonouring God.
C.) The teaching to honour our fathers and mothers goes right through the Bible.
ca.) Proverbs 23:22
D.) We have also the very words of Jesus.
da.) Matthew 15:1-9
E.) The Apostle Paul carries this commandment forward into the time of the New Testament as well.
ea.) Eph. 6:2-3
eb.) In fact Paul speaks to the young man Timothy on those who are not willing to honour their parents.
eba.) 2 Tim. 3:1-3
.01) Paul makes many statements in these verses that also go with the aspect of not honouring parents:
.001) Lovers of themselves.
.002) boastful
.003) Proud
.004) Abusive
.005) ungrateful
.006) without love
.007) unforgiving
.008) slanderous
ec.) Paul also shows the danger of such an attitude of dishonour.
eca.) 2 Tim. 3:4b.
ecb.) He describes them as a lover of pleasure rather than a lover of God.
ed.) Even worse, Paul shows us that for Christians to not show honour to their parents is to have a form of Godliness, but in fact to be denying the very power and working of God in their own life.
eda.) 2 Tim. 3:5
edb.) That is a very serious charge against our walk with God.
edc.) When a Christian fails to honour his parents, he has not surrendered himself to the Lordship of Jesus Christ.
edd.) In fact, the words of Paul are so strong that he tells us we should not even have fellowship with such a person because such a person has denied the faith.
.01) As Christians we have an obligation not only to God, but to our parents to give honour to our parents.
2.) On a more positive note, the commandment to honour our parents is a commandment with a promise.
A.) Eph. 6:2-3
B.) “That it May go well with you.”
ba.) Generally if we honour our parents, we will learn from them the values, and ideals that will give us a triumphant life, and a ife of success.
bb.) For the most part, parents have gone through some of the hard things of life. They have learned either by the wisdom of honouring their own parents, or through the hard knocks of life, or both.
bc.) In either case what has been learned by the older generations can be a tremendous blessing to the younger generations.
C.) “And that you may live long on the earth”
ca.) This is not a hard and fast rule, but a principle that often is true.
caa.) Certainly we live in an imperfect world, and it is possible that even if we honour our parents life could be prematurely cut short for one reason or another.
cab.) But as a general principle when we honour our parents we live the kind of lives that are more likely to lead to a long life.
cac.) Let me give a few “parentisms” ( a new word I just made up) to show the truth of this principle:
.01) Don’t’ take the car over 100kms (60 MPH) an hour.
02) Avoid parties if there is no adult to supervise.
.03.) Stay clear of alcohol and drugs.
.04) Certainly there are many other statements we could make, but as a general rule to follow principles such as these in honouring our parents will give us a longer and better life than if we don’t.
III. HONOURING YOUR PARENTS MEANS DIFFERENT THINGS AT EACH STAGE IN LIFE.
1.) In Childhood and while under our parents’ roof it means Submission and surrender to their authority.
A.) The authority of the home is the basis for learning respect and honour in every area of life.
aa.) Those who are not required to honour the authority of parents have no reason to accept the authority of a school teacher, a policeman, a boss at work, or any other authority in life.
ab.) Those who do not accept authority tend to develop into the worst of society.
2.) In young adulthood as children marry and begin to raise their own families, there is a change in relationship with their own parents.
A.) At that time our birth parents will no longer be authority figures in our lives.
aa.) The respect for them should still be present, but the role of authority has changed with adulthood and the establishment of a new home.
B.) We honour them by seeking their wisdom, direction, and friendship.
3.) In older adulthood, the ways we honour our parents again will change.
A.) There may come a time when we honour our parents by helping them with chores and running errands, preparing meals for them, perhaps driving them where they might need to go.
aa.) Just honouring them by doing things they may no longer be able to do for themselves that they once did.
B.) Sometimes during the latter years of life there may be a need to help parents financially.
C.) There are times during the latter years of life that we can honour them by helping to give them guidance particularly if age has taken a toll on their own ability to think or to remember.
ca.)That is a stage that to say the least becomes both awkward, and uncomfortable for both the parent and child, but might be the way to best honour them at that time.
4.) Many in this room can no longer honour your parents in person.
A.) For perhaps the largest number of this congregation, you no longer have parents who are living.
aa.) Many people will honour the memory of their parents with flowers or donations to keep their memory alive.
ab.) Certainly at this stage in life we most greatly honour our parents by just the example and maturity of our own lives with the wisdom they have given to us.
5.) Regardless what stage of life we are in, and whether our parents are living or deceased there are principles we can follow that will bring honour to our parents.
A.) To have love for our parents.
B.) To respect the sacrifices they have made for you.
C.) To cherish the memories with them.
D.) To apply the wisdom they have taught us.
E.) To forgive them for any wrongs they may have done, realizing that like us they were not perfect.
F.) To live out the positive values they have instilled in you, including in matters of faith and worship of God.
G.) To pass on to the next generation the greatness which has come from our parents, and former generations?
CONCLUSION:
1.) Society may not always be great at honouring parents.
2.) As Christians, honouring parents is a value given to us from the Word of God.
3.) Regardless of the stage of life we are in, and whether or not our parents are still alive, there are ways we can honour them.
4.) Let us leave here today honouring our parents, for in so doing, we also honour God.
