Respect Authority! Series

Respect Authority!

Ephesians 6:1-9

Focus: God calls Christians to submit to one another and respect authority out of respect for God.

Function: To illustrate how our submission plays out in the Parent-Child relationship as well as in our work world.

When Celeste and I first found out that we were going to have a baby three years ago, we were understandably very excited! And we

wanted to be the best parents we could be, so we went to the Baby Super-store and learned all about the baby paraphernalia. We got it all;

the safest car seat we could find, those plugs for electric outlets to keep little fingers from them; and all sorts of things. We wanted to learn

how to care for a baby and we did. Celeste drug me to the birthing class at the hospital where we not only talked about the birthing

procedure, but also some of the basics of infant care. We wanted to be prepared! What we DIDN’T talk about, though, was what to do

when the child turned two! Now we’re dealing with a two-year old and let me tell you, it’s a whole new ball game! We’ve learned a lot!

You can tell what we’re going through when you come over to our house and check out the bookshelf. We’ve got James Dobson’s entire

library: “Dare to Discipline”, “The Strong Willed Child”; “Parenting isn’t for Cowards.” I can’t tell you that I’ve actually read them all, but

Celeste has and she’s gone thru and dog-eared and highlighted the parts that I need to read! We’ve got others, “How to Make Your Kids

Mind, Without Losing Yours”; and (my favorite title) “You Can’t Make Me!” written by a self-professed & recovering strong willed child.

Get an idea of what life is like at our house these days? We’re trying to be good parents for our boys, and what we’re finding is that there

are some challenges! I came across this list of what another parent had learned . . .

1) There is no such thing as child proofing your home. 2) Baseballs make marks on the ceiling. 3) You should not throw baseballs

up when the ceiling fan is on. 4) A ceiling fan can hit a baseball a long way. 5) The glass in windows, even double pane ones, is

not strong enough to stop a baseball that has been hit by a ceiling fan. 6) When you hear the toilet flush and the words “Uh-oh”, it’s

already too late. 7) A six year old can start a fire with a flint rock even though a thirty six year old man says they can only do that in

the movies. 8) If you use a waterbed as home plate while wearing baseball shoes, it does not leak – it explodes. 9) A king size

waterbed holds enough water to fill a 2000 square foot house 4 inches deep.

You know my kids and I know yours– we could come up with quite a list of our own, couldn’t we? The bottom line here is that we want to be

good parents and teach our children how to get along in the world, how to treat one another, but ultimately how to love God and to respect

authority.

In today’s text that _________ just read to us, Paul continues his discussion on submission by turning to two other relationships. You

remember in 4:21 he has exhorted Christians to “submit to one another out of reverence/ respect for Christ.” He has raised the

standard! We don’t submit because it’s the natural thing to do; we don’t submit because the other person is always right . . . we submit out

of our respect for the authority of Christ! He illustrated that in the relationship of marriage. Wives are to submit to their husbands ‘as to the

Lord’ and Husbands are to love their wives ‘as Christ loved the church.’ Notice where the authority is in these passages . . . it is Christ, the

Lord! Keep that thought in mind as we move through the next two subjects Paul looks at in under this subject of ‘Submission.’

First, Paul looks to the Family . . .

Eph 6:1-4

1 Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. 2 "Honor your father and mother"-- which is the first commandment

with a promise-- 3 "that it may go well with you and that you may enjoy long life on the earth." 4 Fathers, do not exasperate your

children; instead, bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord. (NIV)

Children, Obey your parents!

Sometimes preachers get in the habit of preaching lessons that he knows his own kids need to hear . . . I’ve been waiting to get to this