The Fifth And Sixth Commandments

Title: The 10 Commandments – 5&6 Scripture: Exodus 20:12-13

Type: Expository Date: 10-20-19

Intro: Comedian Rodney Dangerfield, who died October 5, 2004, at age 82, made a living making fun of himself and the difficulty of getting what we all desire: a little respect, please. Some of his best lines were: “I tell ya I get no respect from anyone. I bought a cemetery plot. The guy said, ‘There goes the neighborhood!’” “My uncle’s dying wish, he wanted me to come sit on his lap. He was in the electric chair.” “I could tell that my parents disliked me. My bath toys were a toaster and a radio.” “I remember I was so depressed I was going to jump out a window on the tenth floor, so they sent a priest to talk to me. He said, ‘On your mark. . .’” “My wife made me join a bridge club. I jump off next Tuesday.”

“I come from a stupid family. During the Civil War my great uncle fought for the West.” (www.ChicagoTribune.com, 10-6-04) All kidding aside, it seems that nobody gets any respect anymore. Our society has lost much of its civility, and I’m afraid it’s going to destroy us unless we can turn it around. Ronald Kernaghan recently observed: “At the beginning of the 21st century, reasoned discourse is increasingly giving way to in-your-face sound bites… Hardball is the dominant metaphor for American public life. Our interchanges are confrontational, divisive, and dismissive. Truth is not something we expect to emerge from a conversation. It is something we hope to impose. (Ronald J. Kernaghan, "Speaking the Truth In Love," Theology, News & Notes, Winter 2003)He’s absolutely right. Just listen to all the political commentary. The question is: How can we restore respect to a society that seems to have lost it? How can we bring back a sense of civility before it destroys our way of life as we know it?

Well, the answer is quite simple: Respect begins in the home. The two Commandments we will examine today directly deals with this in our public and private life.

Prop: Today we will examine the 5th and 6th Commandment.

BG: 1. Exodus 20. 10 Commandments given by God to Moses on Mt. Sinai.

2. Two we will examine today begin the 6 that deal with our relationship to fellow man.

3. “Honor your father and mother.” “Shall not murder.”

Prop: Turn with me to Exodus 20 as we examine the 5th and 6th Commandments.

I. The 5th Commandment: “Honor Your Father and Mother” v.12

A. The 5th Commandment Deals with God’s Building Block of Society: the Family.

1. The 5th Commandment Requires us to Show Honor and Respect to our Family.

a. We have now moved from the 1st to the 2nd tablet of the Law. 1st – Man’s duty towards God. 2nd – Man’s responsibility towards man. Illust – Last week Zach preached an awesome message on the 374th commandments and entitled it: “Love God Part II”. Using his logic, then I should title this message: “”Love One Another, Part I”. The 1st command requires the worship of God alone. The 5th requires “honor of human beings as well”. So the 2nd tablet, like the first, begins with an examination of our heart attitude. Some wonder what age one is when this injunction stops applying to us. Honoring our parents doesn’t stop when we turn eighteen or twenty-one. The fifth commandment is a lifelong command that includes respecting, loving, and faithfully bearing with our parents. Although the way in which a child honors his or her parents changes over time, the command remains.

b. In general this is a command to respect and honor the most basic levels of authority in our lives. God has given authority to various offices within the structure of his created order, and one of those offices is the office of parent.

2. What does this passage mean when it tells us to “Honor” our Father and Mother?

a. Illust: In our society the proper way to refer to a judge or magistrate in court is “Your honor”. Why? Therefore, judge of a court is saluted as honorable judge. Hence in oral representation a judge is addressed as "Your honor" giving due respect to his or her statutory authority. I think this is helpful to better understand our Commandment today. That judge may be an honorable individual. However, that judge may be an absolute rogue and a reprobate. Still, in his or her court, you demonstrate the respect of addressing as “Your honor” because you are showing reverence for the position. The position is important, even essential, to a properly running society, and we are to honor that position.

b. So, to honor means to “revere”. Both sin and righteousness begins in the heart! So honor is a heart attitude, expressing reverence or respect. To “honor” be it father or mother or judges or a president or senator or employer or whomever, is ultimately a choice of the will and a matter of the heart. Part of the heart attitude we are to demonstrate to our father/mother is submission. Illust: When we respect someone we listen respectfully to what he or she says and we do not assume from the outset that we know more than that individual. From those we respect, we expect to learn. Illust: Few years ago had to go to a specialist for an ongoing problem with my ear. He asked my symptoms and observations. Then, I shut up and listened. I did not tell him what the web said I had or what my great Aunt Martha told me I had. Rather, I had come to him, and was paying him, because he had about 20 years of schooling and another 20 years of practice. I did not call him by his 1st name, I referred to him as Dr. Olney.