Honor Authority

Introduction

Why do we struggle so much in obeying and honoring authority figures in our lives?

Why is our gut reaction normally to question our parents advice and commands?

Maybe. . .

We think they don’t understand.

We think they don’t know what is best for us.

We think they are keeping us from something good, fun, or pleasurable.

Share example from my own life.

I think that the main reason we don’t obey and honor our parents is because we don’t trust them.

We don’t think they have our best interest in mind.

We doubt their goodness and their love for us.

All of this relates back to the way we view and think about God. . . for He is our ultimate authority.

Tonight, we will see that God has given us the fifth commandment, not to enslave us, but to bless us and free us to love and worship him.

So, the key point I want you to believe tonight is that by obeying the fifth commandment, we will experience a full and abundant life in Christ.

Groundwork on the Family

Before we get into the text, we need to lay a little ground work of where we have been and why the family and authority are important.

Remember that all the law can be summed up in these two commandments: Love God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength, and love your neighbor as yourself.

The fifth commandment is first commandment that deals more with human relationships and is considered the “second-half” of the law.

The first human relationship God addresses is the one between parents and children, which can generally be put under the category of authority.

Just as loving God was the first commandment on the first tablet that established the other three, loving and obeying parents is the first commandment on the second tablet that buttresses the other five commandments in our relationship to other people.

If we fail to love, obey, and honor our parents, we will not obey nor care about the other five commandments.

We will also break the first four because if we do not love and obey our parents, we are not loving or obeying God.

We must understand that the family is the foundational relationship to allow society to flourish.

It also points to Israel’s relationship to God as their Father and Israel being his son.

Essentially, the parents have the role of representing God to their children.

When we honor and obey our parents and authority figures, we honor and obey God.

What Does The Commandment Mean? (vs. 12a)

Exodus 20:12a “Honor Your father and your mother. . .”

“The verb כַּבֵּד‎ (kabbed) is an imperative command; it calls for people to give their parents the respect and honor that is appropriate for them. It could be paraphrased to say, give them the weight of authority that they deserve. Next to God, parents were to be highly valued, cared for, and respected.” -NET Bible Notes.

“To honor one’s parents, therefore, is to give due weight to their position. It is to give them the recognition they deserve for their God-given authority. To honor is to respect, esteem, value, and prize fathers and mothers as gifts from God.” -Philip Graham Ryken

Pause for a second. . . do you see your parents, pastors, teachers, and coaches as a gift from God?

If not, why not?

Notice that the command is to honor both father and mother equally.

This command would have been completely counter-cultural in Israel’s day. . . as the ancient near east was extremely patriarchal.

Part of honoring parents also involved providing and caring for them in their old age (1 Tim. 5:4).

Under the category of “father and mother” this command would also include any authority that God has placed over Israel.

The people of Israel would call the king “their father,” (1 Sam. 24:11).

The prophets would be called “father” (2 Kings 2:12).

Elders were called “father” (Acts 7:2).

The breaking of this command (insulting your Father or Mother) warranted the death penalty (Ex. 21:15, 17).

Disobeying parents is a serious sin, one that is listed as an example that we are living in the terrible times of the last days.

Romans 1:28–30 ESV

And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done. They were filled with all manner of unrighteousness, evil, covetousness, malice. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, maliciousness. They are gossips, slanderers, haters of God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents,

So this command should not be taken lightly. . .

Why Should We Obey? (v. 12b)

Exodus 20:12b “. . . that your days may be long in the land that the LORD your God is giving you.”

As was stated earlier. . . the first reason we should obey this command is out of love for God.

When we honor and obey our parents or authority figures, we honor and obey God.

A second reason we should obey is because through obedience to the fifth commandment we imitate God.

Just as Israel was called to imitate God through working and resting in practicing the Sabbath, they were called to imitate God in caring for their parents when they became dependent.

God promised to take care of Israel and to take care of the widow and the orphan. . . so he also calls Israel to take care of their parents when they are old and cannot provide for themselves.

A Third Reason we should obey is because it will result in a “long life.”

The phrase “long life” does not mean simply living a long time. . . but more so it means living an abundant life that is filled with God’s presence and favor.

This is not an individual promise but rather a corporate promise for the covenant people that God would protect them and bless them as long as they kept his covenant.

One of the reasons Israel did not “live an abundant life,” went into exile, and was removed from the land is because they dishonored their Father and Mother.

Ezekiel 22:7 ESV

Father and mother are treated with contempt in you; the sojourner suffers extortion in your midst; the fatherless and the widow are wronged in you.

Ezekiel 22:15 ESV

I will scatter you among the nations and disperse you through the countries, and I will consume your uncleanness out of you.

Lastly, we should honor our father and mother because this can lead to our salvation. . . which provides abundant and eternal life.

“There is one more reason to keep the fifth commandment, and it may be the most important reason of all: Parents have a God-given responsibility to teach their children how to know and serve God. But children will not learn those lessons if they do not respect their parents; so keeping the fifth commandment is essential to God’s plan for passing down the faith. Of all the ways children honor their parents, the most important is listening to what they say about God and the way of salvation.” -Philip Graham Ryken

How Does This Commandment Apply to Us?

This command is repeated by Jesus and Paul in the New Testament.

In Mark 7:1-13. . . Jesus rebukes the Pharisees for not taking care of their parents in their old age. Instead of providing for them, they gave their money to the temple to try to earn their own righteousness.

Paul repeats Exodus 20:12 in Ephesians 6:1-3

Ephesians 6:1–3 ESV

Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. “Honor your father and mother” (this is the first commandment with a promise), “that it may go well with you and that you may live long in the land.”

The way we treat, obey, and listen to our authority is the way we treat, obey, and listen to God.

Our honor and obedience to those in authority over us should be motivated by our love for God in wanting to obey and honor him.

So, besides your parents, who are those in authority over you?

Pastors

Hebrews 13:17 ESV

Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they are keeping watch over your souls, as those who will have to give an account. Let them do this with joy and not with groaning, for that would be of no advantage to you.

Government/Public Defenders

Romans 13:1 ESV

Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God.

Teachers, Coaches, Bosses

Ephesians 6:5 ESV

Bondservants, obey your earthly masters with fear and trembling, with a sincere heart, as you would Christ,

How can we honor our father and our mother and those in authority over our lives?

By listening and obeying what they ask us to do.

Even if this means warning us of things and people we should not be involved with.

By respecting their authority in our lives.

Know your role/place

Don’t seek to offer unsolicited advice or your opinions unless they ask for it.

By speaking well of them to your friends.

By actually talking to them about your life and spending time with them.

By trusting their judgment that they love you and they know best, even when you don’t understand or agree.

Understand that your parents and authority figures have more life experience then you do.

By thanking them and telling them how much you appreciate them.

By still seeking their wisdom and counsel even after you leave the house.

In the future. . . by taking care of them when they no longer can take care of themselves.

Proverbs 23:22; Lev. 19:32; Matt. 15:4-5.

By honoring, respecting, and obeying them. . . even when they do not deserve your respect (examples of Jonathan and David with Saul).

This command also applies to not abusing your authority if you have it in the future.

“Father’s don’t exasperate your children. . . “ (Eph. 6:4).

But how do you honor or obey your parents if they are not Christians and tell give you ungodly advice. . . or even if they are Christians and give you ungodly advice?

This situation is rare. . . but if you have to choose between honoring your parents and honoring the Lord, you must honor the Lord.

We are called to obey our parents in the Lord. . . if we cannot do it “in the Lord” than we cannot obey something they tell us to do that is contrary to God’s revealed will.

If you cannot receive godly advice from your parents, you should turn to the church.

Jesus, The Perfect Child

However, like we learned earlier, this command is directly tied to the first four in loving God and honoring and obeying him.

The only way we can trust, love, and obey our parents and authority figures is if we trust, love, and obey God first.

The only way we won’t doubt our parent’s good intentions for our lives if we first don’t doubt God’s goodness and commands he has given to us.

Ultimately, we have all broken the fifth commandment.

All of our issues stem back to the garden, where Adam and Eve first disobeyed God, who was their father and creator.

They did this because they did not trust his word, they doubted his goodness, and they thought they knew better instead.

They were not obedient children, but they were rebellious children. . . and we have all followed suit. . . becoming rebellious children ourselves. . . children of wrath. . . children of the devil.

But. . .

Praise God, that in his great mercy he sent his Son, Jesus Christ, who was the perfect child.

Jesus died for our sin in breaking the fifth commandment and he fulfilled the fifth commandment through his perfect life of obedience as a man.

Luke 2:51 ESV

And he went down with them and came to Nazareth and was submissive to them. And his mother treasured up all these things in her heart.

John 19:26–27 ESV

When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, he said to his mother, “Woman, behold, your son!” Then he said to the disciple, “Behold, your mother!” And from that hour the disciple took her to his own home.

Through faith in Christ, his obedience counts in our place and we fulfill the fifth commandment through faith in him!

Tonight. . . you must. . .

Know God is good.

Know God loves you and is for you (look to the cross).

Trust him by submitting your life to him.

This is the only way you will be able to honor and obey your parents and authority figures.

One of the best ways you can be a witness for Jesus to the world. . . one of the best ways you can show God’s goodness to the broken. . . one of the best ways you can show God’s love for the lost, is by loving, obeying, and honoring the authority God has placed in your life.

And. . . This is the only way you will experience a full and abundant life.

So, may we do as the old hymn says. . .

Trust and obey,

For there’s no other way,

To be happy in Jesus,

But to trust and obey.

Let’s pray. . .