Living in Honor
From Bondage to Glory • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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Call to Worship
Call to Worship
How blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob, Whose hope is in Yahweh his God,
Who made heaven and earth, The sea and all that is in them; Who keeps truth forever;
Who does justice for the oppressed; Who gives food to the hungry. Yahweh sets the prisoners free.
Yahweh opens the eyes of the blind; Yahweh raises up those who are bowed down; Yahweh loves the righteous;
Yahweh keeps the sojourners; He helps up the orphan and the widow, But He bends the way of the wicked.
Yahweh will reign forever, Your God, O Zion, from generation to generation. Praise Yah!
First Reading
First Reading
The wilderness and the desert will be delighted, And the Arabah will rejoice and flourish; Like the crocus
It will flourish profusely And rejoice with rejoicing and shout of joy. The glory of Lebanon will be given to it, The majesty of Carmel and Sharon. They will see the glory of Yahweh, The majesty of our God.
Strengthen limp hands, and give courage to the knees of the stumbling.
Say to those with an anxious heart, “Be strong, fear not. Behold, your God will come with vengeance; The recompense of God will come, But He will save you.”
Then the eyes of the blind will be opened, And the ears of the deaf will be unstopped.
Then the lame will leap like a deer, And the tongue of the mute will shout for joy. For waters will break forth in the wilderness And streams in the Arabah.
Then the scorched land will become a pool And the thirsty ground springs of water; In the haunt of jackals, its resting place, Grass becomes reeds and rushes.
And a roadway will be there, a highway, And it will be called the Highway of Holiness. The unclean will not pass by on it, But it will be for him who walks in that way, And ignorant fools will not wander on it.
No lion will be there, Nor will any vicious beast go up on it; These will not be found there. But the redeemed will walk there,
And the ransomed of Yahweh will return And come with joyful shouting to Zion, With everlasting gladness upon their heads. They will attain delight and gladness, And sorrow and sighing will flee away.
Scripture and Prayer
Scripture and Prayer
And Mary said: “My soul magnifies the Lord,
And my spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior.
“For He has looked upon the humble state of His slave, For behold, from this time on, all generations will count me blessed.
“For the Mighty One has done great things for me, And holy is His name.
“And His mercy is upon generation after generation Toward those who fear Him.
“He has done a mighty deed with His arm; He has scattered those who were proud in the thoughts of their heart.
“He has brought down rulers from their thrones, And has exalted those who were humble.
“He has filled the hungry with good things, And sent away the rich empty-handed.
“He has given help to Israel His servant, In remembrance of His mercy,
As He spoke to our fathers, To Abraham and his seed forever.”
TS: At this point in the Ten Words, the focus shifts from what people must do to love God with their whole hearts to what people must do to love each other as they would want to be loved themselves.
In this passage, God gives the final six commandments, focusing on our relationships with others. These commandments call us to honor our parents, value life, maintain purity, respect others' belongings, guard against dishonesty, and not covet.
Application: This sermon emphasizes the importance of community and relationships. By living out these commandments, individuals can create a loving and respectful environment, fostering unity instead of discord. It encourages listeners to reflect on their interactions and consider how they can honor others in their daily lives, especially in a culture that often disregards biblical ethics.
Big Idea: Honoring God's commandments leads to a life of integrity, community, and respect for one another, reflecting the heart of God in our relationships.
Bible Passage: Exodus 20:12-17
“Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be prolonged in the land which Yahweh your God gives you.
“You shall not murder.
“You shall not commit adultery.
“You shall not steal.
“You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.
“You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife or his male slave or his female slave or his ox or his donkey or anything that belongs to your neighbor.”
1. Honor Builds Bridges
1. Honor Builds Bridges
“Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be prolonged in the land which Yahweh your God gives you.
The prior commandments were all concerned in one way or another with the necessity of honoring God as a basic means of keeping his covenant. Now comes a commandment that follows logically because it is concerned with honoring parents, who have the awesome role in the family of representing God to their children.
It begins as a child and extends throughout our lifetime. Honor is for a lifetime.
Honor is more than mere obedience.
Honor- to weight heavily, to give respect
As we enter adult life, this establishes a responsibility that might otherwise be shirked is to demand that children take care of their parents in their parents’ old age, when they are no longer able to work for themselves, as well as to honor whatever their parents have prescribed by way of inheritance for their children.
In Israel, inheritance passed down was more than money. It was land, business, and family legacy.
Rather than a system of government pension and welfare, the family unit was to the be center of helping each other. Elders were to be respected and provided for. Households were multi-generational.
This commandment is followed by the promise of living long in the promised land.
Just as parents who have lived long in their own personal lives need to be cared for at the end of those long lives, so Israel as a nation (not every individual therein) would be able to enjoy a long life in the land God was giving them.
One reason for the Babylonian exile was a violation of this command
“They have treated father and mother with contempt within you. The sojourner they have oppressed in your midst; the fatherless and the widow they have mistreated in you.
“I will scatter you among the nations, and I will disperse you through the lands, and I will put an end to your uncleanness from you.
AP: Our homes are to be outposts of God’s Kingdom on Earth. We are to shine the light of God’s love in our communities. That begins with this honor.
Honoring our parents is foundational to a community rooted in respect and love.
We live in a broken world and will never be perfect at this. God calls us as a church to stand in the gap for each other.
This commandment encourages us to bridge generational gaps through respect, reflecting Christ's love, who honored His Father perfectly.
Fulfilling this command creates a family environment mirroring God's kingdom and influences broader society positively.
2. Value Sanctity of Life
2. Value Sanctity of Life
“You shall not murder.
Sixth Commandment: You Must Not Murder (20:13)
The commandment is expressed in just two words in the Hebrew, equivalent to “never murder” (see below).
The kjv wording, “Thou shalt not kill,” was always a deficient translation, though it could be more nearly defended in the early seventeenth century, when “put to death,” “fall upon,” “smite,” and similar terms were commonly used for nonmurderous killing; so the word “kill” more often than it does today included the sense of murder.
The Hebrew term used here (rṣḥ) is, however, specific to putting to death improperly, for selfish reasons rather than with authorization (as killing in the administration of justice or killing in divinely ordained holy war would be).
God’s Old Covenant people, being a theocratic community, were delegated the right to take human life by his command, either in the form of his capital punishment laws or his direct holy war call.
No Israelite acting on his own could decide that he had the right to end someone’s life.
This dates back to the days of Noah.
“Surely I will require your lifeblood; from every living thing I will require it. And from every man, from each man’s brother I will require the life of man.
“Whoever sheds man’s blood, By man his blood shall be shed, For in the image of God He made man.
Murder is so severe of a violation of creation order that God enacted capital punishment for murderers.
Grammatically, the prohibitions expressed in this and the following commandments, is perhaps most idiomatically rendered “you must not …” or “you cannot …” in modern English. It is further worded in Hebrew in a way that makes it clear it is a permanent negative imperative (which could be rendered “never murder”
AP: This command shows the sanctity of life.
Humans were made in the image of God and as such life is precious.
We should seek to preserve and defend life.
This commandment is not just about refraining from murder but cultivating a mindset of valuing every individual as God does.
Through Christ’s sacrifice, we understand life's sanctity, inspiring us to protect and nurture it actively.
3. Practice Covenant Purity
3. Practice Covenant Purity
“You shall not commit adultery.
This command is to both husbands and wives.
Both are to keep their marriage vows.
This command protects the sacredness of the marriage relationship.
In creation:
Then Yahweh God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone; I will make him a helper suitable for him.”
So Yahweh God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and he slept; then He took one of his ribs and closed up the flesh at that place.
And Yahweh God fashioned the rib, which He had taken from the man, into a woman, and He brought her to the man.
Then the man said, “This one finally is bone of my bones, And flesh of my flesh; This one shall be called Woman, Because this one was taken out of Man.”
Adam and Eve designed for each other by God
That is the pattern in every wedding!
Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother, and cleave to his wife; and they shall become one flesh.
No longer 2, but 1
We still say, “What God has joined together, let no one separate”
God’s plan for the stewardship and filling of the Earth rested upon the covenant of marriage.
Later in the Law, we will see God make infidelity in marriage a capital offense!
‘If there is a man who commits adultery with another man’s wife, one who commits adultery with his friend’s wife, the adulterer and the adulteress shall surely be put to death.
God takes marriage VERY seriously.
It is called “a great sin” and “a great evil and sin against God.”
AP: Purity helps address the commandment against adultery, calling us to faithful relationships.
Before marriage, remain faithful to your future spouse
After marriage, remain faithful to you spouse
In doing so, we not only uphold our moral commitments but also reflect God's covenant faithfulness.
Christ exemplifies perfect fidelity, providing a model for our interactions.
We must establish guardrails around our marriage.
Husbands and wives, are to look only to each other for emotional and physical fulfillment.
There are no “harmless flings”
Playing around with flirting is the same as playing with fire.
Can a man take fire in his bosom And his clothes not be burned?
Like the old song….
let us honestly say, “I only have eyes for you!” to our husbands and wives.
4. Respect Through Integrity
4. Respect Through Integrity
“You shall not steal.
Respecting others is at the heart of this command.
Stealing includes any dishonest acquiring of another’s goods or assets.
Everyone has a right to property that is violated when someone steals.
Respecting others’ property extends to even the littlest of things.
Falsifying time sheets (stolen money from employer)
Taking supplies from work for personal use when such practices are forbidden.
AP:
This commandment extends to integrity in all dealings.
NO, we shouldn’t take their belongings
We also shouldn’t steal through less direct means.
Jesus teaches that we should treat others as we want to be treated.
By respecting possessions, we foster trust and reveal the heart of God in honest interactions.
Paul wrote,
He who steals must steal no longer, but rather he must labor, performing with his own hands what is good, so that he will have something to share with one who has need.
5. Foster Truth and Contentment
5. Foster Truth and Contentment
“You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.
“You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife or his male slave or his female slave or his ox or his donkey or anything that belongs to your neighbor.”
Don’t Lie
Don’t Lie
Justice is not served by any untruthful testimony
You Must Not Give False Testimony (20:16))
This commandment is also reinforced in Lev 5:1 (where false testimony appears to include refusing to divulge pertinent information at a trial, thus creating a false impression of what the facts really are.
This applies in all walks of life, not just when offering testimony
Therefore, laying aside falsehood, speak truth each one of you with his neighbor, for we are members of one another.
Be content
Be content
Covet- a stong longing to have what another has is wrong!
In fact, this serves a fitting summary of the previous commands.
Sin begins in the heart according to James
If our hearts are full of coveteousness, we are on the first step of the path to murder, adultery, steal, and lie
That covetousness is what Lucifer felt when beholding God on the throne and longing for his prestige and power.
He used it as a lure with Eve to entice her to want God’s knowledge.
It is what Cain felt when he wanted God’s acceptance and it grew to murder of his brother
We fell we are missing out on something.
AP: Coveting and deceit create discord, but embracing truth nurtures unity and satisfaction.
Jesus calls us to a life transparent in honesty and contented in all provision, reflecting His truthfulness and sufficiency.
Conc
Conc
Works Cited
Douglas K. Stuart, Exodus, vol. 2, The New American Commentary (Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 2006), 462.
