The Fifth Commandment
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In his book Up with Authority, Victor Lee Austin uses the analogy of an orchestra to explain why we need human authority. Orchestras need conductors because the musicians don't have a single right answer to questions like, "What should we play at the concert?" or "What should we practice today?" or "How should we interpret this passage?" Each musician might have a perfectly reasonable opinion, but their opinions will inevitably be different and will almost always be incompatible with one another. And it's no good for each musician to do what is right in his or her own ears. It won't do for the brass section to insist on playing a one musical piece if the strings have chosen to play a completely different piece. If the orchestra is to perform coherently, if the musicians want to perform music rather than just make noise, somebody has to have authority to decide.
By submitting to the authority of a conductor, individual musicians attain musical expression they could never realize individually or even as a collection of free-wheeling players. Authority is necessary for classical musicians to bring musical fulfillment to others. In the words of Victor Lee Austin, the conductor's authority yields "a greater degree of human flourishing than we would have from the musicians separately or individually." What is true for orchestras is true for human life in general.
Ahhh Authority. The dreaded subject. I wonder why it is we struggle with authority so much. Did you feel it rising up inside of you as I was reading the story? Why do we have such a hard time submitting to those who have authority over us? Bumper stickers all over the place that say “question authority.” Lots of our cultures teaching do much to get children to reject parental guidance. We are seeing the celebration of rebellion against our governing authorities in the streets of cities in our country. Teachings and slogans of pinpoint propaganda are pushing or better yet shoving us into the direction of chaos. Like I said before and I’ll say it again, existential teaching that has permeated our society continues to have its ill effect.
You gotta think for yourself, do for yourself, don’t let anyone tell you what to do. It has gotten bad these days. I went to see the dr once for something wrong with my stomach… afterwards the dr. told me to take a certain medication and eat more fiber and a certain relative of mine who has nothing to do with the medical field… said no no no, don’t take those meds and its not fiber. They were insistent… ok so I should listen to you and not my dr? I remember hiring legal representation to advise the church, but yet everyone was an expert on the law except the lawyer? It was embarrassing. I remember interviewing the lt. governor of Hawaii on TV and listened to him as to how people talked to him with so much disrespect because they disagreed with his policies.
And I remember as a pastor counseling a woman on an erroneous view she held about a scripture. She told me that I had it wrong and said that I needed to go to the Greek. So I did and asked her to show me she gave me no grammatical or syntactical direction, just told me that you gotta read it in the Greek. After some time she finally said that she does not know Greek. Ok so that’s why I’m here to help you. I spent year studying Biblical interpretation and was called by the church as your Pastor to help you and to teach you this. I don’t care if you know Greek. I don’t care if you are an elder of the church. I will never agree with you about this. Why do we do this? What is it about people in authority telling us what to do that we don’t like.
We will see today that the Lord commands us to be obedient to our authority. It is a command from God. I remember telling that lady that she is to be subject to her authorities in life and in the church. But she believed that we are only supposed to follow some of the 10 commandments, but not all. Is our current disposition … nobody tells me what to do. I decide right and wrong for myself. I have the wisdom and ability to do this. Did you know that this is the essence of the fall? The fruit would make us wise. The knowledge of good and evil. We decide, not God .... we decide for ourselves right and wrong. We rebel because it is in our nature to rebel. Can we be saved from this? You bet we can. Let’s find out how.
“Honor your father and mother. Then you will live a long, full life in the land the Lord your God is giving you.
The grass withers, the flower fades, but the Word of our God stands forever.
Parents
Governing Institutions
Authority to Save
The first thing we will look at today is the very first instance of where we learn obedience and that is in the home with our parents. The second point of interest is the command to be obedient to governing institutions. Finally, we will find that we can rest though we struggle with what is awful in the sight of God, the blood of Jesus washes us clean with newness of life.
Thesis: Though sin and the pattern of this world cause us to rebel against all those whom God has given us to honor, it is the grace of our Lord Jesus that will save us from the horror and punishment of our rebellion which is the same as witchcraft.
I. Parents
- Obedience begins in the home.
A. When we come to the 5th commandment we now move to what is known as the second table of the law. The first 4 commands have to do with our vertical relationship with our heavenly father and the next 6 commands deal with our horizontal relationships with our neighbor.
Jesus replied, “ ‘You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. A second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ The entire law and all the demands of the prophets are based on these two commandments.”
B. With this shift the first command that comes in deals with a clear problem with the nature of humanity. And that problem has and always has been rebellion. And the first stop in us learning obedience is in the home. Now we should understand that even though this is not a new problem we can see something more vivid in our time kinda. Me excluded. But...
C. Annie Gottlieb in he book “Do you believe in magic?” She identifies the 60’s as the generation that destroyed the family. They were anti-business, anti-school, anti-establishment, anti-government, even anti-country, but it was difficult to get their hands on many of those. She writes,
“We might not have been able to tear down the state, but the family was closer. We could get our hands on it. And we believed that the family was the foundation of the state as well as the collective state of mind. We believed that the family had to be torn apart in order to free love, which alone could heal the damage done when the atom was split to release energy. And the first step was to tear ourselves free from our parents.”
Dr. Phil Ryken writes, “The way to destroy a nation is to destroy the family, and the way children can destroy the family is by disobeying their parents.”
D. Are we seeing this clear in our culture today? Children who disobeyed their parents and parents who did not discipline their kids … are of age today. hmmmm. Is there a correlation?
St. Augustine - “If anyone fails to honor his parents, is there anyone he will spare?”
E. In other words, if we will not respect authority in the home we will not respect it anywhere. And when authority is not respected, society is destroyed.
This is why the Bible was so serious when it came to rebellion especially with rebellion of children toward their parents. Nowadays as it was a bit in my day… you were almost seen a cool when you disobeyed your parents. Many teens don’t like parents. Many teens hate their parents… i was a youth pastor for many years. Many in the church feel this way. Here’s something. God does not think its cool to disobey parents. I bet many of you don’t know this… some of the most frightening of curses in the OT are reserved for children who disobey their parents.
“Anyone who dishonors father or mother must be put to death. Such a person is guilty of a capital offense.
“Suppose a man has a stubborn and rebellious son who will not obey his father or mother, even though they discipline him. In such a case, the father and mother must take the son to the elders as they hold court at the town gate. The parents must say to the elders, ‘This son of ours is stubborn and rebellious and refuses to obey. He is a glutton and a drunkard.’ Then all the men of his town must stone him to death. In this way, you will purge this evil from among you, and all Israel will hear about it and be afraid.
F. So we need to see that even though the penal sanctions of the nation are no longer done, meaning we don’t stone them according to the penal sanctions of our country, it is clear from the severity of the punishment that God considers disobedience to parents as one of the worse sins that could be committed. Remember… the severity of this is not an overreaction on God’s part, but the growing secularization on our part.
G. Even in the NT the concept of rebellion toward parents was seen as a horrible thing. A terrible times thing.
You should know this, Timothy, that in the last days there will be very difficult times. For people will love only themselves and their money. They will be boastful and proud, scoffing at God, disobedient to their parents, and ungrateful. They will consider nothing sacred.
II. Governing Institutions
- Honor to whom honor is due.
A. Now as we move on to the next part of discourse today we should remember that most of the people who were hearing this were indeed older. The intention was not just for younger children, but for adults. This means that this commandment like all the others carry more. More than meets the eye.
B. Let me remind us of the trusty “rule of categories” when it comes to interpreting the 10 commandments. Every commandment essentially stand for a whole category of sins and duties not just the specific mentioned. What this means is that when the Lord is telling us to obey our parents He is telling us that we all must obey and respect anyone or any institution that has authority over us.
C. Clearly the ancient Israelites knew this well. They often used the term father for many outside the home.
Elisha saw it and cried out, “My father! My father! I see the chariots and charioteers of Israel!” And as they disappeared from sight, Elisha tore his clothes in distress.
This was Stephen’s reply: “Brothers and fathers, listen to me. Our glorious God appeared to our ancestor Abraham in Mesopotamia before he settled in Haran.
D. So as you can see it would be natural for them to see this application to the 5th commandment. The Heidelberg Catechism is helpful here.
104.Q. What does God require in the fifth commandment?
A. That I show all honour, love, and faithfulness to my father and mother and to all those in authority over me, submit myself with due obedience to their good instruction and discipline, and also have patience with their weaknesses and shortcomings, since it is God's will to govern us by their hand.
E. The scriptures make it clear that we are obey our governing authority.
Everyone must submit to governing authorities. For all authority comes from God, and those in positions of authority have been placed there by God. So anyone who rebels against authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and they will be punished. For the authorities do not strike fear in people who are doing right, but in those who are doing wrong. Would you like to live without fear of the authorities? Do what is right, and they will honor you. The authorities are God’s servants, sent for your good. But if you are doing wrong, of course you should be afraid, for they have the power to punish you. They are God’s servants, sent for the very purpose of punishing those who do what is wrong. So you must submit to them, not only to avoid punishment, but also to keep a clear conscience.
Pay your taxes, too, for these same reasons. For government workers need to be paid. They are serving God in what they do. Give to everyone what you owe them: Pay your taxes and government fees to those who collect them, and give respect and honor to those who are in authority.
For the Lord’s sake, submit to all human authority—whether the king as head of state, or the officials he has appointed. For the king has sent them to punish those who do wrong and to honor those who do right.
Remind the believers to submit to the government and its officers. They should be obedient, always ready to do what is good.
F. The scriptures make it clear that we should be subjected to our employers.
Slaves, obey your earthly masters with deep respect and fear. Serve them sincerely as you would serve Christ.
G. We should also be submitted to those in authority in the church.
Obey your spiritual leaders, and do what they say. Their work is to watch over your souls, and they are accountable to God. Give them reason to do this with joy and not with sorrow. That would certainly not be for your benefit.
Elders who do their work well should be respected and paid well, especially those who work hard at both preaching and teaching.
H. We are to be respectful to even our elders (older people), teachers, those over church committees, chairman of boards we serve on… and even for me respectful of my Jujitsu and kickboxing senseis.
I. My grandma always taught me to bow and respect your sensei. Even though your paying what they are teaching you is priceless.
J. But for many of us today… we thrive on rebellion. We take pleasure in rebellion. Some like to justify our rebellion. Why is it that our first response to anything is rebellion. Let’s not deceive ourselves today. This is a serious thing. Just like the severity of of disobedience to parents...
Rebellion is as sinful as witchcraft,
and stubbornness as bad as worshiping idols.
So because you have rejected the command of the Lord,
he has rejected you as king.”
Evil people are eager for rebellion,
but they will be severely punished.
God detests the prayers
of a person who ignores the law.
But they rebelled against him
and grieved his Holy Spirit.
So he became their enemy
and fought against them.
“So why do you keep calling me ‘Lord, Lord!’ when you don’t do what I say?
III. Authority to Save
- Salvation belongs to our God.
A. Man Shane… that’s some heavy duty stuff. We by nature are rebellious people.
But God shows his anger from heaven against all sinful, wicked people who suppress the truth by their wickedness. They know the truth about God because he has made it obvious to them. For ever since the world was created, people have seen the earth and sky. Through everything God made, they can clearly see his invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature. So they have no excuse for not knowing God.
Yes, they knew God, but they wouldn’t worship him as God or even give him thanks. And they began to think up foolish ideas of what God was like. As a result, their minds became dark and confused. Claiming to be wise, they instead became utter fools. And instead of worshiping the glorious, ever-living God, they worshiped idols made to look like mere people and birds and animals and reptiles.
So God abandoned them to do whatever shameful things their hearts desired. As a result, they did vile and degrading things with each other’s bodies. They traded the truth about God for a lie. So they worshiped and served the things God created instead of the Creator himself, who is worthy of eternal praise! Amen. That is why God abandoned them to their shameful desires. Even the women turned against the natural way to have sex and instead indulged in sex with each other. And the men, instead of having normal sexual relations with women, burned with lust for each other. Men did shameful things with other men, and as a result of this sin, they suffered within themselves the penalty they deserved.
Since they thought it foolish to acknowledge God, he abandoned them to their foolish thinking and let them do things that should never be done. Their lives became full of every kind of wickedness, sin, greed, hate, envy, murder, quarreling, deception, malicious behavior, and gossip. They are backstabbers, haters of God, insolent, proud, and boastful. They invent new ways of sinning, and they disobey their parents. They refuse to understand, break their promises, are heartless, and have no mercy. They know God’s justice requires that those who do these things deserve to die, yet they do them anyway. Worse yet, they encourage others to do them, too.
B. Sound familiar? Sound like what we are seeing more and more of today? We all know deep down inside that all of our rejection of the Lord and His servants are punishable. And severely punishable. The wages of sin is death. Rebellion is as witchcraft. Just as bad as our Lord is gonna judge witches and warlocks… he will judge those who rebel.
C. But today we can find hope in the ultimate authority. The one who has been given all authority in heaven and on earth. Salvation belongs to the Lord. Salvation is here.
D. Jesus died for our sins according to the scriptures and he was buried … the saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance… He became sin who knew no sin… he came into the world to seek and save that which was lost…
E. If we confess with our mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in our hearts that God raised him. All who call upon the name of the Lord.