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Announcements
Quarterly Business Meeting - Wednesday at 6:30; Bible Studies to follow
GriefShare - Grief Support group for those mourning loss of a spouse; begins August 18 at 10:00; contact ABA office for details
OCC - Nicole
Reading: Deuteronomy 5:16
Pray
This morning, we’re turning our attention to the fifth commandment.
First, let’s briefly look at the commandment and note a couple of things:
The Command is positive - not negative; it even states two promises for those who obey
The Command is actually a command - the word “Honor” means “to make heavy,” similar to our “give weight to” someone’s opinion or we talk about a “weighty” argument.
It’s stated as an intensive command, instead of the simple statements like the rest of the commandments
The promises - long life and prosperity in the land - are not unique to this passage.
They are both personal (individually true) and communal (true for all of Israel).
What Does This Commandment Reveal about God?
God Is Our Father
In Romans 8:14-17, Paul talks about our position, not as slaves, but as sons of God, and therefore as fellow heirs with Christ in God’s inheritance
God is our Father.
And he is such a good father!
That’s why the Lord’s Prayer begins with the words “Our Father” (Matthew 6:9).
Israelites prided themselves in being sons of Abraham.
We can “boast” in God being our Father.
More than that, we can live in the reality that God is our Father, seeking to imitate our Father’s actions and character.
But the fifth commandment does more than show us this relationship.
It teaches us something about our own families, and institutions beyond the family:
God Has Established the Family as His Primary Instrument of Authority
God is the Creator of all things, so he is also the Creator of all authority:
God is the author of all authority, because he alone has all authority.
Just as the earth is the Lord’s and all that is in it, so the authority is his.
He, though, invites men and women to exercise his authority - to administer authority on his behalf.
God Reveals Himself through Family
God describes himself in terms of authority, especially in the actions of fathers and mothers:
God Exercises His Dominion through Family
Deuteronomy 6:6-9 describes the role of parents in teaching the covenant to their own children
Children are to honor and obey their parents so that they will learn to uphold the covenant
That’s why the child who dishonors his parents is to be stoned to death – so that the covenant will be upheld and not broken (Deuteronomy 21:18-21).
The Family is the Basis for Every Authority on Earth
What Does This Commandment Require of Us?
Our Ultimate Loyalty Belongs Exclusively to God, But We Must Honor Godly Authorities
Remember the First Commandment:
In Matthew 10:37, Jesus states that he is to take precedence over all, including family
Jesus also models honoring God first, and honoring parents in Luke 2:49, 51:
In Acts 5:29, when the apostles find themselves chastised by religious leaders for preaching Jesus, they respond:
We Must Honor Our Parents by:
We Must Honor Our Parents by How We Interact with Them
Leviticus 19:32 commands that we stand up in the presence of elders and honor their faces (“give preference to” them):
In Job 32:6-7, Elihu says that he did not speak up because he was young and should let elders give their wisdom
When we give our parents respect, when we defer to their wisdom and allow them to instruct us, when we disagree but do not disdain them, we are in the perfect position for God to reveal his truth to us.
We learn best when we are willing to learn.
We Must Honor Our Parents by How We Care for Them
In Matthew 15:3-6, Jesus rebukes the practice of Corban because it becomes an excuse not to fulfill the fifth commandment to honor father and mother:
Paul tells Timothy in I Timothy 5:4-8 that those who do not care for their own family (especially their parents) are worse than non-believers
We honor our parents by reciprocating their love for us.
We once were helpless and depended on Mom and Dad for everything.
Now, as they age, we have the opportunity to return their love as we care for them.
We Must Honor Our Parents by How We Follow Them
In Romans 13:7, Paul summarizes one way we honor authority – by giving them our allegiance.
We must give total allegiance to God alone, but to a lesser extent, all authority is due some form of allegiance.
When Jesus was asked whether to pay taxes to Caesar in Luke 20, he answered that they should give Caesar what is Caesar’s, and give God what is God’s (20:25)
Paul admonishes children in Ephesians 6:1 to obey their “parents in the Lord, for this is right.”
The obedience they give is their primary way of showing honor.
Transition to Invitation and Communion
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