5 Ten Commandments

Welcome back, and happy Sunday. Today we have made it to the fifth commandment. The first four commandments are about our duties to God: having no other gods before Him, not making idols, not taking God's name in vain, and remembering the Sabbath. Today's commandment and those hereafter turn to our duties towards our fellow man. You know, if we follow the first commandment to put God's first, the the next nine come much easier.

Here's commandment five: "Honor your father and your mother, so that your days may be long in the land that the Lord your God is giving you." The Hebrew word for honor is the word kabad. It literally means to be heavy. So we should give weight to the words of our parents.

As children, we learn submission and obedience from our parents, hopefully. Remember the story of the prodigal son? The runaway son gave no weight to his father's words, no obedience. My children are grown and gone now, with children of their own. I'm so thankful that they still give weight to my words and seek me.

There's a Grimm's fairy tale of an old man who lived with a son and his daughter-in-law. The couple also had a five-year-old boy in the house. The old man was in bad shape. When he ate, his shaky hands spilled a lot. The table and floor were always messy when he finished.

His daughter-in-law was fed up with the mess, so she moved him to the corner and had him eating out of a big bowl all by himself. It was a sad picture. One day the man dropped his bowl, and his son and daughter-in-law told him, "If you eat like a pig, we'll feed you like a pig." So they built a trough for the old man and set it on the floor.

Not long after this occurred, their little boy was playing with some wood. "What are you building?" the couple asked their young boy. He responded, "I'm building a troll for y'all to eat out of when you get old." The next meal, the old man was back at the table, and no one ever scolded or mistreated him again. This teaches us: honor your parents, lest your children dishonor you. They're watching.

God cares how we treat our parents. In Proverbs 30:17 we find these words: "The i that mocks a father and scorns to obey a mother will be will be pecked out by the ravens of the valley and eaten by the vultures." When these words were written, parents, especially fathers, had remarkable powers. Exodus 21:15 says, "Whoever strikes father or mother shall be put to death." In verse 17 of Exodus 21 we read, "Whoever curses father or mother shall be put to death."

Several years ago, I found a letter and a stack of books I'd purchased at a flea market. I want to read it to you now. I do not know these people.

"Dear son, I'm so sorry to have to say this, but you're not welcome in this house at this time. You must realize that your behavior this morning was absolutely beyond the limits of what is acceptable at any time and in any situation. A child never strikes a parent, and a male never strikes a female. You were to pack your things and then call your dad to come and get you. I love you and always will, but cannot and will not accept your current behavior. I deeply hope that you will get your act together soon, because you're hurting yourself badly. You're, incidentally, also hurting those who love you. Mom."

Isn't that sad? No mention of God in the letter makes it even sadder.

You likely remember the story of Abraham and Isaac found in Genesis 22. I'll not tell it now, but if you want to read it, it's found in verses 1 to 13. There are a lot of lessons from that story, but it's interesting to me that no one questioned Abraham about his right to sacrifice his son. As powerful as parents were in those days, children were considered very valuable and precious. In the book of Job, when his wealth was listed, first on the list were his children. Psalm 17:3 puts it this way: "Children are a heritage from the Lord." God intends parents to treasure children and children to treasure parents.

It's interesting that this commandment comes with the promise: "Honor your father and your mother, so that your days may be long in the land that your Lord your God is giving you." Ephesians 6:1-3 talks about this. It says, "Children, obey your parents and the Lord, for this is right. Honor your father and mother. This is the first commandment of the promise, so that it may be well with you and you may live long on the earth." That promise makes sense if we put in the light of the power that fathers like Abraham had.

It's not just fathers. Years ago on a Mother's Day, I asked the congregation what advice they remember receiving from their mothers. One young man named Frank stood up and said his mother was known for saying, "I brought you into this world; I can take you out." Parents are powerful.

Since my parents are now in their heavenly home, does me this mean that this commandment does not apply to me any longer? Of course not. I'm supposed to honor them by the way that I live. I think the new twist that I've learned as I've studied this commandment is that as a child, I learned to submit to my parents' authority. That yielding, that trusting, that giving up my right to be number one is one of the most valuable lessons I can ever learn. It has shaped every relationship that I will ever have.

To turn this commandment to the positive, how about "Treasure your family"? "Thou shalt treasure your family." I am so thankful for my parents, my wife, my children, my grandchildren. We're in a very close family, as God intended.

I remember one of my first classes in seminary. The professor said to a room full of preaching students, "If you have to choose between your family and your ministry, choose your family, because without them you won't have much of a ministry." The example of a close, godly family is a powerful ministry. Enjoy your family.

Let's pray. God, thank You for the way You set it up: mother and father, and then, if they're blessed, children. And we ask that we would not take our families for granted. Let our light shine, and let it shine for You, Lord. That letter I wrote read earlier, I don't know who wrote it, but You do. I don't know how long ago that happened, but You do. I pray that relationship has been healed and those folks have come to know You.

Father, thank You for this command to enjoy and to love our family. Thank You for godly mothers and fathers. In Jesus' name, amen.