Text: Exodus 20:12-13, Matthew 15:1-14, Matthew 5: 21,22 (LSB)
Topic: Loving our Neighbor
Application Point: The fruit of loving God is loving people.
Sermon Title: Honor and Forgiveness
Commandment #5: Honor your father and your mother.
Commandment #6: You shall not murder.
Review:
The first four commandments:
1. No other gods before me – This is a love statement. Do you love Him?
2. You shall not make for yourself an idol – We will worship what we love.
3. You shall not take the name of God in vain – We need to carry the name of God well. Do we value His name and represent it well?
4. Remember the sabbath day and keep it holy. – Set a part a day for rest and worship. No longer a specific command but a principle.
Matthew 22:34-40 (LSB)
34 But when the Pharisees heard that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered themselves together. 35 And one of them, a scholar of the Law, asked Him a question, testing Him, 36 “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” 37 And He said to him, “‘YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND.’ 38 “This is the great and foremost commandment. 39 “And the second is like it, ‘YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.’ 40 “On these two commandments hang the whole Law and the Prophets.”
Exodus 20:12 (LSB)
12 “Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be prolonged in the land which Yahweh your God gives you.
“Honor your father and your mother”
“that your days may be prolonged in the land”
“which Yahweh your God gives you”
Old Testament Passages:
Leviticus 19:3 (LSB)
3 ‘Every one of you shall fear his mother and his father, and you shall keep My sabbaths; I am Yahweh your God.
Deuteronomy 27:16 (LSB)
16 ‘Cursed is he who dishonors his father or mother.’ And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’
New Testament Passages:
Matthew 15: 1-14 (LSB)
1 Then some Pharisees and scribes came to Jesus from Jerusalem and said, 2 “Why do Your disciples break the tradition of the elders? For they do not wash their hands when they eat bread.” 3 And He answered and said to them, “Why do you yourselves transgress the commandment of God for the sake of your tradition? 4 “For God said, ‘HONOR YOUR FATHER AND MOTHER,’ and, ‘HE WHO SPEAKS EVIL OF FATHER OR MOTHER IS TO BE PUT TO DEATH.’ 5 “But you say, ‘Whoever says to his father or mother, “Whatever you might benefit from me is given to God,” 6 he need not honor his father.’ And by this you invalidated the word of God for the sake of your tradition. 7 “You hypocrites, rightly did Isaiah prophesy of you: 8 ‘THIS PEOPLE HONORS ME WITH THEIR LIPS, BUT THEIR HEART IS FAR AWAY FROM ME. 9 ‘BUT IN VAIN DO THEY WORSHIP ME, TEACHING AS DOCTRINES THE COMMANDS OF MEN.’” 10 After Jesus called the crowd to Him, He said to them, “Hear and understand. 11 “It is not what enters into the mouth that defiles the man, but what proceeds out of the mouth, this defiles the man.” 12 Then the disciples came and said to Him, “Do You know that the Pharisees were offended when they heard this statement?” 13 But He answered and said, “Every plant which My heavenly Father did not plant shall be uprooted. 14 “Let them alone; they are blind guides of the blind. And if a blind man guides a blind man, both will fall into a pit.”
Ephesians 6:1-4 (LSB)
1 Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. 2 HONOR YOUR FATHER AND MOTHER (which is the first commandment with a promise), 3 SO THAT IT MAY BE WELL WITH YOU, AND THAT YOU MAY LIVE LONG IN THE LAND. 4 Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.
The Why:
a. The fruit of love is life.
Genesis 1:26-27 (LSB)
26 Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness, so that they will have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the cattle and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” 27 And God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.
b. God knit us together in our mother’s womb
Psalm 139:13 (LSB)
13 For You formed my inward parts; You wove me in my mother’s womb.
c. A place where we learn to honor and obey authority
Malachi 1:6 (LSB)
6 “‘A son honors [his] father, and a slave his master. Then if I am a father, where is My honor? And if I am a master, where is the fear of Me?’ says Yahweh of hosts to you, O priests who despise My name. But you say, ‘How have we despised Your name?’
By father and mother, in the fifth commandment, are meant, not only natural parents, but all superiors in age and gifts; and especially such as, by God’s ordinance, are over us in place of authority, whether in family, church, or commonwealth. —Westminster Larger Catechism
The How:
a. By loving them
b. By forgiving them
Forgiveness doesn’t mean allowing ongoing abuse or removing the natural consequences of sin.
1. Honoring parents
us to honor God.
Exodus 20:13 (LSB)
13 “You shall not murder.
“murder” – to kill intentionally and with premeditation.
Old Testament Passages:
Genesis 9:6 (LSB)
6 “Whoever sheds man’s blood,
By man his blood shall be shed,
For in the image of God
He made man.
Exodus 21:12 (LSB)
12 “He who strikes a man so that he dies shall surely be put to death.
Leviticus 24:17-20 (LSB)
17 ‘If a man strikes down the life of any human being, he shall surely be put to death. 18 ‘And the one who strikes down the life of an animal shall make restitution for it, life for life. 19 ‘If a man injures his neighbor, just as he has done, so it shall be done to him: 20 fracture for fracture, eye for eye, tooth for tooth; just as he has injured a man, so it shall be inflicted on him.
New Testament Passages:
Matthew 5:21-22 (LSB)
21 “You have heard that the ancients were told, ‘YOU SHALL NOT MURDER’ and ‘Whoever murders shall be guilty before the court.’ 22 “But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother shall be guilty before the court; and whoever says to his brother, ‘Raca,’ shall be guilty before the bSanhedrin; and whoever says, ‘You fool,’ shall be guilty enough to go into the cfiery hell.
Why we become angry?
a. Because we get hurt.
b. Because we are impatient.
How do we deal with our anger?
a. Take a moment
James 1:19,20 (LSB)
19 Know this, my beloved brothers. But everyone must be quick to hear, slow to speak and slow to anger; 20 for the anger of man does not achieve the righteousness of God.
If you want to kill a relationship fast speak a poisonous word —Ron Mehl
b. Take our troubles and concerns to the Lord.
Psalm 73
2.
is the
to the poison of anger and hurt.