Sermon Title: The Fifth Commandment Today
Scripture: Exodus 20:1-12, Ephesians 6:1-4, Matthew 15:1-6
I. Honoring our parents is important to God
II. Honor is not the same as obedience
III. Ways we can honor our parents
a. Be thankful for them and show gratitude
b. Communicate with them
c. Treat them with respect
d. Seek their advice and wisdom
e. Pray for them and with them
f. Encourage your parents
g. Forgive your parents
h. Take care of your parents
i. Talk well of them publicly and privately
IV. Honoring our parents teaches us to honor God
“The reason there should be reverence and awe for a mom or a dad is so that a child will learn what reverence and awe for God is like,” - John Piper
Many adults, even middle-aged people, are reflexively obedient to their parents’ unreasonable demands. They are powerless to resist such demands, - Vivian Tam (Hong Kong journalist)
Instead, as the Bible reveals to us, it is only by submitting to one another in the Lord, thinking and acting from one another’s perspectives, and being wise to the roles and boundaries in our relationships that we can build and deepen those relationships and—whether related by blood or not—become a real family to each other. - Karen Wong in “‘Honoring’ your Father and Mother Isn’t Always Biblical (Christianity Today)
Additional Notes
Ephesians 6:1-4
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 go well with you and that you may enjoy long life on the earth.”
4 Fathers, do not exasperate your children; instead, bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord.
Exodus 20:1-12,
And God spoke all these words:
2 “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.
3 “You shall have no other gods before[a] me.
4 “You shall not make for yourself an image in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. 5 You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, 6 but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments.
7 “You shall not misuse the name of the Lord your God, for the Lord will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses his name.
8 “Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. 9 Six days you shall labor and do all your work, 10 but the seventh day is a sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your male or female servant, nor your animals, nor any foreigner residing in your towns. 11 For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.
12 “Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the Lord your God is giving you.
Matthew 15:1-6
Then some Pharisees and teachers of the law came to Jesus from Jerusalem and asked, 2 “Why do your disciples break the tradition of the elders? They don’t wash their hands before they eat!”
3 Jesus replied, “And why do you break the command of God for the sake of your tradition? 4 For God said, ‘Honor your father and mother’[a] and ‘Anyone who curses their father or mother is to be put to death.’[b] 5 But you say that if anyone declares that what might have been used to help their father or mother is ‘devoted to God,’ 6 they are not to ‘honor their father or mother’ with it. Thus you nullify the word of God for the sake of your tradition.