The commandment, “Honor your father and your mother,” is important for the creation and maintenance of healthy families. More than that, the future of the world depends upon it.
The word “honor” has fallen out of style. In our radically egalitarian society we are suspicious of elevating one person above the rest. In losing the concept of honor, our families suffer and our society is weakened.
On the most immediate level, “Honor your mother and your father” means providing for elderly parents. It is an economic issue. When the older generation reaches a point when they can’t provide for themselves or they can no longer live independently, the responsibility for them falls to their children.
On a global level, for two reason, the future of the world depends upon this commandment.
The first reason is that we have forgotten how to honor anyone. This world is filled with issues, but the biggest issue is that we can’t talk about any of the issues. Whenever someone disagrees with us, or believes a different issue has higher priority, we don’t simply disagree. We vilify them. We are unable to move past our differences. For the sake of the world, we need to learn how to honor people who see things differently than we do.
The second reason is that we have forgotten how to honor God. One way we dishonor earthly parents is to reject what they want to give us. We dishonor God when we reject what God wants to give us. We have a rich inheritance from God. He offers us the gift of salvation and a way to live. When we don’t accept this inheritance, we are the poorer for it, and we are in peril.
In our sermon this Sunday we continue our series, “How to have a healthy family,” with a message, “Honor your father and your mother.”