April 8, 2016

“‘Honor your father and your mother, as the Lord your God commanded you, that your days may be long, and that it may go well with you in the land that the Lord your God is giving you.” Deuteronomy 5:16

“What does this mean?
We should fear and love God so that we do not despise or anger our parents and other authorities, but honor them, serve and obey them, love and cherish them”. (Martin Luther’s explanation to the Fourth Commandment – Small Catechism)

“To this estate of fatherhood and motherhood God has given the special distinction above all estates that are beneath it that He not simply commands us to love our parents, but to honor them. For with respect to brothers, sisters, and our neighbors in general He commands nothing higher than that we love them, so that He separates and distinguishes father and mother above all other persons upon earth, and places them at His side. For it is a far higher thing to honor than to love one, inasmuch as it comprehends not only love, but also modesty, humility, and deference as to a majesty there hidden, and requires not only that they be addressed kindly and with reverence, but, most of all, that both in heart and with the body we so act as to show that we esteem them very highly, and that, next to God, we regard them as the very highest. For one whom we are to honor from the heart we must truly regard as high and great.” (Martin Luther’s explanation to the Fourth Commandment – Large Catechism)

“For it is a far higher thing to honor than to love…” So says Martin Luther in the Large Catechism. To honor is to show humility and deference – sort of like we show honor to a President of a country, or the Royals. This is the sort of approach we are to take to our father and mother. Now, we do live in an era where so much of what it means to be family, to have a family unit, has changed. So many children today live with only one parent – or have to travel between two different family units because their “birth” parents have separated and remarried. Honoring our parents is so much more of a challenge today than it was 500 years ago – or 2000 years ago. And still we are commanded to “Honor” our Father and Mother. Remember, commandments are supposed to be hard – if they weren’t, G-d would not have needed to make them commands.

Pastor Dave