Text – Exodus 20:12; Ephesians 6:2 (read vv. 1-3)
“Honor thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee.” Exodus 20:12 (KJV)
“Children, obey your parents in the Lord: for this is right. 2 Honour thy father and mother; which is the first commandment with promise; 3 that it may be well with thee, and thou mayest live long on the earth.” Ephesians 6:1-3 (KJV)
INTRODUCTION –
Isn’t it wonderful that society has seen fit to set aside a day to honor our Fathers? I know that there are some of you who are saying that there are some fathers out here that may not deserve to be recognized with honor (expound). However, the decision to honor one’s father and mother has not been completely left up to us; the LORD has commanded us to honor our fathers. The question also needs to be asked and answered . . . “How does one go about honoring their father?” (Expound)
Let us understand that when the Bible speaks about “honor,” it is talking about revering, admiring, respecting, adoring, idolizing, esteeming, holding someone in the highest regard, and even worshiping someone. At it also makes mention that the person being honored should (but may not) be honorable. This clearly shows that there is some kind of action displayed and/or required from the child as well as the father. The LORD has also promised that if we would honor our parents, this may lead us into living a long life (explain how I would let my students know that each one of them starts out with an “A,” but there are things they need to do to maintain it. The same principle is shown here in this verse; the LORD may have a long appointed time for us, and honoring our parents is one way to help us maintain that appointment). This command also causes us to examine this verse kind of closely.
POINTS –
- PROMISE – When did you become aware of the LORD’S promise? I hope that you have been displaying honor to your father since you were a child and not just when you became aware of the LORD”S promise (expound).
- PURPOSE – Why do you honor your father? Is it a true display of honor or is it just superficial? Remember, the LORD looks on the heart (attitude) of man.
- PRIVATE – Is this display of honor only done in the home? (Use the example of Alicia and I fighting to carry dad’s bag and take off dad’s shoes).
- PUBLIC – Should this display of honor be exhibited in public? If so, how is it displayed? This is where the child’s life-living comes into play (expound).
- PERSPECTIVE – We understand the child’s role in this; but what about the father’s? Isn’t the father supposed to be “Honorable?” We understand that a father should live the type of life that their child wants to honor them; even to the extent that they want to name their child after them (expound).
CONCLUSION –
We realize that as a child we wanted to do things to please our father. As we got older we began to look at our relationship with our father and we realize that dad has always been there. He may not have been to every parent-teacher meeting, every play we participated in, or even every game we played; but he was there when we needed him to be.
There are some of us whose father may not be around anymore, and maybe they weren’t ever around. But now that you are a father, you know that you never want your child to feel the pain and loneliness that you felt having an absentee father so you are doing all that you can to make sure that doesn’t happen.
But for those of you who are part of the kingdom of God, even though you may not have good memories of your father, you realize now that since you have been born again, you now have a heavenly father who never leaves you and never forsakes you. He never abandons you; even though you have walked away from Him time after time, He is still right here with arms outstretched waiting for you to come back. He has shown you so much love, even to the point of having His only begotten son die for you so that you can become part of the family (expound and conclude).