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Wednesday of the Second Week after the Epiphany
Daily Lectionary: Joel 2:1-17; Romans 11:1-24
Honor your father and your mother. 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. (The Small Catechism: Fourth Commandment)
In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. If we can’t obey the First Commandment and honor God, who is without sin, a commandment to honor a couple of sinners seems…ridiculous. We’re so quick to look for loopholes so we can avoid obedience to those given in authority over us that we’ve already despised them. We’d rather look for excuses than direction. We’d rather find fault than gift. You can say respect has to be earned. Yes, your parents, your government, and your pastor are sinners. All of them. But you’re just as quick to break the First Commandment as you are the Fourth. The problem isn’t actually the call to obey people who are wrong sometimes.
The problem is, we’re afraid that God can’t work through sinners. The Fourth Commandment is a gift. God gave you particular sinners and promises to love you through them. They aren’t strong enough sinners to stop Him. It’s the same as the First Commandment. Respect has to be earned, but God has earned it, and we’ve still not feared and loved God. Your idolatry hasn’t stopped Him from redeeming you. Your disobedience to your parents hasn’t stopped God from working good through them.
The Fourth Commandment is a gift because it actually points out through whom God wants to care for you. Look to them and see God’s hands at work, even through sinful puppets. It isn’t up to your parents to earn your respect. It isn’t up to them to be without sin. It’s up to God to love you through them, so rejoice. This, too, has already been accomplished for you. In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. –Rev. Harrison Goodman
“You are to honor and obey Your father, mother, ev’ry day, Serve them each way that comes to hand; You’ll then live long in the land.” Have mercy, Lord! (These are the Holy Ten Commands, LSB 581:5)
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By Higher Things®Daily Lectionary: Joel 2:1-17; Romans 11:1-24
Honor your father and your mother. 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. (The Small Catechism: Fourth Commandment)
In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. If we can’t obey the First Commandment and honor God, who is without sin, a commandment to honor a couple of sinners seems…ridiculous. We’re so quick to look for loopholes so we can avoid obedience to those given in authority over us that we’ve already despised them. We’d rather look for excuses than direction. We’d rather find fault than gift. You can say respect has to be earned. Yes, your parents, your government, and your pastor are sinners. All of them. But you’re just as quick to break the First Commandment as you are the Fourth. The problem isn’t actually the call to obey people who are wrong sometimes.
The problem is, we’re afraid that God can’t work through sinners. The Fourth Commandment is a gift. God gave you particular sinners and promises to love you through them. They aren’t strong enough sinners to stop Him. It’s the same as the First Commandment. Respect has to be earned, but God has earned it, and we’ve still not feared and loved God. Your idolatry hasn’t stopped Him from redeeming you. Your disobedience to your parents hasn’t stopped God from working good through them.
The Fourth Commandment is a gift because it actually points out through whom God wants to care for you. Look to them and see God’s hands at work, even through sinful puppets. It isn’t up to your parents to earn your respect. It isn’t up to them to be without sin. It’s up to God to love you through them, so rejoice. This, too, has already been accomplished for you. In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. –Rev. Harrison Goodman
“You are to honor and obey Your father, mother, ev’ry day, Serve them each way that comes to hand; You’ll then live long in the land.” Have mercy, Lord! (These are the Holy Ten Commands, LSB 581:5)