A wise pastor once said, “Holidays that revolve around
relationships are risky.” It’s
true. Whether you are talking about
Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, etc. you could potentially be confronted with
painful emotional issues. For instance,
you may be facing your first Mother’s Day since she unexpectedly passed away. Or, perhaps you have an estranged
relationship with your mother. I’m not
ignorant or unsympathetic of the anguish that could be churning either in your
heart or in the heart of someone close to you.
Without making light of any of these aspects, I want to
present God’s standard. The Bible says,
“Honor your father and mother, as the Lord your God has commanded you, so that
you may live long and that it may go well with you in the land the Lord your
God is giving you” (Deuteronomy 5:16). Today,
I want to bring up some of the theological notions regarding honoring Mom (and
Dad), and then tomorrow, I plan to narrow my focus to honoring my own dear
mother.
To begin with, what does it mean to honor your father and
mother? Got questions.org is such an
invaluable website to consult. They have
an article on this; let me quote part of it:
“Honoring your father and mother is being respectful in
word and action and having an inward attitude of esteem for their
position. The Greek Word for honor means
“to revere, prize, and value.” Honor is
giving respect not only for merit but also for rank. For example, some Americans may disagree with
the President’s decisions, but they should still respect his position as leader
of their country. Similarly, children of
all ages should honor their parents, regardless of whether or not their parents
“deserve” honor.
God exhorts us to
honor father and mother. He values
honoring parents enough to include it in the Ten Commandments (Exodus 20:12)
and again in the New Testament: “Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for
this is right. Honor your father and
mother which is the first commandment with a promise, so that it may be well
with you, and that you may live long on the earth” (Ephesians 6:1-3). Honoring parents is the only command in
Scripture that promises long life as a reward.
Those who honor their parents are blessed (Jeremiah 35:18-19). In contrast, those with a “depraved mind” are
those who exhibit ungodliness in the last days are characterized by
disobedience to parents (Romans 1:30; 2 Timothy 3:2)” (Source: https://www.gotquestions.org/honor-father-mother.html).
I could go several different directions with this subject
matter, but this same article goes on to ask exactly how a parent is to be honored. “Obviously, we are commanded to honor our
parents, but how? Honor them with both
actions and attitudes (Mark 7:6). Honor
their unspoken as well as spoken wishes.
“A wise son heeds his father’s instruction, but a mocker does not listen
to rebuke” (Proverbs 13:1). In Matthew
15:3-9, Jesus reminded the Pharisees of the command of God to honor their
father and mother. They were obeying the
letter of the law, but they had added their own traditions that essentially
overruled it. While they honored their
parents in word, their actions proved their real motive. Honor is more than lip service. The word “honor” in this passage is a verb
and, as such, demands a right action.”
To conclude, there is one last question I want to pose. We’ve already read verses from Exodus 20 and
Ephesians 6 that speak of this concept of long life being given as a reward;
but we also know the good can certainly die young. So what are we to make of this? Once again, got questions.org is helpful:
“First, yes, the
promise is true, but not in a universal sense.
There are people who honored their parents but died young. And there are people who did not honor their
parents but lived a long life.
Therefore, it is a principle that is generally true. If you honor your parents, God will,
generally speaking, reward you with a long life. However, this promise does not override other
decisions we make that impact how long we live.
For example, if a man honors his parents, but then decides to commit
suicide, the act of suicide “negates” the reward of long life. The same can be said of those who engage in
reckless or dangerous activities. God’s
reward for long life for honoring parents does not miraculously make you immune
from serious injury or death.” (https://www.gotquestions.org/long-life.html). Nobody, whether young or old, is guaranteed tomorrow, so let’s esteem
our parents while we still can.
Kevin
