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We have come to the 5^th commandment in our series on the 10 Commandments. This commandment begins the move from the vertical relationship focus of the first four commandments to the horizontal relationships of our lives. And it begins with the foundational relationship in those horizontal relationships, the relationship of family. Exodus, chapter 20, verse 12.

Before I say a few words about this fifth commandment, I’d like to say a few more words about last Sunday’s topic, Sabbath keeping. There were lots of questions and comments in the welcome area afterwards!

First, I want to say that going to a Rockies game can be Sabbath keeping. I was asked about that and I think the question was prompted in two ways: One was the knowledge that, yes, I personally do like to go to Rockies games, and, two, is the outing we’ve been publicizing to "Faith Day at the Rockies" next Sunday! I’m not being flippant with my response. Going to a Rockies game is Sabbath keeping for me. It might not be for you, but it is for me. I find it to be a very enjoyable and relaxing time—important elements in finding Sabbath rest. As for next Sunday, I think the post-game activities of hearing from Steven Curtis Chapman and from some of the players about their Christian faith and how it has sustained them in their lives is particularly appropriate to Sabbath keeping. So, going to a Rockies game can be a Sabbath keeping event.

The second thing I’d like to comment on is that three women asked me after worship last Sunday about cooking meals on Sunday and Sabbath keeping. And the first thing I want to say about that is, guys, pay attention to that concern! The second thing I want to say about that is that in a literal "letter of the Law" sense, in order to obey the commandment about Sabbath keeping regarding cooking meals on Sunday one should prepare meals ahead of time on Saturday. I’m serious about that—in a strict, "letter of the Law" sense. If preparing meals feels like your job and Sunday is just one more day of work at your job, then consider preparing Sunday’s meals on Saturday. And my support for this would be Israel in the wilderness—pre-Sinai and the giving of the 10 Commandments—when Israel was fed by a daily, miraculous appearing of manna and quail. Each family was to gather only what was needed for that day—there’s a trust lesson in there—except on the sixth day when they were to gather enough for two days so they wouldn’t be out gathering food on the Sabbath. Too much gathered on days one through five and left over to the next day turned foul with maggots. But the surplus gathered on the sixth day and carried over for the Sabbath did not. You can read about it in Exodus 16. So, in a strict "letter of the Law" interpretation, if cooking meals on Sunday interrupts your sense of finding Sabbath rest, prepare some easily warmed up meals on Saturday.

There is a "letter of the Law" understanding and a "spirit of the Law" understanding when it comes to the commandments. For someone who finds cooking like I find attending a Rockies game, joyful and relaxing, cooking meals on Sunday would not be a violation of the commandment, at least to the spirit of the Law.

This is a wonderful example of what happens with law and the various interpretations of the law. The books of Leviticus and Deuteronomy are, to a great extent, expansions on what it means to follow the 10 Commandments. From there, the Pharisees, "teachers of the law" at the time of Jesus, made a fine art out of interpreting the law. For example, don’t even say the name for God in order to not violate the commandment against misusing God’s name. And they had lots of interpretations about what it meant to keep the Sabbath day holy…probably because they also had lots of members coming up to them and peppering them with questions about it! Mostly women about cooking I’m sure. The Pharisees were absolutely obsessive about it—coming up with regulations about how far one can walk on the Sabbath before violating the commandment. This is why there are occasional references in the Bible about some town being a "Sabbath day’s journey" from Jerusalem. Acts 1, verse 12 is an example of that and the footnote to that verse tells me that the approved distance was about 5/8 of a mile. More than that and you were violating the Sabbath—at least the letter of the Law. The Pharisees had even figured out how many nails were the maximum one could have in his sandals because too many nails meant too much weight which meant walking around in those sandals on the Sabbath violated the law. Sabbath keeping was a big point of contention between Jesus and the Pharisees—their strict letter of the law butting up against Jesus’ spirit of the law understanding. I won’t go into it here, you can read about it throughout the Gospel accounts. The sum of it for Jesus was, "The Sabbath was made for humanity, not humanity for the Sabbath." The apostle Paul expanded on that to basically say, in the spirit of the Law, determine what is appropriate for you and put no stumbling block in front of another believer. If cooking a meal on Sunday is Sabbath resting for you, go ahead and cook! If it is not Sabbath rest for someone else, don’t make them cook!

That principle applies to all of the commandments and there are some that require little interpretation—Don’t misuse God’s name—and some that require more—Remember the Sabbath day and keep it holy. Be cautious about two equal and opposite errors: One, such a strict interpretation of the letter of the Law that it becomes oppressive—the error of the Pharisees; Two, such a loose interpretation of the spirit of the Law that it becomes irrelevant and forgotten—the error, I believe, of our society today.

Whew! Sabbath keeping is a classic commandment showing the struggle with interpretation. Now, "honoring father and mother." Here is another law for which we want interpretation. What does it mean to "honor" father and mother? Is this act an honoring act, or is it a dishonoring act? Where’s the list of do’s and don’ts I can give to my children? Well, if you were hoping for such a list regarding this commandment, I’m afraid I’m going to disappoint you. If you are a parent and you brought your children to church today specifically because you want them to hear the things they should be doing to honor you, you’re going to be frustrated with me. I have no list of do’s and don’ts. No, "kids, clean up your rooms…unless, of course, it’s the Sabbath!" What I do want to say is that this commandment is for children of all ages. We hear it and immediately think of young children, but it is for grown children also—perhaps even more applicable to grown children. For those of you, like me, who are beginning to care for aging parents—honor your mother and father. I don’t have a list of do’s and don’ts for how to go about doing that, but this commandment ought to be before you in your dealings with your parents.

I would also say to parents, be parents worthy of honoring. This seems to be what the apostle Paul has in mind when, in Ephesians, chapter 6, he quotes this commandment then follows it up by saying, "Fathers," (not sure why he doesn’t mention mothers, although I suspect it’s one of those cultural context things—fathers could be pretty distant from parental responsibilities in the 1^st century world), "Fathers do not exasperate your children," (Ephesians 6:1-4). It’s a bit like the controversial earlier passage in Ephesians about wives submitting to their husbands. Husbands before you go pointing out that passage to your wives, keep reading. Because what follows is an even longer passage about husbands loving their wives as Christ loved the church. One of these days I’m going to preach on that section of Ephesians and the title of the sermon is going to be, "Making Submission a Non-Issue." Husbands, would you like your wives to be submissive to you? Start with loving your wives as Christ loved the church. Do that and submission is a non-issue. So, in like fashion, parents, do you want more respect and honor from your children? Start with looking at yourself and how you are parenting. So, indeed, children honor your parents…and parents don’t exasperate your children.

Note that this commandment, the first commandment dealing with our horizontal relationships with others, begins with family. It stresses the importance of family relationships. When families start to break down our society begins to break down. It’s first because it’s so foundational. So, diligence about relationships, intentionality toward honoring behavior begins with families.

The commandment doesn’t end there, however. The call for honoring expands to other relationships as well. This was particularly the view of the Reformers, people like Luther and Calvin, whose interpretation of this commandment expanded to other relationships. Perhaps that was partially motivated by their need to show that in their calls for reformation and a pulling away from the centralized authority of the Church and the Pope the Reformers needed to respond to any charges that they were anarchists throwing out all authority. Consequently, their view of honoring father and mother expanded to other authorities as well.

Many of our confessions in the Book of Confessions came out of the Reformation, including the Westminster Confession and the Shorter Catechism which we have been using for our professions of faith. I want to take a look for just a moment at one part of what we will be saying in our profession for today. To the question of what the Fifth Commandment requires, the response is this, "The Fifth Commandment requires the preserving the honor, and performing the duties, belonging to everyone in their several places and relations, as superiors, inferiors, or equals," (underlines mine). Think for a moment about what this particular interpretation of the Fifth Commandment is saying. There’s no specific mention of father or mother! In essence, it is saying "honor everyone." Superiors. Inferiors. Equals. And for Scriptural support of that interpretation, the writers of the Shorter Catechism make reference to Romans 12:10, "Be devoted to one another in love. Honor one another above yourselves."

I can’t give you a specific list of do’s and don’ts for this commandment. Not sure it would be productive to do that anyway. But I would encourage you, once again, to consider God’s protection and provision for us in this commandment. Honor your parents, honor your family, honor others above yourselves is God’s desire to protect us from abusing and exploiting others for our benefit and, in turn, to be protected from being abused and exploited. God wants to provide for us honoring relationships, built on trust and designed with care for the integrity and honor of the other person in that relationship and that we might receive such care in return. Honor your parents. Honor your family. Indeed, honor everyone, which is what this table calls us to. It is the great leveler in relationships between superiors, inferiors and equals. For no one is worthy to receive from this table, yet all are invited to participate. At this table, God models honoring behavior in relationships. So…honor your father and mother. Honor your family. Honor your friends. Honor government authorities—whether you voted for them or not! Indeed, honor everyone, as Christ has shown us the way!