September 29, 2019 at 9:37 pm · naltadonna · Comments Off on Set in Stone: Week 4
Set in Stone: Week 4
This week we continued in our sermon series Set in Stone on the Ten Commandments. Often these commandments can be seen as rigid, burdensome rules, but during this series we have been looking at these commandments through a fresh lens to discover how they are lined in grace and guidelines that lead to full life. Today we talked about two commandments that relate to our families: honor your parents and do not commit adultery.
Commandment #5: Honor your parents. The word “honor” in Hebrew means “heaviness.” In English, it means something like “carries a lot of weight.” To honor is to treat with great importance and with respect. We often think of this commandment in terms of calling young children to obey their parents. However, this commandment was given to adults, calling them to take care of their aging parents. The commandment contains a promise of living a long life if we obey it. It is not necessarily a guarantee for long life, but taking care of our parents sets an example for children to take care of us when we are older. The marker of a vital society is how we treat the most vulnerable. Honoring our parents can be difficult to define, but we know it when we see it. We can honor them by obeying their house rules, by taking care of them when they grow older, by spending time with them, by making one of their signature recipes, and/or by telling them “thank you” or “I love you.” Honoring our parents is a way we can honor God.
Commandment #7: Do not commit adultery. There comes a point in many of our lives, where we stand in front of the person we love the most and say the words: “In the name of God, I take you to be my husband/wife, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better or worse, for richer or poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish until death do us part.” Adultery happens when we break the marriage covenant and are unfaithful to our spouse. Fidelity is often not encouraged in our society. We see that in our media- from tv shows to movies to books. People throughout scripture struggled with obeying this commandment too. Adultery breaks a covenant not only with our spouse but also with God. Jesus talks about adultery in terms of internal motives. Jesus said that if a married person looks at someone who isn’t their spouse with lustful thoughts, he/she commits adultery in the heart. Adultery causes harm in a marriage, it negatively affects children, and can disrupts one’s family and community. The positive view of this commandment is to be faithful in marriage. Marriage is a gift from God- it is a gift to be loved and to love another. We honor God through honoring our marriage covenant.
Love is a choice. It is a conscious decision to love and serve one another above yourself. We invite you to choose love this week and to honor your parents and your marriage covenant.
Scripture Readings:
Monday- Exodus 20:1-2, 12-14
Tuesday- Ephesians 6:1-4
Wednesday- Matthew 21:28-32
Thursday- Matthew 5:27-32
Friday- Psalm 71:1-24
Questions to Consider and Discuss:
1. How can you honor your parents more fully?
2. If you are married, we invite you to consider- What is one way you can honor your spouse this week?
Categories: Sermons
