I was ‘that kid’ in school.  The one who never missed a day of school.  Who studied more, not less, than required.  Who worried about a maximum page count, never the minimum.   I loved short answer and hated multiple choice.  I assumed ‘softball’ multiple choice questions were all nefarious tricks.  So, I added asterisks and sidebars – just to clarify.  I truly loved to read and study.  As a side gig, my father sold World Book encyclopedias.  I read them habitually and thoroughly.  Academics were my interest, my passion.  And so ‘Honor’s Day’ at school was for me like a sporting event.

Our school ‘Honor’s Day’ recognized virtually everything.   Perfect attendance, number of consecutive days a whole class participated in the lunch program, and academic achievement.  I loved the certificates, pins, and medals – not out of hubris, but because I delighted in the pomp and circumstance.  It was a time to recognize things that matter, things that were of value to me.  Not what the rest of culture valued, honored, and idolized the rest of the year.   Of course, I am still a little salty about being blackballed for the ‘safety patrol’ but I am working through it.

Showing honor is important.  But honoring goes further than certificates, pins, and medals.  Much deeper than what may be observed.  In fact, honor by way of eye-service is not real honor at all.  Rather honor recognizes the weightiness of someone’s place in our lives and values their impact.   We live in a world of participation trophies and egalitarian values. Distinctions in value, authority, gifts, and graces are vilified, not honored.  But this aberrant view is just an outgrowth of our totally depraved self-centeredness.  We are skilled at virtue signaling to serve our interests, but not honoring what is worthy of honor.  

We think of honor as a currency in a closed economy.  As though any honor given diminishes honor we may receive.  But the duty to be honorable and to honor others is built into the fabric of our being and encoded into God’s moral law.   It is not a closed system but a reflection of God’s holy character and thus limitless.   Honoring others is fundamental to what it means to be truly human.  And so, we come to the Fifth of the Ten Commandments.

“Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long in the land that the Lord your God is giving you.”

Exodus 20:12

Anyone who was raised in a family knows that even on the surface, this command is daunting.   Even if our parents are praiseworthy, they are sinners and so are we.   We can think of a thousand reasons to deny them honor, obedience, care, and duty.   Yet the command remains as a bulwark against sinful hearts that hate any authority but our own.  

While the command speaks of both father and mother, its implications go much further.   The Bible declares that the family is the genesis of every sphere of authority on earth including the state and the church.   While it holds no implicit primacy, it does inform us about the nature of those other sovereign spheres, their boundaries, and their duties.

Consequently, the Westminster Larger Catechism asks and answers this question of scope regarding the Fifth Commandment.

WLC 124. Who are meant by father and mother in the fifth commandment? By father and mother, in the fifth commandment, are meant, not only natural parents, but all superiors in age and gifts; and especially such as, by God’s ordinance, are over us in place of authority, whether in family, church, or commonwealth.

Westminster Larger Catechism, Question 124

The Catechism then proceeds to a remarkable exposition of all the relational duties of those who are both equal and unequal in regard to authority, age, and gifts.   While our modern sensibilities are offended by the language of ‘superiors and inferiors,’ this is merely the language of Providence.   A recognition that while all men possess equal dignity, our age, gifts, and authority have not made us equals in many respects.

The Fifth Commandment calls us to show honor, not perfunctory obedience or mere ‘meeting expectations,’ but honor.   What does this mean?  How do we show it?  Who deserves it?   How far does it go?   What difference does it make?   These are all questions we routinely ask but which the Fifth Commandment addresses.  

Join us as we examine Exodus 20:12 and consider what it means to ‘Honor your father and your mother.’  We meet on the square in Pottsville, right next to historic Potts’ Inn at 10:30 am for worship.  Get directions here or contact us for more info.  Or join us on Facebook Live @PottsvilleARP or YouTube.