The Lutheran Pioneer St. Louis — 1900, Page 34

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34

The Lutheran Pioneer.

(For the LUTHERAN PIONEER.)

The Fourth Commandment.

Which is the Fourth Commandment?

Thou shalt honor thy father and thy mother,
that it may be well with thee, and thow mayest
live long on the earth.

What does this mean?

We should fear and love God, that we may
not despise our parents and masters, nor provoke
them to anger; but give them honor, serve and
obey them, and hold them in love and esteem.

Let us notice first that while this Command-
ment mentions only father and mother, that
is, our natural parents, it includes far more
than these. This Commandment, namely, in-
cludes our masters, too. Our master is he
who has the right tocommand us. Such mas-
ters are the civil government, our teachers,
pastors, andemployers. All these are, indeed,
our neighbors also, but they are neighbors
whom God’s ordinance has placed over us.
(Read the Table of Duties in your Small
Catechism.)

In the Explanation of the First Article, we
acknowledge God to be our Creator, Preserver,
and Ruler. God is, therefore, our true Father.
But next to God we owe our life to our natural
parents; they provide us with the needs of
this life, protect and guard us. Our parents
are the agents, the representatives of God. —
In the earliest days, in the days of Abraham,
Isaac, and Jacob, the parental authority and
power was, however, much more extensive
and comprehensive than in our day. These
ancient patriarchs were not only ‘‘fathers’’ in
the modern sense of the word, but they were
the teachers, pastors, and rulers of their fami-
lies and tribes. They were the superiors of
their people in home, church, and state. And
when, therefore, the Fourth Commandment
speaks of ‘‘father,’’ we must understand this
word in its old, original, and comprehensive
sense. ‘‘Honor thy father and mother’’ means,
then: ‘‘Honor all those whom God has placed
oyer you in home, state, school, and church.”
Luther comprises all these our superiors,
aside from our natural parents, in the term
‘“masters.’” And if now our parents are
the representatives of God, our masters are
equally so.

Let us now proceed to consider the Fourth
Commandment with reference to our parents.
We shall not despise them. Despising is the
opposite of esteeming and honoring. You
despise your parents when you think little of
them, when you forget that they are a gift of
God. Children that despise their parents soon
show their contempt in their gestures and by
impudent words and actions. They pay no
attention to the wishes of their parents, and
Speak of them as the ‘‘old man’”’ and ‘‘old
_Woman.*’ Ofcourse, when such children grow
up, they never think of asking their parents
_ for advice, and if they should rise in life, get
‘Tich or occupy some higher position in the

world, they will probably be ashamed of their
parents and thrust them aside altogether.

Neither shall we provoke our parents to anger
by bad behavior. Jacob’s sons provoked their
father to anger. When they had sold Joseph,
Jacob cried: ‘I will go down into the grave
unto my son mourning.’”? Oh, how many a
child has brought its parents down into the
graye, by its disobedience, its evil words and
deeds. ‘This earth of ours is dotted with many
& grass-grown mound beneath which lie the
poor victims of their murderous offspring.
Murderous offspring, I say, not because they
killed their parents outright, but by the far
more cruel method of disobeying them or
bringing shame upon them by leading sinful
and ungodly lives. This world is full of chil-
dren that can see their parents in need without
offering them help. So general is the ingrati-
tude of children, that it has become prover-
bial. While a poor father finds it possible to
provide for six children, six children often find
it impossible to provide for one father. Yes,
there are even children that have sunken so low
as to curse their parents and put their brutal
hands upon them! They dare to lay hands
upon the representatives of God! Verily, the
wrath of God resteth upon such unnatural off-
spring.

Let all children take heed to the words of
Solomon: ‘*The eye that mocketh at his father,
and despiseth to obey his mother, the ravens
of the valley shall pick it out, and the young
eagles shall eat it... . He that wasteth his
father, and chaseth away his mother, is a son
that causeth shame, and bringeth reproach’’
(Proy. 30, 17. 19, 26). Absalom’s example
shows us the end of a child that despised his
father and provoked him to anger. —

We shall honor our parents. This we do
when we serve and obey them, and hold them
in love and esteem. A beautiful example of
ministering filial love we have in Ruth. Though
she was young and strong and could easily have
found a good position among her own people,
she would not forsake her aged mother-in-law.
When her mother-in-law would entreat her to
leave her, she said: ‘‘Entreat me not to leave
thee, or to return from following after thee:
for whither thou goest, I will go; and where
thou lodgest, I willlodge: thy people shall be
my people, and thy God my God: where thou
diest, will I die, and there will I be buried:
the Lord do so to me, and more also, if aught
but death part thee and me.”? Thus did Ruth
serve her mother-in-law. May you thus serve
your father and mother. How much trouble
have you cost your mother, how much has not
your father done for you! Be thankful for
every opportunity given you to be of service
to them. And the larger you get, the greater
may your services he. Joseph remembered
his old father and provided for him in the
years of famine. Our blessed Saviour served
his’parents mosé faithfully, and even in the
agony of death he did not forget to make pro-
vision for his mother,

Of the Christchild we read, Luke 2, 51, that
it was subject unto its parents. Jesus’ ex-
ample all children should imitate. Every child
should obey its parents without murmuring.
And even then when your parents are a little
whimsical in their requests, you should obey
them, knowing that this is well-pleasing unto
the Lord (Col. 3, 20). Of course, God does
not wish us to obey our parents when they ask
us to do something sinful; and if our parents
should demand a sinful act of us, we must re-
member that in doing so they for the time being
cease to be God’s representatives, and it is
our duty to disobey them in that thing. — It
is of importance to remember that we remain
our parents’ children as long as they live.
And though as we grow up it is not possible
to ask our parents’ advice in every matter, we
should never undertake anything of impor-
tance without getting our parents’ consent and
good-will. A child will never be the loser by
getting a father’s opinion in any matter, an
opinion which flows from a loving heart.

The explanation finally enjoins us to hold
our parents in love and esteem. Your parents
have been kind to you; in word and deed have
they proven their love for you, and therefore
it is but natural that you should love them in
return, and be obedient tothem. You should
include them in your prayers and never forget
to thank God for having given you in your
parents such a precious gift. Above all should
you have patience with their weaknesses when
old age comes upon them, and regard it as 8
token of God’s grace if He gives you the op-
portunity to provide for them in their old age
and to cheer up their last days upon earth.

Concerning this Commandment St. Paul
says, Eph. 6, 2. 3: ‘‘Honor thy father and
mother, (which is the first Commandment with
promise,) that it may be well with thee, and
thou mayest live long on the earth.’”’ This
promise was fulfilled in Ruth. She became
the wife of Boas, the great-grandmother of
David, Israel’s greatest king, and the ances-
tress of the Saviour. Though her body has
returned to the earth, yet her name will live to
the end of days. And this promise has not yet
lost its force for the obedient children of our
day. God’s blessing and the good-will of men
will ever rest upon the obedient child, and it
will live long upon the earth. True, God may
call the obedient child out of this life at an
early age, but His promise is fulfilled never
theless. For if God in His wisdom sees that
a long natural life is not beneficial for the pious
child, He gives unto it the truly long life;
namely, eternal life in heaven. F. J- L.

_—_—2—~< oe p>

One evening, Luther saw cattle going in the
fields, in a pasture, and said: Behold, there
go our preachers, our milk-bearers, butter-
bearers, cheese- and wool-bearers, which do
daily preach unto us the faith towards God,
that we should trust in Him, as in our loving
Father; He careth for us, and will maintain
and nourish us. ;