Live Long in the Land

Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. 2“Honor your father and mother” (this is the first commandment with a promise), 3“that it may go well with you and that you may live long in the land.” (Ephesians 6:1-3)

How long is "long?" I guess it depends. I'm not borrowing from my friends in the legal profession by saying long "depends." 

The tragedy of sin is harsh in this commandment. We cannot judge the life of someone who may be taken young by how well he or she did at honoring his or her father and mother. Young to me is anything below 40, and to others older than me, I may be young. Sadly, though, death is a direct result of the total weight of sin in life, so it's hard to put the scale on one commandment. (On a side note, I've always been taught the First Commandment is the most-often broken commandment. When we sin, we've violated the First Commandment in addition to the sin.)

There is an order to life. Listening to those in authority over us is part of that order. Parents are the building block upon which this order exists. The family unit is critical to this order, and as it gets disrupted, so the culture and other parts of society that make up that fabric break down. "All authority flows from and is born from the authority of parents." This quote comes from the "Large Catechism."

As order erodes, other problems surface. I've heard essayists at Lutheran conventions held every three years note that the breakdown in society occurs at the family level. In my own experience, I could note children who had no father involved in their lives based on their inability to cope, deal with emotions and handle problems. It was no stereotype. It was just obvious of the critical nature of both parents, but dads do make a difference.

So, Paul saying that it "may go well with you and you may live long in the land" is possibly a note that culture will thrive as long as we "honor" those in authority, primarily dad and mom, then those in other roles.

Pray with me: Gracious Father, Return our hearts to you. Keep us focused on you and your will in our lives, and on our roles as stewards of authority, mainly as parents, but other roles we may fill as well. Remind us in all of these roles of your great commandment to "love our neighbors as ourselves." In your Son's name we pray, Amen.