Honor your father and mother

1 Tim 5:1-8 Honor your father and mother
Christians worship God the Father. In the Lord's prayer, we confess, "Our Father which art in heaven." We Christians are those who please our Father in heaven with our heart, with our soul, with our mind, with our body. But if we only worship the heavenly Father but do not our fleshly father and mother, it is wrong faith.
God promises that he gives us blessing when we honor our fleshly father and mother just as he blesses us when we honor our spiritual Father God. Bible says, "Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. Honor your father and mother - which is the first commandment with a promise - that it may go well with you and that you may enjoy long life on the earth." (Eph 6:1-3) "Children, obey your parents in everything, for this pleases the Lord." (Col 3:20)
But the bible warns that curse falls upon those who dishonor their fleshly father and mother just as curse falls upon those who dishonor the spiritual Father. "Cursed is the man who dishonors his father or his mother." (Deu 27:16) "The eye that mocks a father, that scorns obedience to a mother, will be pecked out by the ravens of the valley, will be eaten by the vultures." (Pro 30:17) "Anyone who curses his father or mother must be put to death." (Matt 15:4)
We Christians are those who are blessed because we honor our spiritual Father and fleshly father and mother. As a pastor, I have realized that those who serve the fleshly father and mother serve the spiritual Father God, but those who do not want to serve their fleshly father and mother do not serve the spiritual Father God, and their faith becomes selfish and crooked.
Let me tell you a story happened when I was in Korea. 20 years ago Yoido Full Gospel Church built Elim welfare complex, where they give the poor youth the opportunity to study free of charge and they take care of the poor seniors who have no dependants.
One day a senior woman came in Elim welfare complex because she had no dependants. After years passed by, she became almost dead because of sickness. So the authority of Elim welfare complex asked her, "If you have any relative or family, please tell us the phone number." Then she answered with tears, "I have no son and no daughter. When I am dead, there is no one who comes to me."
But Elim authority found a phone number in her pocket book, and telephoned, "This is from Elim welfare complex. Is there anyone who knows the old woman named so and so ?" Then a middle-aged man answered very nervously, "Oh, she is out of mind ! I told her not to call me. But has she asked you to call me ? I don't know her."
So the Elim authority asked him, "She is in serious condition. If you know anyone who knows this old woman, please tell him to call Elim welfare complex. Thank you." But later the authority realized that the middle-aged man is her son. And surprisingly he is the senior deacon of Yoido Full Gospel Church.
When the pastor Yonggi Cho was reported about this story, he was very angry. And pastor Cho rebuked him in worship service, "What a senior deacon he is ! This man has no qualification for senior deacon. He is worse than an unbeliever."
Brothers and sisters, think it in your situation. If your sons or daughters abandon you when you are old and sick and never come to you, do you try to sue your sons or daughters ? Or do you implore him to take care of you ? Almost of parents do not like to implore their sons and daughters to care for them because they don't want to be burden to their sons and daughters. If sons and daughters forget the great grace of their parent, how ungrateful and how unfilial they are ! How can they serve God if they do not serve their parent ?
One day an old maid minister asked pastor Yonggi Cho, "Would you tell me how to minister well ?" Paster Cho answered, "Get married and have a baby." It means, "If you get married and live with husband, your selfishness and stubbornness will be broken. And if you have a baby, you have to change diaper everyday, and you will know the heart of your parent and heart of spiritual Father God. Then you will minister well."
Brothers and sisters, how can we serve our God well ? Bible tells us, "Respecting God is respecting parents." That is, if you know the heart of your parent and honor your parent, you can also know the heart of God and honor God the Father. But if you hurt your parent's heart and abandon your parent, you will also hurt the heart of God and abandon God.
Brothers and sisters, I do not trust in those who do not take care of their parents. But if you want to care for your parent even though you are not the first son, I think you very precious man. I want all of us to be filial sons and daughters. If you are not the wife of the eldest son, and you are not rich, but if you want to care for the parent of your husband, I think your husband is richly blessed and happy husband because of you. I want such wife to be our church' pillar.
Nowadays people usually take care of their children well. But they do not take care of their parents. But it is wrong. If you ignore your parent, your children will ignore you, and your children will be unfilial sons and daughters, and their faith will be selfish and crooked.
Some of you say, "I will never be supported or taken care by my sons and daughters in the future." Most of parents say like you. And almost of parents do not want be supported by their sons and daughters in the future. They want to die as soon as possible if they are burden to their children. But their is no choice but to be supported by their sons and daughters when they are old and sick and have no money. If sons and daughters rebuke their old, poor and sick parents, that was the biggest hurt to the parents.
Let me tell you my family's story. As you know, last year I went to Korea because my father was seriously sick. Of course, my mother was taking care of him. But she is old and woman so that it was hard for her to seat him in the wheelchair. But it was not hard to me. I often seated him in the wheelchair and went about from place to place. My father felt happy and said to me, "My son, why don't you have a son ?"
Of course, before my father was sick, he always said, "I will never be helped by my son and daughters." But he had to be helped his son. because he was sick. Of course, we cannot say it 'help' in comparison with the devotion of parents. But it is the parents' heart that they don't want to be even small burden to their sons and daughters even though they bore the heavy burden for their children. If sons and daughters do not consider the heart of their parent, how can they consider the heart of God ?
Taking care of old parents is not only human duty but also children's duty and Christian's duty. If they do not take care of their parents, how can they take care of their church and church members ?
Today's scripture says, "If a widow has children or grandchildren, these should learn first of all to put their religion into practice by caring for their own family and so repaying their parents and grandparents, for this is pleasing to God. If anyone does not provide for his relatives, and especially for immediate family, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever." (1 Tim 5:4,8)
Brothers and sisters, people pay their debts very well to the bank and to the debtors. But why they do not pay the debts to their parents ? But today's scripture tells us that we have to pay our debts to our parents, and we have to teach our children to honor grandparents, for this is pleasing to God.
Brothers and sisters, let's honor our parents and let's please our God with repaying our debts to our parents. And let's be the good examples of honoring our parents to our children, so that our children can be filial sons and daughters and be blessed by God. Amen !