THE FOURTH COMMANDMENT
HONOR YOUR FATHER AND MOTHER
This commandment is nuanced by the years. When we are young it comes down to doing what we are told to do and not giving any backtalk. When we get older it means taking care of our parents in some way. When they die it is keeping their memory alive inside the family. I wondered if there was perhaps a different way of looking at this commandment lest it get neglected. I let the Lord speak
When I gave this commandment to the Hebrews what I had in mind was simple, they should take care of their parents in their old age. They did not have all the nice facilities to take care of the aged. When they became feeble, sick and all those burdens of becoming old I wanted to remind their children that it was their obligation to care for them. I hoped that this commandment would light the spark of seeing the needs of their parents and responding to them.
At the same time I had something else in mind . You see there is the human family. I am sure that you have all heard that expression, Radically this human family is based on my Fatherhood for all people. It goes beyond blood, nationality race. My Son, Jesus, gave a very good teaching about this family when He told the parable of the Good Samaritan. The boundaries of what neighbor means were widened and therefore what family means.
You may be asking yourself the question: so what? Well, inside of this human family there are the weak, the feeble, those who need you. There are the poor, the homeless, the immigrants, the lonely and forgotten. In short there are people who need others in order to live. The sickness may be self inflicted .e.g. chemical addiction, it may come from society e.g. economic stress or it may come from some sort of weakness inside of one…this list is not meant to be exhaustive just some examples of the needy.
The next step is a big one and one which is easy to miss. In the context of why I gave this commandment in the first place, to take care of those who are in need (parents) broadening the concept of family beyond blood, inside of this wider family there are the needy. I would like it very much that one way to keep this commandment is to look at the needy you see as your fathers and mothers. In short, in honoring the needy among you you honor your father and mother.