It was good to hear you forgive me in the Confession and Absolution.  I needed it.  This past week has been a "good news - bad news" one.  The good news is that our church is one week closer to completion.  The bad news is that I've not been good to be around, and have probably needed to make more apologies than any week for years.  And today I also need to apologize for a very political remark I made in last Sunday's sermon.  It was one of those comments you want to take back the moment it leaves your mouth.  On the way home one of my family said, "You did it again, talking about the president!"  Those of you who heard it know what I'm referring to, and I'm sorry.  I'll try not to do it again.

          And before some of you run to the back table to read a copy of last week's sermon, you need to know you won't find it written down because it was one of those off-the-cuff bad comments.  That's why I always write out a manuscript.  Just imagine if an opinionated guy like me I didn't write it all down!  Aside from going on for 45 or 50 minutes, I'm not sure you'd keep coming.  I've tried preaching without notes a few times and am usually encouraged by others not to.  But I appreciate your understanding.  It's an honor to be pastor of this congregation.

          Yesterday I walked into our new Epiphany Worship Center with its new wall cross and newly installed light fixtures, and I paused.  The room was no longer just a room and the building is no longer just a building.  Now it's a place to honor God.  There is something humbling about entering a church.  Whether it's so new its walls aren't finished or so old its walls are crumbling, a church is always more than a building.  You know there's something greater than you there.  Some of you know I can't wear a cap in church, and it bothers me when someone else does.  It's more than my father's admonition years ago that won't allow me to keep my head covered in church.  I believe it has something to do with honor and respect.

          There's also something humbling about having people rise when I enter to begin the service.  Seven years ago my former members began this tradition.  It was suggested by some men who attended a Promise Keepers event to honor the pastor by rising when he enters a room, and now we do it here each Sunday as we begin worship.  Rising when someone enters a room is a way to show honor.  I think it's been good for congregations -- at least it stops conversation and tells everyone it's time to start worship!

          When you rise I know you are honoring the Office of Ministry, not just the guy who holds the office.  The Office of Pastoral Ministry is not a creation of the church, but one of God's gifts.  It's actually the only office the Bible requires for a church, and all other offices come from the pastoral office.  That office should be held in honor at all times, regardless of who occupies it.  I am glad that you honor the pastor, and your pastor should also honor his members.

          Jesus said, in the Gospel lesson, "That all may honor the Son, just as they honor the Father.  He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent Him."  We live in an age when so few people know how to show honor, and even fewer know how to receive honor when it's given.  We usually associate honor with a banquet or an awards ceremony, but the Bible tells us to honor one another in many ways, everyday ways.  It all begins with the Fourth Commandment, "Honor your father and your mother, that it may go well with you and you may live long on the earth." (Exodus 20:12)   Honoring others begins at home.  Honoring God begins in His home.

          To "honor" means to show respect, to give credit or distinction where it is due.  In honoring God, we often use other distinct words, like reverence, or awe, or worship and even obedience.  Honor does not mean earning an award as much as it means awarding respect.  Honor is not meant to nurture one's pride, but to show people you value them and appreciate them.

          Tonight Carol and I will attend a "Homes of Honor" group that we joined about 7 years ago.  We meet nearly every month with 5 other couples learning to honor, value and respect our spouses, and to show each other respect in all we do.  During these seven years, each of us couples has experienced some kind of personal crisis, and we've always been there to minister to each other and hold each other up.  "Homes of Honor"-- what a Godly concept!  How badly they are needed in our country!

          Our Lord Jesus discovered honor was hard to come by, especially in His home and among His own people.  In Matthew 13, the Bible says His relatives and neighbors took offense at Him, so He said, "Only in his hometown and in his own house is a prophet without honor."

          I believe we need to honor one more than we do.  Our world seems to delight in finding new ways to show dishonor, whether it's being ribald or insulting or offensive or rude.  But we must not accept that behavior.  Whenever we hear a dishonoring comment, we have every right to defend right behavior.  God wants His people to honor one another, starting with our parents, and then extending that circle of honor to friends, co-workers, neighbors, young and old alike.

          If we are to honor our earthly mother and father, we certainly must also honor our Heavenly Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.  In our text, Jesus expressed His hope, "That all may honor the Son, just as they honor the Father."  It's vital that we honor Jesus by worship, reverence, using His name only to pray, praise and give thanks.  "He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent Him."  When we do honor God and show others that we do, it blesses the ones who do and the ones who see us doing.

          Several years ago there was a good movie, Shadowlands, the story of C.S. Lewis, great English theologian, and his marriage to Joy Davidman, an American poet.  The confirmed old bachelor is completely surprised when the Lord brings him this frail and delightful creature.  It's a good film because it contains no insulting language or compromising situations.  But most impressively, it shows us how Mr. Lewis models the Christian faith by honoring his wife.

          The age we live in tempts us to show dishonor toward others.  We so much want our freedom that we have lost some of the gentleness of being human.  If you're insulted, people today insult back.  If we've really been treated badly, we want to teach them a lesson.  How about if we do some preventative social medicine and show respect to our teachers, our checkout persons, our garbage men, our fast food workers and all others we depend on.

          Many people try to show that society is going downhill.  Some say it's because we have not educated people enough.  "Teach them the right things and they will do the right things," they say.  I say the problem is not ignorance but Sin.  Sin can never overcome by education alone nor with more money.  "If people were not so poor, they would not do bad things."  But the problem is not poverty of wallets but poverty of hearts and morals.  No amount of money or education can fix the problem of sin in our lives.

          We're born with what we call Original Sin, the condition that shows itself in wrong acts.  From our infancy you and I are sinful and need forgiveness.  That's why we baptize infants.  Yes, Millie, sin is real, even in infants, because parents are sinful.  How can sinful parents give birth to sinless children?  And where did your child learn to sin?  You certainly didn't teach them.  It comes by nature.

          The Bible tells us, "All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God."  There is not one of us who does not come under the condemnation of a perfect God.  Without forgiveness we're lost.  That's why God sent His only son to save us.  The Bible says, God sent forth His only Son, "...born of a woman, born under the Law, to redeem those who were under the Law, that we might be adopted as God's children." (Galatians 4:4-5)   The problem of our world is not ignorance or poverty but Sin, and God has given us a solution for that problem in His Son Jesus Christ.

          The Savior was born without sin.  Mary was certainly sinful, but because Jesus was born by the power of the Holy Spirit, He had no Original Sin.  He lived His life without imperfection, without any sin.  He was tempted like us in every way, but resisted each time.  Now His perfect life opens the door to eternal life for all who believe in Him.  When we have faith in Jesus, our sins our forgiven.  And when we honor each other, we honor our God in faith.  When you trust in Jesus, no matter how terrible you've been in the past, you are saved.  God honors us by making us His children.

          A king was riding on his horse when bandits attacked him.  A young man passing by intervened and saved the king's life.  The king invited him to the palace and said, because of what he'd done, he would never again want for money.  He would be given employment, a fine home and he was even invited to marry the King's daughter.  All he had to do was accept the King's offer - and presto - he's son-in-law to the king!  But though it would mean money, prestige and fame.  Never again would the young man have to work so hard or live in his old shack.  But he also thought how he'd never be able to see his drinking buddies again.  No more fooling around with the barmaids, no more late night card parties, no more nights in the bordello.  So the young man turned down the King's offer.  Becoming son-in-law to the King would have meant too many changes!

          Dear friends, God calls us to follow Him.  If we do, we must make some changes.  We can't honor God while living like a heathen.  May we all honor each other, and also honor Christ with a living faith in Him.  Amen

Copyright © 2001 by Pastor Bob Tasler.  All rights reserved.