Enabling Righteousness: Exodus 12:16-20 - Fourteenth Sunday after Pentecost
There’s a slight problem with the fourth commandment (fifth commandment in Reformed traditions): how can you honor your father and your mother if they behave dishonorably? I realize that this is the exception rather than the norm, but the commandment seems incomplete. There is no vocation that is as challenging and as vital for human society than parenting. One of the most important duties of parenting is moral discipline. Morals are learned at home. Parents teach by example. When parents lack the time or the support to discipline their children in righteousness—or they just don’t care, it’s not just the children who suffer. The consequences infect all human society, from the streets to the schools to the workplaces, and sometimes, to the halls of power. We’ve reached a point where we can’t just blame Hollywood for the moral decay of our society. Silicon Valley has been pouring fuel on the fire. So has Washington, D.C. and all the halls of government. But that’s not all. T...
