Practicing Honour — Thaddeus Barnum

Father in heaven we join with Mary today and to say our spirit rejoices and God our Savior. For you have had regard for the humble state of your bond slave and the mighty one has done great things for us.

We praise you we bless you we glorify you we worship you we thank you for all the grace and and and love that you have lavished upon us and your son Jesus Christ and For empowering us, but the greatness of God the Holy Spirit into our into our everyday life.

So Lord cause us to walk in honor of you in obedience to you. Pleasing to you in all ways through Christ our Lord. Amen. Good morning again dear friends. I Began last week to take up a conversation with you on the story of honor as we came into the new year and to begin to look at what it might mean that we would have a Life in this new year that would honor the Lord with who we are and how we have our lives together in all ways and the thing about honor is it is a bit of a foreign word to us in our present culture and What I would like to perhaps strike out is how would we be different you and I?

Praying for Honor in Daily Life

If we actually prayed the prayer Lord teach me honor in my life. How would we be different? Lord builds the character of your honor in me. If we were to pray that prayer Intentionally, what would that mean and how would we be changed by it?

How would our worship of the Lord be different? How would our? Disciplines of how we conduct our behavior and our life. How would our words be different? How would our homes be different? How would our marriages be different if we honored?

How would our children be different if honor was put at the center of how our family is? How parents modeled how children were raised. What if honor was met in our? Employ and our workplaces. What if we were to honor our bosses are those who are in authority over us?

What if we were to honor the laws of our land? What if honor crept into our soul and made us? Shaped us and defined us. How would we be different and especially in a culture today that is shifting where dishonor?

Actually has become normative. We are seeing a culture in lawlessness or in rebellion to God. We have watched morals changed which means if we want to hold on to God. We have to then change our religion change our view of God.

Shape him into our image and then honor the one we have made. Rather than the one who is God father almighty Creator of all that is seen and unseen. How would we be different if we as a church brought honor back into the culture back into our life?

Would things be different. I believe in some ways this was the question asked by the church. Going out into the pagan world. How can we be a light in the darkness and part of that light in the darkness is reflecting the character of God?

The midst of a dark and pagan world which is only increasing. What would it be like if honor was restored last week? We began with the simple first principle behind honor. It isn't a good one isn't a nice one.

Humility as the Foundation of Honor

It isn't a happy one. It's called humility. Why do we say that well the Proverbs 18 12 tell us humility precedes honor? Always we saw the great king Nebuchadnezzar last week. And he so filled with pride in his life.

And we watched Daniel beg him urge him to do away with his pride break away from his pride practice righteousness. Go to the poor and show mercy. We saw Jesus pick the same thing up when your heart gets lifted up you go into a banquet.

Don't go to the highest place run to the last place. Let humility define you for the exalted shall be humbled and the humble shall be exalted. And that Principle is is undergirding really everything in it.

How do we know honor save the humility of the soul? Coming before God and we saw it in the life of Nebuchadnezzar last week. We saw it as he in his humility having been Humiliated actually comes out of it to worship and to praise and to honor God with his lips and with his life and.

Obedience and the Story of Esther

So this is the way honor begins today. I want to take up the second principle behind honor and it is called obedience. I want to take up if you could if you wouldn't mind. I want to take up in these in these days just before we begin the season of Lent and Repair for the wonderful work of Monday Thursday Good Friday and Resurrection morning.

I want to look at a book in the Bible that is so rarely talked about that holds up this Story of honor in such a beautiful way. It's not heard of much because because I don't know why I don't know. I love this book.

It's one of those moments where when we actually did 20 -25 years ago outlined the Bible reading program. We did it in a way that as we read through the Bible over the course of the year in some ways.

Especially going through pieces of it. There were chronological pieces so at the end of the year in the Old Testament, we read books like Haggai and and and and Zechariah and but the one I love coming right at Christmastime is the book of Esther.

Did anybody love the book of Esther? It is a best book the thing that's surprising about it. Is it it does not actually mention the name of God in it? So people don't understand that and it's also not mentioned in New Testament, so it's been given sort of a diminished role.

But I want to say this to you the very theme of Esther is written inscribed in every part of of Old Testament and New Testament the very Principles are underlined in the story of Joseph as he sent down to Egypt in Daniel like we saw last week.

I mean, they're the principles that undergird the story have everything to do with honor. And I love this story. I always wait to read it. It's like a little tiny Historical novelette in the Bible crafted beautifully and In the center of it what we find is a couple who has been exiled in Dishonor the Jewish nation came to a place where where though they were chosen by God.

They did not honor God and they rebelled against him and in the rebellion the Lord sent prophets and prophets Calling them back calling them back and they refused and in their rebellion and in their disobedience the Lord sent them away and Now you've got this picture of this couple in exile this man named Mordecai and this this woman Esther in the middle of Persia in the middle of a of a culture that is Filled with all the secular stuff we face in our life today.

King Ahasuerus and the Dishonor of Vashti

And the book starts the way the book starts is just is fabulous. The king has decided to honor Himself you see this all the time on television. Am I wrong? Let's have another award show. How many award shows are there per week?

It's like and it's oh and I get the award again. I can't tell you how much this means to me. Whatever I mean it's It's fabulous how we see splendor and riches and majesty well the king of Persia who Predominates over us this vast area of a hundred and twenty seven Provinces and you'll see this right at the beginning of Esther reigning from India to Ethiopia over a hundred and twenty seven provinces decides to actually give a feast for his officials and servants the army of Persia and media then and and and the nobles and the governors and he decides to show the Riches of his royal glory and the splendor and pomp of his greatness for many days many days a hundred and eighty days six months six months six months.

Did you want to talk about me? I? Mean it's just this display of Lavishing Everybody with a seeing of his splendor and his glory and his riches. What's really amazing at the Bible is when you look at the Bible though God actually can do the same thing.

He can show his glory. He can show his splendor. I mean there are moments in the scriptures like when Isaiah chapter 6 he comes in the presence of Almighty God and falls down before. Read the book of Revelation.

It is just this this constant sense of all of a sudden. You're in the presence of God Almighty the wonders of his glory his splendor his beauty his majesty. But when he came to teach us about himself.

When he came to show us his character, did you notice he didn't come to show us his glory he came in humility. Did you see that? When he reveals his character, he doesn't just go here. I am although You read the Gospels carefully.

Behold the glory of the transfiguration of course. He only took three with him. He didn't do it with everybody. He was going to show us that his real glory. The real lavished grace of God would be seen in the darkest moments of Calvary.

That's where his glory was displayed this character of God Almighty. In humility, he's not like this King. But he is but he chooses to reveal himself in Humility and give the character of humility so that when you see him all you can do is fall on your face and honor him.

You see the pattern. That's how it goes. That's why I'm the beautiful reading by Peter hail today of Psalm 145. It's an explosion of the people of God. Worshipping him in his splendor in his glory in his radiance.

The Lord is gracious and merciful slow to anger and great in loving-kindness. They shall speak of the glory of your kingdom. We will make known your mighty acts and the glory of your majesty of your kingdom.

Your kingdom is neverlasting kingdom the Lord. He sustains all who fall he raises up all who are bowed down. To he reveals himself in his is glorious and his beauties and his majesty. But he reveals himself in its humility first.

And that's the beauty of it. And that's why when he teaches his honor. Look how he demonstrates it for us. And so we get this beginning of the book of Esther, which is the king actually doing the opposite.

He spends there are three feasts in the opening chapter. Yes three feasts in the opening chapter of Esther. There's the one that goes for six months over the entire place from Ethiopia to India. Then there's the one he does in the capital of Susa.

He does his own seven days and it is just a lavish banquet. It is it is 25 cruise lines all in one moment. I mean, it's just everything you know that anyway and Then Queen Vashti herself has her own party.

So there are these feasts going on everywhere but at the end. What the king wants to do at the end is he wants to display his greatest most precious treasure? He has in all his kingdom. He wants to show the vastness of his splendor and his wealth in the last Crescendo of the final day of the final week of the final month of all his splendor.

He wants his his beautiful queen to step onto the stage and people to see her beauty. This is the moment. This is the drum roll. This is everything the whole first chapter builds to the moment where he calls Queen Vashti in beautiful a form.

Radiance of glory to step out onto the stage and and you can almost imagine that the hand wave I'm just the only one that I know. Here in in Majesty's world and the entire story crumbles in just a few words.

Queen Vashti refused to come right at the heart of the story is the center of disobedience and dishonor. Right at the center of it is is a humiliation publicly of the king in front of everybody in front of the seeing world and then through Communications even back in those days the word always gossip has always been way before Google lights.

Gossip is always gone everywhere. It's like water. You can't stop it. It finds its way everywhere and Queen Vashti says no. Now the storyteller doesn't dig underneath it. We can't find out why. There's no story behind the story of was there a justifiable reason.

Actually, the story tells us there isn't a justifiable reason all that we need to know is that she Whatever reason whatever was behind it. She said no to the king and So we've got right at the beginning not the story of honor.

But the story of dishonor and shame and public humiliation and Suddenly out of the belly of the king comes anger comes comes wrath comes burning inside of this public humiliation of his wife of the Queen as a man as a husband as a king and Here at this moment suddenly he is surrounded by his law his team his legal team his counselors his magi all the people that bring him counsel and they say King the Impact of what she has done is going to affect everybody in the kingdom.

You've got to act you've got to do something. You know my friends this brings a question. I would suggest to you and to me What does dishonor do if it's not dealt with. Can you imagine a culture where dishonor reigns?

Can you imagine a culture where children are allowed to do that with their parents where we're wise for spouses? Where can you imagine a culture where suddenly we didn't care about the laws? We didn't care about and chaos began to be a normative part.

What happens to a culture when rebellion and dishonor begin to take root and are not dealt with. What happens to the people? What happens to the character of the people what happens to the culture. What happens to us as a people when dishonor?

Becomes becomes. Untended undealt with and therefore whether whether passively or inactively it's basically approved. Rebellion is allowed. People are allowed to do what they want to do when they want to do with their lips with their lives.

What if the Queen Vashti was just a normative part of life well? I Don't think we have to think hard. Friends this is not the 1940s is it? Not the 1980s. What would it be like if dishonor ruled in our day?

There's a question to be thought through in our own lives and to be asking the question where do we actually? Model that culture dishonor in our homes and our families and you can see it everywhere. You can see it even even uprooting in our young coming up.

You've seen it and go to the mall today. You'll watch a tantrum of a young child. Dishonoring their parents and and and having no effect. It's everywhere. Here in this moment of chapter one of an edict is given.

And it's fascinating what the edict does because the edict basically comes out to say to the whole known world. Queen Vashti has been placed in exile. She will never again see the face of the king. She will no longer be Queen.

She is put in exile. She has been sent away let it be known from the least to the greatest there shall be respect in this kingdom. There shall be honor in this kingdom. The way marriages work the way families work the way the way all levels of society work there will be honor and Egypt goes out to ensure the people that Justice and a just response has been made so people can know order must be in our culture and Order that centers around honor.

Did you see that? It centers around honor as the piece of it and we're talking secular world now. Not not not the God world not not those who know the Lord God of Abraham Isaac and Jacob the God and father of our Lord Jesus Christ now I do want to say to you though.

Israel’s Exile and the Promise of Honor

The principle is one and the same. Think about this just for a moment. Because this is the whole point of how Esther begins it begins with Mordecai and Esther who are in exile in the midst of a pagan land.

Why are they in exile? Because we the people of God chosen by God brought to the promised land God of Abraham Isaac. And Jacob established it and we rebelled against God. That's the story of the Bible.

We rebelled against God and so in love and in compassion. He called us back. He called us back. He said the prophets. He said the judges he constantly called us back until the rebellion was so deep that the Lord sent His people away as it stated in the prophets like Ezekiel and Jeremiah and Isaiah.

He gave a writ of divorcement to the wife of Jehovah his bride his people. He sent her away. It's the same picture actually that rebellion at the end of the day ends up in this in this break and that's how the story begins.

Chapter 2 of Esther begins with Mordecai and Esther. Esther who is a who is a Jewish Female orphan her mama and daddy have died. She's suffering under that under the hardship of her family being taken from her and Mordecai is actually her cousin and and Mordecai Comes to be Papa to Hadassah or to Esther and you see this couple in the midst of exile.

Having been sent away in as much as Queen Vashti was sent away the people of God were sent away and Now you've got this couple in the midst of this land and that's where the story begin. Does you know what's at the center of Mordecai and Esther?

It's a reversal. They've come to honor the Lord. This is a key principle underneath the scriptures. First Samuel 220 actually captures the words in print. Those who honor me I will honor First Samuel 220 memorize it those who honor me say it those who honor me.

I will honor you just memorize. Those who honor me I will honor. It's a promise of the Bible. It's underneath everything. It's underneath everything back the year that Errol and I were married in 1981 the great feature film of that particular year was a film called chariots of fire.

Anybody remember that? 1924 the Olympics you have this wonderful runner by the name of Eric little and and there he is. The Scottish missionary to China a man who would die in China actually, but he he came to run the Olympics.

He was. God had made him fast. Perhaps you remember some of the great dialogue out of that movie. But underneath it came the great moment in that in the traditions of the of the Olympics that he was to run on the Sabbath day.

He was to run on the Sabbath and every principle inside of him said I want to run. I want to make my name known. I want that's why God made me, but I will not break his command. To honor the Sabbath day and there's pressure put on him pressure to break this pressure pressure because the nation Needed their their young man to stand up and represent them.

There's Eric little saying no the nation is never honored first. God is honored first. God is honored first and they put pressure on him to do this again. You'll find our culture today. We have so thrown away The the entirety of what we understand the scriptures to say and to mean Sabbath means nothing today in 19 2015 does it 2015 Sunday Sabbath a day for the Lord means nothing in our culture at all but back then 1924 this man knew what was right in the eyes of God it would not break it and On a date and if you remember the story he gets changed out with one of the runners and just as he's about to run.

In the movie, I don't know if it happened in real life, but in the movie such a spectacular moment. He's about to run it and one of the Americans comes over and puts in his hand a piece of paper to run with.

And what is a piece of paper saying? First Samuel 220 those who honor me I will honor. It's a principle of life. It's a principle of everything if we honor him, and that's what you see. Rooted in this couple Mordecai who is a papa over Esther inside in the middle of their humiliation.

In exile cast away there these two are Honoring the Lord with their lives in the midst of that dark and pagan land. They're honoring him. Two statements from Esther that are so key in this passage. Esther chapter 2 verse 10.

Esther chapter 2 verse 20 where it says that she did not make her kindred known. Because Mordecai told her not to and again in chapter 2 20. I love the way this is said in chapter 2 20. Esther had not made known her kindred or her people as Mordecai had commanded her for Esther obeyed Mordecai just as when she was brought up by him.

Learning Honor Through Obedience and Mentorship

She constantly She constantly knew that to honor her father her honor to honor her father Mordecai the one who God places his was the beginning of life. It's the small things it's the small things that we begin to find the beginnings of life.

I Can't tell you for me how important this is. I did not have to learn pride. Nobody had to school me in pride. Nobody had to come teach me the principles of pride 101 and then advance to my master's and my doctorate.

I achieved my doctorate and pride at the age of three. Is that right. Right. But honor does not come naturally. Do you understand that honor is not something that is born in this condition of a sinful broken heart?

To honor God to honor our parents to honor in our culture takes lessons learned and taught. It isn't something you just do once there. It's part of being imbibed into the character of a person how we learn to honor.

It becomes us we put it on and we learn it. I thank God that when I was growing up in the faith and especially as I was going into ordained ministry I had very strong Papa's in the faith that taught me how to honor.

I Say that because my Papa's their Papa's in the faith which in our tradition or bishops in my day. These bishops were dishonoring God publicly they were dishonoring God publicly and here we were under their authority and I had that I was being called into the bishops office one day, and I was I was prepared.

I was prepared to speak my mind and I had my Papa in the faith called me my senior clergy my rector called me and said now. These are the three things I'm asking you to do. Number one. I want you to hold your tongue.

Number two. I want you to be gracious in everything your speech seasoned with salt. And number three I want you to make no response at all. Leave the office. Pray it through. Before you actually speak it out.

So that when you speak it out, it will be done with respect and honor. Well, this is why the Bible Is my Jesus says? Take the yoke of an older oxen and put it on the younger oxen because the younger oxen wants to move.

The younger oxen wants to go the older oxen knows the story. Do you understand? Honor is not something that we just acquire because it happens. It's got to be a principle learned a principle taught a principle lift.

The reason we begin to see these great moments in Joseph's life Daniel's life and now Esther's life as suddenly. She's called in to be one of the women to be selected to be the next Queen. We see favor come upon her we see her being honored.

The only reason she's being honored is because she's learned honor in her life. Honor in her practice honor in her way of being honor and how she tells her story. This is the way it's done. It's honor and every piece of how we live our life learning it with our wives or learning it with our relationships learning it with our bosses.

Honoring Authority, Family, and the Elderly

Listen to how listen to how Paul talks about the way we should treat our bosses when we go to work. He uses the word of slaves and masters. He says slaves and all things obey Those who are your masters on earth not with external service as merely pleasing men, but rather with sincerity of heart and Fearing the Lord whatever you do do your work heartily as for the Lord not for men.

For from the Lord you'll receive the reward of your inheritance. It is the Lord Christ whom you serve. Did you see what Paul did here? He tells us to obey our and to see in their face the face of our Lord.

Because at the end of the day we are serving him and when we honor our boss. We're honoring him. You see what he does. How do we treat those in authority over us? How do we treat everybody? How do we treat our?

Family start with our elderly. Does anybody not have an outcry in this generation of what's happening to our elderly? Anybody not have something inside of this these are the ones we should be honoring.

But what are we doing with our elderly? How are we treating our elderly? We have glorified the young and we've cast out the old what have we done as a people as a culture. Anybody not have a disgust inside them about these things.

Why. Because we've not learned the principles of God underneath honor always comes first in who we are and then what we do and Out of it comes a cry that you hear in the sounds of someone like Mary who simply says he has had regard.

Christ’s Humble Obedience to the Father

For the humble state of his bondservant. Do you want to know the character of God then read the Gospels? See the person of our Lord Jesus Christ. What did you learn about him? You learn this about him?

I have come not to do my will but the will of him who sent me. I Love it the way it says at the end of John 14. He says he says I am doing as the father has commanded me. So the whole world can know I love the father.

I Do what my father says of the world can know I love the father. I love the father and So he goes to the cross of Calvary for us. To honor his father and to bless us and to teach us the first principles if anyone loves me He will do what I say.

And the father and I will come make our home with him. Honor dear friends is everything this week Errol and I were down at the College of Bishops meeting in Orlando, Florida and at one point in the in the bishops meeting there was a moment to make sure all of our relationships were good and.

And above board if anybody had been hurt in any processes to have a moment to speak to have a moment to have Confession and a time to ask forgiveness and a man rose to the to the microphone in it and apparently he was the mediator and Moderator of the conversation, and he said when you speak I'm going to give you certain principles the first principle is that you will speak the truth in love because you will honor one another in the way you speak as James 3 says because all of us are created in the image of God.

Number two Paul says even to the least of those For whom Christ died. Everyone deserves honor and respect. So when you speak make sure you guard your tongue watch your finger now, that's what I mean by finger and Check your tone and see if the goal of your words Is to ensure honesty peace Forgiveness Towards reconciliation.

A Churchwide Commitment to Practice Honor

He put honor at the center of how we do life together. That's not our culture. What would happen if you and I prayed Lord Teach me honor in my life. Build the character of honor in the Christian soul and Start with me.

Lord, what would our fellowship be like here if we actually honored one another even in our disagreements? What would our relationships be like with our brothers and sisters and other churches if we honored?

What would it be like if we began to honor those in our workplaces? How does life change? If we ask the Lord teach me Oh Lord teach me honor in my life. I Dare you to take up the prayer in the name of the Father name of the Son name of the Holy Spirit.