Sermon Tone Analysis

Let harmony start at home

Where did we go wrong?

No matter where we look today, including in the homes, we see antagonism, division and rebellion.

We see lack of commitment.

Covenant is not spoken of very much and discipline, well that can end you up in jail.

Husbands and wives forget the covenant they entered and divorce even within the Church is escalating according to some research from 36 to as high as 50% of marriages within the church.

Children are rebelling against their parents knowing parents have their hands tied.

Employers take advantage of employee’s and employee’s are looking at ways to get away with things when the employer is not looking.

In a society where we have tried education, legislation and many other approaches and they are all lacking, the Bible gives us some great tools to be used in the home and that radiate out from there.

Paul offers up a way to those in Ephesus and we can learn for today.

Remember Paul has spoken of the fullness of times (Eph1:10) and that Christ is the sum of all things.

Harmony starts in the family and is the responsibility of the members of the family, at home and even the work family.

In our passage today we will look at:

Children in the family

Fathers in addressing children

Slaves in dealing with masters (employee/employer)

Masters in dealing with slaves (employer/employee)

Relationships: Children

Paul is addressing, speaking to children.

He is not commanding parents to admonish their children, but commanding children in what is right in the Lord, what is obedient.

A little cultural history, cultural background for the Greek and Roman culture at the time of this letter.

Roman: Patria Postestas: gave the Father absolute authority/power over family.

The father could sell his family as slaves, he could work them in chains.

The child was always the child even in adult years and under the authority of the Father.

There was is custom of “child exposure” When a child was born he would be laid at the fathers feet, if the father stooped and picked up the child, then the child was accepted and acknowledged as a child of the father.

If the father turned and walked away then the child could literally be given away or thrown away.

There was a Roman Stoic Philosopher by name of Seneca who wrote this.

“We slaughter a fierce ox; we strangle a mad dog; we plunge the knife into sickly cattle let they taint the herd; children who are born weakly and deformed we drown.”

So that does not sound very familiar today in society does it?

You know why? Christianity that is why.

Christianity helped change humanity beyond reconciliation with God.

Children obey your parents; as if your life depended on it.

For it is right in the Lord (Eph5:21; COl3:20)

Obedience is right

Obedience is commanded(Exo20:12; Deu5:16; Exp320:12; Eph6:3; Jn10:10)

5th commandment, the 1st with a promise.

Now we are no longer under the law, but the righteousness of the Law is still a revelation of the holiness of God and is for our good.

Now Paul changed the phrase when he used it here.

Live long does not mean long living, it means the quality of the time living.

God wants to enrich the lives of the believers and it comes to the children who are obedient.

Sin robs us; obedience enriches us!

A child does not raise itself, it needs teaching, guidance, it needs the presence of both parents.

The results we see today when this is broken is the same that happen in the time of Paul (Rom1:28-30)

God may have gave them over, but He gave them order first!

God gave parents not a system or a village.

God gave instructions not an institution.

God gave them fathers to be present, not an absentee person.

The child should not be neglected, nor should the child be pampered, but to be brought up in the ways of the Lord with the right balance.

Children obey your parents as if your life depends on it!

Relationships: Father’s

Written in a time when the father had absolute control and authority, Paul gives sage advise, wisdom to the Father’s in the family.

Advise that helps to promote unity within the family.

Not all biblical examples of fathers is good, there are a few that were neglectful of their children and had bad results.

David pampered Absolom, it ended up costing Absolom his life and David grief.

Eli failed to discipline his sons and it brought disgrace on the family and the defeat of the nation.

Isaac pampered Esau, Rebecca pampered Jacob, the end result was division within the family.

Father’s were not to provoke them (Eph6:4; Col3:21)

A father should lead by example and should encourage the child not exasperate the child.

the old adage “do as I say, not as a do” should not be the mantra of a Christian father.

Fathers should lead, should teach by example and to do that they need to be present.

Providing is good, it is necessary but it is not the only necessity, presence is necessary.

The Word that the husband washes the wife with, is the Word that the Father should raise the child with and it will bring harmony and unity in the home.

Fathers were not to provoke them (Eph6:4; Col3:21)

Father’s are called to nourish them (Eph6:4; Eph5:29; Lk2:52)

Children need to be nourished in discipline and in instruction

The husband is to nourish the wife and the children by sharing love and encouragement in the Lord.

Nourishment is good physically but it is needed spiritually and emotionally too.

(insert Rogers family dinner story here; keep it very brief) - we lacked spiritual and emotional nourishment

Where Jesus was in subjection to His parents there was the result of it

Fathers were not to provoke them (Eph6:4; Col3:21)

Father’s are called to nourish them (Eph6:4; Eph5:29; Lk2:52)

Father’s must discipline their children (Eph6:4; Heb12:5-6; Pro13:24)

Interesting fact that the word “nourish” here in this verse is the same word translated as the word “chastening” in Heb12:5-6

We often learn from the chastening we receive.

A father chastens, disciplines in love.

Discipline is to be done in love not anger; discipline must be fair and consistent.

Discipline is to help raise up a child not to beat the down and discourage them.

Many of here today have completed the raising of our children, maybe not the counseling of them, praying for them, but the raising.

But we still should instruct and encourage.

Fathers were not to provoke them (Eph6:4; Col3:21)

Father’s are called to nourish them (Eph6:4; Eph5:29; Lk2:52)

Father’s must discipline their children (Eph6:4; Heb12:5-6; Pro13:24)

Father’s must instruct and encourage (Eph6:4; Pro22:6)

Can we be honest?

Children, even adult children, do not like to hear or appreciate our counsel at times.

But it does not change our obligation to admonish (instruct) and encourage them.

When the Supreme Court handed down the ruling removing prayer in schools a cartoonist from the Washington Post said “What do they expect us to do, listen to our children pray at home>?” - Well home is where children should learn to pray by the leading of their Father.

Home is where the family should be washed in the water of the Word; don’t expect the church assembly and Bible class to do it for you.

When we instruct at home it will radiate out, to our schools and our communities, but it starts at home.

Relationships: Slaves (employees)

In Roman culture slavery was common, in our’s it has been done away with.

Today the parallel could be loosely drawn between the employee and the employer as slave and master.

(Eph6:5-8; 1Cor7:21-24)

Scriptually speaking Paul is addressing a culture where slavery was common practice, acceptable and it was said that in the Roman empire there was as much as 5-6m slaves, 15% of the total population.

But, within the Church, spiritually speaking that is what Paul is addressing.

I want to add a section of Corinthians so you can get a deeper picture of the culture of the Christian slaves at the time.

Slaves, servants, employees- if that is what you are, be that as a Christian