"Honor your Father and your Mother.”
The highest human office is that of a parent. Luther was entirely correct when he observed that God place this commandment first among the commandments that speak to how we live with other people. It is through our parents that we receive the gift of life. It is the office of parent that we teach us what it is to be a human being. We are to honor our parents for the gift of our lives and the responsibility they took on to teach us how to be human.
Luther also acknowledges that parents are human beings and are not always going to achieve perfection as they do the work of parenting. Most parents do the best the can with the gifts they have. All fall short in one way or another and could have been better parents. Some are not up to the task at all and are not the parents they could have been. It saddens me that this is so, but human frailty too often gets in the way.
As Christians, we learn from Jesus that we have a Father who does not fail us in any way. Jesus was clear in Scripture that God is our Father. He taught that consistently throughout His ministry. Jesus wants us to know God as the Father whose love for us is unending. Jesus leads us to know the Father and His love for us each day.
As Mother's Day and Father's Day will soon arrive, us let us give thanks for the gift of life we have received from our parents, bless them for the good they have done for us and learn to forgive their failings as parents. Let us also give thank for the Father whose love for us is unending.