1 Peter 2:11-17
The Simpsons, Children love them, parents hate them. But the people who love the show have embraced it fully. There is no other series on television, either comedy or drama, where the environment is depicted so fully and consistently. "Simpsons" fans not only know what the family home looks like and where Homer works, but they also know the entire community of Springfield where the Simpsons live and all of the strange characters who live there.
Maybe you’ve watched the show maybe you haven’t here’s a brief synopsis of the cast if they are strangers. The Simpsons live in Springfield where Homer the dad, works at the Nuclear Power Plant. He holds the record for having worked the longest of any plant employee in an entry level position. Marge is Homer’s wife and the mother of his children. Her and Homer were High School sweethearts she has always been faithful to Homer even though she was tempted to stray once with a bowler even more handsome and charming than Homer.
Bart is probably the best known of the Simpsons; he is ten years old and a brat. He has some redeeming qualities though, he does look out for his younger sister and once he spotted and named a comet that almost wiped out the town. His younger sister Lisa is eight and she is a bit of a prodigy, she already writes at a grade 14 level and plays saxophone. The youngest of the clan is Maggie who is only a year old, but even at the tender age she has already written her name on a etch a sketch and shot the richest man in Springfield when he tried to steal her lollypop.
Not your average family, but if we were honest enough to admit it, most of us have more in common with the Simpsons then with other regulars on prime time, at least I hope we do. I told you the story before but it bears repeating: Angela and I were at a Wedding a couple of years ago and ending up talking to some acquaintances at the reception. The topic turned to television and children and the woman informed us that she didn’t allow her children to watch the Simpsons because of the values that were portrayed. This from a woman who had left her husband was now living with a married man who had left his wife, neither one of them was even divorced. My dear sweet Angela said, “I had to bit my tongue to keep from saying, ‘at least Marge and Homer are married.’”
Dr. Rowan Williams is the Archbishop of Wales, nice hat. In a statement last year he said "A lot of people attack the show but I think it is very sophisticated and has an amusing slant on modern society. It is a light-hearted look at life and is surreal but there are good, strong Christian morals there too. It is very moral because the good people always win in the end." I don’t know if I’d agree with everything that Dr. Williams has said but Homer and Marge are married, and they are bringing up their children as best they can.
Some people feel that the show ridicules Christianity, of course it does, it ridicules everything. It is satire. That having been said it is seen as one of the most “Religious” shows being broadcast today. Sociologist John Hereen studied the Simpsons and came to the conclusion that religion was mentioned at least once in 76% of the shows and was the central theme in 11% of the shows.
One character who should be of interest to us is the Simpsons next door neighbour Ned Flanders, you see Ned is an Evangelical, born again type Christian, for better of worse. This is the conclusion that Hereen came to “The show’s writers also consistently contrast two symbolic characters. On one side is the Rev. Timothy Lovejoy, an often cynical, world-weary mainline shepherd who uses the public library’s Bible and says that the world’s religions are “all pretty much the same.” On the other side is Flanders, a born-again nerd who, nevertheless, is one of the only inspiring characters in the series.
Lovejoy, Homer and many other characters appear to be making up their religious beliefs as they go along, but Flanders is a true believer. What is fascinating is that the other characters often “see the light” and eventually try to act a little more like Flanders. As a result, “The Simpsons” almost always ends up affirming some element of a generic Judeo-Christian American creed — honesty, family, community, selflessness and love.
“I’m not sure what that says, but it says something. What remains is that strange kind of respect that is so hard to pin down. ... God is real. God hears prayers, and prayers are answered. People go to church. Faith matters. Let’s face it: This is not what you normally see in prime-time television.”
The magazine Christianity Today was doing a series of interviews with High School students who weren’t Christians, here’s what one student said; Ankur: I follow Jainism, an ancient religion from India that’s basically about non-violence and “live and let live.” The only real contact I’ve had with Christianity is from The Simpsons—and their neighbour Ned Flanders. His main idea is "Love thy neighbour." Even though Homer Simpson does all these mean things to him, Ned Flanders still likes him.
Way to Go Ned.
But if there is one thing that we find missing in the Simpsons that needs to be exhibited in the life of believers it is respect. There is a serious lack of respect in the Simpsons, a lack of respect between family members, between friends, between neighbours, between employees and employers. And you know that’s not really all that surprising, considering that there is a serious lack of respect in our world today, a lack of respect between family members, between friends, between neighbours, between employees and employers.
Throughout the Bible we are told to respect other people, Leviticus 19:3 We are told to respect our parents, in vs. 32 we are told to respect older people, in vs 34 we are told to respect the handicapped, in Isaiah 17:7 we are commanded to respect God. Romans 13:7 tells us to respect our political leaders, 1 Corinthians 16:10 tells us to respect our pastors, Ephesians 6:5 tells us to respect our employers, Ephesians 5:33 says to respect your husband and 1 Thessalonians 4:4 says to respect your wife. I guess it’s summed up in the scripture that Heather read this morning where it says 1 Peter 2:17 Show respect for everyone.
As believers we are called to be people of respect. If there is one portion of the Bible that everyone seems to be familiar with regardless of where they are on their spiritual journey it’s the Ten Commandments.
1) Do not worship other gods.
2) Do not make idols.
3) Do not misuse God’s name.
4) Remember that the Sabbath Day belongs to God.
5) Respect your father and your mother.
6) Do not murder.
7) Be faithful in marriage.
8) Do not steal.
9) Do not tell lies about others.
10) Do not want anything that belongs to someone else.
If we were to take a closer look at the Ten Commandments we would discover first of all that the first four deal with our relationship to God, they are vertical commandments, then we would discover that the next six deal with our relationship to our fellow man, they are horizontal commandments. But regardless of whether they are dealing with God or people they are all dealing with respect. Confucius said “Without feelings of respect, what is there to distinguish men from beasts?” And so we are told to respect God and respect others, but how do we do that?
1) In our Speech Very few things reveal our true feelings for someone like our speech does. The words we say and how we say them are so powerful. That’s probably why James wrote these words to the early church James 3:5-6 So also, the tongue is a small thing, but what enormous damage it can do. A tiny spark can set a great forest on fire. And the tongue is a flame of fire. It is full of wickedness that can ruin your whole life. It can turn the entire course of your life into a blazing flame of destruction, for it is set on fire by hell itself.
In the Third Commandment God says, show respect to my name. Most of us are familiar with not taking the Lords name in vain, but do we know what that means? It actually means to not use God’s name foolishly, to show respect for it. Some people show their disrespect for God’s name by using it as a curse word, and for the most part those people are non-believers. But they aren’t the only people who misuse God’s name. When I hear a non-Christian misuses God’s name it bugs me, when I hear a Christian misuse God’s name it really bugs me. Surely you can’t be serious Denn how would a Christian misuse God’s name, they don’t cuss. No they don’t use it as a curse word or a swear word but they bandy it around as if it were just another collection letters. You’ll hear them say “God this, or God that” or “Oh my God”. Listen up, if you use God’s name and you aren’t speaking about God or speaking to God then you are misusing God’s name. It is not just a word, it’s not a word that we use to emphasize a point it is a holy word, which names a Holy God.
So we show our respect to God by respecting His name. And our prayer needs to be the words of Psalm 19:14 May the words of my mouth and the thoughts of my heart be pleasing to you, O LORD, my rock and my redeemer.
We show respect to others by the way we speak to them. Proverbs 12:18 Some people make cutting remarks, but the words of the wise bring healing. Please don’t ever underestimate the power of your words to the people around you. What you say and how you say it is so powerful in lifting people up or tearing them down. Do you ever listen to how you speak to people? There are times that Angela has to correct me when I speak to our kids, not necessarily because of the words I say but how I say them. We tend to speak to those we love with less respect then we speak to people we don’t know or hardly know at all. Back to the book of James where James makes this observation James 3:9-10 Sometimes it (the tongue) praises our Lord and Father, and sometimes it breaks out into curses against those who have been made in the image of God. And so blessing and cursing come pouring out of the same mouth. Surely, my brothers and sisters, this is not right!
You want to know how to show respect in what you say? Sure you do. Paul tells us what to focus our minds on in Philippians 4:8 And now, dear brothers and sisters, let me say one more thing as I close this letter. Fix your thoughts on what is true and honorable and right. Think about things that are pure and lovely and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise. How about if we change that to read Speak about what is true and honourable and right, speak about things that are pure and lovely and admirable, let your words be excellent and worthy of praise. That should do it.
The second way we show respect is by our actions. The Greek Essayist Plutarch said “We ought not to treat living creatures like shoes or household belongings, which when worn with use we throw away.” And Laurence Sterne made the observation “Respect for ourselves guides our morals, respect for others guides our manners.”
If we look at the Ten Commandments again we find that God is saying if you respect me, then show it. Don’t worship other Gods, don’t make Idols, Take time out of your week to worship me. It’s easy to say we love God, but what do our actions say, where do we give our time, our talents, our money? When people tell me how committed they are to God I always want to ask them to show me the two books that show where our true commitment lies, our date book and our cheque book. Because our commitment and our respect is measured not by what we say we do, but by what we do. Jesus himself used our behaviour to measure our love and respect for him, remember what he told us in John 14:15 “If you love me, obey my commandments.
The last six commandments deal with how we respect those around us. We show our respect to our parents by honouring them, we show respect to those around us by protecting their lives, by not stealing their things, by not stealing the affections of their spouses, by not lying about them and by not coveting the things they have.
Paul tells us in Romans 13:9 For the commandments against adultery and murder and stealing and coveting—and any other commandment—are all summed up in this one commandment: “Love your neighbor as yourself.”
You see the bottom line is this; respect is simply love in plain clothes. And over and over again Jesus commands us to love people. That’s what separates Christianity from Judaism and Islam, Jesus emphasises on loving others, loving our friends, our fellow believers, our neighbours, even our enemies. Oh we haven’t always done it but we are supposed to. Jesus evens tell us that it will define who we are, John 13:35 Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples.”
And John tells us in 1 John 3:18 Dear children, let us stop just saying we love each other; let us really show it by our actions.
So where are you at? How’s your respect, to God and to others. You might need to apologize to God right now, to ask him to forgive you for your lack of respect, for his name or simply by not showing your respect for him in your actions.
And you may need to apologize to those around you that you may have hurt through you words or your actions.
PowerPoint may be available for this sermon, if interested contact me at denn@bccnet.ca
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