The Simpsons: A Matter of Respect 1 Peter 2:11-17

Love it, or loathe it, The Simpsons have become a iconic programme. 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. An estimated 80 million people around the world, watch The Simpsons every week. Beyond its mass appeal, The Simpsons has won 14 Emmys, and has been called by Time Magazine, “the best television program of the Twentieth century.”

In case you’re not so familiar with the Simpsons, here is some background information. The Simpsons live in Springfield where Homer the dad, works at the Nuclear Power Plant, and shows scant regard for health and safety. Homer Simpson has debated God on the merits of church vs. football. He's been banished to hell where his head was used as a demon's bowling ball. He's frolicked nude in the Garden of Eden, tried to feed a peanut to a statue of a Hindu deity and committed the sin of gluttony over and over and over again.

Marge is Homer’s wife and the mother of his children. Marge and Homer were High School sweethearts and she demonstrates unswerving love and devotion to her less than perfect husband.

Bart is probably the best known of the Simpsons; if he was living in this country he’d probably be a prime candidate for an ASBO. He has some redeeming qualities though, he does look out for his younger sister, and when he got a D grade, after praying that he wouldn’t fail his exam, he took time to thank God.

His younger sister Lisa is eight, and she is the brains of the family, a highly conscientious and motivated girl.

The youngest of the clan is Maggie who is only a year old.

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.

George Bush Senior, while President, once famously denounced The Simpsons saying “We need a nation closer to the Waltons than the Simpsons.”

Rowan Williams, Archbishop of Canterbury 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."

Matt Groening, The Simpsons creator said in an interview “Right-wingers complain there’s no God on TV. Not only do the Simpsons go to church every Sunday and pray; they actually speak to God from time to time.”

The Simpson’s next door neighbour is a man called Ned Flanders. Ned is an Evangelical, born again type of Christian, for better of worse.

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 interesting in this show is that the other characters often “see the light” and eventually try to act a little more like Flanders.

“The Simpsons” often almost always ends up affirming the importance of— honesty, family, community, selflessness and love.

In the Simpsons, people assume that God is real, that he hears and answers prayers, and it is a place where people go to church, and where faith matters. This is not what you normally see in prime time television now adays.

Whether you like the show or not, its impact is far reaching. For example, one of the most famous Christians today is the character Ned Flanders. Whilst this may fill us with a sense of despair, it’s not all bad. The magazine Christianity Today was doing a series of interviews with students who weren’t Christians, here’s what one student said; 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.

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, 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 we read this evening where it says 1 Peter 2:17 Show respect for everyone.

As believers we are called to be people of respect. If we have a close look at the Ten Commandments, we’ll see that they deal with the issue of respect.

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.

Notice how the first four commandments deal with our relationship to God, they are vertical commandments, then we 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. 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. We are not to use God’s name foolishly. Some people show their disrespect for God’s name by using it as a swear word. We show our respect to God by respecting His name.

We also 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.

We mustn’t ever underestimate the power of your words to the people around us. What we say and how we say it is so powerful in lifting people up or tearing them down. Do you ever listen to how you speak to people? In the book of James, the Apostle 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!

How do we show respect in what we say? 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. 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?

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.”

And over and over again Jesus commands us to love people. Jesus emphasises 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.”

I want to conclude with advice contained in 1 John 3:18, advice that we all need to heed in our lives. Dear children, let us stop just saying we love each other; let us really show it by our actions.