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A Spiritual Lesson in Toon Language: Lesson 6b

Topic: Love And Friendship Part II - What Love And Friendship Is

Series: TaleSpin

Episode: "Save The Tiger"

Lesson PDF link: 6b.pdf

Introduction

I use the TaleSpin episode "Save The Tiger". This section is on sacrifice. The comparison used in this cartoon is Becky, Molly and Baloo. When Baloo goes really astray in thought this time, Becky reacts in a very honorable way and we will discuss what the Bible teaches about Becky's and Molly's love and friendship. Of course, they would be the Christian example. However, I would say anyone would have a tough time putting it into practice if we just think of ourselves by nature instead of others.

Scriptures used include Luke 10: 25-37; Mark 14: 1-9; 12: 41-44; and Matthew 20: 17-28.

Today we are going to discuss what love and friendship actually is. What do you think friendship actually is? Any thoughts?

Cartoon: "Save The Tiger" (TaleSpin)

TaleSpin: "Save The Tiger": Direct link for video/webm

What did you notice about friendship in this cartoon?

Bible Study III: Read Luke 10: 25-37, Mark 14: 1-9, 12: 41-44

What do these scriptures mean to you? Sacrifice is one of the attributes of friendship. Sometimes there is no need but sometimes there is. Sometimes you need to allow yourself to not get your own way in order to help your friend or friends. In these Bible examples, the people sacrificed heavily in order to help someone. The Good Samaritan in Jesus's parable, didn't much care what everyone else thought just so he did the right thing and helped the injured man, Jesus was anointed by a woman who loved him enough to break an irreplaceable asset of hers, the widow we just saw gave up every bit of money she had to live on (even if it wasn't much) and according to Jesus gave more than anyone else. All of these were for the sake of friendship with Jesus even though the sacrifices may have seemed great. These people didn't have to give these up, but they did it out of love and friendship'a heart of thanksgiving.

God wants to be our true friend free of charge. The Bible states in Mathew 20: 17-28:

Now as Jesus was going up to Jerusalem, he took the twelve disciples aside and said to them, 'We are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be betrayed to the chief priests and the teachers of the law. They will condemn him to death and will turn him over to the Gentiles to be mocked and flogged and crucified. On the third day he will be raised to life!' Then the mother of Zebedee's sons came to Jesus with her sons and, kneeling down, asked a favor of him. 'What is it you want?' he asked. She said, 'Grant that one of these two sons of mine may sit at your right and the other at your left in your kingdom.' 'You don't know what you are asking,' Jesus said to them. 'Can you drink the cup I am going to drink?' 'We can,' they answered. Jesus said to them, 'You will indeed drink from my cup, but to sit at my right or left is not for me to grant. These places belong to those for whom they have been prepared by my Father.' When the ten heard about this, they were indignant with the two brothers. Jesus called them together and said, 'You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be your slave' just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.'

Jesus died on the cross for all of the mean things we do. Jesus is our true friend. We won't have to die like Jesus did (The Ultimate Sacrifice) because that is no longer needed. Becky in this cartoon gave her everything to save Baloo. She lost her business, house, and all other property to save her friend from the would-be kidnappers. Even her daughter lost all the pennies she had to save Baloo.

In the biggest fashion imaginable, God gave his everything to save us. In return he asks nothing except our friendship to Him (because we can with Jesus's grace now) and our friendship to others. Friendship is what God built us for. God's friendship costs us nothing. It cannot be earned with money or good deeds. That means no strings attached. If you are mean and hateful to someone you are denying that free gift of love and friendship that is God's gift to us. As well, if you are mean and hateful to people, especially on a continuous basis (for example a hot temper or being a consistent bad sport), you won't even be able to pay people to spend time with you even if there was such a thing as 'ACME Rent-A-Friend', or something similar. We were never intended to have to 'Rent-A-Friend'. Aren't you glad for that? We need to accept people's differences of music, food, fun, and beliefs. This doesn't mean approving or condoning these things if we feel in our hearts that anything of these and such isn't right. We may not agree with everyone but we need to be understanding of these differences and be their friend anyway. True friends are special regardless. Luckily, God isn't a 'Rent-A-Friend' God. We shouldn't be 'Rent-A-Friend' people. This means we aren't supposed to attach strings to our friendships (sell our friendship), or being mean and hateful and lose friends (need to 'Rent-A-Friend').

Next time, we will talk about love. This is the very root of true friendship.