A Spiritual Lesson In Toon Language: Lesson 18b

Topic: The Azraels Of Life II - We Are Not Amused

Series: Smurfs

Episode: "For The Love Of Gargamel" (Smurfs)

Lesson PDF link: 18b.pdf

Introduction

We are looking at how deep our love must go for the enemies in our lives. The basic questions in this lesson are the following:

1. If your enemy died, would you be happy about it and dance on his/her grave' the other side of this being concerned for family members, friends and the like (praying for them), and having God's attitude of not wanting spiritual death for this person (remember, God loves everyone).

2. If you had the possibility to revive your enemy by CPR or by other means, would you try or would you happily let your enemy die and very possibly lose his/her chance for God's redemption and salvation?

These two questions are questions that need to be asked. However, this could expose bitterness (as with WWII vets'I've had one such experience teaching this lesson). In such cases, these people would learn that God thinks that life is precious and loves everyone including a Hitler type of person. We are looking at a Smurfs episode entitled "For The Love Of Gargamel" for this soul-searching lesson.

Scriptures used include Ezekiel chapter 18 and Jude Verses 17-24.

What did we learn last time (lesson 18a)?

Last time in this lesson we talked about loving enemies. This session is going to have the same theme but go even deeper.

What would it be like for your worst enemy to die in a plane crash, traffic accident, or other causes? Would you be relieved and glad (figuratively or even literally dancing on the grave), or would you be sad and mournful? (This is rhetorical until later.) I will now show the Smurfs episode called "For The Love Of Gargamel".

Cartoon Show: "For The Love Of Gargamel" (Smurfs):

These might be tough questions. Now, if you could restore this enemy to health, would you do it by (let's say) CPR or other means, or would you not want to for fear of this enemy hurting you again?

Bible Study: Ezekiel 18, Jude 17-24

Especially in the Jude scriptures we see something that links wholeheartedly with the cartoon. In the Ezekiel scriptures, we see God's logic.

What is it in Jude that links to our cartoon and why is God adamant about the 'We are not amused.' attitude when an enemy dies in the book of Ezekiel? Jude is calling for the redemption of the lost. In Ezekiel, we see that God loses an opportunity to be with a soul if it is unrepentant. In Gargamel's case, he isn't repentant, however, he has new life and yes, more chances to be witnessed to. This might be able to save his soul eventually. This is why God says: 'We are not amused!' when a sinner dies. Even if a believer dies, it sounds like God is somewhat sad, because that believer's influence is lost. God loses something either way.

In the middle of this episode, we see that the Smurf's keep on with the sin of murder because of their desire to not save their enemy. This appears physically like a good idea because they have relief from their enemy. However, according to the Word of God found in the book of Ezekiel, God wouldn't be happy with the death of Gargamel.

Papa Smurf represents a righteous man who is truly working for God and convinces Tracker to go out to get a rare herb. Would you harbor resentment in this task like Tracker?

How did God show himself in this cartoon?

When Tracker got caught in the storm and was pinned in the rocks getting sick, we see a change of heart. This is how God showed himself. Why would this change Tracker the way it did? Would it change you too? Why or why not?

What have we learned? We need to remember that life is precious and it's definitely one of God's most prized possessions. Even if we know of a person that is working against God's plan, God views this person still with a high value and loves this person fully and unconditionally. We need to help our enemies to see the truth of their lost state if need be. In the process, we need to keep witnessing for our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ and keep final judgment up to God. Also, we need to make sure that we try to preserve even a person that does evil until God's time to take him/her away. Hopefully, this person will be saved and be of God eventually before it's too late. When you see this lesson and the cartoon with its scriptures, how does it relate to you personally? How will you apply this to your life?