Luke 2: 1-20
“It’s a Wonderful Life”
If someone were to
ask you if you had a “Wonderful Life,” what would your response be?
I imagine for many
of us, it would depend on how we define a “Wonderful Life,” right? I mean, is it one that’s filled with material
gain, financial prosperity or maybe a successful career? Or might we define it
by a life packed with adventure, enriched by frequent and luxurious visits to
far-off distant lands?
Or is it defined
by something more? Or something less?
This evening we
are going to be answering just those questions by looking at the fourth of our
Christmas movies entitled, you guessed it,
“It’s a Wonderful Life.”
How many of you
have seen the movie? I have to confess,
I watched the movie for the very first time – THIS WEEK as I was preparing my
sermon.
It is quite a
movie. Did you know that it started out as just a short story on a Christmas
Card? And then, over time, it evolved into the movie that the American Film
Institute lists it as the #1 most inspirational American film of all time. It premiered on December 20, 1946 and garnered five Academy Award
nominations.
Interestingly,
originally, it wasn’t that successful and had just a short theatrical run. But,
in the 1970s, as a result of a clerical snafu, the movie’s copyright wasn’t
renewed. This meant that TV stations
could now show it without cost, which they did over and over and over. The result was that the movie’s popularity
skyrocketed.
Set in the
fictional town of Bedford Falls,
“It’s a Wonderful Life” takes place shortly after World War I. Jimmy Stewart plays George Bailey, and most
of the film is told through flashbacks spanning George’s entire life.
Our first clip is
at the beginning of the movie. Many
people, it would seem, are praying for George.
Let’s watch:
(1:16 – 3:41:
Clarence gets his marching orders)
Wouldn’t it be
nice if we each had our own personal guardian angel? Maybe we do.
More about that later.
The chief angel
shows Clarence (angel second class), George’s life. As a young boy George saves his brother from
drowning. As a young clerk, he prevents the pharmacist from mistakenly putting
poison in a prescription.
And then, as a
young man George repeatedly gives up his ambitions to further his brother’s.
He even takes over
the Savings and Loan at his father’s death ensuring he will spend the rest of
his life in Bedford Falls
and clash with the dastardly Mr. Potter who owns everything in town EXCEPT the
Savings and Loan.
George eventually
marries and, wouldn’t you know it, his wedding coincides with the beginning of
the Great Depression and he ends up spending their honeymoon funds on keeping
the Savings and Loan solvent and out of the hands of the evil Mr. Potter.
Time passes and
George and Mary, his wife, have four children and George’s pet project, Bailey
Park, the only affordable housing in town, is well on its way.
It is now
Christmas Eve, earlier in the day George’s Uncle Billy absentmindedly leaves
the Savings and Loan’s $8,000 deposit in Mr. Potter’s bank lobby. Potter finds
it, keeps it and says nothing.
George is frantic
because it just so happens that that is also the day a bank examiner shows up
for an audit of the Savings and Loan. Without the $8,000, things look pretty
bleak.
With his tail
between his legs he goes to Potter for a loan. Potter points out that because
of George’s $15 thousand insurance policy, he is more valuable dead than
alive. And he vows to have him arrested
for mismanagement of funds.
Despondent, Georg
considers himself a colossal failure. In
this next scene, with his insurance policy in his coat pocket and at his wits
end, George ponders how he can still best provide for his family:
(1:35:27 – 1:36:19:
Praying in the Bar)
Who hasn’t been at
a similar place – at our wit’s end … and often we too, turn to God. Rest assured, God hears us when we pray.
Unfortunately, sometimes we don’t think so.
The answer doesn’t come as we expect.
And that’s what
happens to George. He doesn’t perceive that his prayers are being heard and
ends up at a local bridge where he finally makes up his mind to jump off and
end his life.
Here is where
Clarence, Angel 2nd Class, jumps in … literally. Before George can jump into the river below,
Clarence does, and, of course, George jumps in to save him.
Pulling him to
safety, George and Clarence are now warming up at the shack at the end of the
bridge.
(1:39:39 – 1:42:43:
Clarence introduces himself to George)
Clarence knows
this is going to be a hard case and decides that the only way to help George
see his worth is to show him what life in Bedford Falls would have been like
without him.
And so George is
led back through a town that had never known George. The town is now known as Pottersville, filled
with speakeasies and dance halls. It’s a
town where Potter controls EVERYTHING.
There is no longer
a Savings and Loan. Those who George had
helped over the years, are now in bad shape. Those who got homes because of the
graciousness of the S&L now live in run down slums.
His brother, Harry,
had died at age eight – George wasn’t there to save him – and all those Harry
(who had been a World War II hero) had saved are also now dead.
The pharmacist
went to prison because George wasn’t there to prevent him from mistakenly
poisoning one of his customers and now is the town drunk.
It is NOT a pretty
sight. And to top it off, the love of
his life, Mary, has grown up as a lonely and dejected spinster.
In a conversation
between the Angel Clarence and George, Clarence says: “Strange, isn’t it? Each
man’s life touches so many other lives and, when he isn’t around, he leaves an
awful hole, doesn’t he?”
The truth is,
whether we know it or not, our lives impact many people around us. In fact, the
ripple effect of one person’s life is impossible to measure.
George Bailey
finally understands this important truth and sees how wonderful his life indeed
is. That which he’d been tempted to throw away he comes to realize is too
valuable to lose.
So, George returns
to the bridge, and asks for a second chance.
(2:01:19 – 2:01:49: George prays for a second chance)
And that second
chance is granted. Everything is
returned to normal. To say that George
is ecstatic, is an understatement, and he returns home ready to face whatever
awaits him. And when he gets home he discovers that not only are all of his
friends from town there, but they’ve taken a collection for George and raised
well over the $8,000 to pay off the missing money.
We are now at the
end of the movie and in this last clip we see a man whose life has been turned
around. Given a second chance at life, George values those things that are most
important. As a result, even the bank examiner and the sheriff are moved to
help George out.
(2:07:14 – 2:09:48: The richest man in town!)
Doesn’t that just
make you a little teary eyed? Or is it
just me? Oh … You see, I think there is
a little of George Bailey in all of us. We go through life, struggling with our
work, trying to be a good husband or wife, father or mother, son or daughter,
and it is never easy.
Sometimes it is
frustrating, sometimes we fail, sometimes we might even reach our wit's end and
wish that we could end it all. “Why was I even born, anyway? Just to suffer?
Just to struggle like this? It's just not fair. I wish that I had never been born.”
Ever said or thought anything like that?
But if we could
meet a guardian angel like Clarence, I’ll bet we would certainly awaken to a
different world, a different perspective of life.
We would realize
that all of life's little frustrations, its obstacles and roadblocks, don't
really amount to a hill of beans.
In our everyday
life, it is hard to see the forest for the trees. Somehow we fail to truly see, to truly
appreciate and treasure, our work, our homes, our family, our friends, and even
life itself. Your life is worthwhile!
As Clarence writes
to George, “Remember no man is a failure who has friends.” And folks, isn’t
that why we gather? We gather as a community of faith, of friends who support
and love one another.
AND to remember
and engage with our best friend … the one whose birth we celebrate
tonight. The one who came that we might
know that we are never alone. That our
life makes a difference. That we are
indeed loved.
That is the
Christmas message this night. God loves you and hears you and will never leave
you. You are even important enough to die for. You DO make a difference.
My friends, if you
really think about it, it is a Wonderful Life!
Thanks be to God.
Amen.
