Okay. I'll admit it. It's still my
favorite Christmas movie of all time—It's a Wonderful Life.
I finally saw it
all the way through on a Christmas morning in 1982 when I was a grad
student at the University of Wisconsin. I was living in a 10 x 20
foot room in a cinder block apartment building in Madison and I
didn't have enough money to go home to see my folks. So I ate my
Christmas breakfast on a TV tray and watched this old flick on the
local PBS station.
And I'm not ashamed
to admit that I cried at the end when Clarence got his wings.
One of
the things I really dig about It's a Wonderful Life is
it's lack of saccharine sweetness. Okay. It's corny and mushy at the
end, but the picture is actually pretty honest about the darker
underbelly of the Builder Generation. There are key plot points
involving the Great Influenza Epidemic, the Great Depression, and—of
course—the Second World War. Plus, the movie deals pretty honestly
with economic oppression, greed, family tragedy, substance abuse, and
thwarted ambition.
But what really
strikes me about this old chestnut—and I don't know if Frank Capra
ever really gave this a thought—is the excellent theology in the
plot line. I mean, here's good ol' George Bailey, the nicest, most
ethical guy in the world. Yet all of his good intentions don't keep
him off the suicide bridge at the end of the movie. He needs some
divine intervention.
I think Capra's
Christmas movie follows a similar story line with the gospel for
Advent Four. Here's good ol' Joseph. A real nice guy. He's gotten
himself engaged to this girl, and she turns out to be pregnant before
they get married—and not by him. What does he do? By Levitical law
he could denounce her and have her stoned to death. But he's too nice
a guy for that. He resolves to “dismiss her quietly” (Matt. 1:19)
so she won't be disgraced.
Pretty darn decent
of him, I'd say.
But God has an even
better plan which Joseph—nice guy that he is—would never have
thought of on his own. God sends an angel with a message. Joseph will
marry the girl anyway and raise the child as his own. Granted, this
is a pretty tall request for a dude whose culture so highly values
progeny of one's own issue. But the angel lets Joe know that this is
God's child, and God's ways of righteousness are not society's
ways.
The beautiful thing
about this story is that Joseph has the faith to say “yes” to
God's plan.
So here's a
shout-out to all the step-dads and awkward, blended families out
there. It isn't easy.
(At least that's
what they tell me. I'm fortunate that the woman whom I call my
daughter was already a grownup when I started dating her mom, and the
two of us hit it off pretty well. But that's not always the case in
families.)
Family life doesn't
come with an instruction book, and on our own we could never figure
it out. In fact, on our own, we would never figure anything
out. That's rather the point. We don't come to God, but God comes to
us. Our sinful, selfish nature so often keeps us from seeing the
blessings which our loving Lord is constantly setting before us.
Martin Luther put it like this:
“I believe that by my own
understanding or strength I cannot believe in Jesus Christ my Lord or
come to him, but instead the Holy Spirit has called me through the
gospel, enlightened me with his gifts, made me holy, and kept me in
true faith...” (Small
Catechism)
Just
as George Bailey needed Clarence and Saint Joseph needed the angel in
his dream, so we all need the gospel to point us to the beauty of
this wonderful life. Faith doesn't come from understanding. Understanding comes from faith. With God's help we too are able to say “yes”
to the wonders God provides.
*
* *
Christmas
is a time for family get-togethers. So lets get the whole Christian
family together, shall we? If you're Lutheran or Roman Catholic, why
not sign my Change.org petition asking Pope Francis to allow our two
communions to share the Holy Eucharist together again? C'mon. It's
been almost 500 years. Let's kiss under the mistletoe! Just click
here.
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