“My soul magnifies the Lord,
and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,
for he has looked on the humble estate of his servant.
For behold, from now on all generations will call me blessed;
for he who is mighty has done great things for me,
and holy is his name. | Luke 1:46-49
I watched It’s a Wonderful Life with my kids last night. It was the first time watching it for them, so it was interesting to see their moods swing with George Bailey: angry at him as he yelled at his kids and flipped over the Brooklyn Bridge model (I may be the only one who noticed that detail), nervous as he crashed and stood ready to jump, and overjoyed with him as he ran through Bedford Falls yelling Merry Christmas at the top of his lungs. All of this emotional tension is summed up at the end by Clarence, who tells us all:
Remember no man is a failure who has friends.
As I watched the movie this time, I was struck by the theological misnomer being driven home by Frank Capra. Clarence is, after all, an angel who represents God’s perspective on George Bailey’s life. What he seems to say to us is that God’s greatest concern is the golden rule: treat others as you would like to be treated, and a wonderful life is defined by the number of people you have around you as a result. The problem with this, as Derek preached about Sunday, is that God’s blessing simply doesn’t work this way. When the Bible talks of a blessed life, it isn’t referring to a Mr. Potter wealth and power, but it also isn’t about a George Bailey relational wealth (or even a the Building and Loan’s American dream of home ownership). To be blessed in the Bible is entirely connected to your relationship to God. While we are blessed in a multitude of ways, some social and economic, the blessing that really matters is the work that He does to reconcile us to Himself.
The reason why this is important is because it draws the purpose of the world back to God. If the world revolves around the people in it, then it makes sense that value is contained in human relationships (Bailey) or human achievement (Potter). What this does is roots our understanding of ourselves based on how #blessed we are in these areas of our lives. Ultimately, we are controlled by our situations. This is what drives George Bailey to the edge of the bridge in the first place. What brings him back is recognizing that his life had meaning in the form of friends and influence. The problem is: what if you don’t? It’s a Wonderful Life works as a story because George Bailey is a talented person who lived an extraordinary life, but where do we go if we come to the edge and don’t have a Clarence waiting there to show us how valuable our life is (or the belief that he would have nothing to show us if he was there)?
We go to Jesus. This is why Christmas is so important. Christmas reminds us that God’s economy doesn’t match ours, but also that we have identity in His love and a place in His family. He came to us to make sure that we understand that while He is holy, He is also merciful; that while our situation may not always reflect our idea of blessing, God came to the weak to bring value beyond circumstances. Christmas reminds us that to be humbled (like Christ) is to be prepared for glory. Let us all sing Mary’s song, summed up by Derek this way:
God is merciful to those who recognize their humble estate.