The REAL Christmas Story

Through the Advent Season here at Faith Church we have been looking at some of the most popular Christmas movies of all time and how they point us to the real Christmas Story of Jesus.  From Miracle on 34th Street

to Elf,

we have seen how characters like Santa Claus and Buddy the Elf point us to Jesus and we have heard how important it is to believe even when common sense tells us not to.  Through the series I have been asking myself, what makes a movie good?  What made Miracle on 34th Street one of the best movies of all time while another Christmas movie, Santa Claus Conquers the Martians is one of the worst?

Not just one of the worst Christmas movies but one of the worst movies ever made.

There are 3 key elements to all good movies.
1. Characters you can identify with.  
2. Storyline that keeps you on the edge of your seat.
3. A timeless Message

Relatable characters, a great story and a timeless message can all be found the classic 1983 movie A Christmas Story but they are also part of the Real Christmas Story.  

If you have never seen the movie, A Christmas Story, I have good news for you; you can go home and watch it constantly for the next 24 hours.  It’s one of those movies that you either love or hate, but it does have characters we can identify with.  There’s the wisecracking friends, the tag along little brother and the mother trying to hold the family together, but the main character is a boy named Ralphie who has his heart set on a special gift for Christmas.  He tells his parents what he wants and he writes about it in a theme for his teacher but because he really wants this gift he makes sure to tell the big guy himself.

An official Red Ryder carbine action 200 shot range model air rifle.  That’s all Ralphie wanted.  He believed that gift would change everything and make his life complete.  He thinks about it, dreams about it, writes about and even tells Santa about it because more than anything a Red Ryder BB Gun is what Ralphie wants.   Can you identify with that?

Have you ever wanted something with this much conviction and passion?  Maybe it was that special toy when you were a child or a car when you learned to drive.  Maybe what we had our heart set on was that certain job when we graduated from college or living someplace we loved.  Maybe what we wanted more than anything was a good marriage, or children, or a family filled with love and laughter.  We can all relate to Ralphie because we have all had our heart set on something that we wanted more than anything and we find this in the Real Christmas story.

As a young Jewish girl, Mary dreamed about being the mother of the Messiah.

That was the highest honor for any young girl.  Little girls didn’t grow up wanting to be Elsa or Anna – they wanted to be the mother of the King and Savior.  As a faithful young girl, this would have been Mary’s dream, it would have been the best gift ever and it would have made her life complete, so imagine the unspeakable joy it must have been for Mary when an angel told her that she had been chosen by God for this honor.  Luke 1:30-38

Mary had her heart set on something very special and when she received that gift her heart was filled with joy.  Luke 1:46-49.  While our dreams may not always come true we can identify with Mary in having a dream and thinking about what it would be like to have that dream fulfilled.  If nothing else, her story keeps us dreaming and praying.  If what we long for is love and joy and peace in life, these are the things God wants for us too so praying for them and believing that they can and will be part of our lives is important.

So we can identify with Ralphie in wanting that perfect gift, but we can also identify with him because he also knows the pain of disappointment.  Not every dream becomes a reality.  Ralphie not only had his heart set on the Red Ryder BB gun but every day he checked the mail for his official orphan Annie decoder ring and the day it came he was thrilled, but things didn’t turn out the way he thought they would.

Most of us can identify with this kind of disappointment.  That great car turned out to be a lemon.  Our job was not what we thought it would be.  That perfect relationship didn’t last.  While we all long for things to go as planned, more often what we experience is disappointment and we find this in the real Christmas story as well.

While Mary was filled with joy at the news of being the mother of the messiah, her fiancé, Joseph, was not as happy.

Joseph was filled with doubt.  Mary tells him that the child she is carrying is the Messiah, a gift from God, but how does he really know this is true?  Maybe Mary has just been unfaithful.  For Joseph, life was not turning out the way he wanted it to and there might always be a cloud hanging over his relationship with Mary and his reputation in the community.  Many of us can relate to this kind of doubt and disappointment.  Our lives never turn out the way we thought they would and while there might be blessings we experience, there is also disappointment and pain.

What makes the Real Christmas Story so powerful is that we can find ourselves in this story.  We can relate to Mary and Joseph.  We have our hopes and dreams but we also know those times when we have to pick up the broken pieces of our lives and keep going.  Think about it, God came for people just like us, people with  dreams and disappointments.  The Real Christmas story is powerful because it is our story.  God comes with his love and power into our lives.  Unto us is born this night in the city of David, a Savior.  God has come for you and me.

The second requirement for a good movie is a storyline that keeps us on the edge of our seat.  In A Christmas Story the journey to Christmas for Ralphie is fast paced and filled with memorable scenes that have become iconic.  There is the major award his father wins, Leg Lamp.

There is the triple dog dare to see if your tongue really sticks to a frozen light pole.

And then there is Ralphie getting his mouth washed out with soap.

I can relate to that one, it happened to me.

The story line keeps us guessing and laughing and is filled with surprises, and that is what we see in the real Christmas story as well.  Mary and Joseph don’t wait out the pregnancy and give birth to the Messiah quietly at home.  Suddenly there is a census so they have to travel from Nazareth to Bethlehem. There arrive in a crowded city so there is no room available for them which means that the long awaited child is born in a stable and laid in a manger.  Not what anyone would have expected.

The visitors that night aren’t handmaids to assist in the birth but shepherds coming in from the fields talking about a host of angels who shouted and sang the news of the Messiahs birth.  Again, not what was expected.  If we keep reading, we find that a few years later that Wisemen traveled from the East and told Mary and Joseph that a star appeared at the birth of their child telling them that he indeed was the new king in Israel but the current king, Herod, wanted to kill their child so they had to run and hide.  The story keeps us on the edge of our seat, it is filled with twists and turns and it reminds us that through all the unexpected challenges we face in life - God is with us and that God has a plan for us.  God has purpose in it all.

There was a plan and purpose in every detail of the Real Christmas Story.  Bethlehem was the home of David and the city where the Messiah was to be born since the Messiah was to be from the family of David.  The shepherds were there to make the statement that God had come to love and save us all.  The gift of Jesus wasn’t just for the righteous and religious but for all people.  The Wisemen from the east remind us that Jesus came to be the ruler of all the world and the star in the sky was a sign that Jesus was indeed King of Kings and Lord of Lords.

Even the journey to Egypt was part of God’s plan because the Messiah was to be a leader and redeemer like Moses who led God’s people out of Egypt.   The story line not only keeps us engaged but it helps us see the hand and power of God in every twist in turn in life.  This story reminds us that God is with us in every twist and turn in our lives.  God is with you in this chapter of your life – no matter what it is, positive or painful, God is with you and God has a plan for you today and in the New Year.

But what makes the Real Christmas Story so life changing isn’t the characters or the twists and turns in the storyline, what makes the Real Christmas Story so life changing is the timeless message and we get a hint about that message from the movie A Christmas Story.  Beyond a little boy wanting a Red Ryder BB Gun, the message of the movie is about the love shared in a family.  When the Christmas turkey gets eaten by the neighbor’s dogs, Christmas still comes, the family is still together and new traditions are made.  The end of A Christmas Story may not be very politically correct these days, but it is classic.

The message is about being together as a family.  Whether it’s at home with the turkey or at the Chinese restaurant with a cooked goose, they were a family, they were together and that is what makes Christmas.  The movie isn’t about getting the perfect gift, it’s about the love of a father who gives a gift and the love of a family being together.  That is also the message of the Real Christmas Story.  A father gives the gift of his son Jesus and through that gift God makes us a family.  Through Jesus, God brings together and then holds together Mary and Joseph.

God extends that family by bringing in Shepherds and Wisemen. Through Jesus God made a family out of the most unlikely people at all ends of the spectrum and from all places of the world and if God can do that, God can make and hold our families together.

Jesus came to help us live in peace with one another and as we look at the world today, this peace is desperately needed.  Families need peace.  Communities need peace.  Our government and political parties need peace.  Germany, Syria and South Sudan need peace and Jesus came to bring this peace.  Jesus came to show us how to love and forgive and how to make this peace a reality in our lives.  It can start today in our own lives and families and as we live in peace in our homes so that love and grace will grow and spread.

While Jesus came to bring peace on earth, he also came to bring us peace with God.  Our sin separates us from God and this separation brings all kinds of brokenness and pain, but Jesus came to forgive our sin and heal our brokenness and make us one with God.  Jesus came to save us, for unto you is born this night in the city of David a Savior, and Jesus is that Savior who reconnects us to God which brings us life here and now but also brings us life eternal.  When we receive the child born in Bethlehem we receive salvation.

John 3:16 says, For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son so that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have everlasting life.  Everlasting life, eternal life, the assurance of life with God forever is part of the timeless message of Jesus and it is part of the gift we are given tonight, a gift that won’t disappoint, a gift that won’t let us down, a gift that will change our lives, our destinies and yes a gift that can change our world.  This gift has been given to all of us and this gift of Jesus can be yours.  Reach out and receive the love of God given to us in Jesus Christ the Lord.

Elf

Today our Advent series turns to a much newer Christmas movie, but one that is already making the lists of the top Christmas movies of all time – Elf.  I had not seen the movie until this year but my sister said it was great.  She said, how can you go wrong when it stars classic TV actors like Ed Asner and Bob Newhart, and I must admit, she was right.  This is a wonderful family movie that has a great message for us all.

For those who may not have seen the movie, the story begins when Santa Claus visits an orphanage on Christmas Eve.  While Santa is busy eating cookies, a baby climbs out of his crib and crawls toward a teddy bear in Santa’s sack and here’s what happens.

So Buddy is raised by the elves at the North Pole and in school he learns the Code of the Elves.

In many ways, it is this code that guides the rest of the movie and it is this code that points us to the real Christmas Story.  So let’s start by looking at the second rule of the code first: There’s room for everyone on the nice list.  In time Buddy realizes that he is not an elf but a human but the real tragedy for him is finding out that his father is not on the nice but the naughty list.

When Santa says that Buddy can spread Christmas cheer he isn’t talking about offering a superficial greeting to people on the street but sharing a love and spirit that can actually lift a person’s heart and change a person’s life.  This is what Buddy wants to do for his Dad so he leaves his home and begins a journey to another land in order to find his father who is lost.  When he finds his dad, all Buddy wants to do is love him and change his life.  Is this beginning to sound at all familiar?  Someone leaves their home to pursue those who are lost in order to love them and save them and bring them the fullness of life - this is the real Christmas Story.  This is what God did for all of us in the birth of Jesus!

God saw us on the naughty list, or the lonely list, or the heartbroken list, or the prideful or greedy list and God wanted to save us from ourselves and our sin so God came to this world through Jesus to save us.  The way God saves us is by pursuing us and loving us unconditionally and persistently until that love changes our hearts and lives.  This is what Buddy did.  Buddy left is home, he passed through the seven levels of the Candy Cane forest, through the sea of swirly twirly gum drops, and then walked through the Lincoln Tunnel to find his Dad and once he found him he just loved him and he didn’t stop loving him.

In this way, Buddy points us to Jesus.  Please, I am not saying Buddy is Jesus, I don’t think Jesus would say that there are only 4 major food groups, Candy, Candy Canes, Candy Corn and syrup, but Buddy points us to Jesus.  Buddy’s journey to save his Dad points us to the journey of Jesus to save us.  God sent his Son into the darkness of this world to save us.  Jesus gave up his home in heaven to come into our world and to enter into our lives in order to save us from our own sin and at times our own selves.

So Buddy’s trip to get his Dad on to the nice list, to save him, points us to Jesus and Buddy’s love reminds us of the kind of love Jesus has for us.  Buddy’s love is unconditional.  Even thought his Dad doesn’t want it and can’t really receive it, Buddy still loves him.

This is a picture of God’s love for us.  Even if we have closed ourselves off to the love of God and others or feel we aren’t worthy of God’s love – it is still there.   God loves us and God tells us over and over again that he loves us.  Lamentations 3:22-23

So the code of the elves tells us There’s room for everyone on the nice list.and we help get people on that list by loving them and sharing with them the Christmas Spirit.  The truth is that God wants all of us on this list which is why God sent Jesus.  John 3:17 says, God did not send his son into the world to condemn the world but to save the world through him.   God didn’t send Jesus to point out that we are on the naughty list but to love us and forgive us and move us to the nice list.

The second code of the elves we are going to look at is the first one, Treat Every Day Like Christmas.  This means that every day should be filled with the spirit and actions we experience on Christmas day, things like love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self control.  If we can look beyond the craziness we often feel on Christmas Day, these are often the qualities we long to feel:  the love of family, the joy of reaching out to friends, the peace we find when we set aside work and all the demands of life to just relax, the kindness and goodness we live out in our communities, the faithfulness we remember as we worship and celebrate a God who loves us and even the self control of not eating all the Christmas cookies and candy in one day.  

Now if you were with us a few weeks ago, this list might look familiar.  These are the lovely intangibles we heard about in Miracle on 34th Street.  These are things that the world tells us we can’t build our lives on but that God says we can and should.  This is the fruit of God’s spirit and this is what develops in our lives when we get close to Jesus.   When we make every day Christmas we are allowing the gift of Christmas, which is the gift of Jesus, to be experienced in our lives and this is what God wants.  God wants this fruit to grow in our lives, but there is so much more fruit and spirit we can experience.

Living like every day is Christmas also means recapturing a sense of awe and wonder in life.  This past Tuesday night I looked out the window and the snow was falling softly and it was clinging to the limbs on the trees and the lights in the yard so I put on my coat and went for a walk.  The beauty of the night filled me with an awe and wonder that I often don’t take the time to experience.  The quiet of the evening, the beauty of the snow and the lights on people’s homes and trees was wonderful.  It was a real Christmas moment.

Buddy reminds us to find this kind of awe and wonder in all of life and to find joy and laughter in the little things we often overlook or take for granted especially as we grow older.

God calls us to experience life like a child.  In fact, Jesus said it is only those who can be child-like who will enter the kingdom of heaven.  Matthew 19:13-14

We aren’t to be childish but child-like which means being filled with awe and wonder and to find joy in all the simple things.  We are to be child-like because God is child-like.  Listen to this quote from GK Chesterton where he talks about the nature of God.    Because children have abounding vitality, because they are in spirit fierce and free, therefore they want things repeated and unchanged. They always say, "Do it again"; and the grown-up person does it again until he is nearly dead.  For grown-up people are not strong enough to exult in monotony.  But perhaps God is strong enough to exult in monotony.  It is possible that God says every morning, "Do it again" to the sun; and every evening, "Do it again" to the moon. It may not be automatic necessity that makes all daisies alike; it may be that God makes every daisy separately, but has never got tired of making them.  It may be that He has the eternal appetite of infancy; for we have sinned and grown old, and our Father is younger than we.

God is a child who never tires of finding joy in the simple things but we have grown old and have allowed the demands of life and work to pull us away from these simple things and simple joy.

How many of us can say that Smiling is my favorite?  Maybe that’s our problem.  Maybe we have allowed work to consume us or fear to fill us and we have grown old and forgotten how to smile.  This may sound silly, but I think Jesus smiled a lot and I say this because people wanted to be with Jesus and most of us don’t want to hang around with Grinches – we want to hang around with elves.  Jesus lifted people up and filled people with hope and joy and made them feel special and we do this more by smiling than frowning.  Buddy did this and shows us how we can do it too.

When we treat every day like Christmas and live with child-like faith and wonder, we are living the life of Jesus that transformed people and the world we live in.

Now the third code of the elves says this, The best way to spread Christmas Cheer is singing loud for all to hear.  Buddy has no problem singing loud even when there is music or words.  

Buddy teaches us that even when others may not be singing or sharing the Christmas spirit, it is important that we do.  Jesus put it this way, Matthew 5:14-16.   We are called to be the light of the world and the light we are to shine is the love of Jesus.  When we follow Jesus, we shine God’s light in the darkness.  When we love others unconditionally and persistently, we shine God’s light in the darkness.  When we live with childlike joy and wonder we are shining God’s light in the world and as we shine this light we are a beacon of hope to others.  When we shine God’s light in the world we really are making a difference, a positive difference.

So the best way to spread the truth and light of God is to shine in the darkness of the world and sing loud for all to hear, but here’s the thing, this light cannot be faked.  We can’t go through the motions, we can’t pretend to follow Jesus.  Nothing changes if we aren’t real and genuine.  The world isn’t change if we are faking it, we have to actually shine.  

This is a powerful scene in the movie because it reminds us that our faith cannot be faked.  We will never experience the fullness of God’s power and love by just going through the motions; we have to life out our faith with all our heart.  The world isn’t changed and people’s lives aren’t filled with hope and love if we aren’t sincerely living out our faith.  We cannot just go through the motions.  We cannot sit in the pews and move our mouths when we sing or pray we need to engage God with our hearts while we are here and open up our minds and lives to connect with and experience God.

We can’t just go through the motions of serving others either, we need to jump in and get our hands dirty and maybe even allow our hearts to bleed and be stretched.  We have to love in ways that might challenge us and even hurt us because we have given all that we have and all that we are.  Going through the motions doesn’t get us closer to God and it doesn’t help us to really know Jesus and going through the motions of our faith doesn’t change anyone or anything in this world.  But when we shine our light in the darkness and sing alone in the crowd we spread Christmas Cheer – we bring the power of God into our world.

How many of us end up like Buddy’s Dad and find ourselves just going through the motions.  We go through the motions in worship but aren’t really singing.  We go through the motions with our family but we aren’t really loving them.  We go through the motions with our faith but we aren’t really sacrificing anything – we aren’t carrying a cross.  At times we are all guilty of just moving our lips and when we do we are hiding the light of Christ in a dark world that needs the light of Jesus.  So we need to stop pretending and shine our light.  We need to stop moving our lips and start singing loud for all to hear.

The Code of the Elves points us to the real Christmas Story because it is Jesus who made room for us for us on the Nice List and it is Jesus who helps us live like every day is Christmas and it is Jesus who calls us to shine God’s light by singing loud for all to hear.  Yes, Buddy being true to the code of the elves points us to the real Christmas story.  May this be the code we follow in life and in faith.

 
Next Steps
Elf

The Code of the Elves:

1. Treat every day like Christmas.
• Real Galatians 5:22-23.  This fruit could be described as the Christmas Spirit.
• Find one way to share this Christmas Spirit with someone between now and Christmas Day.
• What child-like quality do you wish was part of your life?  How might you recapture this experience?
• How can you help others find the child inside them?
• Name the ways God is like a child.

2. There is always room on the Nice List.
• Would you say you are on the naughty or nice list? Why?
• In what ways do you feel isolated and far from God?
• Read the real Christmas Story in Luke 2 and think about how God came to move you to the nice list (to forgive you and be near you and give you life).
• Who do you know that needs this love of God?  Pray for them.

3. The best way to spread Christmas Cheer is singing loud for all to hear.
• In what areas are you just going through the motions of your faith?  Worship, Prayer, Service, Study, Personal Devotions.  What change can you make this week to start walking the walk and talking the talk?
• Singing loud is like Shining bright.  How can you shine the light of Jesus into the darkness of your family?  Neighborhood?  Place of employment?  Community?
• This week, really sing the carols of Christmas.

It's A Wonderful Life

Today our Advent series takes us to the movie that the American Film Institute rated the #1 inspirational movie of all time, It’s a Wonderful Life.  The movie has a very interesting history because when it was first released during the Christmas Season in 1947 it was a box office flop.  While it did receive 6 Academy Award nominations including best picture, best director for Frank Capra and best actor for Jimmy Stewart, the only award it won was a technical achievement award for the development of a new method of simulating falling snow on a movie set.  If you have seen the movie you know how amazing that effect was and how important the snow was for the look and feel of the movie.

Since the movie didn’t do well at the box office, it sat on the shelves for several decades and then due to a clerical error, the copyright lapsed in the 1970’s which meant that TV stations could show it for free.  This is why during the 1970’s and 80’s you could find It’s a Wonderful Life on just about every TV station during the month of December.  The copyright was renewed in the 1990’s so it is no longer free for TV stations, but it can still be found on several stations through the holiday season.

While the movie is well over 2 hours long, what it is known for is the final 30 minutes.  What most people know about the movie is how the angel Clarence comes to earth to save George Bailey by showing him what would have happened if he had never been born.  While Clarence shows George what a difference he made during his life, the real meat of the movie is actually going through George’s life and what we see is that what makes George’s life wonderful is that his life points us to the example of Jesus.

Our Advent series has walked us through some of our favorite Christmas movies to see how they point us to Christ and the real Christmas story and this movie does it in some very powerful ways.  To help us see these connections, we need to first hear these words of Paul in Philippians 2:2-11.

Our attitude, words and actions need to reflect those of Jesus who was humble, sacrificial and who always put the needs of others before his own and this is what we see in George Bailey.  From a very young age, George would jump in to help people without thinking of himself and it all starts here.  (Clip 1 – sledding)

George set aside his own well being to rescue his brother.  He didn’t think about himself and his own life or safety, he jumps in to save his brother and in the process ends up losing hearing in one ear.  Clarence, the angel, was told to pay particular attention to this moment in George’s life and it comes back in an important way later on.  All through the movie what we see in George is someone who doesn’t put his own wants or needs first.  He always helps others.  

As a boy, George also had a job in the local pharmacy and one day he noticed that his boss, Mr. Gowan, in his own grief at losing his son in the war, has filled a prescription with poison instead of medicine.  George is supposed to deliver the medicine but he doesn’t and when he returns to the store Mr. Gowan beats George for not delivering the medicine.  Finally Mr Gowan realizes that George has actually saved that customer’s life and his own life, business and reputation as well.  It’s actually a difficult scene to watch, but is powerful when we think of how George is making the life of Christ his own.

After his graduation from High School, George is set to leave Bedford Falls to see the world and to make his own fortune.  George is filled with ambition and adventure and is all set to leave town when his father dies and there is no one to run the Building and Loan except the villain of the movie, Henry Potter.

Henry Potter

Mr. Potter is the local banker and his only concerns are power and money.  He wants to control the entire town and if he can get his hands on the building and loan, then he will control everything.  George is suddenly faced with a difficult decision, does he follow his dreams or does he once again put others first.  (Clip 2 – building and loan)

George stays in Bedford Falls to run the Building and Loan and in time gets married.  As George and Mary set off on their honeymoon they have $2,000 to take with them.  In today’s world that would be about $35,000 so George and Mary are really setting out on a great adventure to see the world, but as they are leaving town there is a run on the banks.  In a panic, the people want their money and once again if George doesn’t stay and help keep the Building and Loan open, Mr. Potter will gain control of everything.  So George takes his honeymoon money and gives it to the people.  Once again, George puts others before himself.  He humbles himself, he makes himself nothing, he becomes a servant so that others can live.

Everything in George Bailey’s life points us to the real Christmas story of Jesus coming into this world.  George had everything in his hands.  He was filled with ambition, adventure and a courage that could have taken him around the world and made him a great success, but he emptied himself, he didn’t hold on to all that was his, he let it all go to help others.  George gave it up to save others and this is what we see in Jesus.  Philippians 2 says that Jesus did not consider equality with God as something to grasped or held on to but that he emptied himself, he made himself nothing, he gave himself away so that others could live.  It says Jesus humbled himself and became obedient even to death on the cross.  Jesus endured beatings and pain to help and save others and even a young George Bailey was willing to do the same thing.

The real Christmas story of Jesus is the story of humility.  God chose to humble himself to come here and help us.  God didn’t choose a wealthy couple of privilege to bring Jesus into the world; he chose a poor couple named Mary and Joseph.  Jesus wasn’t welcomed by the rich and powerful but the little guy – shepherds who didn’t have anyone on their side or thinking of them.  Throughout his life Jesus gave himself to those who didn’t have anything instead of seeking to get what was rightfully his and this is the attitude that the apostle Paul tells us we are supposed to have. Be like minded, Paul says.  Think this way and allow this attitude of humility to shape your decisions and actions.
George Bailey had this attitude and so his life points us to Jesus and if the movie ended there it would be a good story, but it doesn’t end there.  8 years later we get to the final event that sets the rest of the movie into motion.  Uncle Billy, who works with George at the Building and Loan and forgets everything, even why he has tied strings around his fingers, loses the $8,000 deposit he was to make at Mr. Potter’s bank.  The money ends up in Mr. Potter’s hands, but because Potter is only interested in power and greed he sees this as a great opportunity to destroy George Bailey and the building in loan and take control of the town.  George once again takes responsibility for the situation, or in the terms of Jesus, he takes on this sin, and tries to solve the problem on his own.  (Clip 3 - Potter’s office)

The entire world has come crashing down on George and he becomes desperate to find an answer.  As he leaves Potter’s office he realizes that he is worth more dead than alive so George comes up with his own answer to the problem.  He decides to end his life by jumping from the local bridge.  Before we go on, I want to be very clear that suicide is never a good solution to our problems and it is never God’s solution.  Many people live with so much darkness and despair that this seems like the best answer and at times the only answer but it is important to know that this is never the best or only solution to our problems.  Our life is a gift from God and God has a purpose and plan for it.  God says through the prophet Jeremiah, I know the plans I have for you, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.

God didn’t say this to people who were living in good times, he said this to people who had been defeated in war and led away to live as slaves into a foreign land.  The people of Israel were defeated in every way possible and they truly believed all hope was lost.  It was the darkest times for them and was is into this darkness that God said, I have plans for you and I have a future for you.  No matter what we are going through, God has a way for us.  No matter what we may see in front of us, God has way for us to get through the darkness and God does have a future for us.

If you are here today wondering if there is a way out of the darkness, God wants you to hear that He does have a way for you and he does have a plan for you and God does have a future for you.  This is part of the real Christmas Story.  Jesus came to love us and help us and to be with us in the darkness and through Jesus we are given a way of light and hope.  The Christmas carol Away in a Manger says it all, a way in a manger was given to us; a way to find life and light and love and hope.  Your life is the greatest gift ever given and it should be celebrated and treasured, not thrown away.  The original title for It’s a Wonderful Life was The Greatest Gift because the greatest gift given to us is the gift of our lives.

If we are experiencing the darkness of despair today, God not only wants us to know that He has made a way for us to make it through but God wants us to know that in our darkest moments, He is with us and that is what we see in the movie.  In George’s darkest moment, God is there.  (Clip 4 – bridge)

Clarence saves George by doing the one thing he knows will change George’s plans, he jumps in and cries for help.  Clarence remembered that this is what George did for his brother and this is what George would do for anyone in need.  What Clarence learned about George is that it was his very nature to not think of himself first but others, he had the mind of Christ, so when Clarence cries for help, George jumps in to save him and in saving Clarence - Clarence saves George.  (Clip 5 – toll house)

From here to the end of the movie is what we tend to think about when we think of It’s a wonderful life.  Clarence shows George what the world would be like if he had never been born and what George sees is that the world was a much darker place.

Bedford Falls became Pottersville because there was no one there to take over the Building and Loan and so Mr. Potter controlled it all.  The people George helped through the years weren’t helped and so their lives spiraled out of control.  There was no one in town to help the little guy so the little guy was taken advantage of and beaten down.  What Clarence was able to show George is that he truly led a wonderful life and it is this scene which gives the movie its title.   (Clip 6 – Wonderful life)

George realizes that he has actually touched many people and made a difference in the lives of those he knows and loves and once again this points us to the real Christmas story.  One person saying Yes to God makes all the difference.  Mary saying Yes to the Angel Gabriel made all the difference.  Joseph saying Yes and taking Mary as his wife made all the difference.  The real Christmas story reminds us that one person saying yes to God and embracing the mind and heart of the Christ Child can change everything.  When we say yes to God and are willing to life like Jesus, our lives change everything.

The movie also gets us thinking about angels who are all over the real Christmas Story and the story of Jesus.  There is the angel Gabriel that comes to Mary and the angels that proclaim the birth of Jesus to the shepherds.  Angels are in the wilderness with Jesus at the beginning of his ministry and at the end with him in the Garden of Gethsemane.  Angels are also the ones who announce that Jesus had risen.

The word angel simply means messenger and every time they appear in the bible they are bringing some big news or communicating God’s special plan.  While some angels might be celestial or spiritual beings, some angels come in the form of ordinary men and women, like the strangers that show up to Sarah and Abraham to tell them that in their old age they will have a child.  Clarence was a messenger sent to George at just the right moment and the message he brought was: your life matters.  The people of Bedford Falls were the angels sent to George at just the right moment with the same message; your life matters.  

God gives us this message through others and God calls us to share this message with others and when we receive it and when we share it something wonderful happens.  We are filled with Joy.  Here’s what happens when Clarence finally gets through to George that he is living a wonderful life.  (Clip 7 – Joyful George)

And then here is what happens when the town shares this message with George.  (Clip 8 – Joyful town)

When we are ministered to by God’s angels we are filled with joy and when we act as God’s angels and give ourselves to others – we are filled with Joy.

It’s a Wonderful Life points us to the real Christmas Story because it proclaims the message, your life matters.  Our life matters so much to God that he came down in the person of Jesus to rescue us and our life matters so much to God that God is always with us.  We hear this in John 3:16 which says… for God so loved the world that he gave his one and only son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

The movie also points us to the real Christmas Story because it reminds us that we are live the life of the Christ Child who humble himself and lived for others.  While the world might see this as a burden and life of sacrificial pain, the truth is that this kind of life brings great joy.  George had the mind and heart of Christ and he truly lived a wonderful life, that is the Christmas story we are all called to live.
Next Steps
It’s a Wonderful Life

1. Clarence is an angel sent by God to save George Bailey.  Read and reflect on other angel stories in the Bible.  What message, plan and hope were these messengers sent to bring?
• Genesis 16 – Hagar
• Genesis 18:1-15 – Abraham and Sarah
• 1 Kings 19:1-9 – Elijah
• Luke 1:26-38 – Mary
• Matthew 4:1-11 – Jesus
• Luke 22:39-46 – Jesus
• Luke 24:1-8 – The women at the empty tomb


2. What angels have you experienced in life?  Remember, the most common form of angels are the messengers God sends in human form.  Share these angel stories with others.


3. How can you be an angel to someone this week, or through this Advent / Christmas Season?


4.  Read Philippians 2:2-11. Identify all the traits of Jesus that we are to make our own.  Set goals for this season and the New Year that will help you be “like-minded”.


5.  Who do you know that needs to be told that they are living “A Wonderful Life”?  Experience the joy of this season by telling them how much they mean to you.


6.  Prepare for next Sunday by watching Elf.  

How The Grinch Stole Christmas

Today we continue our Advent series of looking at some of our favorite Christmas movies to see how they might point us to Jesus and the real meaning of Christmas.  Today we are going to look at the classic story given to us by Dr. Seuss – How the Grinch Stole Christmas.  The book was first published in 1957 and then made into a holiday special in 1966 – 50 years ago.  The film adaptation was narrated by Boris Karloff, who at the time was best known for his portrayal of Frankenstein in several movies from the 1930’s.

Boris Karloff was the Grinch

It was a great idea to have Karloff narrate the story because the Grinch starts out as a monster who lived high up in the mountains over Whoville.

The Grinch is an unpleasant character to say the least.  He doesn’t like to be happy and so he doesn’t want anyone else to be happy and the joy that the Whos experience at Christmas is just too much for him.  Do you know anyone like the Grinch?  Not just someone who doesn’t like Christmas, but someone who is never happy and so doesn’t want others to be happy?  Since Dr. Seuss’ book was published, the term Grinch has become synonymous with people who are grouchy and grumpy not just at Christmas time but all the time.  The word most likely comes from the French word grincheux which means grumpy.  So, do you know someone like this?

While we can all probably name someone who reminds us of the Grinch, if we are honest, there are times when we are the Grinch?  While we might not steal Christmas, we might steal people’s peace and joy by being grumpy, irritable and unpleasant.  The truth is that there is a little bit of the Grinch in all of us and while we are not going to steal trees, presents and food - our attitudes and actions do steal people’s peace.  So what is it that makes us the Grinch?

What made the Grinch so unpleasant was that his heart was 2 sizes too small and what makes us a Grinch is a heart that withers away because it’s not used to love and forgive.  When we hold on to the bitterness and pain of our past and harbor all our grievances and disappointments, it eats away at our hearts and in time we resent anyone being happy and we make life miserable for everyone.
Some people have been raised in homes where this kind of attitude was experienced all the time so they have been taught to be a Grinch.  They have learned that you hold on to the past and never let go of a grudge.  Once again, when we don’t use our hearts to forgive then we lose the capacity to love and our hearts begin to shrink.  When we hold on to the pain of the past we keep our hearts from beating and growing and before we know it our hearts are two sizes too small and we have become the Grinch.

So we can all become the Grinch if we aren’t careful about how we use our hearts and if we feed the Grinch in us, our grumpy attitude can lead to plans to make life miserable for others.  This is what happened to the Grinch.  His bad attitude finally led him to come up with the wonderful awful idea to steal Christmas.

Dressed up as Santa Claus, the Grinch went down into Whoville and stole everything.  Here’s what Dr Seuss says,

Then he slithered and slunk, with a smile most unpleasant,
Around the whole room, and he took every present!
Popguns! And bicycles! Roller Skates! Drums!
Checkerboards! Tricycles! Popcorn!  And Plums!
And he stuffed them in bags, then the Grinch very nimbly,
Stuffed all the bags, one by one, up the chimbley!
Then he slunk to the icebox. He took the Whos’ feast.
He took the Who pudding?  He took the roast beast!
He cleaned out that icebox as quick as a flash,
Why that Grinch even took their last can of Who-hash!
(How the Grinch Stole Christmas, copyright 1957, Random House Inc.)

The Grinch stole everything that he thought made Christmas special for the Whos and he took it all up to Mount Crumpet where he was going to destroy it.  On Christmas morning, the Grinch expected to hear the Whos weeping and wailing but instead what he heard down in Whoville was all the Whos singing.  

When the Whos got up that morning, they weren’t sad or angry that all their gifts and food were gone because they knew that the real meaning of Christmas wasn’t found in trees and toys, the real meaning of Christmas was to show love and kindness.  The real meaning of Christmas was to forgive and live at peace with one another.  It was to live heart to heart and hand in hand.

So in this movie we are given two pictures of who we might at the holidays and all through life.
Will we be the Grinch?

Or will we be a Who?

Will we grumpy or gracious?  Frustrating or forgiving?  Which one we become is determined by which one we focus on and which one we feed.  We feed the Grinch by focusing on all the disappointments we’ve had in life and all the pain we’ve gone through.  We feed the Grinch by holding on to the hurt and remembering all the times we have been offended and mistreated and when life hasn’t gone our way.

The more we feed the Grinch the more our hearts shrink in size.  The Grinch’s heart was 2 times too small because he didn’t use it.  He didn’t forgive people.  He didn’t take time to get to know the Whos or to allow them to love him.  He didn’t even take time to learn how to experience joy in life from his dog Max.  Max has always been my favorite character in the movie and it’s amazing how he symbolized joy even in the presence of evil.

Max never let the Grinch keep him from being happy and seeing the good in life and it’s too bad that the Grinch never learned to see life through his eyes.  Max points us to God’s grace and how it is always there for us.  God never leaves us alone in our darkness.  In fact, Jesus came into the darkness of our world to bring peace and joy and that is what this season of Advent is all about.  It’s about seeing the light that shines in the midst of our darkness and knowing that God is always with us.  God is with us when we are feeling bitter and angry and God is with us when we feel hurt and alone and if we will open our eyes and our hearts to see the joy and peace of God with us then maybe our hearts will start to grow.

So God works to help us feed the Who that lies in all of us and we feed the Who by loving and giving and forgiving.  When we focus on our faith and take time to worship God we are feeding the Who.  During this season of the year it is easy to feed the Grinch because we can get stressed out and disappointed so easily, but it is also a great time to feed the Who.  We have special times of worship where we can hear the good news of Jesus; we can give toys to children through Toys for Tots and food for the hungry through the food bank.  There are stories all around us about people in need and ways to give and so this is a great time of year to feed the Who in us and exercise our heart muscles by loving and giving.

It is also a great time of year to forgive.  If there is someone who has hurt you and that pain is lingering in your heart, let it go so that your heart can grow.   Holding on to a grudge only hurts us and it keeps our hearts from growing and so we need to reach out to the grace of God who has forgiven us and allow the power of that grace to help us forgive others.  We feed the Who by learning to forgive and letting go of the pain stored up from our past.

The story of the Grinch shows us two paths in life.  We can be a Grinch or we can be a Who.  These choices are also laid out for us in the Bible.  Jesus talked about the narrow road of faith and the wide road of destruction - Matthew 7:13-14.  The wide and easy road is the one where we give into bitterness and resentment and hold on to grudges.  This is the easy road because it’s easy to feel offended and it’s easy to think everyone owes us something, but the narrow road of faith is difficult.  It is not easy to let go of pain and hurt.  It is not easy to love those who have offended us or give to those who have hurt us.  The road of Jesus is not an easy road but it is the only road that leads to life.
The narrow road of Jesus is what we see in the real Christmas story.  God didn’t take the easy road when he came into this world.  The road God chose went through a poor couple who had to give birth in a stable.  The road God chose didn’t lead to a welcoming committee of world leaders and the religious elite but dirty shepherds who left the fields to find a baby.  The road God chose went through Egypt where Jesus and his parents had to live as refugees in a foreign land.  The road of Jesus’ birth was narrow and difficult and while it is the road we are often called to take in life, it is the road that leads to life because it is the road that leads to the Christ Child, the Prince of Peace and the giver of all the fullness of God.

So Jesus talks about 2 roads and the Bible talks about 2 paths in life.  We can live as children of the light and embrace goodness, righteousness and truth or we can live as children of the dark and give in to greed, immorality and the impurity of this world.  We hear about the path of light and darkness and the old self and new self from Paul’s letter to the Ephesians 4:22-5:2.

Paul outlines for us what that easy road of darkness is like and when we give in to these things we are feeding the Grinch.  Bitterness, anger, malice and rage are what we see in the Grinch and all of this leads him to steal Christmas in the hopes of stealing the peace and joy of the Whos.  But the Whos show us the way of light, they forgive because they know they have been forgiven.  They sing songs of praise even in the darkness and did you notice what they welcomed on Christmas Day – a star – the light of God’s love.  When we are kind and compassionate, forgiving each other as Christ forgave us and loving others because God has loved us, our hearts will grow three sizes.

So will we feed the Grinch or the Who?  Will we live as children of darkness or light?  Will we put on the old self or the new?   Let us be imitators of God and live a life of love just as Christ loved us.  This is the only road that leads us closer to Jesus who is the Prince of Peace and as we grow closing to Christ we grow closer to one another.  Let us live the life of the Whos whose faith and love brings peace on earth, good will toward all.

Next Steps
How The Grinch Stole Christmas

1.  Read a passage each day to learn how to starve the Grinch and feed the Who that lives inside us all.
• Romans 7:14-25
• Romans 12:5-21
• Ephesians 4:17-5:2
• Ephesians 6:10-18
• Colossians 3:1-17
• 1 Thessalonians 4:1-12
• 1 John 1:5-2:2

2.  Forgiveness is one way to help our hearts grow.
• Who in your life do you need to forgive?  How can you begin to let go of that hurt this week?  Who can help you let go of the grudge?  List the ways God has forgiven you.
• From whom do you need to seek forgiveness?  Go to them this week and ask for forgiveness, whether they offer it or not your heart will grow.

3.  Attend one of the 3 Concerts being held at Faith Church so that the worship and fellowship can expand your heart.
• Penns Valley Men’s Choir – Today at 3:00 PM
• Faith Church Choir and Bells – Dec. 11 at 4:00 PM
• The Messiah – Dec. 14 at 7:30

4.  Expand your heart by finding one new way to give or a way to give more during this Christmas Season.  Sign up to help with the Christmas Dinner in the lobby or online.

5. Prepare for next week by watching It’s a Wonderful Life.