"It's a Wonderful Life"

Sermon preached by the Rev. Lowell E. Grisham, Rector
St. Paul's Episcopal Church, Fayetteville, Arkansas
October 22, 2006; 20 Pentecost, Proper 24, Year B
Episcopal Revised Common Lectionary

(Mark 10:35-45) – James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came forward to him and said to him, "Teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we ask of you. "And he said to them, "What is it you want me to do for you?" And they said to him, "Grant us to sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, in your glory." But Jesus said to them, "You do not know what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I drink, or be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with?" They replied, "We are able." Then Jesus said to them, "The cup that I drink you will drink; and with the baptism with which I am baptized, you will be baptized; but to sit at my right hand or at my left is not mine to grant, but it is for those for whom it has been prepared."

When the ten heard this, they began to be angry with James and John. So Jesus called them and said to them, "You know that among the Gentiles those whom they recognize as their rulers lord it over them, and their great ones are tyrants over them. But it is not so among you; but whoever wishes to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wishes to be first among you must be slave of all. For the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life a ransom for many."

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Every December you can be certain that television stations will re-broadcast one of my seasonal favorites – It's a Wonderful Life. You remember the movie, starring Jimmy Stewart as George Bailey. George's father started a modest savings and loan in the village of Bedford Falls, but George wants something better for himself. He has dreams. He wants to get out of that "crummy little town" as he calls it, and "see the world." He wants to go to college. So, he turns down his father's plea to come take over the business. "I don't want to be cooped up in a shabby little office," he tells his father. "I want to do something important! ...If I didn't get away, I'd bust." His father gently tells him that what the savings and loan does is important. It helps working people of modest means to satisfy something fundamental, the urge to own their own home. But it's not what George wants for his life.

Just as George is about to move away, his father dies. The directors of the Bailey Savings and Loan vote not to close it, but only on the condition that George take over his father's place as Executive Secretary. If George doesn't, the evil millionaire Mr. Potter will take it over. Potter is a slum lord who exploits and intimidates anyone he can in order to expand his power and wealth. He seems to take delight in foreclosing mortgages whenever a tenant runs into any difficulty. George knows what Potter will do to the people his father has helped, so George shelves his plans for college and travel, and takes up the nickel-and-dime work of the little savings-and-loan business.

Throughout the movie we see that George is person who has an inclination to help others. He is someone with a willingness to serve. He understands the hopes and dreams of others, and he helps them achieve those dreams. But his service to others is costly to his own dreams. As he is leaving on his honeymoon, a financial crisis hatched by Potter causes a run on the savings and loan. George and his new wife Mary use the $2,000 saved for their honeymoon trip to try to keep the bank open.

George urges the people of Bedford Falls to "stick together" and to "have faith in each other." He sees the threat that Potter poses, not just to the savings and loan, but to their community. George tells them that Potter is trying to play on their fears and on their narrow self interests. George begs them to see the big picture. He appeals to their intellect and values and goodness. The people moderate their fearful demands enough so that the bank is saved.

George Bailey's legacy is a neighborhood of simple frame houses built and financed by the Bailey Savings and Loan at far less than market value. These homes give their owners a larger life, and a sense of personal pride and respect. In one scene, Mary and George liturgically present Mr. and Mrs. Martini with their new house, offering them bread -- so that this home will never see hunger, salt -- so their life may have flavor, and wine -- that they may have joy and prosperity forever. "Enter the Martini castle!" George announces to the gathered community.

As you remember, the story is artfully presented as a flashback. The present time is actually Christmas Eve, and George is drunk, depressed, about to take his own life because of the misplacing of an $8,000 loan through the scheming of Mr. Potter. George is financially ruined. The flashback is courtesy of a frumpy angel named Clarence, who arranges for George to see what the town would have been without him -- what Bedford Falls would have become if George had been out of the way and Potter had gained control. What he sees is a little bit like Sodom. Only then George understands, his life has made a difference. What seemed to him at the time like a series of difficult, meaningless, frustrating sacrifices had actually created a life of great meaning. A "Wonderful Life."

In the famous final scene, the whole community rallies to George's aid. Uncle Billy comes in with a basket full of money. People whom George had befriended and helped through the years spread the word about his crisis and fill his home, returning the generosity and kindness that has been George's trademark. His brother in uniform, just returned from the war, raises a glass in toast: "To my big brother George; the richest man in town." And people who cry at movies, tear up.

It is a story about " A Wonderful Life." It's a story that shows how even small acts of kindness and generosity can have great meaning. Everything we do can make a difference. It is a story about leadership. George becomes a leader through his life of service to others. Though it wasn't a path he intended, George responded faithfully, daily, with small acts of generosity and compassion. In doing so, he unknowingly created a community of powerful compassion.

I know it's just a movie. But it's a good movie with some good lessons about living a meaningful life and about becoming a leader through serving. George Bailey acts upon the smallest impulses consistently to help others. Every once in a while he needs to summons some courage, and he does so. He lives as a man of truth and a colleague that others can depend on. He is present for others, responding with care, doing those little things that help. It all adds together to create a meaningful legacy -- indeed, "It's a Wonderful Life."

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When James and John asked Jesus to put them in places of honor and leadership, Jesus said to all his followers, "You know that among the Gentiles those whom they recognize as their rulers lord it over them, and their great ones are tyrants over them. But it is not so among you; but whoever wishes to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wishes to be first among you must be slave of all."

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With gratitude to Margaret Wheatley whose training video "It's a Wonderful Life: Leading Through Service" is the inspiration for this sermon. We use her video in the first session of our Servant Leadership School.