Scripture: Matthew 1:18-25
[Show Clip #1]
All we know for sure at the beginning of the movie is that a man named George Bailey is in trouble—so much so that he’s contemplating suicide. People who love and care for him are praying for him. And we know God hears their prayers—because an angel named Clarence is assigned to the case.
If you’ve seen the movie, you know how it unfolds. Keep this in mind: what happens to George at the end is the result of people praying for him—and his own prayer, as we’ll see later. But the film tells us right from the start that prayer changes things. God often does things in response to the prayers of his children that he otherwise wouldn’t do. Jesus teaches this in the story of the widow who keeps pleading with an unjust judge until he finally gives in—not because he cares, but because she won’t stop asking.
And in Acts 12, King Herod has Peter arrested. Verse 5 says, “While Peter was kept in prison, the church prayed fervently to God for him.” That very night an angel frees him. We love the miracle—but Scripture stresses the prayer behind it. God could have rescued Peter in many ways; what matters is that God moved because His people prayed—just as they do in this movie.
Even in our own church, our “Bold Faith” capital campaign has been successful for many reasons—but one stands above them all.
Is it because your pastor preached such a wonderful sermon series on faithful giving and generosity? Well… my sermons were okay—but no.
Is it because we have especially generous people here at Five Forks? Well, we do, by all means… We have very generous people—but no.
Is it because the new property is such an ideal location for our permanent church home that people were inspired to make this building happen? Well, it is an absolutely ideal location for our permanent church home, but still no.
The one main reason our campaign has been successful so far is because God’s people prayed. That’s it! We’re not done—so keep giving! But the most important reason we have succeeded so far is prayer.
Our Lord gets all the glory!
As we see in this next clip, George is a man with dreams—dreams that go far beyond Bedford Falls and the Building and Loan where his father wants him to work.
[Show Clip #2]
Mary, of course, wishes that George would marry her, settle down here, and live in that house.
You may recall that Judah, the southern kingdom of Israel, finally fell to the Babylonians in 586 B.C. Its most prominent citizens were sent into exile for 70 years, after which many returned. When they did, they began rebuilding the temple the Babylonians destroyed. The book of Ezra describes this effort. In Ezra 3, the former exiles lay the foundation of the new temple, and there is great joy and celebration.
And then comes verse 12: “But many of the older priests, Levites, and other leaders who had seen the first Temple wept aloud when they saw the new Temple’s foundation. The others, however, were shouting for joy.”
Sadly, these older priests and Levites were not weeping with tears of joy… They were sad… disappointed.
They remembered Solomon’s temple—the gold, the grandeur, the sense of strength, the visible sign that God’s glory dwelt among His people. Compared to that, what they now saw looked small and unimpressive. This new temple felt like a symbol of everything they had lost. It wasn’t just a building; it was a reminder that life would never be what it once was. They looked at the foundation and wondered, Is this really what God is doing now? Is this all?
And that tension lives in us too. Like George Bailey, we long for “big” things—big dreams, big plans, big accomplishments—even big churches… and big ministries. (We know that temptation, right, Erik?) We don’t want to feel stuck in something small and ordinary. We’d rather be doing something spectacular.
Yet for most of us, most of the time, God puts small things in front of us—opportunities for unobserved faithfulness, humble assignments, unnoticed service.
But the prophet Zechariah speaks to these exiles rebuilding the temple. He’s talking to people like these priests and Levites in Ezra when he says, in chapter 4, verse 10, “Who dares despise the day of small things…”?[1] Or as the NLT puts it, “Do not despise these small beginnings…” Most of the days of our lives are “days of small things” and “small beginnings.” God usually does his best work during those days! Besides, as was the case with Israel rebuilding the temple, God was doing something far larger than anyone could see.
After all, Jesus said the kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed: tiny, almost invisible—yet, in time, it becomes something far greater than anyone expects.[2]
If you’ve seen the movie, you know George never made it to Europe. His father dies just before he’s about to go. In the next scene, George is preparing to leave for college after tying up loose ends at the Building and Loan. His father’s rival, Mr. Potter—who owns the only bank in town and is a slumlord—tries to persuade the board to shut down the Building and Loan. He has every interest in keeping people poor and dependent on him.
[Show Clip #3]
So in an effort to do the right thing, George gives up on his dreams. He stays in town and runs the Building and Loan. He even gives the money he’d saved for college to his younger brother Harry. Can you imagine the disappointment?
I’ll bet Joseph, the adoptive father of Jesus, could imagine it. Joseph’s fiancée, Mary, tells him she’s pregnant—and he knows he’s not the father. He knows women don’t get pregnant without a human father. Whatever Mary says about angels and the Holy Spirit, Joseph believes she has been unfaithful. Can you imagine the disappointment?
Joseph soon learns the truth—and that God has a different plan for his life: to be the adoptive father of the Son of God. Like George Bailey, God’s plan for Joseph would require suffering and sacrifice. Not long after Jesus is born, an angel warns him that Herod is out to kill the child, and Joseph must flee to Egypt. In the middle of the night, he uproots his family and leaves home. Later, when Herod dies, he plans to return—but because another Herod is ruling, he has to settle in Nazareth instead. Can you imagine the disappointment?
The truth is that, like Joseph and George Bailey, taking up our cross often means changing our plans and letting go of our dreams—at least at first.
Can we trust that the Lord knows what’s best? Can we trust that His dream for us is better than any dream we’d choose for ourselves?
In this next scene, after years of trying to shut down the Building and Loan, Potter has a proposition for George.
[Show Clip #4]
Whew! I’ll say this for Drew Barrymore’s great-uncle Lionel… he’s a very good actor!
Notice how reasonable Mr. Potter’s offer sounds. He would pay George $20,000 in 1947—almost $300,000 today. And George could easily justify working for the enemy by thinking, “If I run Potter’s business, maybe I can change it for the better.” Besides, hadn’t he suffered enough? Sacrificed enough? Done enough good already? A recurring tension in the film is that while George helps others achieve their dreams, he resents never achieving his own.
So Potter appeals to George’s sense of entitlement: “If you were just one of these ordinary yokels, fine—but you’re the smartest man in town. You deserve more than this!”
When Satan tempted Jesus in the wilderness, he said nearly the same thing: “Why starve? Turn that stone to bread—you deserve it! Why waste time helping ordinary people? Work for me, and the world will bow at your feet. Think of the good you could do!” In other words: You deserve it.
Like George Bailey, Jesus resists—and He does so for the sake of common, ordinary sinners like you and me. And while George sacrifices dreams and money, Jesus—who is God—sacrifices His life. On the cross God pays our debt, bears our penalty, and dies our death so that we might live.
George rejects Potter’s offer, but he still resents having so little to show for his life. Then, on Christmas Eve, Uncle Billy misplaces a deposit that would be over $100,000 today. George fears he’s lost everything—and faces prison, because he’ll take the blame. After calculating the value of his life insurance, he decides he’s worth more dead than alive.
In despair, he storms out on Christmas Eve, goes to a bar and prays—and later contemplates jumping off a bridge into the icy river—so that his family will get the insurance money.
[Show Clip #5]
The nineteenth-century English Baptist preacher Charles Spurgeon said, “Anything is a blessing which makes us pray.”
Is that true?
I’m afraid it is!
And yes… I said “afraid”… because I’m a wimp. I never want to endure even the smallest discomfort—not to mention pain and suffering—even though discomfort, pain, and experiences of suffering—however large or small—are very effective at bringing me to my knees in prayer. As C.S. Lewis put it, “We are not necessarily doubting that God will do the best for us; we are wondering how painful the best will turn out to be.”
So if it took being framed by George’s archenemy, Mr. Potter, and a looming financial scandal, and the tarnishing of George’s good name, and the threat of prison—along with a generous helping of self-pity… if it took all these things to motivate George to pray, I’d say it was a blessing indeed.
How about you?
Listen to these difficult yet necessary words in James chapter 1, verses 2 to 4:
Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.
By the way, notice that George tells God he’s at the end of his rope. I’ve heard a pastor acquaintance say this many times: “You’ll find God in his office at the end of your rope.”
This final clip takes place after the movie borrows from A Christmas Carol, and Clarence shows George an alternative history of Bedford Falls—one in which George never lived, never ran the Building and Loan—and everything is far worse for the people he loves.
[Show Clip #6]
“Strange, isn’t it?” Clarence tells George. “Each man’s life touches so many other lives. When he isn’t around, he leaves an awful hole, doesn’t he?”
This is undeniably true, of course… If anything in our past had been even a little different you and I would be different people today. And people we know and love would be different. The world would be different. That’s the point Clarence makes to George. And he’s right.
But what Clarence doesn’t say—that I, as a pastor, need to say—is this: God is the One, working behind the scenes, who uses the life of someone like George Bailey, for instance, to “touch so many other lives.” If you’re a child of God through faith in Christ you can be sure that there’s not a single moment of your lite in which God isn’t at work in you and through you to touch other people’s lives… to accomplish God’s purposes… to change the world for the better.
God has the power to do that, and God is doing it. This is the very meaning of Romans 8:28: “And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.”
By the way, you know what I love most about this happy ending? When George tells the bank examiner and the sheriff, “Isn’t it wonderful? I’m going to jail!”
That’s crazy talk… unless you realize this: the happy ending happens before George even finds out his friends will rescue him. He has no idea they will somehow raise the missing $8,000.
His joy, in other words, has nothing to do with his circumstances—which were looking pretty bleak at that moment. His joy was invulnerable. It transcended whatever was happening to him on the outside.
That’s the kind of joy I want. How about you? And—praise God—I’m happy to report that it’s the kind of joy I increasingly experience as submit my life to him!
It’s the kind of joy that Jesus describes in Matthew 13:44: “The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up. Then in his joy he goes and sells all he has and buys that field.”[3]
My favorite words: in his joy… “in his joy he sells everything”—before he even possesses the treasure. He knows joy right now.
Because George knew joy, he could say, “Isn’t it wonderful? I’m going to jail!” We could endure anything the world throws our way if we know joy!
Friends, it is practically my life’s mission to convince you that this joy—this true and lasting happiness—is found in Christ alone.
And I believe the people living near 515 Godfrey Road in Five Forks are going to be hungry for that kind of joy. Let’s show them—and let’s tell them. Let’s equip ourselves to be disciples who shine Christ’s light.
[Transition to Wesleyan Covenant Prayer…
“I am no longer my own, but thine.
Put me to what thou wilt, rank me with whom thou wilt.
Put me to doing, put me to suffering.
Let me be employed by thee or laid aside for thee,
exalted for thee or brought low for thee.
Let me be full, let me be empty.
Let me have all things, let me have nothing.
I freely and heartily yield all things
to thy pleasure and disposal.
And now, O glorious and blessed God,
Father, Son, and Holy Spirit,
thou art mine, and I am thine. So be it.
And the covenant which I have made on earth,
let it be ratified in heaven. Amen.”]
[1] Zechariah 4:10 NIV and most other translations
[2] Matthew 13:31-32
[3] Matthew 13:44 ESV