It's A Wonderful Life

It's A Wonderful Life is one of our family's favorite Christmas movies. It may be one of yours as well. We watched it again last night for the first time...this year...and I realized something. This movie is so loved, so easy to watch over and over not because we love the characters or the happy ending; though we do love both. What makes this movie so enduring is what the characters go through to get to the happy ending. It's full of disappointment, trial, tragedy, hatred, waiting and more waiting and more disappointment. And then in the most frustrating scene of the movie, the villain, Mr. Potter, takes advantage of an $8,000 mistake that threatens to shut down the Bailey Savings and Loan and land George Bailey in jail surrounded by scandal.

This is where the real story begins. As George Bailey, who we're all sympathizing with and rooting for, starts to break down on every level, he's given an opportunity to see what life would be like if he had never been born which leads him to realize that life really is worth living. The movie ends with all of his friends and family coming together to bail him out. All the characters that we have come to love raise the $8,000 that was missing. Finally, George Bailey is vindicated and gets treated the way he deserves; which is what we were all hoping for.

But there's one thing that never get's resolved-and it drives me crazy. Mr. Potter never get's what he deserves. He stole the $8,000 that was misplaced in his newspaper and never gave it back. On the contrary, he took advantage of the desperate situation that George was in and used it to try to ruin him. Yes, George stays out of jail and learns a valuable lesson about gratefulness and life. But Mr. Potter never gets caught and the money never get’s returned. Let's be honest, wouldn't it be great if the movie ended with Potter sitting in a jail cell or better, working as a lackey for George Bailey? I would like to see Mr. Potter get what he deserves.

But is this right? Should I feel this way about Potter? Now I realize this is a movie and a fictional story but I think we can learn something about our hearts as we engage with these fictional characters. So I asked myself this question, “If this movie was my life how would I think about and treat Mr. Potter…as a Christian?” How do we view those that wrong us? What is in our heart toward the Mr. Potters in our real lives? And what does scripture say about Mr. Potter and our relationship with him?

The reality is that Christ came to save the Mr. Potters of the world. He suffered and died so that Mr. Potter could have eternal life if he would trust in Jesus; the same eternal life that I was in need of and freely received. And whether we like it or not, before Christ saved us we were Mr. Potter: hated and hating others (Titus 3:3); filled with unrighteousness, evil, covetousness, malice…deceit, maliciousness… a gossip, boastful…heartless, ruthless (Romans 1:29-31); and an enemy of God (Romans 5:10). The fact that I want Mr. Potter to get his due punishment puts me in the same category as the unforgiving servant in Matthew 18. This has two implications for our lives.

First, when Mr. Potter sins against us (or we see him mistreat others) we should forgive him. This doesn’t mean catering to him or volunteering to work in his office but it does mean not holding a grudge, not demanding punishment in our heart and not growing in bitterness toward him.

Second, we are to love him the way Christ loved us. While we were still His enemy Christ died for us and saved us. The love of Christ that we have received should motivate us to share the good news of Jesus with Mr. Potter. He should hear it from our lips and observe it in our lives. If we don’t forgive from our heart we will not be able to do this.

What makes this movie so enduring is what the characters (specifically George Bailey) go through to get to the happy ending, which is being wronged by others. But our happy ending has been secured by Jesus. We don’t have to overcome those who sin against us because Jesus has already overcome sin. And our lives are to reflect the mercy and forgiveness that we’ve received so that He will be glorified through us.

To learn more about forgiving the Mr. Potter in your life, listen to the sermon: Forgiveness.