It’s the first Sunday of Advent, and many people are starting to gear up for Christmas. On-line and in-person shopping is in full swing. Decorations are up in churches and businesses and homes. People are making more travel plans to be with family for the holidays than they did last year. And, on top of all this, we’ve actually gotten some good news about job numbers and the economy in the past few weeks. Plus, the verdict in the Ahmaud Arbery trial has led many to voice hope about us potentially turning a corner in terms of the problem of racism in America. So, all that to say, all these things, taken together combine to form a climate that we might describe as “cautious optimism.”
But then we come to church today, on the first Sunday of Advent, and the Scripture--on first read, anyway-- is kind of harsh. And the harshness proceeds to squash any optimism we may have been feeling. My reaction to this traditional reading for the First Sunday of Advent could be summed up by the title of a bad country song I once heard: “You done stomped on my heart and squashed that sucker flat.” (My father liked country music, and I was subjected to songs with titles like this on a regular basis. I have suppressed most of them, but occasionally they surface in my memory…but I digress. Back to the Scripture…)
To help us understand the jarring aspect of today’s reading--the distress, fear and foreboding that stomp on our hearts, that surround the return of the Son of Man to earth--let me give you a little background on the text. Advent lectionary readings come from a genre of writing called Apocalyptic Literature, a genre that arose when people of faith were undergoing oppression and persecution. The most famous examples of Apocalyptic literature in the Bible are found in the book of Revelation in the New Testament and the book of Daniel in the Hebrew Scriptures. Those books use scary imagery as a kind of code to talk about the persecution and oppression that people were experiencing, but to talk about it in a veiled way that would not further antagonize the authorities who were causing the persecution.
And, oddly enough, though the Apocalyptic images sound scary to us, they were meant “to convey a message of hope and faith” to the people who were going through hard times. Telling them, in effect, “No matter how bad it looks [and feels right now—even if you feel like the earth is shaking and disaster is about to strike--] don’t give up. Hang in there. God is in control.” And remember that at the end of everything, Love will have the last word. Further, Apocalyptic passages in the New Testament have the added message: Jesus the risen Christ will come back again to earth one day, at the end of time, to set up God’s Kingdom permanently. And when God’s Kingdom comes, then death and evil will be vanquished forever. Love will ultimately triumph and rule. So, in the meantime, get with the program-- “watch and work and pray,” and keep on loving your neighbor as yourself so that you will be ready when Christ comes. (preacherrhetorica.com)
That’s the message of today’s Scripture. And, it is also the message of the 1947 classic film “It’s a Wonderful Life”--that some of us saw last night, and I bet most of us have seen at some point or other over the years. Okay, so “it’s a wonderful life” doesn’t specifically refer to the second coming of Christ, but it does clearly convey the message that love will triumph in the end if we watch and work and pray and live out the Golden Rule that Jesus taught: Do unto others as you would have others do unto you.
In case you haven’t seen “it’s a wonderful life”--or haven’t seen it in a long time, let me give a synopsis. The film follows the life of its main character, George Bailey, who has been described as a “modern day Job.” (John A. Zukowski, Christmas on the Screen, p. 73) Like the Biblical character, Job in the Hebrew Scriptures, George Bailey has lived an incredibly ethical life, but, rather than being rewarded as we might expect, he instead suffers for it. George gives up his dreams and ambitions time after time after time in order to help his neighbors and members of his own family.
For instance, at age 12, George saves his little brother’s life and, in the process, loses the hearing in his own left ear. And, a little later, as a kid working in a drug store, George stands up to his boss, risking bodily harm, and prevents a terrible tragedy. When he’s a young man, George gives up all his own dreams in order to take over the family business and carry out his father’s dream of giving low-interest loans to members of his community so they can build affordable housing. When there’s a run on the bank, George gives out his own money to assuage his neighbors’ fears. In short, George Bailey works hard for years, but, like his father before him, George’s hard work and ethical actions do not result in soaring financial success or any financial success at all. In fact, just the opposite happens.
We discover that George Bailey ends up on the verge of financial ruin due to a tragic chain of events that occur partway through the movie. And, through an unexpected conversation with his nemesis--an evil, greedy tycoon named Potter, George comes to the realization that he himself (George) is worth more dead than alive. And, in a moment of desperation, George decides to jump off a bridge so his family can get the insurance money.
And this is where the power of prayer comes in! Interestingly enough, although I’ve seen this movie a number of times since I was a teenager, seeing it last week was the first time I noticed that the movie starts with prayer! In fact, the first scene is set in the heavenly realm where some angels are listening to the prayers of earth, and it comes to their attention that dozens of people are desperately praying for a beloved man named George Bailey--to help him and keep him safe. So the angel in charge decides to “send someone down” to help--a guardian angel named Clarence.
But it’s not clear that Clarence is up to the task. As his superiors note (rather unkindly, I might say), Clarence is said to have “the I.Q. of a rabbit.” In fact, we find out that Clarence’s rank is only “angel second class” because although he has been an angel for over 200 years, he has not yet been able to earn his wings. But, nevertheless, Clarence is sent down when George himself utters a plea while drunk at a bar on Christmas Eve. “Dear Heavenly Father,” drunken George begins his heart-felt prayer, “I’m not a praying man. But if you’re up there and you can hear me, can you show me the way?”
You might think that this would be when the movie turns around. But no. George doesn’t like God’s answer to his prayer! As far as George is concerned, Clarence is no answer at all, and George completely gives up. “I wish I’d never been born,” George blurts out, and Clarence--in his wisdom or perhaps his desperation-- grants George his wish.
Long story short, Clarence gives George a glimpse of what the world is like without him. And it’s not a pretty picture. Everything is bleak. His nemesis, the evil Tycoon Potter, has exploited everyone and everything, and all the people most important to George are either miserable or dead--or simply do not exist. In the process, George comes to realize what’s really important in life--and it’s not financial success. “Please God,” George changes his prayer, “I want to live again!”
The interesting thing about this point in the movie to me is how George’s prayer has changed. George is not asking for God’s help to stave off financial ruin or to help bail him out of the scandal he had wanted to escape. George simply wants to live and to be reunited with the people he loves--his family and friends, come what may. By the end of the movie George has come to understand what’s really important, and it’s not material wealth or financial power or realizing one’s youthful dreams or ambitions. What’s really important is living ethically, with compassion, and by so doing building a caring community where people treat each other the way they want to be treated.
And that is the message of our Scripture reading as well. Verse 34: “Be on guard so that your hearts are not weighed down with dissipation and drunkenness and the worries of this life, and that day does not catch you unexpectedly, like a trap…” In other words, today’s Scripture reminds us that life can be difficult--no matter how much faith we have. Things happen in this world that weigh us down and cause us distress, through no fault of our own, and having faith does not give us immunity to this pain. Following Jesus does not mean we do not suffer.
But, if we keep following Jesus, keep loving our neighbors as ourselves as he taught us, if we keep trusting in God, then we will prevail in the end. For the Kingdom of God - the kin-dom of relationships -- is eternal. To quote a modern day prophet (Bob Dylayn), if we “keep on keeping on”--if we keep praying and watching and living our faith, we will stand together through it all-- and find joy and meaning even in the midst of pain. Let us pray…
Loving God, we are grateful for the gift of life--and for the hope and joy we can find in relationships. We are also grateful for this time of year and all of the wonderful stories that inspire us--sacred stories of your love in Scripture and secular stories in movies and books and tv that help us find your love in the midst of our everyday lives. Oh God, in this season that is always a mix of pain and joy, help us to stand firm together, in the faith of Jesus, trusting that despite the difficulties and grief that we may face, your Love will see us through. Help us to feel your everlasting arms around us and the people we love.
Hear now our prayers for our community and our world:
As people travel for Thanksgiving and Christmas, we ask that people will do all that they can to stay safe--from travel accidents and from exposure to the corona virus. Keep us vigilant, O Lord, and despite our frustrations with continued covid protocols, help us to make smart decisions that protect our family and friends and neighbors.
Bless doctors and researchers as they explore how to respond to the new omicron variant.
Bless also our country as we respond to the news of the verdict in the Ahmaud Arbery trial. We are grateful that jurors voted to hold the defendants accountable for their heinous actions. And, we pray that going forward, as a society, we work to examine the biases that lurk in our hearts and in our systems so that we can live justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with you and each other.
Rev. Dr. Marlayna Schmidt
Franklin Federated Church
Franklin, MA