S4 E28 - The Richest Man In Town

"It's A Wonderful Life" is my alltime favorite Christmas movie, and among my favorite movies period. The story climaxes with two expressions concerning George Baily - one a note written by his guardian angel Clarence, "No man is a failure who has friends." The second, a toast from his kid brother Harry, "To my big brother George, the richest man in town!" But what made him a success? What made him rich? Not his net worth, not anything financial in nature, but rather the love that he had from his friends and his family and his newfound faith. 

We must recognize what truly is valuable in this life. It's not about money, and if you love money, you'll end up miserable like Mr. Potter. If you have faith and hope in Christ, and you have been blessed to enjoy the day to day things God has given to us in this life, like a family and friends, then you truly are the richest person in town. 

#SetYourMindAbovePodcast

Transcript

What if I told you that God could be seen in the most ordinary things every day? 

What if I told you that every day, ordinary events could teach us extraordinary eternal truths? Would you believe me? 

 Welcome back to season 4 of the Set Your Mind Above Podcast! My name is BJ Sipe, and I am a Christian, a preacher, a husband, and a father. And I’m excited to share a few moments together with you learning some important lessons from the simplest things. Thanks for tuning in! 

What is your favorite holiday movie? The Christmas season is upon us, and all the classics are starting to get brought out of the vault as we dust off the old movies and enjoy going through them once again. Maybe you’re nostalgic in nature, so all the Claymation films like “Rudolf the Red Nose Reindeer” or “Santa Clause Is Coming to Town” are your go to for this time of year. Maybe you’re musical in nature, so “White Christmas” staring Bing Crosby & Danny Kaye is a must watch – it certainly is for me. But my all-time favorite Christmas movie, and quite frankly it’s up there with my all-time favorite films period, is “It’s A Wonderful Life.” Spoiler alert, if you have not seen this classic 1946 film, you’re about to learn a whole lot about it in this episode. So if you haven’t seen it yet, pause, go watch it, and then come back. 

The movie centers around a man named George Bailey who grows up in Bedford Falls, New York. As the classic film open, we drop in on a conversation with the angels up in heaven that George is in trouble, and Clarence – George’s guardian angel – is going to be sent down to help him. We then go through the majority of George’s life to bring us to the climax of the film where George will need help. For the sake of time, we will fast forward there ourselves. George Bailey had taken over the Bailey Building & Loan business after his father died, and settled down in Bedford Falls and made a life for himself. He was a man of the people, serving the community in some incredible ways during some difficult times. He was the husband of his childhood friend Mary, and the father of four beautiful children. But everything came crashing down one day when his Uncle Billy, an officer of the bank, misplaced $8000 while boasting about George’s kid brother Harry winning the congressional medal of honor to Mr. Potter, who happened to be the “Scrooge” of the story, the richest and meanest man in town. At that period of time, $8000 being lost by a small bank meant bankruptcy and jail time for fraud. When George learns of this loss, he begins to lose his senses thinking he’s lost everything. He storms out on his family to a local bar, and after getting into a fight makes his way to a bridge where he thinks that taking his own life is the only way out. But just as soon as he’s about to jump, Clarence – his guardian angel – jumps in first, forcing George to save him. George does not believe Clarence is an angel at the start, but quickly learns the truth after declaring, “I wish I had never been born” – and Clarence is obliged to let him see the outcome of that wish. George goes back into town, and no one knows who he is. The town is in shambles because he was never born to be the man of the people and help make the town what it was. His younger brother, who he saved in childhood from drowning, never lived beyond childhood. His wife never married and was now an old maid who lived scared and alone. George fumbles his way back to the bridge after living out his nightmare coming true, declaring “I want to live again.” And suddenly, we return back to the story. George, with a newfound love for life, rushes home to his family where the bank inspector and police were waiting to arrest him on account of the lost $8000. But before he is taken away, suddenly the house becomes flooded with townspeople from all over who heard George was in trouble and came to give of their own means to make up for the deficit. 

As money piled up on the family room table from dozens of friends, there are two lines that the entire movie leads up to. The first is written in a book left to George from Clarence as a gift, the Adventures of Tom Sawyer. On the inside of the book, Clarence would write the following, “No man is a failure who has friends.” Just when you think you’ve fought back the tears in this emotional scene, George’s younger brother and war hero Harry arrives back home and offers a toast, “To my big brother George, the richest man in town!” The movie closes with George surrounded by family and friends who came to his rescue, all celebrating together and sharing in love and good will together. It’s a tearjerker, fair warning, and one of the greatest films that has ever been made in my opinion. 

But what is it that made George Bailey the richest man in town? What was it that made him such a success? It certainly wasn’t financial in nature, the money given to George was merely to recoup his losses – Potter was by far still the richest and meanest man in town. So, what then? Well, in dramatic irony, Potter was in actuality the poorest man in town, and George the richest. Not because of the amount of money in their accounts, but because of the love they had and the love they shared (or didn’t) with others. That is what brings us to our lesson today…what do we view as truly valuable in this life? 

Despite this being the season of giving, there is a whole lot of materialism and folks that are more concerned with “getting” than anything else right now. You’ve probably heard the Bible misquoted a million times in the following way, have you ever heard someone state that money is the root of all evil? They claim this comes from Scripture, but it does not. Let’s look at what the text really says, and why it is important. We read the following in 1 Timothy 6:6-10, “But godliness with contentment is great gain.  For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out. If we have food and clothing, we will be content with these.  But those who want to be rich fall into temptation, a trap, and many foolish and harmful desires, which plunge people into ruin and destruction.  For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, and by craving it, some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.”

The emphasis of this passage is not that money is the root of all evil, but much rather than the love of money is a root of all sorts of evil. The emphasis is on misplaced love. Someone who places the greatest value in life on money and believes true riches are found in their bank account will wind up becoming ironically the most miserable person alive, much like Mr. Potter in “It’s A Wonderful Life”. The love for money leads to an insatiable lust for more of it, even when it comes at the cost of one’s faith, one’s family, and one’s senses. Solomon, the most financially blessed man to have ever lived, would state the following in Ecclesiastes 5:10-12, “The one who loves silver is never satisfied with silver, and whoever loves wealth is never satisfied with income. This too is futile. When good things increase, the ones who consume them multiply; what, then, is the profit to the owner, except to gaze at them with his eyes? The sleep of the worker is sweet, whether he eats little or much, but the abundance of the rich permits him no sleep.” If you place the greatest value on money in this life, you will never be satisfied – and you will constantly be in the pursuit of more even at the cost of what truly are the most important things in this life: your family and friends. It will leave you alone, pierced with many griefs, because at the end of your life we will not wish you could have made more money, but rather that you could go back and spend more time sharing in love & life with those you hold most dear. 

What then should we value? What makes someone truly rich? Well, for starters, the single greatest thing one can possess is hope in Christ on account of one’s faith. Faith, above all else, makes one rich in this life. To the church as Smyrna, Jesus would declare through the apostle John, “Thus says the First and the Last, the one who has dead and came to life: I know your affliction and poverty, but you are rich…be faithful to the point of death, and I will give you the crown of life.” (Rev. 2:8-10) Though in the worlds eyes these poverty stricken and persecuted Christians would have been the poorest of all, Christ declares them the richest – why? On account of their faith, and the hope that awaits them of eternal life. James’ testimony agrees with this when he writes, “Listen, my dear brothers and sisters: Didn’t God choose the poor in this world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom that he has promised to those who love him?” (James 2:5) My friends, if you have faith in Christ, and have been given the hope of eternal life in Him, that makes you the richest man or woman in the world. 

But there are other things as well, gifts that God has given to us while we do live this life under the sun that no money can buy. Returning to the wisdom of Solomon, we read the following in Ecclesiastes 9:7-10, “Go, eat your bread with pleasure, and drink your wine with a cheerful heart, for God has already accepted your works. Let your clothes be white all the time, and never let oil be lacking on your head. Enjoy life with the wife you love all the days of your fleeting life, which has been given to you under the sun, all your fleeting days. For that is your portion in life and in your struggle under the sun. Whatever your hands find to do, do with all your strength, because there is no work, planning, knowledge, or wisdom in Sheol where you are going.” When one lives life in view of the things we have now are gifts given to us by God to enjoy, love, and share, it suddenly changes one’s entire perspective. You no longer live in pursuit of the gifts, but the gift giver. You find joy and satisfaction in the everyday things, the true gifts of this life that go far beyond riches. You find joy and satisfaction in your family and friends: your spouse, your children, and the love that you share together with each passing day. You find joy and satisfaction in your work, that God has blessed you with capable hands that can accomplish great things to the service of others. You find joy and satisfaction in your measure of health, that God has blessed you with yet another day of life to live to the fullest and enjoy the tastes, touches, sounds, smells, and sights that he has made to his glory, to leave us in awe of him. My friends, real riches are not found in the things that sparkle and glisten. They are found in the gifts God has given to us that money cannot buy, real things like our family, our friends, the love and the joy that we share together as we marvel at the goodness of God. 

Ecclesiastes 2:24-26 states, “There is nothing better for a person than to eat, drink, and enjoy his work. I have seen that even this is from God’s hand, because who can eat and who can enjoy life apart from him? For to the person who is pleasing in his sight, he gives wisdom, knowledge, and joy…” 

As a result, I can with confidence say that I too am the richest man in the world. I have a heart full of faith, assured and standing steadfast in the hope of my Savior Jesus Christ. I have a beautiful godly wife and three children who love me. I have an incredible church family and labor of love as the evangelist here at the church in Danville. I have friends who are dear to me and love me. A place to call home and a place to lay my head. Eyes to behold God’s creation. Ears to hear others praise his holy name. The list can go on and on, as I’m sure it can for you too. When you stop to think about it, it really is a wonderful life. And when put it into the right perspective, maybe you too can also say with confidence that because of God’s goodness you are the richest man in the world. 

This has been the Set Your Mind Above Podcast, season 4 episode 28 – and I’m so thankful that you decided to tune in today! A new episode is dropped most Fridays, so be sure to tune in next week.  Also, if you’re able to, go ahead and like and subscribe to the podcast, as well as share it with someone else – it would help me greatly in trying to reach others. And more than anything, always remember the following: know that I love you, that God loves you, and may we all each and every day set our minds above.