To Live Again.

Sheila Jacobs, writer, editor and award-winning author of eleven novels, introduces her new Advent book …

It’s coming up to that time of year again! How do you feel about it? Be honest! Is Christmas a time of celebrating the birth of the Saviour, of waiting for the coming King? Is it a time of gratitude for the age-old story of shepherds hearing ‘peace on earth’ from heavenly visitors? A time of joyful expectation of twinkling lights on a ‘proper’ tree and a table groaning with festive delights, yet plenty of cash left over for the January sales? Mulled wine and carols by candlelight? Snow? Happy and contented relatives?

No?

Is your experience more a hope that the money won’t run out, and the kids won’t notice the expensive present they really wanted hasn’t appeared? Are you worried about getting the right size turkey, sending cards, buying food? Are you really irritated by next door’s constantly flashing garden lights? Are you expecting a lot of pressure over the holidays with people you rarely see and frankly, don’t get on with?

Well, to be truthful, probably a mixture of all the above – right?

We have such high expectations of the Christmas period. The way Christmas is portrayed in the media might go a long way to explain this. It’s all such a mix-up of carols and Santa and reindeers and stars and shepherds and commerce. For some reason many of us seem to think we need to supply the ‘perfect’ Christmas. But what is the perfect Christmas? Something we see in movies? Something that we half-remember from our childhood? For many of us, the season seems to promise so much – and often fails to live up to it. I suspect a lot of us are glad when it’s over.

Rather than getting caught up in all the hassle surrounding what can be the most exciting, but most stressful, time of the year, why not take some time to remember what Christmas is truly all about? I’m not talking about the ‘Saturnalia’ we see all around us – the Christianised Roman festivities that leave Christ out, or relegate him to a ‘bit part’. I’m talking about remembering the coming of the one who really does bring us the hope, peace, joy and love that is so often missing from the season.

Advent simply means ‘coming’ (from the Latin, adventus). Yes, we are celebrating the birth of the special child who was born in an outhouse in Bethlehem of a virgin mother. But while we celebrate his birth, the season of Advent calls us to looks beyond this. It looks to another coming. The Second Coming of the King of kings. The carpenter from Nazareth who was nailed to a cross for the sins of the world is actually the King of Glory. Revelation tells us of this awesome figure who meets with the apostle John and says: ‘Do not be afraid. I am the First and the Last. I am the Living One; I was dead, and now look, I am alive for ever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and Hades’ (Revelation 1:17,18). This is the one we are celebrating. This is the one we are waiting for.

This is the one we need to set aside some time to think about and reflect upon during the run-up to the day itself. True, it is the busiest of seasons to find a quiet space to seek the presence of God. But I think we will be blessed if we do.

What better way to engage with God at this time of year than to sit down and watch a favourite Christmas movie and perhaps draw out themes that will help us draw closer to the King of kings?

The film I have chosen to base this Advent journey upon is that perennial Christmas favourite, Frank Capra’s It’s a Wonderful Life, released in 1946, starring James Stewart and Donna Reed. Nominated for five Academy Awards, it’s a film all the family can enjoy. You are probably familiar with the popular story. George Bailey (James Stewart) has longed to get away from the small town of Bedford Falls ever since he was a child. But life has had a habit of thwarting his dreams of travel and fulfilment. Every time it seems that George may be able to get away, something happens to put a stop to his hope for freedom. George always does ‘the right thing’; he chooses to put other people before his own desires. He marries the girl who has loved him since childhood, Mary (Donna Reed), and settles down in a large, draughty old house that he doesn’t like, having a family of four children, still running the business he has had to take over from his father, the Bailey Brothers’ Building and Loan. He supplies affordable housing to people who would otherwise live in slum properties belonging to an unpleasant landlord, the villain of the piece, Henry F. Potter (Lionel Barrymore), who owns most of the town – except for George’s business. The crisis occurs when at Christmas-time, money goes missing from the Building and Loan – misplaced by the eccentric Uncle Billy (Thomas Mitchell), and hidden by the unscrupulous Potter, who knows the damage this will cause to the Baileys’ business. This leads to George’s ultimate ‘snap’; he considers suicide, after begging Potter for help and being told he is worth more dead than alive.

At this point, help comes as an answer to George’s – and others’ – prayers. It comes in the shape of Angel Second Class, Clarence Odbody (we will address the whole issue of who angels really are, as we journey through my new book, To Live Again). Clarence jumps into the river, forcing George to rescue him rather than kill himself. Clarence shows George just what life would have been like if he, George, had never been born. Life would have been very different indeed for the people of Bedford Falls, and beyond. George’s revelation of the importance and precious nature of his ‘wonderful’ life means he desperately wants ‘to live again’ and cries out to God. His life is restored to him, as he sees how very valuable he is, and how his life has worked out for his good, and for everyone else’s.

This is a story that can touch us deeply. Just as Christmas can promise so much and often deliver so little, our own lives, especially as we get older, can take on a bittersweet element as we consider dreams we had when we were younger that never came to pass; disappointments perhaps in career, health, relationships. Maybe we, like George, longed to do something great but feel we have settled for the mundane, everyday life we have been dealt; circumstances we would not have chosen; a life for which we may not be actually very grateful.

It’s a Wonderful Life has the ability to make us re-evaluate our own situations, and perhaps be thankful for the people we know, the place we live, our jobs, and everything that shapes our lives. More than that, it can make us realise how very valuable we are; how one life can touch so many others. Will we touch them for good, or for bad? There’s a challenge for us.

It’s also a real challenge for those of us who have started a journey with Jesus. We have believed in him as the one who came to earth to take the punishment we deserve for our personal rebellion against God. He came to restore us to right relationship with our heavenly Father, an eternal relationship, and one that can be rewarding and fulfilling right now, whatever our earthly situation. As we learn to stay in his presence, filled with his Spirit, we will find that hope and peace, and the joy that isn’t dependent on our outward circumstances; and a love that is bubbling up within us, God’s own love, for the person in front of us. God calls us to trust him; trust him with a life that might not be our ‘Plan A’ but is his, if we have surrendered our lives to him.

Sometimes I think when we come to Christ we expect him to tick all the boxes we require, but it isn’t like that. Following Jesus, being his disciple, is about carrying out his will, not ours, just as he did his Father’s will (see Luke 22:42). To follow Jesus, we need to look at his life. How did he live? He spent a lot of time with his Father and didn’t have his own agenda. Perhaps to us he says: ‘Go and do likewise.’

So – whether you know Jesus, are getting to know him, are interested in him, or simply love the film we are watching, my prayer is that at the end of this Advent season you will have a new hope in your relationship with your heavenly Father; you will know peace with God, available as we receive his Son as our own personal Saviour and Lord; that you will have a fresh joy in his grace; and new love for him as you perhaps receive his love for you in a new way.

I’m using the film to draw out parallels and thought-provoking responses, and I hope it will be an interesting and enjoyable journey for you. Before you start reading, I suggest you relax and watch the movie. It’s available on DVD and I suspect you may already have it on your shelf! If not, borrow it, buy it, invite a few friends round, or view it on your own with some snacks to hand.

To Live Again has been written for individual use, but at the back you will find some ideas for groups, if you feel like sharing the themes of the movie with friends, Christian or non-Christian, or perhaps a house group. There will be times to pause for thought, to look at clips of the film to illustrate points, and at the end of each of the four chapters, you will find ideas for activities, refection and prayer. There’s no set time for this; it isn’t a ‘course’; the four chapters don’t have to be read as ‘weeks’. Dip into it when you can, and as time allows during this busy season. Use it as part of your quiet time with God, if you feel that’s appropriate. If you find you have an extra five or ten minutes you can squeeze into your day, to chill out with a cup of coffee and this book, then watch a clip, read the ‘Think about’ comment and pause for thought. (You don’t have to watch the suggested clips – but it might help your Advent journey if you do.) The Advent themes of hope, peace, joy and love are threaded throughout the book.

And this Christmas, may you rediscover, as you read, what a wonderful life we have been given. May you discover a fresh perspective on your own life and situation. I especially pray that if you are feeling discouraged or despondent, disappointed or simply weary, this book will make you want ‘to live again’ as you experience the hope, peace, joy and love found in Jesus.

This is an extract from To Live Again: An Advent journey using the Christmas classic, It’s a Wonderful Life by Sheila Jacobs. The book is available in paperback, priced £6.99. She has also written Someone to Believe In: An Advent Course based on Miracle on 34th Street, available in paperback.