Sharing Christ's Love
Lessons learned from Mr. Krueger's Christmas with Jimmy Stewart
Matthew 25:40 Jesus says:
“And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.”
In John 13:35 Jesus says:
“By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.”
These are some of the best known and most often quoted scriptures in the New Testament, but I sometimes wonder if we really take their message to heart. I am not one who tends to feel moved by the Holy Spirit in everything I do. I am grateful there are others who are more sensitive to those feelings, but I am usually just trying to do my best and hope it works out. But some of the times when I have felt closest to Christ and felt his spirit most strongly has been in the service of others, or also when I have received service. True selflessness inspires even the stoniest of hearts to feel the light of Christ.
The 1980 short film Mr. Krueger’s Christmas starring Jimmy Stewart is one of the best depictions of how we can show Christ’s love to others through small acts. It also shows how we can choose to perceive small acts of service as evidence of His love for us. Throughout the film, Mr. Krueger does little bits of kindness that we could all ignore; he holds doors open for people, he sweeps the floor cheerfully again after a man brings through a Christmas tree, he gives the figure of baby Jesus from his nativity set to a little girl who likes it, etc. Then in possibly my favorite film representation of the nativity, he dreams he is in the stable, where he speaks with his Lord and Savior. There, with the fantastic Mormon Tabernacle Choir singing “What Child is This,” one of the greatest actors of all time makes you believe he was married to a lady named Martha and that Jesus himself walked by his side when she died. He talks to the Lord about his struggles with anger, and his gratitude for the opportunity to become friends with a lonely old woman. He sees experiences that initially annoyed and angered him as evidence of God’s love in his life. Even a hard-hearted heathen like myself can’t help but feel Christ’s love when it is presented so perfectly.
This Christmas, and hopefully well after it, I ask you to take the message of Mr. Krueger’s Christmas to heart. Watch all 25 minutes of it if you haven’t seen it, then go find someone for whom you are perfectly suited to share Christ’s love. Then do it again, and again. Open a door with a smile for someone you’ve never met, do chores that your spouse/sibling/parent usually does, find some small things you can do each day to make someone else’s day brighter. Finally, don’t forget to tell those you love in words that you love them. Actions speak louder than words, but we all still need the words to match those loving charitable actions. These are not suggestions from a random guy named Jake, they are commandments from Jesus Christ. If you follow them, you and all those around you will have a truly Merry Christmas!
Link to the full film on YouTube:
Audio Link:
https://open.substack.com/pub/wisdominbestbooks/p/7-sharing-christs-love?r=4l1y9b&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=true