YOU CAN'T TAKE IT WITH YOU (1938)

Directed by: Frank Capra
Written by: Robert Riskin
Studio: Columbia Pictures
Starring: Jean Arthur, James Stewart, Lionel Barrymore
Rated: Not Rated

About the film:
Alice Sycamore, daughter of an eccentric family must introduce them to her fiancé’s family who subscribe to a much more conservative philosophy. The potential in-laws arrive for dinner on the wrong night as various members of the Sycamore clan are arrested for anarchy, visited by the IRS for tax evasion, and discovered making fireworks in the basement.

Movie Quote:
“Maybe it’ll stop you trying to be so desperate about making more money that you can ever use. You can’t take it with you, Mr. Kirby. So what good is it?”
Martin Vanderhoff (Lionel Barrymore) in You Can’t Take It With You (1938)

Bible Quote:
“For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it.”
1 Timothy 6:7 (NIV)

Commentary:
There’s a bumper sticker that reads, “He who dies with the most toys, wins.” It may be amusing, but it’s a lie. He who dies with the most toys is still dead and won’t have the opportunity to play with them anymore. That doesn’t sound much like winning.

Man’s obsession with accumulating more wealth than one needs in this world is not a healthy one. Money is merely a tool, designed to be spent or used, not hoarded.

While there’s no sin in being wealthy, an undue emphasis on the importance of gathering material riches will keep one’s mind focused upon temporal or transitory things instead of upon the spiritual riches which will pay eternal dividends.

“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal.” Matthew 6:19-20 (NIV)

Questions to consider while watching the film:
1. The Bible says that the love of money is the root of all evil. What examples from the scriptures or from your own observations help to illustrate this truth?
2. The Sycamore family has more than its share of quirky members. Is it important that they change to fit into society? Why or why not? How do you define “normal behavior?”

Michael Elliott
www.screensermon.blogspot.com