Occasionally, on Facebook, I’ll post something I call a “thrift store find of the week.” My “finds” tend to be a discoveries that are worth far more than the price tag indicates.

My most recent such posting featured a 1996 Hallmark ornament. It was a commemorative ornament portraying the final scene in “It’s a Wonderful Life.” I found that treasure at Mercer Island Thrift Shop for a buck. If you knew how much that movie factors into my life, you’d understand why it felt like finding buried treasure.

This holiday season marks the fiftieth anniversary of when I first saw “It’s a Wonderful Life” at The Grand Illusion Cinema in Seattle. I’d just begun my first job after graduating from college. My cousin told me that his family had seen the Frank Capra film starring Jimmy Stewart and Donna Reed. He thought I’d like it.

Even though I’d never heard of “It’s a Wonderful Life,” I was a Jimmy Stewart fan. And “The Donna Reed Show” was one of my favorite TV programs as a kid. Not dating anyone at the time, I decided to take my mom to a neighborhood theater near the University of Washington campus. I left the vintage movie house wiping tears from my eyes. The story of a depressed man who wished he’d never been born moved me. But I had no idea how that movie would become such a big part of my life in years to come.

I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve seen “It’s a Wonderful Life” over the past 50 years, but I’ve written a dozen articles and two books about the movie. I’ve become personal friends with the surviving cast members (now in their eighties). And I’ve participated in the annual It’s a Wonderful Life Festival in Seneca Falls, N.Y., five times. My collection of IAWL memorabilia fills two large bins.

Although I cannot tell you how many times I’ve seen the movie, I can tell you what happens every time I take in the final scene. As Harry Bailey raises a glass of punch and toasts the Jimmy Stewart character with these words, “To my big brother George, the richest man in town,” my eyes blink back tears.

That’s when the family and friends in George Bailey’s home start to sing the lyrics to Auld Lang Syne. And then comes the memorable moment when a bell on the Christmas tree rings and little Zuzu in her father’s arms utters those memorable words: “Daddy, teacher says every time a bell rings an angel gets his wings!”

As someone who has devoted my life to become a student and preacher of the Bible, I know that Zuzu’s line is not theologically correct. The only reference to winged beings is in the Old Testament book of Isaiah where the seraphim and cherubim are described thus. And seraphim and cherubim are not really angels.

What is theologically correct found in the movie over and over again is George Bailey’s example. This kind and decent man makes the most of opportunities to serve his family and neighbors while he can. George puts the needs of others first. He doesn’t postpone acts of kindness.

In St. Paul’s letter to the first century church in Corinth he writes, “No one should seek their own good, but the good of others.” (1 Corinthians 10:24) That mirrors the words of a rabbi from Nazareth who said, “For the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve…” (Mark 10:45)

What also impresses me is George Bailey’s sense of the moment. He didn’t postpone responding to what he understood was an immediate need. And from his example we, too, can learn.

As I contemplated how long it’s been since I first saw the Frank Capra classic, I discovered an interesting fact. The Grand Illusion Cinema has been screening “It’s a Wonderful Life” during December for 54 consecutive years. But there on the website I learned the theater would be closing next month. This year would be the last time my favorite Christmas movie would be shown.

And in the spirit of George Bailey, I decided to act in the moment. Wendy and I went to see the film while we had the opportunity. How very special it was to see the movie in the same place where I had seen it 50 years ago.

Guest columnist Greg Asimakoupoulos is a former chaplain at Covenant Living at the Shores in Mercer Island.