Tuesday January 8th, 2013
In the 8th grade my English class was required to read Victor Hugo’s Les Miserables. It was a pretty big book and I wasn’t very excited about the assignment. But after taking some time to “get into it”, the story began to capture my attention and imagination. It’s the story of a poor man in 19thcentury France who, after spending 19 years doing hard labor for stealing a loaf of bread in desperation, is redeemed by grace. Though he steals from a priest (after being released from prison and not being accepted anywhere in society), the priest shows mercy on him and keeps him from being arrested. Then the priest extends grace to him and gives him more than he stole. The man – Jean Valjean – turns his life over to God and, for the rest of his life, is hounded by his past and an over-zealous lawman who cannot comprehend the meaning of mercy. Though Valjean prospers, he cannot escape repeated encounters (in amazing plot twists) with this lawman named Javert. The many characters are not always easy to follow and the story gets bogged down at times with Hugo’s long digressions into the politics of the day. But somehow the book became my favorite book. Even though I’ve enjoyed books like The Lord of the Rings and many others since, none have taken its place.
The novel has been made into a movie about 20 times. I’ve enjoyed some of them, but they never seem to satisfy – because the story is so long and complex that it is virtually impossible to capture on a couple hours of film. When the musical came to Broadway in the late 1980s, Joanne and I were able to go see it. I loved it, and saw it again a few years later with her brother. When I heard that the musical was to be made into a movie, that was pretty exciting news. Joanne, Brianne and I went to see it the day after Christmas. We all enjoyed it very much. On our trip in 2011, Joanne and I went to Victor Hugo’s house in Paris. As you can tell, the story has made an impact in my life.
Every time I read, listen to, or watch Les Miserables, I am reminded of the changing power of grace. If you have ever wanted to change a person’s life, show them grace: favor when they have done nothing to deserve it. In fact, grace involves favor when someone has done things that are the opposite of deserving. It involves favor in response to failure. This is how God has loved us. And it has changed (and is changing) our lives. God has shown us favor when we deserved to be ignored, laughed at, and even judged with great severity. Not only has he withheld punishment that is deserved (like the priest in Les Miserables did not accuse Jean Valjean of stealing his silver), but the Lord has given life and love and blessing and hope and peace and joy and His own friendship and care – and so much more as well – just like the priest added a set of silver candlesticks to all the other that Valjean stole - as a gift of his best.
God has given us His “best” in His Son, Jesus Christ. He could have given us all that we deserved, but He wanted to change our lives and bring us into a close relationship with Himself. When Valjean saw the full and deep truth about what he was, and when he comprehended the amazing and wonderful grace the priest showed him, his life changed. I have always believed that the more I see and understand the full and deep character of the sin in my life, the more grace will mean to me. I will appreciate it… savor it… rejoice in it… and it will change my life. May you and I not only worship God appropriately for His grace, but may our lives become vessels of grace – “dispensers” of grace – and may we know the joy of seeing lives changed before us.
Romans 5:6-9 (NIV) 6 You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. 7 Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. 8 But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. 9 Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God's wrath through him!
Philippians 1:6 (NIV) 6 being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.
PRAYER: “Father, thank You for the work You’ve begun in me, and for Your promise to complete it. It’s a thrill to be a part of the greatest story ever told: Your story, and to be on the receiving end of Your grace. In Jesus’ name, AMEN.”
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