lessons from Les Miserables
Last night, I facilitated a movie Bible study over the movie Les Miserables. It is one of my favorite movies for personifying the debate over the Law vs. grace.
Brennan Manning wrote in the book The Ragamuffin Gospel,
Because salvation is by grace through faith, I believe that among the countless number of people standing in front of the throne and in front of the Lamb, dressed in white robes and holding palms in their hands (Revelation 7:9), I shall see the prostitute from the Kit-Kat Ranch in Carson City, Nevada, who tearfully told me she could find no other employment to support her two-year old son. I shall the woman who had an abortion and is haunted by guilt and remorse but did the best she could faced with grueling alternatives; the businessman besieged with debt who sold his integrity in a series of desperate transactions, the insecure clergyman addicted to being liked, who never challenged his people from the pulpit and longed for unconditional love; the sexually-abused teen molested by his father and now selling his body on the street, who, as he falls asleep each night after his last 'trick,' whispers the name of an unknown God he learned about in Sunday school; the deathbed convert who for decades had his cake and ate it, broke every law of God and man, and wallowed in lust and raped the earth" (pages 32-33).
Manning goes on to say these are the people who clung to their faith alone. They had nothing more to give.
In Les Miserables, we have a man who is the epitome of righteousness, of justness, quite frankly of what appears holiness. He upholds the letter of the law.
On the other hand, we have a prostitute who prostitutes herself to feed and care for her child. We have a man who stole to feed his nephew. We have peasants who revolt because the law is certainly not serving them.
It reminds me a lot of Brennan Manning's most famous work. You see, the epitome of righteousness and justice has no mercy. He sees only the law and how it must be right. He sees sin as sin with no excuse. I always find it powerful that when he finally comes to feel grace, he does not know what to do. He ends his life rather than admit that grace could possibly be more powerful and good than righteous standing with the law.
Yesterday, I also had a discussion with others well-versed in Scripture who could not understand my point that our "holy" actions, our "righteous indignation," could be pushing people farther away from God rather than bringing them closer. They could not understand that rather than pushing a religion of rules at people, we must show them the God of relationship. We must truly care about them, not just about their eternity. We must see the value of their friendship in our lives, not just our idea of how they need to convert to our way of thinking.
It is sad to me that we have come so far from what Christ really did in His earthly ministry. "For God sent not His Son into the world to condemn the world but that the world through Him might be saved" (John 3:17, KJV)) is the often-overlooked second part of the well-memorized John 3:16.
So often just as overlooked or misinterpreted is James 2:12-13, "Speak and act as those who are going to be judged by the law that gives freedom, because judgment without mercy will be shown to anyone who has not been merciful. Mercy triumphs over judgment" (NIV, emphasis mine).
I believe these lessons are presented flawlessly in Les Miserables. Something we can all learn from.
Brennan Manning wrote in the book The Ragamuffin Gospel,
Because salvation is by grace through faith, I believe that among the countless number of people standing in front of the throne and in front of the Lamb, dressed in white robes and holding palms in their hands (Revelation 7:9), I shall see the prostitute from the Kit-Kat Ranch in Carson City, Nevada, who tearfully told me she could find no other employment to support her two-year old son. I shall the woman who had an abortion and is haunted by guilt and remorse but did the best she could faced with grueling alternatives; the businessman besieged with debt who sold his integrity in a series of desperate transactions, the insecure clergyman addicted to being liked, who never challenged his people from the pulpit and longed for unconditional love; the sexually-abused teen molested by his father and now selling his body on the street, who, as he falls asleep each night after his last 'trick,' whispers the name of an unknown God he learned about in Sunday school; the deathbed convert who for decades had his cake and ate it, broke every law of God and man, and wallowed in lust and raped the earth" (pages 32-33).
Manning goes on to say these are the people who clung to their faith alone. They had nothing more to give.
In Les Miserables, we have a man who is the epitome of righteousness, of justness, quite frankly of what appears holiness. He upholds the letter of the law.
On the other hand, we have a prostitute who prostitutes herself to feed and care for her child. We have a man who stole to feed his nephew. We have peasants who revolt because the law is certainly not serving them.
It reminds me a lot of Brennan Manning's most famous work. You see, the epitome of righteousness and justice has no mercy. He sees only the law and how it must be right. He sees sin as sin with no excuse. I always find it powerful that when he finally comes to feel grace, he does not know what to do. He ends his life rather than admit that grace could possibly be more powerful and good than righteous standing with the law.
Yesterday, I also had a discussion with others well-versed in Scripture who could not understand my point that our "holy" actions, our "righteous indignation," could be pushing people farther away from God rather than bringing them closer. They could not understand that rather than pushing a religion of rules at people, we must show them the God of relationship. We must truly care about them, not just about their eternity. We must see the value of their friendship in our lives, not just our idea of how they need to convert to our way of thinking.
It is sad to me that we have come so far from what Christ really did in His earthly ministry. "For God sent not His Son into the world to condemn the world but that the world through Him might be saved" (John 3:17, KJV)) is the often-overlooked second part of the well-memorized John 3:16.
So often just as overlooked or misinterpreted is James 2:12-13, "Speak and act as those who are going to be judged by the law that gives freedom, because judgment without mercy will be shown to anyone who has not been merciful. Mercy triumphs over judgment" (NIV, emphasis mine).
I believe these lessons are presented flawlessly in Les Miserables. Something we can all learn from.
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