My mum has seen the musical version of
Les Miserables twice. It’s one of the longest running productions
on the West End. Apparently, the show has been seen by 70 million people in 52
countries and 22 languages around the world. I saw the film of the musical when
it came out a few years ago. But it was only in watching the BBC’s recently
screened Les Miserables that the
power of the story really came home to me. If you missed it, you can probably
still catch it on BBC iPlayer. It is a brilliantly acted, magnificently staged and thought provoking drama. One of the most emotionally powerful things I've seen on TV for a while.
The story follows the twists and turns in the
life of Jean Valjean, a convict who became a respectable businessman. The
prison chief, Javert did not believe that it was possible for Valjean to come
good. Once a criminal, always a criminal. He vows to hunt Valjean down when he is released from jail. Javert stands for justice without mercy, justice with no hope of forgiveness.
As a former convict, Valjean could
find nowhere to lay his head until a kindly bishop gave a bed for the night. True
to form, Valjean stole the bishop’s silverware and headed off into the night.
The police hunted him down and were about to force the thief return what he had
taken from the bishop. Then something unexpected happened. The police wanted Valjean
to face justice. Back to the prison hulks. But the bishop did more than show
mercy, forgive the thief and let him off. He gave Valjean two silver
candlesticks, explaining to the police that he must have forgotten them when he
left in the night. That was a true moment of grace.
Such grace is a rare thing in today’s world. Look at what happened after Liam Neeson
confessed to revenge fantasies the other week. Yes, what he thought about doing
was wrong. He said as much himself. But many were quick to pounce on his
remarks and label the actor as an unforgivable racist. Social media has turned
us into merciless little Javerts for whom there is no conception of grace and
no hope of redemption for those who have done wrong. With grace there is always hope, for grace
gives us what we don’t deserve. Valjean certainly didn’t deserve a second chance.
He knew it, and the grace shown him by the bishop turned his life around. That’s
the joy of Les Miserables.
The
Christian faith is all about grace. God
sent Jesus to satisfy the demands of justice by dying for our sins upon the
cross. In his mercy, God offers us forgiveness for the wrong things we have
done. Grace goes beyond even that. Those who believe in Jesus are welcomed into
God’s family and given the hope of eternal life. In the BBC drama, when Valjean
lay dying, his eyes were fixed on the silver candlesticks given him by the
bishop. Grace enabled him to die in peace. "Amazing grace, how sweet the sound, that saved a wretch like me".
* For News & Views (West Lavington) & Trinity (Dilton Marsh) parish magazines
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