Thinking Out Loud“To love another person is to see the face of God”.
The line remains one of the most haunting and searching moments of Broadway musical Les Misérables, now incarnated as an “arena spectacular” to mark its 40th anniversary. Last Saturday night, I joined a crowd of thousands to enjoy the show. Melbourne is the next stop in its global tour.
Adapted from a novel of the same name by Victor Hugo, Les Misérables the musical tells the story of reformed prisoner Jean Valjean who, humbled by the unexpected kindness shown him by a kindly bishop, goes on to embody it in his life, extending costly grace to his antagonist Javert, the police inspector in obsessive pursuit of Valjean for breaking parole.
Before I became a Christian, the Christian themes of Les Misérables were muted for me. I received all the God-talk as a religious hangover from an earlier age, with “God” the stand-in for vague but nice-sounding sentiments. I thought the bishop kind but foolish for parting with his treasures to give Valjean a second shot. Valjean seemed a greater fool for letting his enemy go free… twice.
But maybe, like Old Testament figure Job, my assumptions betrayed the “things I did not understand, things too wonderful for me to know”.
Grace changes everything, including the people we thought we were. Grace gives Valjean new life but unmakes Javert and his black-and-white world. Honestly, grace still unmakes me, yet I hope that like Valjean, it will one day be the making of me.
Grace, or undeserved love that wills the good of others, is the very nature of God Himself. It’s why loving another person is seeing the face of God – because God is Love Himself. The high point of the show is also the holiest. Bask in it.
This Thinking Out Loud was first published on Facebook.