Les Mis and Grace

Last night I saw my favorite musical, Les Miserables, in Dallas.  It is one of the best pictures of the difference between law and grace.  This is an area I struggle with, especially leaning towards the law side, and missing or not realizing the presence of grace.

The contrast is most powerful as you see the two lead characters, Jean Valjean and Javert, come to face with a kind of grace that neither understands.  For Valjean, grace is given when he steals the silver of a bishop, who not only forgives him, but gives Valjean the rest of his silver.  Javert is astonished when Valjean lets him go instead of killing him, when Javert has hunted Valjean his entire life.  Both are forced to “do” something with this grace.  Each makes a different choice, but both with a death.

For Valjean, he realizes that his previous life must end – he can no longer live as he has: angry, defensive, thinking the world is only out to get him.  How difficult, after being in prison for almost 20 years, for stealing a loaf of bread.  And thus Valjean surrenders to the grace and becomes a changed man.  Bound and ruined by the law, he is freed and transformed by grace.

For Javert, he has lived his entire life within the rules, following the letter of the law.  He has no room for grace, no room to allow Valjean to go free, even when Valjean did not kill him when he had opportunity.  He cannot continue to live as he has – legalistic, exacting, and unbending.  But unfortunately, Javert is unable to embrace grace and instead kills himself.

What is the difference between the two?  Why was Valjean able to accept grace but Javert was not?  I think it is because one understood his real state and the other did not.  Valjean was a criminal and therefore grace was his only option for freedom.  Javert, on the other hand, lived a “perfect” law-abiding life and therefore had no need for grace.  Freedom for Valjean was through grace.  Freedom for Javert was through obedience to the law.  In the end, who was free?

Galatians 5:1 says that “it was for freedom that Christ set us free."  Christ set us free from the law, purchasing our freedom through his death, and offering it freely to us through grace.  As you celebrate this Christmas season, remember that it is through Him that you and I are able to truly live freely.  Merry Christmas!

I also blogged about these same scenes in Les Mis here.

Understanding your way

Proverbs 14:8 says: The wisdom of the prudent is to understand his way, but the folly of fools is deceit. This struck me as emphasizing the value of knowing one's self. Understanding one's way is knowing the why behind one's actions. Given the context of the first part of this verse, perhaps the second part is suggesting that the opposite (foolish) is to continue to lie to one's self. Not knowing one's self is folly. Not spending the time to understand one's way forces one to lie both to the self and to others. While that understanding takes great time and energy, it is incredibly freeing.

Steve Jobs

In light of his passing away yesterday, it is well worth reading what he said about living:

http://news.stanford.edu/news/2005/june15/jobs-061505.html

The love of Christ, Harry Potter, and Addison Road

This morning I was meditating on the love of Christ and read in Ephesians 3:14-19:

For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name, that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in the inner man, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; and that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled up to all the fullness of God.

The love of Christ is to provide the base for everything I do. Rooted and grounded are words that indicate roots, foundation, depth, and certainty. I remember reading that the measurement words here are also used in astronomy, so the picture Paul writes here is one of the solar system, universe, the sheer immensity of the love of Christ. The foundation has no end to it!

Not only does Christ’s love provide a foundation, but it also gives me a covering. If you remember the story of Harry Potter and how his mother died trying to save him when Voldemort came to kill him, the killing curse that Voldemort cast at Harry rebounded back onto Voldemort. The death of Harry’s mother cast a shield of protection around him – it was her love, and thus her death, that protected Harry from the killing (remember it was one of the unstoppable) curse. In the same way, Christ’s death covers me from the curse of death and I am saved because of His love. Death kills itself because Christ stands between me and death, having died once and for all out of His love. The love of Christ is a covering.

And one more – the love of Christ provides me with the ability to be authentic. One of my favorite songs by Addison Road expresses this much better than I can (my emphasis):

Who I Am In You by Addison Road

Secrets they were killing me
Pulled me under in too deep
All those shadows they don't let go
Easily

But everything I covered up
Is opening inside Your love
Let Your grace illuminate
The heart in me

Oh, You're bringing me to life
And I'm finding who I am in You
Who I am in You
Oh, You're changing me inside
And I'm finding who I am in You
Who I am in You

Breath Your breath into my soul
Let my heart beat with Your own
I need Your mercy
Even when it hurts
Please shine on me
Shine on me

Oh, You're bringing me to life
And I'm finding who I am in You
Who I am in You
Oh, You're changing me inside
And I'm finding who I am in You
Who I am

If there's anything I try to hide
I pray that You will bring it to the light
Strip away the lies that I pretend
Teach me how to be a child again

Resting in Your arms
Resting in Your arms
And I could feel Your love changing me

Oh, You're bringing me to life
And I'm finding who I am in You
Who I am in You
Oh, I've finally realized
That I'm finding who I am in You
Who I am
In You
Who I am in You
Who I am in You

This is an amazing song, but more than that, it reflects an amazing truth. His gentle love strips the lies and facades built to protect my real self and provides me with the freedom to actually be the real me.

There is so much more that the love of Christ provides, but this morning, this is what He has impressed upon me. I hope you find it encouraging as well.

Government Default Hysteria

There is a lot of fuss these days about the chaos and breakdown to society should those on Capitol Hill fail to pass a bill allowing the government to continue borrowing money.  One of the statements that keeps getting made is that the Federal government would "default" on its debt and that would be the worst possible thing.  Most of this is just hype, emotions, and nonsense.

 

The Federal government is spending around $3.8 trillion annually, with interest on the debt just over $400 billion annually.  We are running about a $1.4-1.6 trillion deficit and thus "need" to borrow that amount to continue spending at present levels.

 

Can I point out a couple of obvious things?  First, a default on debt is only a default if you stop making payments!  With the numbers above, we can still make payments, we just can't continue spending at our present levels.  Second, nothing is going to crash and burn.  The markets aren't going to fail.  Again, all this talk of 'default' is just emotion and crying wolf.  I think the leadership in Washington is afraid that if they didn't get the debt limit increased, and nothing happened, it would provide more evidence that we actually don't need the government to spend our future away!

 

As for the talk of compromise, a $2-4 trillion deal is nonsense.  Spread out over 10 years, that comes to $200-400 billion per year.  We are running $1,500 billion per year over budget.  $200 billion is a waste of our time and energy.  When they start talking about $10 trillion over 10 years in savings with a balanced-budget amendment, then we might have something!  Until the, the man behind the curtain is blowing smoke to cover his butt.  Does the leadership in Washington have the guts for this?  Alas, no.  But let's not fool ourselves into thinking anything is being solved, nor be fooled into thinking any disaster will strike were they not to do something.  Perhaps the best that could happen is for them to do nothing.  Now wouldn't that be something.