Les Miserables: Grace Received

I’ve just watched this amazing movie (pun intended), and as great as it is, with so many different high points and themes portrayed, the representation of Grace really resonated with me.

Spoiler Alert!!!

If you haven’t seen the movie yet and you were looking forward to it, you should probably not read on just yet.

Grace surrounds three main characters: The paroled prisoner on the run, the priest, and the officer just doing his job.

Wolverine (I’ll always see Hugh Jackman in that light…) is enslaved for 19 years for a menial crime. The system is hostile and unjust, victimising the poor. On his release from prison, everyone treats him like he has the plague; mocking him and mistreating him. In response, he becomes hardened. Then the priest steps in and offers him grace.
Grace is often described as ‘getting what you don’t deserve’.
The priest offers him a place to stay and a meal. But Wolverine is still in his hardened state and does not trust the realness of this free gift. So he takes things into his own hand, steals a few pieces of silver that he’s sure he’ll need to survive the next day, when surely he’ll wake up from this wonderful dream. But he is caught and instead of anger, the priest greets him with love and forgiveness and even offers him more silver! This second act of grace breaks through the walls and he begins to understand that this is for real.

A large hindrance in my mind to showing Grace to the smelly, dirty homeless is the fear that I will be hurt, whether physically (think Monk-like scorn of possibly catching a deadly virus from breathing the same air) or financially from their stealing from my home if I invite them in. Jesus’ command to not be afraid is still valid for this as well. We’re supposed to care more about them than ourselves. Because we are obedient doesn’t mean we’ll be immune from the realities of the danger of helping those in need. But something being difficult and uncomfortable isn’t reason enough for disobedience.

Back to the movie.
Jump a few years, and Wolverine has taken on a new identity (since he has broken parole) but now has a position of power. He uses his position to help others around him, which is very different to what everyone else is doing. He has received Grace in such a profound way that he is compelled to share it. His kindness is eventually poured down to a prostitute’s daughter, even though that decision has consequences for the rest of his life.
It begs me to question if we have truly received Grace if we can’t share it. Do we understand how nasty and dangerous we were? Do we understand our sin? More importantly, do we understand what our High Priest has done?
Note that Grace was freely given. Wolverine could not have earned it; what could a homeless man do for a priest anyways? And in receiving it, he was changed for life. Years later, the fruit is still evident, and showing all the more as time went on. 2 Corinthians 5 speaks of this ‘message of reconciliation’, where we pass on what we have received. And the only reason we give is because we have received it. The gift is that great, that impactful!

A few more years pass, and the officer Crowe (Russel Crowe…I can’t remember the French names, lol) is still on his never ending search for Wolverine. He has encountered Wolverine before, but was fooled by his new, respectable identity for a short time.

(Wolverine shows Grace to Officer Crowe by forgiving him for a ‘false’ accusation of his familiarity with an escaped parolee)

Wolverine later hears (from Crowe) that another man is caught and thought to be him and is about to be sentenced to the same hardship he endured for 19 years. The battle in his mind goes on, not about saving himself, but comparing the fate of those he has been helping with the fate of this innocent man. Both are grim. He chooses to do what is right and surrenders himself. No one believes him, since he always tries to help people, and he is not held. Crowe, however, realises that he is telling the truth and will not give up his thawing cold case. Wolverine escapes but must live his life in hiding once more.

A number of events occur, and a rebellion is rising among the poor class. Crowe is captured, and Wolverine given the opportunity to kill him. This will finally give him a chance to live freely, but Wolverine, being the recipient of Grace, chooses to set Crowe free instead. Crowe warns Wolverine to make use of the opportunity, stating that he will not be lenient because of this. Wolverine makes Grace clear: there are no hidden agendas. He is just being kind. Wolverine even goes so far as to tell Crowe where he can find him when the fighting is over, to drive home the point.

Officer Crowe has received Grace. He has not done anything to deserve life. He would have been killed. Crowe doesn’t want it, but he has no choice in the matter! Wolverine won’t kill him and he can’t make him do it.
Isn’t that amazing? You will often hear in church that you must ‘accept’ Jesus. That we must take a ‘step’ of faith. This may be based on a misunderstanding of our mind set and a misunderstanding of Grace.

We don’t want it. We are depraved. That word just means we’re so far gone we can’t even see our need for help. The Bible describes us as dead. A dead person doesn’t even know they need life…but we’re a step past dead in that we don’t even want it! And if we could, like Officer Crowe, we would try to convince God to leave us alone.
We also don’t realise that Grace is something that we have received while we were in this ‘past dead’ state. It is not something we accept because we can’t accept it. We hate the idea of it. We’re plucked out of death and given life. That’s it. We can’t do anything about it.
Crowe thought he should. He had received something he did not want. It even made him Gracious! (He allowed Wolverine to escape during a subsequent event). It was such a horrible thing to be different; to not have control, even if that meant he would be a worse person. So he does the only thing he feels he can do. What happens next? Only God knows. Some will make it in by the skin of their teeth. And this is so because they have received a free gift just like everyone else who has received it. They did nothing to deserve it and they could not control their receiving of it.

How ‘abundantly’ you live your life is dependent on you. It’s quite a topsy turvy topic to understand. God’s sovereignty is something I will leave to more mature folk to discuss.

Jesus came to give us life abundantly. After receiving His Grace, what will we do? Will we pass it on to others as Wolverine did? Will we preach the gospel, the way through which this free gift is passed on?

That is true abundant life: loving others. (not getting a bigger house!)

Or will we despise this gift like Crowe? Will we live for ourselves?

Let us work out our salvation with fear and trembling!
VM