Amazing grace

Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you. -Eph. 4:32

J and I had a date night last night and we were persuaded by our dear friend M to watch Les Mis while she kindly babysat for us.

I don't rave about movies much but I feel like I want to rave about this one.

I didn't really know what to expect, having never seen the musical or read Hugo's book before. I'd just been told that everyone dies! So I was prepared for that. But I wasn't prepared for the amazing theme of grace that was woven throughout the entire movie.

Some of the grace encounters were quite obvious, the two most obvious being the priest who proclaimed ValJean's innocence when V stole his silverware and also when ValJean lets Javert go free after having an opportunity to kill him. After Javert experiences this act of grace by ValJean, he just cannot cope. His mind doesn't understand grace and therefore it can't transform him. ValJean on the other hand is a changed man as a result of his grace encounter (albeit still a criminal on the run).

While watching, I just couldn't help marveling at God's grace shown to us in Jesus, in giving us this free gift of life that we don't deserve through His Son's death and resurrection. And throughout the movie, I wondered about how people react to grace. Perhaps a bit like Javert, do they hear about this beautiful gift that God gives to those who ask and simply can't comprehend it so they shrug it off and don't accept it for themselves? Or like ValJean, do they accept in awe and thankfulness and become transformed by it?

God asks us to be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave us. If we are truly transformed by grace, we should be striving to show that grace to others. I couldn't help but pray while watching, pray that God would use this movie to show his grace to those who don't know Him. As a Christian watching Les Mis, I was so moved. I wonder what watching it is like for those who have never known God's grace and love?

The music was pretty excellent too. I love musicals. At the beginning, I wondered if I would get sick of them singing EVERY line. But I didn't. My favourite voice belonged to the guy who played Marius - really lovely.