Les Miserables – The Nexus

In this final installment in our series, Hard to Love, we land with both feet on the biggest and most consequential truth there is: God loves you. Read on and marvel with me at how great our God is that though we didn’t want Him, He loved us still. Let this love fill you to a fullness you’ve never known before and pour out of you onto the people around you…even the ones who are hard to love.

You Are Loved

Have you ever watched somebody get something they didn’t deserve? How’d you feel about that? Did it inspire you? Did it sicken you? Were you pretty well ambivalent about it? I would guess that most of us, depending on the exact details, would tend toward feeling inspired by such a story. This becomes especially true when the person goes on to live up to the expectations of the gift. Perhaps the most classic example of this is from the beloved story by Victor Hugo, Les Misérables, which Lisa and I actually got to see on stage back at the beginning of the month. It was absolutely amazing. The hero of the story, Jean Valjean, is set down the path of righteousness he walks all the way to the end of his life by the wildly unmerited gift of a Catholic priest. The 2012 film adaptation starring Hugh Jackman captures this scene really well. Take a look.

Read the rest…

The great thing about God’s story, is that it doesn’t end after the second act. In this third part of our series, The Big Story, we finally get to relish the joy of the third act: Redemption. God’s efforts since the fall have been focused on this one goal. Read on to see how this played out…

The Good News

Let’s start this morning with some trivia. What do Return of the Jedi, Rocky Balboa, Antwone Fisher, Les Misérables, and Iron Man 3 all have in common? They are all stories of redemption. In Return of the Jedi the exciting climax of the movie comes when Anakin Skywalker—Darth Vader—returns from the “dark side,” saves the life of his son, Luke, and puts an end to the evil of The Emperor. In Rocky Balboa, the washed-up, old fighter proves to himself and the world that he still has what it takes when he comes out of retirement and goes toe-to-toe with the reigning heavyweight champ, Mason “the Line” Dixon. In Antwone Fisher a young, emotionally broken soldier finds healing and wholeness through the help of a committed counselor, his girlfriend, and the family he never knew he had. In Les Misérables, the thief, Jean Valjean, is given a second chance at life by a gracious Catholic priest and commits the rest of his life to serving and saving those who were in the same dire straits in which he once found himself. Finally, in Iron Man 3, Tony Stark at last discovers what’s most important in life and commits himself to using his genius and resources to make the world better. Read the rest…