Difference between revisions of "Sermon for February 10th, 2013"

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Deuteronomy 6:1-9

1Now this is the commandment—the statutes and the ordinances—that the Lord your God charged me to teach you to observe in the land that you are about to cross into and occupy, 2so that you and your children and your children’s children may fear the Lord your God all the days of your life, and keep all his decrees and his commandments that I am commanding you, so that your days may be long. 3Hear therefore, O Israel, and observe them diligently, so that it may go well with you, and so that you may multiply greatly in a land flowing with milk and honey, as the Lord, the God of your ancestors, has promised you. 4 Hear, O Israel: The Lord is our God, the Lord alone. 5You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might. 6Keep these words that I am commanding you today in your heart. 7Recite them to your children and talk about them when you are at home and when you are away, when you lie down and when you rise. 8Bind them as a sign on your hand, fix them as an emblem on your forehead, 9and write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.

Luke 6:20-26

20 Then he looked up at his disciples and said:‘Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God. 21 ‘Blessed are you who are hungry now, for you will be filled. ‘Blessed are you who weep now, for you will laugh. 22 ‘Blessed are you when people hate you, and when they exclude you, revile you, and defame you on account of the Son of Man. 23Rejoice on that day and leap for joy, for surely your reward is great in heaven; for that is what their ancestors did to the prophets. 24 ‘But woe to you who are rich, for you have received your consolation. 25 ‘Woe to you who are full now, for you will be hungry. ‘Woe to you who are laughing now, for you will mourn and weep. 26 ‘Woe to you when all speak well of you, for that is what their ancestors did to the false prophets.

Ephesians 2:1-10

1You were dead through the trespasses and sins 2in which you once lived, following the course of this world, following the ruler of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work among those who are disobedient. 3All of us once lived among them in the passions of our flesh, following the desires of flesh and senses, and we were by nature children of wrath, like everyone else. 4But God, who is rich in mercy, out of the great love with which he loved us 5even when we were dead through our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— 6and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 7so that in the ages to come he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness towards us in Christ Jesus. 8For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God— 9not the result of works, so that no one may boast. 10For we are what he has made us, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand to be our way of life.

Les Miserables

There is no story in all of modern literary fiction that expresses the central message of the Gospel as powerfully and as directly as Les Miserables. All of the films we've been examining during this film series reflect the gospel and biblical themes to some extent. In the movie "Brave" it might not have been intentional. In the movie "Life of Pi" it might not have been very specific. In "Lincoln," the gospel message was subtle and complex. In Tolkien it was quite intentional, but still hidden and obscure. In Les Miserables, however, one would almost have to be blind and deaf NOT to hear the gospel message proclaimed boldly in almost every minute, every song, and every line. This makes it a fitting "Grand Finale" to our sermon series on Script and Scripture.

My custom for these past few sermons has been to give a three minute plot summary of the film before delving into its themes and scriptural connections. But for this film, the plot and the biblical/scriptural connections are so intertwined that I'd like to just jump right into the water and begin with all of them at once.

Look Down

That is precisely where the film begins. Under water. In the opening scene, we emerge from the water to find a chain gang of galley slaves pulling a large ship into dock in the middle of the storm. There is water everywhere. Think baptism. But this isn't the cute or pretty sort of baptism--one of the prisoners sings "Look down, look down, sweet Jesus hear my prayer" and another immediately responds, "Look down, look down, sweet Jesus doesn't care. This sets up one of the great questions of the film: Where is God's love to be found among the miserable ones, the wretched of the earth, the poor and downtrodden? The song continues "Look down, look down, you're standing in your grave, look down, look down, you'll always be a slave."

And just at this disheartening point, we see the first glimmer of hope--a prisoner who is about to be set free. He has served his time, but right before he is released, a police officer gives him one last command: to retrieve the broken flag of the ship the slaves have just hauled in. It is a flag attached to a giant beam of timber, and the prisoner, with great difficulty lifts it onto his shoulders, carrying the beam as Christ might have carried the cross up to Calvary. When the prisoner reaches the top of his climb, the rain stops and the sun comes out. {film clip #1}

These are the two main characters of the film: Jean Valjean, prisoner #24601, and Inspector Javert. Notice their interchange about the law. Javert speaks of "the meaning of the law." Valjean says, "I know the meaning of those 19 years, a slave to the law." This sets up the next great question of the film, which incidentally is a great question of the Bible, too: Is the law the final and ultimate standard of judgment, or is there something greater than the law?

The Bishop

Valjean climbs the stairs into the light of his new freedom, but it doesn't last long. As a marked ex-convict, he is unable to find work or food, he is denied shelter from even the most humble stable, and children hurl rocks at him in fear and loathing. Finally he is taken in by a bishop, who says to him : Come in, Sir, for you are weary...what we have, we have to share. There is wine here to revive you. There is bread to make you strong, There's a bed to rest till morning, Rest from pain, and rest from wrong." I hope you noticed the reference to the bread and wine of communion, which nourishes not just our bodies, but our souls as well.

In the middle of the night, Valjean sneaks out and takes all the Bishop's silver with him. He is caught the next morning, but when his captors bring him back to the Bishop, the Bishop hands Valjean two silver candlesticks and says, "my friend you left so early, surely something slipped your mind. You forgot I gave these also, would you leave the best behind?" Then when the officials have left, he tells Valjean "by the witness of the martyrs, by the passion and the blood, God has raised you out of darkness, I have saved your soul for God." In some versions of the musical, as well as in the novel, the Bishop actually says "I have bought your soul for God."

And now, finally, we have the remaining piece of the puzzle: Mercy and grace. Sometimes this takes the form of a ransom, someone willingly paying the price for another's wrongdoing, or paying off another's debt. Sometimes it takes the form of substitution, or sacrifice for another person. It is always undeserved, and always motivated by genuine love and kindness. We will see it again and again.

Confronted with this undeserved act of mercy, Jean Valjean undergoes a spiritual transformation. He renounces his old life, and vows to begin a new one. And this is where the first of the film's three acts ends.

I Dreamed a Dream

The next act begins eight years later in the town of Montreuil. At the city gates, we are introduced to Les Miserables--the miserable ones, the poor, the wretched of the earth. People are covered in filth. Death, disease, and hunger are everywhere. One ray of hope in the town is its mayor--a well-respected businessman whose factories keep hundreds employed and off the streets. The mayor is none other than Jean Valjean, making good on his promise to live a new life for God.

And we are introduced to Fantine, a young woman who works in one of Valjean's factories. Fantine is a single mother who works to send money to a family who takes care of her daughter, Cosette. Through a series of tragic misunderstandings, Fantine loses her job, and is forced to sell first her possessions, then her hair, then her teeth, and then finally her very body in prostitution--all in order to keep paying for her Cosette's well-being. One of the prostitutes in the film has a great line: " Come now deary, what's all the fuss? You're no grander than the rest of us." This is true--Fantine's slow descent into ruin and shame is a reminder that we are all only a few tragedies away from shame and ruin. At the depth of her misery, Fantine sings what is probably the most iconic song of Les Miserables: "I Dreamed a Dream." {film clip #2}

There's a line in the song where Fantine says there is "no ransom to be paid." It is when she has run out of money, out of options, and almost out of life that Jean Valjean finds her and cares for her. Ultimately, Fantine still dies, but not before Jean Valjean has promised to find and take care of Cosette. And of course, this is when Javert shows up again.

Castle In the Clouds

Starshe

Bring Him Home

Do You Hear the People Sing (Epilogue)