Grace vs. Justice

The other night Armando and I watched a great movie that we’ve been looking to see again: Les Miserable. This is not the song and dance Broadway version, but the one with Liam Neeson – no music. As a believer, it is one of the most poignant films I’ve ever see that so clearly depicts grace versus justice. In fact, if you were not a believer, you would find yourself scratching your head at a man who can forgive countless times in the face of hatred and injustice.

It is so convicting as well, because you see the great cost at times to grace – grace always costs the giver something: time, pride, inconvenience and self-denial. Something has to give in the face of grace. In the film, a man is set free after serving 19 years for stealing a loaf of bread, but his first act in the freedom is to steal again out of a similar desperation that drove him to his original crime. The response he is shown in the face of his crime is key to how he lives the rest of his life. He is truly someone saved by grace – not just eternally, but in this life as well.

Never has civil law and justice looked so vile as it is portrayed here. While the law is necessary for society to function properly, it is easily abused and the result is monstrous. I sat there unable to ignore the tendencies in my own heart towards it. While I hate every form of legalism, I had to ask myself if I truly understand grace. While grace is an inexhaustible subject, do I understand it in my own life and more importantly, do I give it freely to others? I had to be honest and say “no.” There are times when giving grace just seems not right, because it’s clearly not deserved in my mind. I guess though, that grace is never deserved, that’s what makes it grace.

~amanda