TGIF
One of the many great things Cindy has done for me in my life is to introduce me to Broadway plays. Early in our marriage, on a trip to NYC, Cindy insisted we go to a Broadway musical. Although I may have protested briefly and politely (of course), I agreed to go and my life has been much better due to the revelation I had from that experience. The first Broadway show we saw together was Les Misérables, and my experience led me to love Broadway shows as much as Cindy did. We have gone back to Broadway many times in our lives, and my favorite Broadway shows that we have seen numerous times are Les Misérables, Phantom of the Opera, Miss Saigon, and later on the great musical Jersey Boys.
Les Misérables has always been my favorite Broadway production, maybe because it was the first show I ever saw. But I always thought the music from that show was the most impressive part of the production (except maybe for Jersey Boys which had so much great music from the 1960s, my teenage years)!
Les Misérables takes place in France in the early 19th century. Jean Valjean is the male star of the show who has led a very checkered life, starting out as a common street criminal but eventually discovering love and a more God-led life. He befriends a woman Fantine who asks him to raise her small daughter Cosette when Fantine learns she will soon die. That changes Valjean’s life for the better, and he becomes a Godly man who raises Cosette while still battling issues from his previous life. At the end of the show, the star Jean Valjean is ready to leave this earth to go to his Heavenly Home.
As he prepares for his imminent death with Cosette by his side and Fantine appearing to him, Valjean sings one of the most iconic lines of music ever written for a Broadway musical. As he takes his last breaths, he sings “To love another person is to see the face of God”!!!
We invest a lot of time lately in discussing the need for Godly love for all people, both those that are easy to love and those less lovable. I can’t tell you how often my mind is drawn back to this single sentence from my favorite Broadway show of all time.
[NOTE: In case you would like to hear this incredibly beautiful end to Les Misérables:
If you choose to watch this video, I suggest you watch the entire 4 minutes, as it is a meaningful end to this great Broadway show!]
1 John 4:7-14 – Beloved, let’s love one another; for love is from God, and everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. 8 The one who does not love does not know God, because God is love. 9 By this the love of God was revealed in us, that God has sent His only Son into the world so that we may live through Him. 10 In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. 11 Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. 12 No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God remains in us, and His love is perfected in us. 13 By this we know that we remain in Him and He in us, because He has given to us of His Spirit. 14 We have seen and testify that the Father has sent the Son to be the Savior of the world.
The key to this section is the first verse – verse 7. We need to make love a habitual practice, of everyone we come across in our walk! We are “born of God”, so to know God means we will reflect His love to others. This scripture can be summarized by (1) love originated in God, (2) love was manifested in His Son, and (3) love is now demonstrated in His children.
John 13:34-35 – I am giving you a new commandment, that you love one another; just as I have loved you, that you also love one another. 35 By this all people will know that you are My disciples: if you have love for one another.”
Hebrews 13:1-2 – Let love of the brothers and sisters continue. 2 Do not neglect hospitality to strangers, for by this some have entertained angels without knowing it.
Romans 12:10 – Be devoted to one another in brotherly love; give preference to one another in honor.
God’s love redeems everything. From God’s love for his people, to a father’s love for his adopted daughter, to show love for all people (including those difficult to love), Les Misérables demonstrates the difference that love makes in one’s life and can make in the world. May each of us live the rest of our lives in Godly love for everyone.
Please note that Cindy and I will be in Washington DC the next 2 weeks visiting our children and, more importantly, our four beautiful granddaughters. So I will not be providing a message while we are gone due to the difficulty sending messages when away from home. I will restart as soon as we return home. May God continue to bless all of you reading this message!