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| "Stars/ In their multitudes/ Scarce to be counted/ Filling the darkness" |
I saw Les
Miserables three times in the theatre last month. It blew me away for many
reasons (which may become the subject of multiple blog posts), but there is one
character in particular that gave me a lot to think about.
Javert.
Javert is
one of my favourite characters in Les Mis. He is an officer of the law with a flawed view of God, a man
with the law in one hand and a inability to see grace as he dispenses what he
really believes is just in the eyes of God.
Literally
all that Javert can see is the Law.
This is why the contrast between Javert and Valjean is so strong. The highest good, in Javert's mind, is
that the Law is maintained. That
Justice is served.
Whether or
not you agree with how he goes about fulfilling these things, you can't deny
that Justice is good. So Javert's
intentions aren't evil. They're
based on a desire that God has- that justice would be throughout the land.
The problem
with Javert is that he can't see the relationship between Law and Grace.
As I was
thinking about Javert, I really started seeing him as the elder brother in the
story of the prodigal son. It's
not a perfect parallel, but I saw some striking similarities.
So at the
beginning of the story, Valjean becomes a thief. His motives are good, but he ends up in jail for his
actions. When he is released,
Valjean is wretched, lost and poor, ruined in the finest sense of the
word. He steals a set of
silver. He's caught.
And then
he's shown mercy. Valjean is
welcomed into both the arms of the priest and into the arms of God. Forgiven for his crimes. Welcomed back
into grace. This mercy begins to transforms the way Valjean sees his entire
life.
Javert
doesn't know these things about Valjean.
But Javert has lived a life of law-keeping and law-enforcing. Javert has obeyed the law to the
letter. And all he can see in
Valjean is a man who stole bread and broke parole. All he can see in Valjean is a thief deserving
punishment.
But Valjean
has experienced mercy, a mercy that has coloured his future and made him into a
man of mercy.
To Javert,
Valjean is the one who didn't deserve anything yet was given everything. He sees the prisoner who has slipped
through the grasp of the Law again and again.
In the song
"Stars," Javert sings this verse:
"And so
it has been and so it is written
On the
doorway to paradise
That those
who falter and those who fall
Must pay the
price!"
What Javert
doesn't understand is that grace (and paradise), unlike law, cannot be
earned.
That is also
what makes Javert tragic, in my mind.
He is so captivated by fulfilling the Law that he has closed his eyes to
seeing grace. He can't imagine a
world where mercy could overcome law.
So when Valjean doesn't kill him, granting him life, it cracks the whole
way that Javert has seen the world.
In his last
scene, Javert sings these words:
"Damned
if I'll live in the debt of a thief!
Damned if
I'll yield at the end of the chase.
I am the Law
and the Law is not mocked
I'll spit
his pity right back in his face
There is
nothing on earth that we share
It is either
Valjean or Javert!
And must I
now begin to doubt,
Who never
doubted all these years?
My heart is
stone and still it trembles
The world I
have known is lost in shadow.
Is he from
heaven or from hell?
And does he
know
That
granting me my life today
This man has
killed me even so?"
We would do
well to think of Javert more complexly, I think. Because there is more of the Javert in us than we may
realize. He has the heart of the
elder brother who was more concerned with keeping the law then celebrating with
a redeemed brother. Javert is a
drastically painted picture of law without grace, justice without mercy, and
perfection without a changed heart.
I've seen a
lot of Javert in myself. And I
think we all can act like little Javerts, valuing perfection and law-keeping
over the grace that is given in the Gospel. We make our lists- believe me, I've done this- and we try to
live a perfect life in the hopes that we will receive favour. In the hopes that we will earn paradise
and that God will think well of us.
In our
Javert-like hearts, we value outward perfection over a heart that has been
transformed by grace.
That's been
one of the biggest struggles of my Christian journey. Does God's favour come through living rightly or through
being granted mercy in my sinful state? Do I earn grace?
Once I have been given mercy, do I have to keep on doing good things in
order to keep that mercy?
Valjean had
a heart that had been broken by sin and mended by grace, a heart that was
washed and given grace. That grace
spilled out of Valjean, making him into the man that rescued Cosette, pulled
Marius through a sewer. It made im
into the man who even forgave Javert.
And Javert,
ruined by the knowledge that his law keeping didn't buy him grace, jumped off a
bridge.
