A Lesson from the Creators of Les Misérables

God wants to sew himself into the fabric of our lives so that he animates our character and gives life to everything we do, as we saw portrayed so well in Les Misérables.

Image by Samuel Regan-Asante, provided by Unsplash via Wix.

The theatre has tremendous potential in our lives.  A story such as Les Misérables can lift our hearts and give us hope for the future.

But how often do the creators of a stage production recognize the importance of God in the stories they are telling?  And can we learn a lesson from them (even if they consider themselves “liberal humanists”) about the importance of letting God animate our lives?

What is Les Mis’s secret that gives it such life?

Composer Claude-Michel Schönberg and lyricist Alain Boublil created the first version of Les Misérables in Paris in 1980.  When producer Cameron Mackintosh sought to bring the show to London, he and his creative team, including Schönberg and Boublil, co-directors John Caird and Trevor Nunn, and poet James Fenton, sensed that something was missing.

New York Times reporter Alex Marshall tells how they solved the problem.  They decided to open the musical with the scene where a bishop forgives Jean Valjean when he steals the bishop’s candlesticks.  This backstory helps the audience understand Jean Valjean’s character and how he contrasts with the officer Javert who seeks to put him in prison.

Marshall, in his article “‘Les Misérables’ at 40: The Unlikely Story of a Hit,” paraphrases Caird’s assessment of the story: “Valjean believed in the New Testament idea of forgiveness, while Javert, his pursuer, adhered to a sterner Old Testament form of justice.”

Caird then explains the importance of this theme: “As a bunch of liberal humanists, we had tried to avoid every mention of religion, [but] sewing God into the show was what animated the characters.”

This decision transformed Les Misérables into a deeply moving saga of retribution vs. redemption that captured the hearts of millions of theatregoers and became an international phenomenon.

Can the secret of Les Misérables also give life to our lives?

My heart warmed when I heard John Caird say, “sewing God into the show was what animated the characters,” for he had captured what makes Les Misérables so powerful for me.

But I realized immediately that he had also captured what transforms the lives of Christians when they give themselves to God.

Just as sewing God into Les Mis animated its characters, sewing God into the fabric of our lives brings life to our lives.

How are characters different when God is not sewn into the fabric of their lives?

Consider the difference between Les Mis and other beloved musicals.

As the president of my high school drama club, I helped put on several musicals.  In one, a smooth-talking con man defrauds dozens of unsuspecting families while trying to sweet-talk an idealistic woman into giving him a one-night stand.  In another, a self-centered young man tries to talk a man on the margins of society into committing suicide so that he will no longer be a rival for the affections of the woman he desires.  (Can you guess which shows those are?)

Where Les Mis gives us a role model of conviction, redemption, courage, forgiveness, and generosity, Oklahoma and Music Man ask us to cheer for men whose morals are deeply compromised.  I love many things about those shows, but Les Mis they are not.  God is not sewn into the fabric of their characters and does not animate their stories.

We Christians face the same challenge.

Jesus tells us to “let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven” (Matt. 5:16, NRSV).

When God is sewn into the fabric of our lives, our actions will naturally reveal the light of Christ in a way that gives glory to God.

But if we do not allow God to write himself into the fabric of our lives, his presence will remain hidden or even be controverted, and our actions will at best give glory to the outer shell of ourselves.

Will you let God sew himself into the fabric of your life?

How do we let God sew himself into the fabric of our lives?

The first step is to start thinking like God – and that begins with knowing what he has said and done.

The Book of Psalms tells us, “I treasure your word in my heart, so that I may not sin against you....  Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path” (Ps. 119:11, 105, NRSV).  When we know the Word of God, we can begin to think as God thinks, weaving his thoughts into the fabric of our lives.

The apostle Paul says, “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, as in all wisdom you teach and admonish one another, singing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God” (Col. 3:16, NABRE).  As we embrace God’s Word, we have the opportunity to become more like Christ.

When we know the things God cares about and understand the character God has called us to be, we can allow him to sew himself into the fabric of who we are.  Would you like to do that?

Can you allow God to animate your life and give life to your character?

The second step in allowing God to animate our lives is to do what God calls us to do.  Each of us have a unique role to play because of who we are, but God wants to animate how we live out our unique character.

James tells us, “But be doers of the word, and not merely hearers who deceive themselves” (James 1:22, NRSV).  We will fail to be animated by Christ if we only hear his word and fail to put it into action.

Jesus says, “Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and keep it” (Luke 11:28, ESV).  It is when we put the word of God into action that God’s life fully animates us and gives life to our character.

What does God’s life look like?  Jesus says, “I give you a new commandment, that you love one another.  Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another.  By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another” (John 13:34-35, NRSV).  When the love of God animates our lives and our actions, it will be evident that God has been sewn into the fabric of our lives.

That’s how it is in the theatre: The more a director and an actor have a common understanding of the character that is being portrayed on stage, the more that character can be presented with depth and power.  In the “stage” of your life, God is the director guiding you and animating the character and life you live in the world.  Do you want to follow his directions?

God gives you his Holy Spirit to help you let him animate your life

We are not alone in this process.  Jesus sent his Spirit to live in us and empower us to be what he, with great love, desires us to be.

Paul says, “If the Spirit of the one who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, the one who raised Christ from the dead will give life to your mortal bodies also, through his Spirit that dwells in you” (Rom. 8:11, NABRE).  God animates our character and our lives by the power of his Holy Spirit in us.

• What can you do to let God sew himself into the fabric or your life and character, so that he animates your every action?

On the stage, some characters have more life than others.  So too, our characters can show more or less of the life of God, depending on what animates us.

May we let God sew himself into the fabric of our lives, and so fully animate our characters, that it gives a life-changing depth to everything we do!