Be a Christian, break a law

What do both Jean Valjean and Tori Smith have in common?  They broke laws.  Valjean is the main character in Les Mis that we’re watching in class (or in the musical film that came out last at Christmas).  Tori Smith’s story was the article that some of you read in class about how she loved her husband after he lost his legs in Afghanistan serving in the military.

Valjean breaks the law left and right.  He doesn’t agree with Javert, the police authority, when he arrests Fantine.  He evades arrest when Valjean’s true identity is revealed.  He sneaks into the city of Paris and hides from the law.  The list could go on. 

When Tori’s husband is brought back in critical condition from Afghanistan and put in a hospital, she is told that she is not allowed to remain in the room.  She refuses to leave.  She breaks the laws of that hospital.

Why did they do these things?  Because they loved.  Valjean understood what it was like to be unfairly treated so he stood up and cared for Fantine.  His heart went out to the orphan Cosette so much that he evaded arrest in order to protect her.  Tori refused to follow hospital laws because love for her husband, and desire to be at his side at his toughest hour, was greater than her willingness to follow rules. 

I especially love Tori’s story because she breaks the social laws that we all feel.  You know the unwritten rules that people around us have.  Things that would have told someone like Tori: you deserve better.  Your husband can’t bring you happiness as a cripple.  It’s okay to move on.  All her actions cry out a decisive: NO!  I love him. 

I know all of you in your teen life feel these unwritten rules around you.  I feel them as an adult too.  But I want to choose love over ‘saving face.’  I know it’s hard and I don’t always come through either.  I remember when I was in high school that there were some people that I became friends with that weren’t the popular people.  The unwritten laws say, “Choose friends that get you places.”  But as God got ahold of my heart I wanted to love, to reach out to people who were open, people who were in touch with their needs.  So, I learned to love and ignore the rules of the ‘world’ around me. 

But let me say, there have been many times that I have not loved.  I admire my wife so much because she is so quick to reach out to people, even people she doesn’t know.  Doing that is often hard for me.  Sometimes I feel silly or weird, but she inspires me to push myself. 

So, let’s be social law breakers, eh?  Oddly enough there’s someone else who did this a whole lot.  It was a guy who lived in Galilee.  Law breakers are in good company.