A FRESH START AT EASTER

Happy Easter from Chaplain Ross Wakeley

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Based on Victor Hugo’s

novel, "Les Misérables"

is the story of a released

prisoner 24601 — Jean

Valjean. It’s 19th century

France, and he’s been in prison for 19 years after

he stole a loaf of bread

for his starving family.

Jean Valjean is free on parole,

but starving. A caring bishop

invites him into his home.

“You are welcome. Everything

here is yours.” Valjean’s life

has taught him to survive,

so he steals the bishop’s silver.

The French gendarmes catch

Valjean and bring him to the

kind bishop, and accuse him of robbery. Prison looks near!

The Bishop shocks everyone, Valjean most of all, by telling the

gendarmes he had given the silver to Valjean. Then he also gives him

the silver candlesticks.

“Remember this my

brother: see in this some higher plan.

You must use this

precious silver to

become an honest

man. I have raised

you out of darkness,

I have bought your

soul for God.”

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His life is changed forever

through the generosity and

grace shown to him by the

bishop who shows him the

reality of Jesus’ love, grace

to have a fresh start in life. Years later, as a respectable

mayor, he is chased by

Javert, a ruthless police

inspector whose identity is

consumed with justice and

he believes the only way

we get right with God is

through following the Law.

However, we all know that the law

leads to frustration and death, but

God’s amazing grace leads to a fresh

start, plus a life of selflessness and

hope as Jean Valjean discovers.

Hunted by Javert, we see Valjean

give up his comfortable life to see

justice done when another man is

falsely accused of being him. He

rescues a woman from death on

the streets and takes her daughter—

Cosette—into his protection. He

risks his life to save young Marius, who’s fallen in love with Cosette.

I AM THE LAW

This story reaches a climax

when Jean Valjean has the

opportunity to kill Javert—

the man who’s been his life-

long persecutor.

Valjean does what Javert

would never expect. He

gives him freedom and a

fresh start. He shows love

and grace to his tormentor. I SET YOU FREE

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He dies praying to God: “Take my hand, and lead me to salvation.

Take my love, for love is everlasting. And remember, the truth that

once was spoken: to love another person is to see the face of God.”

Jean Valjean’s life shows how God enables us to have a fresh start.

Les Miserables is a classic story with beautiful themes about mercy,

forgiveness and redemption. But there’s more...

Hugh Jackman played the role of Jean Valjean. His inspiration for

the film (and his life), is his dad. “Without him, I wouldn’t be where

I am today. Without him, I wouldn’t have had an inspiration for my

role in Les Misérables. Dad underwent the same kind of life-

changing experience that my character undergoes in the film.

Valjean steals artefacts from a bishop, is caught by the police, but in an act of

supreme kindness, is allowed by the

bishop to keep the artefacts and sell

them. The incident transforms his life,

he becomes a respected town mayor.

Dad converted to become a Christian

by evangelist Dr Billy Graham, when

he was 30 years old, and underwent

a life-changing epiphany, too.

I thought about that constantly when I

was playing Valjean, I tried to inject as

much of Dad’s goodness and change of life into the character I was playing.”

In a closing scene of

the movie, Jean Valjean

is dying, and he writes

a letter to Cosette—

On this page I write my last confession. It’s the

story of one who turned

from hating. A man who

only learned to love when

you were in his keeping.

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Easter confronts us with reality.

Jesus Christ died—willingly—on a

Cross, to give every person a fresh

start. This was a truth that Jesus

spoke of months before it occurred

in Jerusalem.

Jesus says, “Even the Son of Man

(his title for himself) did not come

to be served, but to serve, and to

give his life as a ransom for many.”

Mark 10:45

On the Cross, Jesus—God in human form—was choosing to die for us.

What did Jesus’ death achieve?

About thirty years later, Paul—a man who experienced his own unique

fresh start from Jesus—summed up

an answer in this passage:

Isn’t the story of Les Misérables so powerful. I was in tears during

the final song by Jean Valjean. God delights to give every person a

fresh start, which brings me to the Easter story.

“When God our Saviour revealed his kindness and “When God our Saviour revealed his kindness and

love, he saved us, not because of the righteous love, he saved us, not because of the righteous

things we had done, but because of his mercy. things we had done, but because of his mercy.

He washed away our sins, giving us a new birth He washed away our sins, giving us a new birth

and new life through the Holy Spirit.and new life through the Holy Spirit. He generously He generously

poured out the Spirit upon us through Jesus Christ poured out the Spirit upon us through Jesus Christ

our Saviour. Because of his grace he declared us our Saviour. Because of his grace he declared us

righteous and gave us confidence that we will righteous and gave us confidence that we will

inherit eternal life.” inherit eternal life.” ( Titus 3:4( Titus 3:4--7) Living Bible7) Living Bible

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Saul was off to Damascus, determined to put to death Christians in

that city. He was violently opposed to anyone following Jesus.

Jesus appeared supernaturally to Saul on the

road to Damascus, and Saul was immediately

blinded as Jesus called him by name.

Jesus knew all

about Saul’s life. He fell to the ground and heard a voice

say, “Saul, why do you persecute me?”

“Who are you, Lord?” Saul asked. “I am Jesus, who you are persecuting,”

he replied. “Now get up and go into

the city. I’ve handpicked you...I’m sending you off to open the eyes

of people so they can see the difference between dark and light, and

choose light, see the difference between Satan and God, and choose

God. I’m sending you off to present my offer of sins forgiven, and a place in the family, inviting them into the company of those who

begin real living by believing in me.” Acts 9:4-6, 26:15-18 (Message)

Jerusalem in AD35 was a turbulent

place to live. Over 500 people had

seen Jesus Christ alive after He was

crucified. The religious leaders were

actively persecuting anyone who was

a disciple of Jesus—they killed them.

A passionate campaigner to eradicate

the Christ-followers was Saul—one of

the smartest of the religious leaders.

“I couldn’t just walk away from a vision like

that! I became an obedient believer on the

spot. I started preaching this life-change—

this radical turn to God and everything it

meant in everyday life—in Damascus, went

on to Jerusalem and from there to the whole world.” Acts 26:19,20 (Message)

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However, it was the early disciples of Jesus—Peter, Mary Magdalene,

John, Mary, Andrew and thousands of other people—who first hand

experienced Jesus giving them a personal fresh start.

“Live in me. Make your home in me just as I do in you. When you’re

joined with me and I with you, the relationship intimate, the harvest

is sure to be abundant. Separated, you can’t produce a thing.

If you make yourselves at home with me and my words are at

home in you, you can be sure that whatever you ask will be listened

to and acted upon. I’ve loved you the way my Father has loved me.

Make yourselves at home in my love. If you keep my commands,

you’ll remain intimately at home in my love. I’ve named you friends

because I’ve let you in on everything I’ve heard from the Father.”

John 15:4-15 (The Message)

Saul was radically impacted by

supernaturally meeting Jesus.

He changed his name to Paul

and God empowered him to

passionately share the good

news about Jesus Christ in all

of his talking; genuine acts of

kindness and the supernatural

healing of people.

Paul experienced Jesus’ love.

In every interaction

with Jesus, he lived

unconditional love.

To each person who is

overwhelmed by pain,

failure, suffering or

feels defeated, Jesus

comes to us with the

relentless tenderness

of his grace.

Let Jesus speak to you.

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JESUS IS A GOOD FRIEND We’ve all been a bad friend at some point.

Maybe we’ve taken advantage of

friends or been short with them

or simply not been there when

needed. And we’ve probably

experienced that as well.

But Jesus is a good friend. In

fact, he’s a perfect friend. And

even when we’re horrible friends

to him, he’s always a good

friend to us.

Jesus is such a good friend and we’re often bad friends to him.

He knew the only way to save

our friendship was to die for our

sins—and he did so willingly.

Because of Jesus’ death on the

cross, we have the opportunity

to become friends with Jesus. And as w

As we do so, we learn some

amazing things about him.im.

As a good friend, Jesus loves

us better than we could ever

love him, love others—or even

love ourselves.

As a good friend, Jesus guides

us, empowering us to live and

be loved by him in a way that brings glory to God and life–

changing fulfillment to us.

As a good friend, Jesus for-

gives us our sin though we

don’t deserve it—sacrificing

his life so that we can live.

As a good friend, Jesus is fun,

having enjoyed parties and

time with his friends.

As a good friend, Jesus

listens. He prays for us when

he hears our prayers. He deeply cares about what is

happening in our lives.

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During the years of abuse, God enabled me to forgive, find security in

Jesus’ love and keep going. The boss didn’t change his behaviour, so

I left my job for 3 months unemployed. It wasn’t an easy time of life.

And then, God opened the ‘door’ for my fresh start as a Chaplain

with BCS. Initially it was half time as Chaplain in Kariong: a maximum

security prison. That was “God’s classroom” for me!

God gives ME a “fresh

start.” 2000-08, I had a

fantastic work role that

involved me equipping

Christians in Philippines,

NZ, Indonesia and around Australia. Over the years,

thousands of people came.

I was also responsible for running big

conferences with international speakers

in Australia’s capital cities. My role was

a real privilege.

But there was another side to it all.

I also faced manipulation, emotional

abuse and harassment from my boss.

It wasn’t long before I was full-time and now my

work is all community chaplaincy (which I love).

Incredibly, God went further. In November 2009,

following an ‘out-of-the-blue’ invitation, Jan and

I had ten days equipping people in Cambodia. In

June we’ll return for our 3rd trip (we pay to help) and our role is running parenting seminars; work

with pastors/leaders, etc. Plus, I’m part of the

BCS chaplaincy family (here we are late in 2012).

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How does that relate to me?

There is a war going on in our head in

which Satan speaks tempting lies that will

rob us from a fresh start and being secure

in God’s love. You and I have a choice:

Listen to deception or believe in the truth

that Jesus says to us. He gives us real life.

Jesus highlighted a key truth in the stories you read in this booklet

and the life stories YOU have experienced. What occurs for us all in

our everyday life is due to two different realms that interact on the

decisions we make. What are these realms?

1. The visible natural realm: the world we see and people we

relate with. Often, we’re carrying “baggage” from stuff earlier

in our life. Stuff like shame, negative self talk, our failures, etc.

2. The invisible spiritual realm: unseen by our eyes are angels,

demons and an evil power the Bible names as Satan. His agenda

is only to rob away real life. To lie, speak condemnation into our

spirit and deceive us. To feed temptation into our mind. We’ve all

been down that road and know we get ‘ripped off’ by Satan.

Jesus said: “Satan was a killer from the very start. He couldn’t stand

the truth because there wasn’t a shred of truth in him. When the

Liar speaks, he makes it up out of his lying nature and fills the world

with lies.” John 8:43-45 (The Message)

In this photo of Lake

Parramatta, we can

see the real—trees

and water.

There’s a reflection—

but we can’t touch it

as it shows what is

just out of our reach.

1. The visible

natural realm

2. The invisible

spiritual realm

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Jesus had this inner battle with Satan throughout his 33 years on

earth—but he never believed or acted on the lies. How? Jesus is far

more powerful than the majority of people of his time realised.

Jesus’ death and resurrection shows us

both God’s absolute power to transform

what looks like a hopeless situation and

his total domination over Satan.

Jesus Christ is the visible image of the invisible God. Jesus Christ is the visible image of the invisible God.

He existed before anything was created and is He existed before anything was created and is

supreme over all creation. Through him God created supreme over all creation. Through him God created

everything in the heavenly realms and on earth. everything in the heavenly realms and on earth.

He made the things we can see and the things we He made the things we can see and the things we

can’t seecan’t see——such as thrones, kingdoms, rulers, and such as thrones, kingdoms, rulers, and

authorities in the unseen world. Everything was authorities in the unseen world. Everything was

created through him and for him. He existed before created through him and for him. He existed before

anything else, and he holds all creation together. anything else, and he holds all creation together.

Colossians 1:15Colossians 1:15--17 (Living Bible)17 (Living Bible)

As they took

Jesus’ body

off the Cross,

his mother

Mary and

John (one of his disciples)

could have

thought:

“It’s all over”.

They buried

him: with no

hope in their

heart. Sunday

was coming!

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POWERFUL FRIEND Jesus is a powerful friend. The Bible speaks of Jesus as a King.

As a powerful friend, Jesus is

the King of all creation—and

he’s establishing his kingdom:

here on earth as it is in heaven.

This means that nothing is out

of the influence of Jesus and

everything is subject to him.

As a powerful friend, Jesus has

conquered Satan, sin, and

death. Jesus died on the cross

for our sins and rose from

death in victory. He is alive and

well! And Jesus is coming back

to forever destroy evil.

For those with faith in Jesus,

there is no need to fear as

Satan has no power over us,

sin is no longer in control of

us and our sins are forgiven.

Death is not the end, but the

beginning of real life with Jesus.

As a powerful friend, Jesus

leads his church through the

Holy Spirit. He invites people

into friendship. He takes us out of sin and shame into freedom

and forgiveness. He creates

community in which people

serve others and the world.

As a powerful friend, Jesus is

generous. He gives forgiveness

and grace freely to all who ask,

having given his own life to provide it. He also gives us his

Holy Spirit, who empowers us

as Christians to live in Jesus’

victory and strength.

Acknowledgement: “Friend” content—Mars Hill church, USA

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I ask God to strengthen you by his Spirit—a glorious inner strength—

that Christ will live in you as you open the door and invite him in. And

I ask him that with both feet planted firmly on love, you’ll be able to

take in with all followers of Jesus the extravagant dimensions of

Christ’s love. Reach out and experience the breadth! Test its length!

Live full lives, full in the fullness of God. God can do anything, you

know—far more than you could ever imagine or guess or request in

your wildest dreams! He does it not by pushing us around but by

working within us, his Spirit deeply and gently within us.

Ephesians 3:15-20 (The Message)

The angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you

are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. He is not here; he has

risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay. Then

go quickly and tell his disciples: ‘He has risen from the dead and is

going ahead of you into Galilee.’ Matthew 28:1-7

The resurrected Jesus overcame

death and Satan. He is triumphant!

Jesus has total power and love to

help us have fresh starts in our life.

If we are carrying “baggage”, we can

bring it all to God and admit, “I can’t

fix this God. Forgive me. Release me. Give me a fresh start.” He will.

At dawn on the first day of the

week, Mary Magdalene and

the other Mary went to look at

the tomb. There was a violent

earthquake, for an angel of

the Lord came down from heaven and, going to the

tomb, rolled back the stone

and sat on it. His clothes were

white as snow. The guards

were so afraid of him that

they shook and became like

dead men.

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John says, “The village was supposed to be empty, and the

bombs were supposed to hit the bunkers just outside of town.

It wasn’t until the day after the

strike that I saw Kim’s picture

and realized what had actually

happened.” John saw the photo

and was haunted by images of

the naked burning child, terrified

and running, her flesh afire with

3rd degree burns. He’d done that!

He spent 24 years looking for Kim

Phuc to say “I’m sorry”. Incredibly,

GOD was at work in both of them.

Kim Phuc was nine

years old on June 8,

1972, when her village,

in South Vietnam was

bombed. Burned by

napalm, she ran down

the road screaming in

fear and pain. The media

captured this moment

of war's horror; Kim’s

picture was published

around the world.

Pilot John Plummer dropped

the napalm on Kim’s village.

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John Plummer returned home a broken man—he ignored God,

took up drink, got divorced and left his four children. Several

years later he met Joanne who led him to Christ and a fresh

start. In 1990 he became a pastor—still waiting to say “sorry”.

In June 1996, John saw a TV news story about Kim. He learned

she was to speak on the Vietnam War in Washington. John went.

Kim told an audience of veterans, if she were face to face with

the pilot who dropped the bomb, she would tell him.

"I have lived with my pain; I know the value of love when

you want to heal. I have lived with hatred, and now I know

the power of forgiveness. Today, I am alive, I live without

hatred, without the spirit of revenge, and I can tell all those

who caused my suffering: I forgive you."

Unable to attend school, Kim found

a library and discovered a Bible.

“I couldn’t stop reading it.” In a

local church, “The love of God

changed my life. I knew that Jesus

died on the cross and paid for my

sins. As God spilled His love into

me, he removed all my hatred,

anger, bitterness, sorrow.”

John pushed his way through

the crowd. “I am the one!”

he shouted. “I am the man

who did this to you!”

Kim was the only one who

could free him and he fell

into her arms, sobbing.

For every time he cried

out, “I am so sorry,” her

voice rose to cover his.

“It is OK, I’ve forgiven you”.

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Scripture quotations from The Holy Bible, New International

Version ® Copyright 1984 by International Bible Society

Scripture taken from The Message. Copyright ©1993-2002.

Used by permission of NavPress Publishing Group

Acknowledgements: Photo’s—internet, Passion movie, author.

Colour version free at http://wakeley.weebly.com/index.html

JESUS SAID, “LOOK! I STAND AT THE DOOR AND KNOCK. IF YOU HEAR MY VOICE AND OPEN THE DOOR, I WILL COME IN, AND WE WILL SHARE A MEAL TOGETHER AS FRIENDS.” REVELATION 3:20

My friend Gabriel (from the Middle East) tells me this verse is

about Jesus offering us genuine friendship that is life-changing.

Jesus also will release us from the “baggage” we’re carrying or

really help us with the issues that are overwhelming our life.

God is so much more than organised religion. He invites us

into a relationship in His family. It’s our choice to says “yes”.