The LOST Gospel Continues…
The last couple of weeks I haven’t been too WOWed by LOST. Actually, quite the opposite, especially after Sawyer, then Sayid slipped over the the dark side. And then there’s Kate, not sure where she’s at even though she’s in the enemy’s camp. But tonight’s episode blew me away. I was practically sobbing at the Gospel and redemption of the most evil and vile character on the Island. Ben Linus.
Ben has to be the most despicable character on the Island and in the episode where he killed Jacob, he became the Judas character to me. In his hurt, rejection and anger he killed Jacob who seemed to be ambivalent, even provoking Ben to murder him. Tonight we learned that Jacob had hoped he’d been wrong about Ben… I can only assume this means up until the last second he hoped Ben wouldn’t kill him.
But the part that blew me away was when Ben confessed his guilt and pain to the woman who was about to kill him over allowing his daughter to die when he could have saved her. It was his one regret in all the evil he did and murders he committed on the island. He confessed that he believed so much in Jacob and the Island that he sacrificed his daughter’s life for it, and when finally face to face with Jacob, Jacob didn’t seem to care about him…at all.
I felt Ben’s pain in that moment right before he killed Jacob and still don’t quite understand Jacob’s indifference to Ben. Maybe it was a test…a test that they both lost. Or maybe Jacob knew he needed to die so that a candidate would rise up. But tonight, faced with his own death once again, Ben bore his soul to the one about to take his life. He confessed he was sorry for the death of his daughter and for killing Jacob. Aside from killing Locke and feeling remorse for it, Ben had never really felt regret over anyone that he killed. And he killed many.
But the WOW factor for me came in when Ben asked his captor, the woman who considered Jacob a father, to let him go.
She asked, “where would you go?”
“To Locke (the smoke monster Locke,)” Ben replied. (Locke Monster had unchained Ben allowing him to escape from the woman. Locke Monster invited Ben to the go with him.)
She asked again, “Why would you go with Locke?”
His reply hit me right in the heart…”Because he’s the only one that will have me.” I knew right then he’d turned a corner, but redemption came when she replied, “I’ll have you…” And she walked away with Ben following!
What a Gospel moment!!! The most evil, retched, vile character on the entire island found forgiveness and acceptance from the woman so grief stricken over Jacob’s death that she was willing to kill Ben. But instead she chose forgiveness…
Another Gospel moment came earlier in the episode when Richard, who’s been serving Jacob for longer than a natural life span and never seems to age, confesses he wants to die, but can’t kill himself because Jacob won’t let him.
Jack asks him why? Richard says “because my whole life has been wasted. Jacob told me my life had a purpose and he would bring it to pass, but now Jacob is dead. My whole life has been wasted.”
Jack, who’s wavered between believing he has a purpose…a destiny…to doubt is starting to believe again because he knows Jacob’s been watching him his entire life. He knows Jacob brought him to the Island. He knows Jacob won’t let Richard or Jack die by their own hands because their life has a purpose. To prove this he lights a stick of dynamite and closes his eyes. The fuse dies before it ignites. If there was any doubt left in Jack that his life has a purpose, a greater plan that only Jacob knows, it was extinguished like the flame.
Oh how I can relate to Richard and Jack’s struggle. Feeling like I’ve been serving and obeying God every step of the way (well, almost,) making decisions I believe is God’s will, in favor of His will over my happiness, doing the “right thing,” not understanding why, especially when things become a living Hell, and wondering if God really does have a plan and purpose. If He knows what he’s doing and if all things will work together for good. He He really, truly cares.
Who thought a show like LOST could preach a sermon to me over and over again? I’m not sure if I’m the only one who feels this, but it’s just evidence to my soul that God is good and in control and knows what I need when I need it. And He has a sense of humor. He’s speaking to me through a television drama! And that’s the power of story!!! Millions of people are hearing the Gospel and don’t even know it!
I’m not sure how LOST will play out, but God’s message to me is clear. I may not understand His ways, but He is in control and has a purpose for my life. I just need to trust Him…and see this thing through to the end!
