In Victor Hugo’s Les Miserables Jean Valjean, a man convicted of stealing a piece of bread to feed his sister’s starving child, has served nineteen years in prison for the crime. NINETEEN YEARS! Now he is paroled, but society scorns him, making it impossible to earn a living. With no place else to go, he is taken in by a kindly old priest who feeds him and gives him a place to stay the night. But Jean Valjean is such a desperate man that he steals the priest’s silver chalices, and runs away into the night.

But Jean Valjean is captured by the police. They return him to the priest, presenting the cleric with the stolen goods. But the old priest does an amazing thing. He goes to the table and picks up the silver candlesticks.

“Jean Valjean, you forgot to take these with you along with the chalices,” he says, concocting a story for the police about how he freely gave these valuables to Valjean. In so doing, the priest saves Jean Valjean from arrest. The police leave. The priest and Jean Valjean are alone again. Then the priest speaks these powerful words to Jean Valjean:

“Today, I have bought your soul for God.”

And the rest of the story traces the incredible, rippling impact of this one act of redeeming love. Jean Valjean goes on to bring redeeming love to a lost young woman of the street. And after her death he loves her child. And he brings redemptive love to revolutionary university students. And finally, Jean Valjean redeems in love the very police officer who has spent years hunting down Jean Valjean.

“Today, I have bought your soul for God.”

Advent is like this.

It heralds the amazing story of God’s claiming the world – you and me and everyone else – in Love through the gift of Christ.

In Jesus, God claims us all in Love.

And Advent calls us to spend our lives reaching out with redemptive  love to others.

Like the old priest in Victor Hugo’s story, Advent describes our job in the world:

We are to claim people’s souls for God.

And today, I’m claiming you!