Faith in Film 4, Get Low

We wrapped up the first half of class last night with our third and final film dealing with the idea of forgiveness, confession, and the peace and freedom that come from following God's plan. "Get Low" is a beautiful story of a man who is finally at a place where he's ready for that door to be opened, and this really helps us come full circle from where it started.

With our first film, "Atonement," we saw how a lack of forgiveness and confession can create a prison of the mind from which you can never escape. That was certainly true for Briony, and that's what made that film heart-breaking in the end. Fortunately, in "Get Low," Felix is able to summon the courage to make a full confession and find the peace and forgiveness that eluded him for 40 long years. But it wasn't an easy journey.

Not once but twice ministers had to point him in the right direction. Still, it took him a bit more to work up the courage to do what his soul cried out for. Forgiveness and confession is a process for us all, and for some that process takes longer than others. Felix, of course, tried to fill that sense of longing in human ways. He tried to pay. He tried to build a church (good works) and he tried living in isolation (a form of punishment), but none of that brought him the peace he sought.

When he visits the first minister, he says he's paid. The minister, rightly, points out that forgiveness is free, but we have to ask for it. This is an idea that Jesus touched on in the Sermon on the Mount. Matthew 7:7-8 says, "Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.” Of course, sometimes we're not ready to ask. Felix spent 40 years not being ready, and spends most of the hour and 40 minute film building up to the point where he is ready.

That can be true for us as well, and that's how a good friend can play an important role in the process. Felix goes to visit his friend, Rev. Charlie Jackson, and doesn't get the easy answers he hoped for. Charlie knows Felix, knows what he's done, and knows what he really needs to do. He turns Felix away. At first it seems cruel, but as you watch the film unfold you realize it's the kind of hard love only a true friend can give.

James 5:16 says, “Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.” Again, the idea isn’t that we need to confess to each other to be forgiven, or that you need a priest to offer you forgiveness, but rather the idea that we can help carry each other’s burdens, strengthen each other, and lift each other up. Often a good, strong friend can help you to do the right thing even when it is the difficult thing. That is the dynamic we’re seeing here with Rev. Jackson. He knows what Felix has done, but he also knows Felix’ heart. He knows that Felix has sought forgiveness and wants to set things right, but that he’s been unable to take that final step. That final step is public confession, truly acknowledging what we’ve done is wrong.

And when Felix is finally able to fully confess, to acknowledge the role he played in these events, he finds a peace and freedom. So, too, does Mattie, who is able to let go of her anger and hurt. The result of the confession and forgiveness is a bridge of love and support built between them. That is the hopeful result of following God's plan for confession and forgiveness, and that's what happens when we model His love to others.