Mr. Molesley as a Means of Grace

In one part of the Sermon on the Mount (Matt. 5: 38-42), Jesus quotes a passage in Leviticus 24, saying, “You have heard it said, ‘an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth…is that going to get us anywhere?”  He finishes the thought off by saying, “No more tit-for-tat stuff.  Live generously.” 

Live generously.  I was wondering what it would take to live generously, and then I thought about a character on Downton Abbey, Mr. Molesley.  Mr. Molesley is back at Downton, but this time as a “footman,” a position that he took out of desperation.  I don’t know the ins and outs of the British aristocracy, but I do know that Mr. Molesley slid down several rungs of the ladder to take this job.

During Season 4, which just concluded last night, Mr. Molesley takes a shining to a new maid, Miss O’Brien.  Miss O’Brien has a checkered past – a fact that is known by the sleazy, gossipy, manipulative character among the servants – Mr. Barrow.  Mr. Barrow has been blackmailing Miss O’Brien all season long, having her spy on the family and trying to get bits of information that he can use to his advantage.  Every time she balks at doing his bidding, he brings up her “past.”  “We wouldn’t want everyone to find out what you did, would we?”

Mr. Molesley sees what is going on, and over a period of time encourages her, takes up for her, and gets between Mr. Barrow and her, standing up for her.  Then last night, in the final scene, the servants are treated to a day at the beach.  Miss O’Brien is sitting on a blanket, and Mr. Barrow comes up and sits beside her and tries to weasel some information out of her.  She refuses, and he threatens to expose her past.  She replies, “You do what you have to do, Mr. Barrow, and I’ll do what I have to do.”  He departs.

Mr. Molesley comes up and sits with Miss O’Brien, and she thanks him.  She says that she is stronger now because of his help, and she will not let herself be manipulated by Mr. Barrow anymore.  “Your strength has given me strength,” she says to a blushing Mr. Molesley.  That is what it means to live generously, I think.  To allow oneself to be a means of grace…to let what God has given us pass through us to someone else. 

Lord, help me to live generously today.  Help me to be a means of grace – to share my strength.  Amen.