Sermon Illustrations
"Dorian Gray": Picture of Sin
Dorian Gray, based on an Oscar Wilde novel, is about a young, hedonistic British aristocrat of the late 1800s, Dorian Gray, who commissions his friend, Basil, to paint a portrait of him. When it's finished, Dorian prays that he will not grow older, but that the picture of him would. As time passes, he sees that the picture changes not only with age, but it also becomes more unsightly with each sin he commits. Still, he himself retains his youth. Twenty years later, the youthful Dorian shows the picture to the artist Basil, who hasn't seen it since its creation.
As Dorian and Basil enter the room where the portrait is kept, Dorian states, "You think it's only God who sees the soul." Basil pulls down the cloth covering the painting and is stunned by what he sees. The painting displays not the youthful Dorian, but a hideous Dorian, skin and clothing wrinkled—wretched beyond belief.
Alarmed, Basil exclaims, "But this is monstrous, beyond nature, beyond reason! What does it mean?"
Dorian, without emotion, explains, "On the day you finished this painting, I made a wish. Perhaps you would call it a prayer. My wish was granted."
Basil, appraising the painting, says, "It has the eyes of the devil."
Dorian responds, "Each of us has heaven and hell in him."
"If this is true, if this is what you have done with your life," Basil says, "it is far worse than anything that's been said of you. Do you know how to pray, Dorian? What was it we were taught to say in our boyhood? 'Lead us not into temptation. Forgive us our sins. Wash away our iniquities.' Let's say them together."
Dorian laments, "It's too late, Basil."
Basil explains, "The prayer of your pride was answered. The prayer of your repentance may be answered also."
"You think I haven't tried?" Dorian replies. "I tell you it's no use."
Basil argues, "Isn't there a verse somewhere—'though your sins be as scarlet, yet I will make them white as snow.' I can still pray, Dorian, if you can't."
Afraid that Basil will divulge his knowledge of the portrait, Dorian stabs him. By the end of the film, Dorian hates himself and seeks to live a good and moral life. The horrible painting is the only evidence of his sinful life, so he decides to destroy it. He stabs his portrait in the heart, then realizes that he has stabbed himself. Soon his friends enter the room and see an immaculate picture of a youthful Dorian and a monstrous man dead on the floor.
Elapsed time: Measured from the beginning of the opening credit, this scene begins at 1:08:40 and ends at 1:12:35.
Content: Not rated.