Hamilton
Creator Lin-Manuel Miranda starred in the original Broadway production of the rap musical "Hamilton." (Publicity Photo).
July 15, 2018 – 8th Sunday after Pentecost
2 Samuel 6:1-5, 12b-19; Psalm 24 (UMH 755); Ephesians 1:3-14; Mark 6:14-29.
The Ephesians text invites us preachers “to live for the praise of His glory.”The Gospel text, Mark 6 tells of the final moment in the life of one who lived for “the praise of Christ’s glory,” the murder of John the Baptist.
I have been struggling with these two lessons. No one was more faithful than John the Baptist. And Paul, the Christian writer/gadfly, who never gives up or gives in to the powers of darkness. Both die tragic deaths.
All of this seems so unfair. I think it was Paul Tillich who spoke of eternal life as life unambiguous. One day the faithful will have no further questions. We simply will walk in the light of the truth. But there is always an “in the meanwhile, the living of these days.”
Answers to the deep questions are found in strange places. My wife Jan found tickets for the opening of “Hamilton,” by Lin-Manuel Miranda. As a history buff I thought I knew this story, and for the life of me I couldn’t imagine Hamilton in rap, presented by a cast that reflected the colors of the rainbow. This drama reveals the greatness and the hope for this country. We were mesmerized. The Civic Center was filled with ordinary citizens experiencing the creation and birth pains of a nation-- the stuff that makes us great.
A tragic story, yes, but with a cast that gives us hope. So Aaron Burr laments following their duel and the death of Hamilton: “Death doesn’t discriminate between the sinner and the saints, it takes and it takes and it takes. History obliterates in every picture it paints, it paints me with all my mistakes. When Alexander aimed at the sky, he may have been the first one to die, but I’m the one who paid for it. I survived, but I paid for it. Now I’m the villain in your history. I was too young and blind to see… I should’ve known. I should’ve known the world was wide enough for both Hamilton and me.”
I think Hamilton is a gift and risk to all of us who yearn for a return to honest leadership and common decency. He was honest to a fault and he paid for it. We are living in a time when the liars seem to be winning the day. But Hamiliton would say, “Look around, look around at how lucky we are to be alive right now!” That might just be the word that we need to hear regarding our own lives: Look around, look around. And look inside.
In the text for this morning, the villains are long gone and John the Baptist is celebrated. Ancient Rome with its narcissistic Caesars have had their day, and Paul’s word gives us light: We are each one invited to live for praise of Christ’s Glory! How blessed we are to be alive right now!
Prayer: God, you come to us in strange places. You use both villain and saint to reveal both our sin and our hope. Help us to not only know the truth but to do the truth—as we live in praise of your Glory. Amen
Summer Reading: Alexander Hamilton, by Ron Chernow, 2004.
The Rev. Bill Cotton is a retired clergy member of the Iowa Annual Conference. This article is republished with permission from his weekly "Memo for Those Who Preach." To receive his articles, email revcottonhill@hotmail.com.