Prone to Wander

Even though we don't deserve to be saved because of our sinfulness, He has come to redeem us and
allow us to experience His righteousness. He gave His life, so that we might enjoy His new life. Titus 2 says:
11 For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men,
12 teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in the present age,
13 looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ,
14 who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from every lawless deed and purify for Himself His own special people, zealous for good works.

There is no amount of work that you and I can do that can cause us to earn favor with Almighty God - we were hopelessly separated from Him; there is nothing good in ourselves.  But, our Father, who is described as "rich in mercy," has chosen to forgive us, in all of our human weakness and failure, so that we might be vessels that He can use for His glory.  He has loved us and has brought us into a love relationship, so that we might come to know Him and experience His grace and power.

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In our humanity, despite our flaws, God has chosen to love us - we are sinners, separated from our Savior, yet our Savior has seen us and has come, not to make us better people, but to give us the ability to experience His better way of life.  Ephesians 2 relates:
4 But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us,
5 even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved),
6 and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus,
7 that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.
8 For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God,
9 not of works, lest anyone should boast.

Just in time for Independence Day, the Broadway musical that has been a sensation for years - well, that is until COVID-19 shut down theatres in New York and across the country - made its debut on home video on the new Disney Plus platform.

No, this was not a movie adaptation of the multi-Tony Award-winning musical, Hamilton, but a presentation of the stage performance, capturing the artistry and exuberance of the original cast, led by the Lin-Manuel Miranda playing the title role of one of the Founding Fathers, whose picture is held by, I would imagine, millions of Americans, when they spend a ten-dollar bill that features the first Treasury Secretary's caricature.  It was Hamilton who essentially designed the banking system for the United States after the Revolution.

Hamilton is a thrill ride through early American history, where you meet not only the title character, but a host of what you might say are more familiar names: George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, and even King George III.  Their stories are told through a primarily African-American cast utilizing a variety of musical styles, including rap and hip-hop.

The musical plays up a political rivalry between Aaron Burr, a political opportunist who eventually became Vice-President by virtue of ending up in a tie with Jefferson in the 1800 election, which went to the House of Representatives, where the once-esteemed, fallen-from-grace Hamilton swung the vote to his rival, Jefferson.  Hamilton had been one step ahead of Burr in his political and professional life, and Burr decided he'd had enough - he challenged Alexander to a duel, which was a problem-solving tool of the era, and was victorious, if you could say that; he took the life of the title character.

There is certainly a backstory of faith in the tale of Alexander Hamilton, as God Reports outlines.  The article traces Hamilton's birth in the West Indies and immigration to America for the purpose of education.  It states:

He landed at a prep school in New York and later was admitted to King’s College (which became Columbia University). A wealthy attorney named Elias Boudinot, who owned copper and sulfur mines, and later became president of the Continental Congress and the first president of the American Bible Society, took Hamilton under wing.

Boudinot and his family undoubtedly exerted a strong Christian influence on Hamilton. Moreover, Christianity saturated King’s College at the time. Morning chapel was obligatory before breakfast and students were required to attend church twice on Sunday.

One of Hamilton’s college friends, Robert Troup, testified to his piety. He “was attentive to public worship, and in the habit of praying on his knees night and morning…. I have often been powerfully affected by the fervor and eloquence of his prayers… He had read many of the polemical writers on religious subjects and he was a zealous believer in the fundamental doctrines of Christianity.

It is unclear the extent to which the seeds of Hamilton's faith influenced his approach to leadership.  He had served at the side of Washington during the Revolution and during his Presidency, but as biographer Ron Chernow, whose book on Hamilton, as I understand, provided the basis for the musical, wrote:

“His vigorous reign had also made him the enfant terrible of the early republic, and a substantial minority of the country was mobilized against him,” Chernow notes. “This should have made him especially watchful of his reputation. Instead, in one of history’s most mystifying cases of bad judgment, he entered into a sordid affair with a married woman named Maria Reynolds that, if it did not blacken his name forever, certainly sullied it.”

After being reconciled to his wife, his life seemed to take a turn back to the more spiritual. This man of ambition, who perhaps held an attitude of invincibility, retreated to a more humble and seemingly introspective life. The God Reports article says:

In 1802, Alexander and his wife, Eliza, purchased a country home they called The Grange, which allowed Hamilton to spend more time with his children. On Sunday mornings they gathered in the garden to sing hymns and Hamilton read the Bible aloud to his family. He also spoke to his wife about his desire to build a chapel on the property.

“It is striking how religion preoccupied Hamilton during his final years,” Chernow noted in his book.

God Reports notes that Hamilton turned to Dr. John Mason to serve communion following his being
shot by Burr...

...Dr. Mason explained that the Lord’s Supper is not a requirement for salvation and he clearly communicated God’s plan of salvation to the dying man. Hamilton said he had not requested the Lord’s Supper as a means of obtaining heaven, and then testified:

“I am a sinner. I have a tender reliance on the mercy of the Almighty, through the merits of the Lord Jesus Christ.”

A few years ago, at the CBA UNITE event in Nashville, I spoke with Kevin Cloud, the author of the book, God and Hamilton.  In a piece on the Premier Christianity website, he notes that: "During his teen years, Hamilton wrote various hymns, including ‘The soul ascending into bliss’..."  The first verse includes these words:

Hark! Hark! A voice from yonder sky, Methinks I hear my Saviour cry, Come gentle spirit come away, Come to thy Lord without delay; For thee the gates of bliss unbar’d Thy constant virtue to reward.

Hamilton also wrote in that same hymn:

O Lamb of God! Thrice gracious Lord Now, now I feel how true thy word; Translated to this happy place, This blessed vision of thy face; My soul shall all thy steps attend In songs of triumph without end.

Hamilton sings to his estranged wife, Eliza, in a moving scene near the end of the musical.  Cloud writes:

As Hamilton sings to Eliza, her body language is still cold and distant. She flinches when he reaches out to touch her. But as the song continues, Eliza softens. Finally, she takes her husband’s hand and sings with him again. She has found it in her heart to forgive. The entire chorus, in a spine-tingling moment of transcendence for everyone in the theatre, sings out, “Forgiveness, can you imagine?”

Hamilton's life illustrates the perils of ambition, which can make a person feel invincible. We are told that God humbles the proud, and Hamilton, while a brilliant man, also seemed to have a reckless component, and during his latter years, as he retreated from public life, even though he was still a relatively young man, he seems to have discovered what was important.

But, ambition can also be a good thing, if it is centered on Christ.  The cast of Hamilton, at the end, asks who is going to tell Alexander's story, and it recounted some of his accomplishments.  His wife, Eliza, was determined to build on her late husband's legacy.  We can reflect on how God wants to use us so that He may be exalted.

Why Hamilton?  Well, you might say that he is us.  While, yes, he was quite talented, he was also vulnerable.  Prone to wander, as the old hymn says.  The musical reminds us of the grace of God, as Cloud points out, and can serve to remind us of the redeeming grace that God has made available to us - because we are all flawed.  Yet, God has chosen to love us anyway.