It’s Quiet Uptown
Hamilton & the Gospel | Part 5 of 6
In honor of our nation’s 250th anniversary, I want to share a few devotions based on the hit Broadway musical Hamilton. Throughout this musical, we can look at the life of Alexander Hamilton and see themes of faith, forgiveness, grace, and redemption; and we can make connections to the gospel message.
Ephesians 2:1-10 (NRSV):
You were dead through the trespasses and sins in which you once lived, following the course of this world, following the ruler of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work among those who are disobedient. All of us once lived among them in the passions of our flesh, following the desires of flesh and senses, and we were by nature children of wrath, like everyone else.
But God, who is rich in mercy, out of the great love with which he loved us even when we were dead through our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the ages to come he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.
For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God— not the result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are what he has made us, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand to be our way of life.
In Greek mythology, there is a story about a man named Icarus and his father, Daedalus. And his father and son were imprisoned on the top of the tallest tower on the Island of Crete; However, Daedalus was a genius inventor. He watched the birds fly around his tower, and it gave him an idea. He decided to craft two sets of wings out of candle wax and feathers. These wings would be their means of escape. With these wings they could fly off of the tower and find their freedom.
As Daedalus strapped a set of wings to his son Icarus, he gave him a warning: Flying too near the ocean will dampen the wings and make them too heavy to use. Flying too near the sun will melt the wings and make them disintegrate. Therefore, it is important to fly in the middle of the sky – above the ocean, but below the sun.
So, with these wings, Daedalus, and Icarus soared above the island of Crete. As they flew, Daedalus remained in the middle of the sky, but Icarus was overcome with this feeling of power. The people watching below on the ground, looked up at Icarus and thought he was a god; And the longer he flew, Icarus began to feel like an actual god. So, Icarus began soaring higher and higher, moving closer and closer to the sun.
Daedalus watched in horror as the sun melted the wax on his son’s wings until they completely disintegrated. As a result, Icarus began to fall from the sky. His arrogance caused him to make this fatal mistake. This story is the basis for the popular idiom: “Don’t fly too close to the sun.” This is a cautionary tale which is especially relevant as we look at the life of one of America’s Founding Fathers, Alexander Hamilton.
In my last post, I talked about how Alexander Hamilton gave into temptation when he engaged in an extramarital affair with a woman named Mariah Reynolds. Not only was Hamilton unfaithful to his pregnant wife, but he also wrote a pamphlet called The Reynold’s Pamphlet which outlined all of the ugly details about this affair.
He wrote this pamphlet in order to clear up some of the false rumors surrounding his use of government finances. Hamilton is able to clear up these government rumors – but as a result – he actually ends up damaging his personal and political reputation. Not only does he destroy his name, but he also drags his own wife’s name through the mud. He simultaneously destroys his political career as well as his own marriage. In the musical Hamilton, we see Eliza Hamilton’s response to her husband’s very public affair in a song entitled “Burn.” In this song, Eliza sings:
“Do you know what Angelica said
when she read what you’d done?
She said, ‘You have married an Icarus.
He has flown to close to the sun.’”
According to historian Ron Chernow, this line about Icarus is based off a real letter that Eliza’s sister Angelica had written to her saying, “All this you would not have suffered if you had married into a family less near the sun. But then [you would have missed?] the pride, the pleasure, the nameless satisfactions.”
Like Icarus, Hamilton had donned his wings of wax and feather. As he flew closer to the sun – growing in his arrogance and giving way to his desires – he got burned and came crashing down. Unfortunately, Hamilton took his wife Eliza down with him, and we see the hurt and anger in Eliza’s response. At one point in the song, Eliza sings:
“You forfeit all rights to my heart.
You forfeit the place in our bed.
You’ll sleep in your office instead,
With only the memories
Of when you were mine.
I hope that you burn.”
Eliza is overcome with a sense of extreme anger, pain, and rage as she faces this betrayal from her husband. Hamilton’s poor decisions have directly affected Eliza’s marriage, life, and reputation. We see how Hamilton’s sinful desires have hurt the woman that he loves.
In his letter to the Ephesians, the Apostle Paul talks about the ultimate effect that our sinful desires can have in our lives. Paul says, “You were dead through the trespasses and sins in which you once lived, following the course of this world, following the ruler of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work among those who are disobedient. ”
I like the way Eugene Peterson puts it in his paraphrase The Message. He writes, “It wasn’t so long ago that you were mired in that old stagnant life of sin. You let the world, which doesn’t know the first thing about living, tell you how to live. You filled your lungs with polluted unbelief, and then exhaled disobedience. We all did it, all of us doing what we felt like doing, when we felt like doing it, all of us in the same boat. It’s a wonder God didn’t lose his temper and do away with the whole lot of us.”
The Apostle Paul paints this very grim picture of how sin can pollute our lives and keep us from living the way that God has called us to live. Paul talks about humanity’s fallen state where we succumb to temptation and disobedience. He even goes as far as to equate sin with death. Indeed, “It’s a wonder God didn’t lose his temper and do away with the whole lot of us.”
Similarly, it’s a wonder that Eliza Hamilton didn’t lose her temper and do away with her husband Alexander. But in the musical, we see a very difficult event bring about reconciliation. In the song “It’s Quiet Uptown,” we see Alexander and Eliza dealing with unimaginable grief and pain. The couple holds their son Philip as he dies from a gunshot wound that he received in a duel. As they hold their son, Eliza’s sister, Angelia narrates this tragic moment singing:
“You hold your child as tight as you can.
Then push away the unimaginable.”
In the wake of this death, we see Alexander Hamilton go through his own transformation as he experiences this grief and pain. In fact, at one point in the song, Hamilton sings:
“I walk the children to church on Sunday
A sign on the cross at the door, And I pray
That never used to happen before.”
Lin-Manuel Miranda, the creator and star of the musical Hamilton, talks about the importance of the song “It’s Quiet Uptown” saying, “The power of ‘It’s Quiet Uptown’ was intact from its first day: Actors cried while singing it, the production team cried while listening to it… The most affecting part of the song, curiously enough, always tended to be its one consoling moment: Alexander and Eliza’s reconciliation.”
In the midst of this unimaginable grief, we also find a moment of unimaginable grace. We see the Hamiltons deal with the pain of losing their son, but we also see the Hamiltons find reconciliation, redemption and grace. Alexander Hamilton offers these words of repentance and confession to his wife Eliza saying:
“Look at where we are. Look at where we started
I know I don’t deserve you, Eliza
But hear me out. That would be enough
If I could spare his life. If I could trade his life for mine
He’d be standing here right now
And you would smile, and that would be enough
I don’t pretend to know. The challenges we’re facing
I know there’s no replacing what we’ve lost. And you need time
But I’m not afraid. I know who I married
Just let me stay here by your side. That would be enough”
Throughout this song, Eliza remains completely stoic. She is frozen, standing in the very center of the stage. Until finally, at the end of the song, Eliza simply takes her husband’s hand as the ensemble sings: “Forgiveness. Can you imagine?” This very simple gesture, beautifully portrays this image of unimaginable grace. Eliza offers her husband a grace that he – in no way – deserves. This forgiveness is a perfect example of the grace we see in the gospel message.
In his letter, the Apostle Paul moves from talking about death and sin – to talking about God’s unimaginable grace. Paul says, “God, who is rich in mercy, out of the great love with which he loved us even when we were dead through our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the ages to come he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.”
This is the beauty of the gospel message. Even though we have made mistakes in our lives, God still offers us this unimaginable grace that we do not deserve. Even though we find ourselves dead in our sin, we are still offered life through the grace and forgiveness of Jesus Christ.
In his book The Gospel According to Hamilton, Jeff Hamling writes, “Eliza’s forgiveness of Hamilton is a picture of Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross. Remember, she first responds to Alexander’s affair with intense, burning anger. Understandably, she wants him to pay the price for her pain… But in the end, she sacrificially absorbs the pain he deserves by taking his hand and forgiving him… As Christians we are called to be the most forgiving people because we are the most forgiven people. We are the recipients of a grace too powerful to name – the unimaginable, unconquerable, immutable grace of forgiveness.”
Perhaps, today, you find yourself in a similar situation to Alexander Hamilton. Maybe you are in need of repentance and forgiveness. Maybe you have harmed someone that you love, and you are trying to find a way to make it right. Maybe – like Icarus – you have flown too close to the sun and you are having to deal with the consequences.
Or perhaps, today, you find yourself in a similar situation to Eliza Hamilton. Maybe you have been wronged, and you are dealing with the effects of your pain. Maybe someone has hurt you, and you are having a difficult time getting past it. But maybe you find yourself in a place where you are able to extend your hand of grace to someone that is underserving of it.
At different points in our lives, we find ourselves in the need of accepting grace and also in the position of offering grace. Whatever side you may find yourself on today, we can find hope in the words of Paul who says, “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God – not the result of works, so that no one may boast For we are what he has made us, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand to be our way of life.”
