History Has Its Eyes On You!
Commentary
In the musical Hamilton by Lin-Manuel Miranda, a paternal George Washington reminds the impatient, impetuous Alexander Hamilton that “History has its eyes on you!” Actions are not only seen but have consequences.
We believers have always understood that we are seen by God. In these three passages, shared at the start of the new year, that idea is expanded in different ways.
The teacher in Ecclesiastes lists fourteen pairs of opposites that give us a sense of the gamut of experiences that will come to each of us and asks existential questions regarding just how much our lives matter. History has its eyes on you. How will you react?
In Revelation, we come to understand that history has a purpose, aim, and goal, and that regardless of where in the spectrum of experiences outlined in Ecclesiastes, we find ourselves in at any particular moment, history’s meaning will be made apparent. History has its eyes on you! How do you view history?
And in Matthew we see that when we arrive at that end our actions, which will have been seen, will matter. Jesus is revealed as judge, and the way we treated the least of these will be revealed as the way we treated Jesus — or should have treated Jesus! History has its eyes on you! How will you be judged?
Ecclesiastes 3:1-13
We’re all pretty familiar with those words, “To everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose under heaven.” It’s a great passage, and I don’t blame you if you focus solely on the many things that fall under the umbrella of that verse.
The teacher in Ecclesiastes list fourteen pairs of opposites that give us a sense of the gamut of experiences that will come to each of us. There’s not a sense in these words that it’s all God’s will, because both free will and happenstance also inform the way things work in God’s universe. That’s part of God’s will also. People are born, live, die, embrace, refrain from embracing, rend, tear, sew — all of the things we find in this list.
One thing that sets us apart as humans intrigues me. In Ecclesiastes 3:11, we read that God has given us a unique sense of time: “…moreover he has put a sense of past and future into their minds, yet they cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end.”
There’s a key Hebrew word here - ha-olam. It is sometimes translated as “eternity” but more often there’s the sense of an indeterminate length of past and future time. In this basic form, the teacher reminds us that we are aware of the passage of time, that we have a past, and look towards a future, and that we have a beginning and an end, something other creatures with whom we share this planet may or may not share.
But as I studied this verse, I became aware there could be a different translation. Ecclesiastes is one of the last books of the Hebrew Scriptures to be written and shows influence from other languages and cultures. Ha-olam is related to the Arabic term ‘ilm, which means ‘knowledge.” This verse would then suggest that God put in our hearts a desire for all knowledge about our world. This insatiable desire has led people to cross mountains, rivers, and oceans to discover what’s out there. We have looked into the heart of the atom, gazed so deeply into the universe that we have come closer to the moment of creation. And the more we have learned, the more we discover how little we know.
I’m reminded of that little two-line poem from A Child’s Garden of Verses, by Robert Louis Stevenson:
The world is so full of a number of things,
I’m sure we should all be as happy as kings.
Against the backdrop of time and eternity we may wonder just how much our lives matter. History has its eyes on you. So, the important thing is not what happens to us, but how will you react?
Revelation 21:1-6a
Apocalyptic literature directly addresses people of faith who are enduring great trials and tribulations from the tyrants of this earth, who think they are the point of history — they are not. We are! In the case of the Revelation of Jesus Christ (the name of this book, taken from its opening words) the Roman emperors who believe that all history has been leading up to their ascension to the throne of empire, a seat they may occupy for longer or shorter periods of time, but who will all die, often at the hands of those who seek to replace them, and ultimately fail. In apocalyptic literature, the meek eventually inherit the earth. We suffer at the hands of tyrants. We are persecuted, reviled, mocked, disdained. But we are called to hang on and assured we will be vindicated.
I like to say I can encapsulate Revelation in two sentences. The first is: Tough times don’t last. Tough people do. The second is a quotation from a song sung by an oldies group called, appropriately enough, The Angels: My boyfriend’s back and you’re gonna be sorry. Hey la. Hey la, my boyfriend’s back.”
In this passage from Revelation, we cut to the ending. The new Jerusalem descends to the new earth, history has a purpose, aim, and goal, and that regardless of where in the spectrum of experiences outlined in Ecclesiastes, we find ourselves in at any particular moment, history’s meaning will at last be made apparent.
History has its eyes on you! Now set your eyes upon God’s history! Everything will be made new. All will be well.
Matthew 25:31-46
And in Matthew we see that when we arrive at that end our actions, which will have been seen, will matter. Jesus is revealed as judge, and the way we treated the least of these will be revealed as the way we treated Jesus — or should have treated Jesus! The storytelling talents of the evangelist come into play here. There is this elaborate repetition as we learn how the righteous did not know they were following Jesus but served Jesus best by serving the least! And it is repeated, and we listen with some alarm. It should now be apparent to us we’re on one side or the other, and in our heart of hearts we know which side that is. History has its eyes on you! How will you be judged?
We believers have always understood that we are seen by God. In these three passages, shared at the start of the new year, that idea is expanded in different ways.
The teacher in Ecclesiastes lists fourteen pairs of opposites that give us a sense of the gamut of experiences that will come to each of us and asks existential questions regarding just how much our lives matter. History has its eyes on you. How will you react?
In Revelation, we come to understand that history has a purpose, aim, and goal, and that regardless of where in the spectrum of experiences outlined in Ecclesiastes, we find ourselves in at any particular moment, history’s meaning will be made apparent. History has its eyes on you! How do you view history?
And in Matthew we see that when we arrive at that end our actions, which will have been seen, will matter. Jesus is revealed as judge, and the way we treated the least of these will be revealed as the way we treated Jesus — or should have treated Jesus! History has its eyes on you! How will you be judged?
Ecclesiastes 3:1-13
We’re all pretty familiar with those words, “To everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose under heaven.” It’s a great passage, and I don’t blame you if you focus solely on the many things that fall under the umbrella of that verse.
The teacher in Ecclesiastes list fourteen pairs of opposites that give us a sense of the gamut of experiences that will come to each of us. There’s not a sense in these words that it’s all God’s will, because both free will and happenstance also inform the way things work in God’s universe. That’s part of God’s will also. People are born, live, die, embrace, refrain from embracing, rend, tear, sew — all of the things we find in this list.
One thing that sets us apart as humans intrigues me. In Ecclesiastes 3:11, we read that God has given us a unique sense of time: “…moreover he has put a sense of past and future into their minds, yet they cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end.”
There’s a key Hebrew word here - ha-olam. It is sometimes translated as “eternity” but more often there’s the sense of an indeterminate length of past and future time. In this basic form, the teacher reminds us that we are aware of the passage of time, that we have a past, and look towards a future, and that we have a beginning and an end, something other creatures with whom we share this planet may or may not share.
But as I studied this verse, I became aware there could be a different translation. Ecclesiastes is one of the last books of the Hebrew Scriptures to be written and shows influence from other languages and cultures. Ha-olam is related to the Arabic term ‘ilm, which means ‘knowledge.” This verse would then suggest that God put in our hearts a desire for all knowledge about our world. This insatiable desire has led people to cross mountains, rivers, and oceans to discover what’s out there. We have looked into the heart of the atom, gazed so deeply into the universe that we have come closer to the moment of creation. And the more we have learned, the more we discover how little we know.
I’m reminded of that little two-line poem from A Child’s Garden of Verses, by Robert Louis Stevenson:
The world is so full of a number of things,
I’m sure we should all be as happy as kings.
Against the backdrop of time and eternity we may wonder just how much our lives matter. History has its eyes on you. So, the important thing is not what happens to us, but how will you react?
Revelation 21:1-6a
Apocalyptic literature directly addresses people of faith who are enduring great trials and tribulations from the tyrants of this earth, who think they are the point of history — they are not. We are! In the case of the Revelation of Jesus Christ (the name of this book, taken from its opening words) the Roman emperors who believe that all history has been leading up to their ascension to the throne of empire, a seat they may occupy for longer or shorter periods of time, but who will all die, often at the hands of those who seek to replace them, and ultimately fail. In apocalyptic literature, the meek eventually inherit the earth. We suffer at the hands of tyrants. We are persecuted, reviled, mocked, disdained. But we are called to hang on and assured we will be vindicated.
I like to say I can encapsulate Revelation in two sentences. The first is: Tough times don’t last. Tough people do. The second is a quotation from a song sung by an oldies group called, appropriately enough, The Angels: My boyfriend’s back and you’re gonna be sorry. Hey la. Hey la, my boyfriend’s back.”
In this passage from Revelation, we cut to the ending. The new Jerusalem descends to the new earth, history has a purpose, aim, and goal, and that regardless of where in the spectrum of experiences outlined in Ecclesiastes, we find ourselves in at any particular moment, history’s meaning will at last be made apparent.
History has its eyes on you! Now set your eyes upon God’s history! Everything will be made new. All will be well.
Matthew 25:31-46
And in Matthew we see that when we arrive at that end our actions, which will have been seen, will matter. Jesus is revealed as judge, and the way we treated the least of these will be revealed as the way we treated Jesus — or should have treated Jesus! The storytelling talents of the evangelist come into play here. There is this elaborate repetition as we learn how the righteous did not know they were following Jesus but served Jesus best by serving the least! And it is repeated, and we listen with some alarm. It should now be apparent to us we’re on one side or the other, and in our heart of hearts we know which side that is. History has its eyes on you! How will you be judged?
