You might recognize this blog title as being the same as the play Hamilton’s anthem, “Non-Stop”, pointing out that Hamilton always seems to race through life, doing everything at an almost breakneck pace. At one point, his rival character, Aaron Burr, explains to the audience that of the 85 essays comprising The Federalist Papers, Hamilton wrote an astounding 51. Burr then asks the following rhetorical question of Hamilton: “How do you write like you’re running out of time? Every day you fight, like you’re running out of time. Are you running out of time?”
If you’re wondering how a musical could possibly hold some sort of spiritual lesson for you and me, consider this: Do we live like we’re running out of time?
We tend to lose sight of the temporal nature of this world, but as followers of Christ, the reality is that we’re not permanent residents here – we’re simply visitors passing through, in transit to our eternal destination. But God doesn’t expect us to sit around at the bus stop and twiddle our thumbs in the meantime! Until He calls us home, He’s commanded – not asked, not suggested, but commanded – us to recruit as many people as we possibly can to join us on the journey. The Gospel was never meant to be hoarded and squirreled away, saved for an emergency fund or a rainy day. It’s why some of Jesus’ final recorded words to His disciples are those of the Great Commission: “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” (Matthew 28:19-20)
When we consider those who we interact with daily – from family and friends, to coworkers, to restaurant servers and store clerks – and then picture ourself entering Heaven…will we arrive empty-handed on that day? Or will we be carrying with us the names and faces of all who will join us in eternity because we obeyed God’s command to spread the redeeming message of the Gospel?
In the musical, the characters around Hamilton can’t understand why he acts with such urgency. They miss the bigger picture – but he’s already seen ahead. And so it’s been for Christians in the world today and every day since Jesus ascended to Heaven after His resurrection with a promise that He’d return again. What God has called us to do involves swimming upstream, going against the grain of social norms that urge self-gratification, personal gain, and earthly success. But we’ve seen the bigger picture of what lies ahead. And we have only a short window in which to accomplish our task.
So it’s up to us to live out that Great Commission with a sense of urgency! It’s up to us to live like we’re running out of time – because we are. It’s up to us to tell everyone we can about the love and salvation that Jesus Christ offers. And it’s up to us to continue doing so until the day our Heavenly Father calls us home. Non-stop.
