Hindsight, Insight, Foresight
The Importance of History
Scriptures: Proverbs 30:18-19a; Deuteronomy 4:7-10; 6:5-12
Solomon said, “There are three things which are too wonderful for me, four which I do not understand: the way of an eagle in the sky…..” (Proverbs 30:18-19a) Eagles have excellent eyesight and the frontal setting of their eyes gives them excellent binocular vision as well as peripheral vision. Eagles can turn their heads almost 270 degrees while sitting or flying and since their eyes are angled 30 degrees away from the midline of the face, they have a field of vision of 340 degrees, very close to seeing all around. I want you to think about what this means for the eagle. Eagles have no predators that threaten them other than man. Because of their size, strength and ability to see almost all around them, it is impossible for another animal to attack it without being seen. One more fact about the eagle, eagles are opportunistic. Eagles will see another raptor kill a fish, wait for it to return to its nest and then swoop in and take the fish for itself. In the truest sense of the words, eagles have hindsight (it can see all around its environment and understand what is happening); insight (its ability within to see an opportunity and act on it); and foresight (it can see far into the distance physically.) As you listen to this message this morning, remember the eagle.
The title of my message this morning is “Hindsight, Insight, Foresight: The Importance of History.” This message is part of our celebration of Black History Month. In the United States of America, February is the month when we celebrate Black History. This event originally began as Negro History Week in 1926 and took place during the second week of February as it coincided with the birthdates of Frederick Douglass and Abraham Lincoln. In 1976, the bicentennial of the United States, President Gerald R. Ford expanded the week into a full month. In doing so he said the country needed to “seize the opportunity to honor the too-often neglected accomplishments of black Americans in every area of endeavor throughout history.” While Black History Month has been criticized by both black people and people of other races for its unfairness in devoting an entire month to a single group of people, there are lessons to be learned from remembering our history, especially as it relates to our faith in God. During this celebratory month we have the opportunity to reflect on our rich history and remember the price paid by others for us to have the privileges that we have.
Celebrating this month gives us the opportunity to remember the best of our history and culture while remembering that it is OUR history. This month I want you to really take some time and think about what we have and how we got it. Talk to some older folks and listen as they tell you what was available to them sixty years ago and what they experienced “back then.” When you hear and understand their stories you can hopefully appreciate more what we have today. As I said, we have a history and it cannot be remembered if we do not talk about it. So this morning we are going to examine hindsight, insight and foresight and how our understanding of history impacts how we live today and tomorrow.
Let’s review the definitions of hindsight, insight and foresight. Hindsight is “the ability to understand a situation or event after it has happened or developed.” It’s our ability to remember what has happened previously which gives us the opportunity to learn from those past experiences. An example of this is someone learning from a past mistake. They experience the failure, look back on it and learn from it. The process and learning from past experiences give us what we call insight. Insight is discernment; “the ability to see clearly and intuitively into the nature of a complex person, situation or subject.” Insight actually encompasses both hindsight and foresight. Foresight is “the action of predicting what will happen or what needs to happen in the future.” It’s the ability to see what is coming. Foresight moves us to action and it makes sure we do not get too complacent or comfortable. It demands that we move. Working together, hindsight, insight and foresight allows us to learn from the past, adapt to the present and plan for our future. Think of it like this, a person with no foresight, hindsight or insight goes for a walk in the street. They see a car coming. They stay in the street. The car keeps coming and they remain in the street. The car runs over them. They had no foresight, hindsight or insight which led them to get out of the way of the car. When they get out of the hospital, they decide to go for another walk. This time, however, after getting run over by a car, they learned some things. First they have foresight. They know that cars move on the streets and they should anticipate seeing them. Secondly, they have hindsight as they reflect on getting run over by a car previously and take precautions to ensure it does not happen again. Lastly, they have insight as they decide the best way to go for the walk is to stay on the sidewalk. Now, these three working instantaneously together, keeps the person safe. But let me be clear, there are many people walking on this earth with no sight. These people see the car coming; get run over by the car; forget what it felt like the first time to get run over; and continues to walk in the middle of the street only to be run over again. If we’re not learning from out past we are like this person walking down the middle of the street repeatedly getting run over by cars. Having hindsight, insight and foresight keeps us from constantly getting run over by life’s circumstances. I want to share with you why understanding our history is so important.
Turn to Deuteronomy 4:7-10. “For what great nation is there that has a god so near to it as is the LORD our God whenever we call on Him? Or what great nation is there that has statutes and judgments as righteous as this whole law which I am setting before you today? Only give heed to yourself and keep your soul diligently, so that you do not forget the things which your eyes have seen and they do not depart from your heart all the days of your life; but make them known to your sons and your grandsons. Remember the day you stood before the LORD your God at Horeb, when the LORD said to me, 'Assemble the people to Me, that I may let them hear My words so they may learn to fear Me all the days they live on the earth, and that they may teach their children.” Now turn over to chapter six and let’s begin with verse six.
“You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. These words, which I am commanding you today, shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your sons and shall talk of them when you sit in your house and when you walk by the way and when you lie down and when you rise up. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand and they shall be as frontals on your forehead. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates. Then it shall come about when the LORD your God brings you into the land which He swore to your fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, to give you, great and splendid cities which you did not build, and houses full of all good things which you did not fill, and hewn cisterns which you did not dig, vineyards and olive trees which you did not plant, and you eat and are satisfied, then watch yourself, that you do not forget the LORD who brought you from the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.” (Deuteronomy 6:5-12)
Moses brought the people together to give them the laws of God, with clarity and a conviction that spoke to the hearts of everyone. In chapter four Moses told the people to remember and to teach their children otherwise they would forget. In chapter six he goes a step farther. He tells them to diligently teach their children. That word diligently means to show persistence and hard word work in doing something. In other words, Moses was telling the people to make teaching their kids about everything God had done for them a priority. He told them to talk about what God had done and His laws when they sat in their homes, when they walked down the street, when they went to bed and when they got up. The image that he was painting was that they should always (persistently) be teaching their children and their children’s children about God and everything He had done for them. They were to always be talking about it. Finally he told them that they should write the words on the doorposts of their homes and on their gates. This was to ensure that the words were forever before their eyes.
Now why was this so very important? Why was this constant, persistent teaching of history to their children so important for those who actually experienced it? The answer lies in verses 10-12. It reads, “Then it shall come about when the LORD your God brings you into the land which He swore to your fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, to give you, great and splendid cities which you did not build, and houses full of all good things which you did not fill, and hewn cisterns which you did not dig, vineyards and olive trees which you did not plant, and you eat and are satisfied, then watch yourself, that you do not forget the LORD who brought you from the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.” (Deuteronomy 6:10-12) Moses told the people that they needed to do this so that when they came into a land with beautiful cities that they had not built; with houses full of all things that they had not purchased; with wells they had not dug; with vineyards they had not planted; and when they had eaten and were full they would not forget the Lord who brought them out of Egypt. When they were living the promise Moses did not want them to forget who got them there. He knew the possibility existed that when they came into their promise if they did not remember what God had done for them, they would forget and begin to serve false Gods. Through Moses God wanted the message delivered that they were to never forget what He had done for them. Well, as you know, they did not diligently teach their children and they did forget what God had done for them and they did begin to serve false Gods. Now I do not want you to miss this point I am about to make.
We need to teach our history so that those who are enjoying the fruits of those who went before them understand the price that was paid. You see, there are many of us making good money and we never once picked cotton. We live in nice homes in mixed subdivisions (not on the other side of the railroad tracks as the old people used to say) and we are treated as equals. We do not remember the times when we were not allowed to own our own homes. We can eat at any restaurant that we choose (as long as we are willing to pay for it) and don’t remember the signs that said go to the back door to be served. There are many of us who go shopping and try on all the clothes in the stores and do not remember the times when we were not allowed to try on clothes unless we purchased them first (and when we did purchase them we could not return them.) There are many of us who never vote because we never had to fight for the right to vote. Because it was something already available to us when we reach the appropriate age, its importance was lost on us. There are many of us who approach learning as if learning is a chore because we do not remember a time when blacks were not allowed to learn. There are some of us who to this day dislike other races because we do not remember those of other races who stood and died with us during the Civil Rights movement so that we could have everything we have access to today. And finally, and most important, many of us do not understand how real and important God was to our ancestors. They truly believed!
Everything that I have just shared with you is in our history. But celebrating black history is more than just remembering what happened during the Civil Rights movement. The Civil Rights movement brought to the forefront the struggles experienced by blacks in America because of racism. But, if we do not teach our kids our history, they will never know that Sarah Breedlove (Madam CJ Walker) was said to be the first black woman to be a self-made millionaire (in today’s dollars her estate was worth eight million dollars at the time of her death in 1919.) They will not know of our contributions to the space program as portrayed in the movie “Hidden Figures.” They will not know how Dr. Shirley Jackson paved the way for the touch-tone telephone or how Marie Ban Brittan Brown, a nurse, developed the foundation for our current home security systems. No they will not know any of this information because we are not making them learn the history. We are all enjoying the fruits from the labors of others and just as Moses told the Children of Israel they would do, we are forgetting the people who got us here. And again, what’s really important is that we are forgetting the God our ancestors served with conviction, we believe but not with the same focus, dedication and commitment that our ancestors had.
I know this might be hard for some of you to hear and/or accept, but our understanding of our history is not the responsibility of the teachers in school, it’s our own personal responsibility. Last week I asked you if you understood what it took for a slave who was brought here from Africa to convert to Christianity. Think about it, they came here in bondage, many dying along the way choosing the freedom of death over slavery. What would cause them to believe in the God of their oppressors? What would drive them to attend a worship service after their slave masters forbid them to attend under the threat of severe punishment? I read about one such experience by a former slave named Wash Wilson. He said that when there was a church meeting scheduled for a particular night, the field slaves would sing the song, “Steal Away to Jesus.” Upon hearing this song, all the slaves knew that there would be a church meeting that night. When they arrived at the specified place he said sometimes all they would do was pray and sing all night. These were slaves worshipping the God of their oppressors. Why would they do this?
History records that when enslaved Africans first arrived in America some brought religious traditions with them. (Some were literate Muslims who understood the idea of a “Holy Book.”) The pains of slavery drove many to look for meaning and hope in a new place – the Bible. Even though most slaves could not read, they heard the stories of salvation and retribution as they listened to their masters read from the Bible. Those stories, as you can imagine, spread like wildfire. Since the slaves could not read the Bible for themselves, they turned the stories they heard into songs. These songs were sung in the fields and within the Church teaching the slaves Biblical stories. These songs are known to us as Negro spirituals which are still sung today in Church services. The stories of the Bible were communicated and remembered through music. One additional point I want to make before I summarize this message. You know how we would recite our Mission Statement by having one person lead and everyone else repeat what was said? We also witness this in many worship services in different denominational Churches. This rhetorical pattern comes from our ancestors who were slaves. This is how they taught one another the Bible. The worship leader would read from the Bible during the service and the congregation would repeat what was read. This was how they learned the Word of God and placed it within their hearts. Our history is deep and some of the traditions of our history are still being practiced today and yet our children do not understand why these things are done.
Hindsight, insight, and foresight. If we do not teach our children our history in such a way that they can remember it, they lose the ability to learn from it. If they cannot gather insight from our past they cannot plan for their future. They will arrive at a place of promise; a placed longed for by our ancestors; and not appreciate the place because they never witnessed a time when they couldn’t have whatever they wanted. They will sadly believe it was all about them and that they paved their own way. This is what we are seeing happening today. We have not fully arrived at the promise land spoken of by Dr. King, but we are much farther ahead than those enslaved and brought here against their will.
If you take nothing else with you from this message, please take this. Take some time and think about why our ancestor chose to serve the God of their oppressors. Think about what they suffered through in order to believe in a God that would deliver them. Think about the focus it took for them to learn the stories of the Bible and commit them to memory so that they could encourage themselves. Think about their believing that their suffering would lead to a better day for their children and grand-children. When I think of our ancestors I am reminded of what the writer of the book of Hebrews wrote about those who walked in faith. He said, “All these died in faith, without receiving the promises, but having seen them and having welcomed them from a distance, and having confessed that they were strangers and exiles on the earth. For those who say such things make it clear that they are seeking a country of their own. And indeed if they had been thinking of that country from which they went out, they would have had opportunity to return. But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God; for He has prepared a city for them. ” (Hebrews 11:13-16) All those who came before us died not fully receiving the promise, but they saw them from a distance and believed God. He was not the God of their oppressors, He was their God! Their Deliverer! Their Healer! Their Provider! Their understanding of who God was to them is what we need to be teaching our children so that they never forget what had to happen in order for them to have the freedom that they have today. It cost something for us to be here and if we are not careful, that history and dependence upon God that brought our ancestors through will be lost.
We need to remember our past in order to live in the present and to be able to plan for our future. Remember the eagle - hindsight, insight, and foresight, all working together in unison. Spend some time this month reading about what God has done through people of color across this planet. I think your eyes will be open.
Until next time, “The Lord bless you and keep you. May the Lord make His face shine on you and be gracious to you. May the Lord lift up His countenance on you and give you peace.” (Numbers 6:24-26)
(If you are ever in the Kansas City, KS area, please come and worship with us at New Light Christian Fellowship, 15 N. 14th Street, Kansas City, KS 66102. Our service Sunday worship starts at 9 a.m. and Thursday night Bible study at 7 p.m. Also, for use of our social media, you can find us at newlightchristianfellowship on FB. To get our live stream services, please make sure you “like” and turn on notifications for our page so you can be notified when we are live streaming. We also have a church website and New Light Christian Fellowship YouTube channel for more of our content. We are developing more social media streams so please stand by and we will notify you once those channels are up and running. We look forward to you worshipping with us. May God bless and keep you.)
