We Few, We Happy Few...

 

Read 2 Corinthians 1

In our last episode…

It’s like watching Batman and Robin. The Caped Crusaders would catch the bad guys during the allotted time, but end up in peril once again at the end of the show.

Paul was delaying his trip to Corinth because he was realizing much success in Asia. Things changed.

They got bad, then worse. We don’t get all the details, but apparently it was more than just the Judaizers opposing Paul and his crew. He noted there was some existential risk. We call that danger.

It was more than they could handle, but not too much for God. In fact, only in these desperate times was God’s presence manifest.

It was sort of like God sending so many of Gideon’s warriors home so that it would be evident that the victory could have come only from God.

It was sort of like God hardening Pharaoh’s heart so that there would be no doubt that the Hebrew people were released from bondage in Egypt, not because of the superior negotiation skills of Moses, but by the mighty acts of God.

Paul noted that only God could have delivered them. So, one day or month or year, Paul and company stopped going from mountaintop experience to mountaintop experience. The next thing they knew they were walking through the valley of the shadow of death.

But they lived to fight and spread the gospel another day. Paul noted that the believers in Asia and those in Corinth and Achaia were like fellow combatants.

They endured pain with each other, and they celebrated victories together.

While the poetry is not there, I grasp the same sentiment and warrior spirit as in the king’s speech in Shakespeare’s Henry V.  Do you remember how he summed it all up? The words will sound familiar.

From this day to the ending of the world,

But we in it shall be rememberèd—

We few, we happy few, we band of brothers;

For he to-day that sheds his blood with me

Shall be my brother; be he ne'er so vile,

This day shall gentle his condition;

And gentlemen in England now a-bed

Shall think themselves accurs'd they were not here,

And hold their manhoods cheap whiles any speaks

That fought with us upon Saint Crispin's day.

I’m not doing a History Channel thing on the Battle of Agincourt, the introduction of the British longbow into fifteenth-century combat, or how few we happy few happened to be.

Paul noted that it was something special to suffer for God, to suffer for the gospel.

Do you remember God telling Ananias that he would show Saul—by this time we are calling him Paul—how much he must suffer for my name.

Paul knew that he would suffer as he took the truth to a world that didn’t want to hear it.

Do you recall how the Beatitudes concluded?

Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness,

    for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

Surely, Tom isn’t going to insert a time of self-flagellation into the worship service or Sunday School.  The one who jump-started the Reformation practiced a little of that and the Cumberland Church is part of the reformed tradition.

I knew I should have gone to that meeting to see what they were up to.

The only form of self-inflicted suffering you will get this morning is to make it through the rest of the sermon.

Understand that if we live the life of a disciple, we will inevitably face persecution and suffering. Paul wrote to the church in Corinth and said, “Let’s come out of this victorious together.”  Close enough.

To live is Christ. To die is gain. You know the words. Paul noted that pressing on doing the work of an evangelist might just be painful, but let’s enjoy it together.

I love seeing other veterans when I cruise, especially my fellow Marines. And when you have been places that most people never go of their own accord, you share something.

You may have been separated by miles or meters, years or decades, allies and enemies, but you chewed the same dirt or are still working the desert sand out of your ears today.

There is a connection that the timid and those governed by comfort will never know. Paul noted that he and the Corinthians were their own sort of band of brothers. Yes, the syntax reflects the masculine but applies to all who have been persecuted for following the Christ.

Those who never endured and emerged victorious over what the world threw at them should hold their manhood cheap.

Enough for the band of brothers bit.  Let’s get to discipleship. This one comes with some assurance. It is delivered in the course of Paul explaining his travel plans, but we are not talking Google Maps and GPS routings.

 But as surely as God is faithful, our message to you is not “Yes” and “No.” For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, who was preached among you by us—by me and Silas and Timothy—was not “Yes” and “No,” but in him it has always been “Yes.” For no matter how many promises God has made, they are “Yes” in Christ. And so through him the “Amen” is spoken by us to the glory of God.  Now it is God who makes both us and you stand firm in Christ. He anointed us, set his seal of ownership on us, and put his Spirit in our hearts as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come.

Ok, there is a little more Band of Brothers in that, but we must extract from this the affirmative. When we ask, how can God fulfill his promises to us in the middle of my mess, we know the answer is in Christ Jesus, not in our own understanding.

So, there is your affirmation. Now, let’s have our dose of discipleship. You have heard this from me before, and probably will again.

The curse of modern Christianity is to acknowledge God, acknowledge Jesus died for our sins, and acknowledge that the Spirit lives within us, and then live unchanged lives because we hold our own understanding in such high esteem.

Knowing that the saints here in this body and in those across the road or the nation are called to put the words of our Master into practice…

Knowing that the saints across the ages, not just in this modern century, are called to put the words of our Master into practice…

Knowing that all of God’s promises are true and will be fulfilled in the name and the work of Christ Jesus…

Knowing all these things…

How can we not be changed? How can we grip our own understanding so tightly? How can we let our fellow warriors—our fellow saints—down by not surrendering it all to Christ Jesus and putting his words into practice?

Let us live as if our very souls believed that every promise is “Yes” in Christ Jesus. We are not in this alone. We have brothers and sisters in this fight with us as we invade a pagan world with the good news.

We are in league with every believer of every century. We are fellow warriors in Christ in every clime and place—couldn’t pass that one up—with every geography, regardless of where the boundaries are now drawn.

Some church bodies engage in a lot of worldly, feel-good activities. Some of you may wish we didn’t have so much scripture and did some feel-good stuff every once in a while.

Not because it feels good, but because it reinforces Paul’s words, I will give you the end of the Shakespeare quote to close. It’s a relevant affirmation.

From this day to the ending of the world,

But we in it shall be rememberèd—

We few, we happy few, we band of brothers;

For he to-day that sheds his blood with me

Shall be my brother; be he ne'er so vile,

This day shall gentle his condition;

And gentlemen in England now a-bed

Shall think themselves accurs'd they were not here,

And hold their manhoods cheap whiles any speaks

That fought with us upon Saint Crispin's day.

In Christ, all of God’s promises are fulfilled.

We are not in this alone.

Imagine one day in eternity, coming up on a young, ruddy-looking man picking out stones from a stream. You say, “What’s up?”  The strapping young man says, “I’m fixin’ to go kill me a giant or two. You comin’?”

We are in this fight together with the saints from all ages, and some of them are excellent warriors.

We face this mean and tumultuous world with our fellow brothers and sisters in Christ across time and geography. We are in good company when the world persecutes us for following Christ.

Enjoy the company of your fellow warriors.

Amen.