”Is this it?” This question is often asked. Many a Christian reading the New Testament learns very clearly that the Church of Jesus Christ is the ”bride of Christ” and the “fullness of him who fills all things.” Then, you can walk into any church on any Sunday morning, and say “Is this it?” The answer is Yes.
The Church is a work in progress, but a glorious work in progress. What we will be is greater than what we are, but we are greater than what we were. We are sainted sinners, being both depraved and loved. Being the Church of Jesus Christ is about becoming as well. We are already in Christ by his power displayed through faith by the Spirit. But we are also not yet what we shall be in Christ. This is what Baptism communicates as a sacrament. We are in Him, but we are becoming Him as well.
I often think of Shakespeare’s Henry the V Act 4 Scene 3 on this topic. At Agincourt, Harry the King inspires his exhausted troops who are outnumbered 5 to 1 to action. He does this with the great St. Crispin’s Day speech. In this speech, he calls his troops his Brothers. For a peasant Englishman to be called a brother of the King is radically generous. But Henry V tells them that this Battle of Agincourt will “gentle” their station or condition in life. They become a Band of Brothers because they fight together. He says all of this before the battle, before the glory. Now we, in the future, see that those soldiers do share in King Harry’s glory, but it was only through the battle, through the fight that they share in that glory.
We, here at New Life, are ordinary. We do not live up to the titles given to us by Christ. This is why we can always be guilty of hypocrisy, but we share in a glory. It is the glory of the one who conquered Death and gives Life to our dying bodies. This glory is extraordinary. It shines through the battle as we fight together against the Darkness and Death that live in our hearts and in our world. Through that glory, we are becoming extra-ordinary. We few, We happy few, We band of brothers.
Enjoy the speech from Henry V (Full Script of scene)
~ Jerry Fourroux
Filed under: Christian Living, Systematic Theology
