One of the greatest speeches in all of literature is the St. Crispin’s Day Speech by William Shakespeare from his play, Henry V. It’s October 25, in the year 1415, and King Henry of England and his men are about to fight the French in what will come to be known as the Battle of Agincourt. Henry’s men are exhausted and sick. They’ve been fighting for months, and they’ve just finished a long and grueling siege of Harfleur castle. As they move across the French countryside trying to find a place to rest the French army discovers them. The English are outnumbered five to one, and the French send a herald to receive their surrender. But rather than surrender to the superior forces, Henry chooses to fight. When Henry’s cousin Westmoreland wishes they had ten thousand more soldiers with them, Henry begins his famous speech. “No,” he says, “if we are to die, we are enough. But if we are to live, the fewer the men the greater share of honor.” He calls the men his “band of brothers,” and says years from now survivors in their old age will gladly bare their scars to show that they were there on St. Crispin’s Day. It’s a rousing, stirring speech, especially when delivered by Kenneth Branagh, in the 1989 movie version of Henry V. On YouTube the speech has well over a million views: And that’s what we have in today’s readings. They are meant to inspire us, to motivate us in this season of Lent. We’re a week and a half into Lent, and we’re trying to overcome not physical enemies like the French, but the ancient enemies sloth, envy, gluttony, greed, lust, anger, and pride, those deadly sins that enslave us. During these forty days we intensify our efforts to overcome sin in our lives, to reconnect with God and with each other. And we may feel exhausted, we may feel outnumbered, we may feel intimidated by the prospect of trying to change our lives, or we may just not want to be bothered. We may just want to be left alone. Like Henry V, we are faced with a choice. Do we surrender to those hostile forces that we struggle with? Do we give in to our vices? The readings of today’s liturgy encourage us to stand firm in our Lenten commitments. Like Shakespeare’s St. Crispin’s Day speech, today’s readings ask, “Who’s with me?” “Who’s willing to stay faithful to God?” And the first answer to that question is Abraham. Abraham trusts in the Lord even though he’s old, even though it seems unbelievable that he and Sarah in their old age could have descendants as numerous as the stars. But God promises that, and even more, saying “I will give you this land.” And when Abraham asks for a sign God performs an ancient covenant ceremony to seal his promise. Abraham brings the sacrificial animals, splits them in two and places the halves opposite each other. Usually at this time in a covenant ceremony, both parties would walk between the dead animals as if to say, “If either of us breaks the covenant, this is what’s going to happen to us.” But in this situation God alone passes between those pieces as if to say to Abraham, “You don’t need to guarantee this, I guarantee it.” God is a God of promises, and a God who keeps his promises. And Abraham trusts and the promise is fulfilled.