Sidney UMC - UMC Scouting Sunday/5th Sunday after the Epiphany - 02/09/2020 - Sermon - “Scouting: Being Salt and Light”

Sunday 02/09/20 - Sidney UMC

Sermon Title:        “Scouting: Being Salt and Light”

Old Testament Scripture: Psalm 112:1-10

                                           

New Testament Scripture: 1 Corinthians 2:1-16

                                                   

Gospel Lesson: Matthew 5:13-20

          Welcome once again on this our Scouting Sunday, and this our Fifth Sunday after the Epiphany. Five Sunday after the Wise Men came to Jesus one way and left changed forever.

          Many churches over the years, used to have both a Girl Scout Sunday and Cub/Boy Scout Sunday. Many churches in recent years however, have gone to having just a Scouting Sunday. On this Sunday therefore, in addition to our normal worship this morning, this service is in part designed to honor our Girl Scouts and our Cub/Boy Scouts. So again, to all Girl Scouts, former Girl Scouts, Girl Scout leaders past and present, Cub Scouts, former Cub Scouts, Boy Scouts, former Boy Scouts, and scout leaders past and present, on behalf of the church, we say welcome! It’s great to have you in worship with us this morning.

          To get right into it, in our reading once again from Psalm 112 for this morning, we are told that it is good to follow and to serve God. It is good to let God lead us. It is good to want to be like God.

          In our reading for this morning, once again, from the Apostle Paul’s first Epistle or letter to the church in Corinth, or the Corinthians, Paul tells us to focus on Christ. We should preach Christ crucified Paul says, focus on Christ, and:

“have the mind of Christ” (1 Cor. 2:16b, NRSV). Love Jesus and be like Jesus.

          So, a scriptural theme in our lectionary scriptures for this morning is to know God, to follow God, to know Christ, to trust Christ, to preach Christ, and to grow in faith in Christ.

          This leads me to our gospel lesson for this morning, which once again is Jesus speaking right after he has given the Sermon on the Mount, or what we would commonly call the “Beatitudes”. After giving this sermon, these “Beatitudes,” Jesus challenges us further to be salt and light. This is where I got my sermon title for this morning, “Scouting: Being Salt and Light”.

          In having been a pastor for eight years now, and in having served five churches, I have seen various Scouting Sundays. It is always a joy for me to honor our young men and women in scouting, and their leaders.

Some might ask, well why is scouting so important? Do we really need Girl Scouts, Cub Scouts, and Boy Scouts? I would argue yes, we do! Well why?

          Here is the simple answer, when we look at the teachings of the Bible and the Christian Church, there is an undeniable overlap with scouting. The morals and the values that we have as Christians, are so intertwined with scouts. In scouts, our young men and women learn how to become exceptional men and women. They learn values, morals, right from wrong, and as a result, is it any shock that often we find Girl Scouts, Cub Scouts, and Boy Scouts operating in church buildings?

          Our Unison Prayer for this morning, includes all the elements of the Boy Scout Law. What are these again:

A Scout is:

• Trustworthy,
• Loyal,
• Helpful,
• Friendly,
• Courteous,
• Kind,
• Obedient,
• Cheerful,
• Thrifty,
• Brave,
• Clean,
• and Reverent (http://usscouts.org/advance/boyscout/bsoathlaw.asp).

Now when I read the Scout Law, I see in it so much of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. The teachings of Jesus coincide so much with that of scouting.

In our call to worship for this morning, we have a Christian Prayer, taken right from the Girl Scout website. You see, these kids and these adults that are working with these kids, are learning and teaching so much of what I teach here every Sunday morning.

So again, to our scouts and to our scout leaders, we are proud of you as a church, we honor the work you are doing, and as a church, we want to help you grow in your faith in Christ and in scouting.

Also, as a side note, I really really like Girl Scout cookies. Melissa and I have bought a fair amount of them this year, and I think at this point I am “cut off” from buying any more. I also like the Cub Scout Popcorn to. The real question is this though, what is better, Girl Scout Cookies or Cub Scout Popcorn? I know I have an opinion on this!

So, every year, many churches like this one take time honor all those in scouting, and all those who lead or have lead in scouting.

In looking more closely at our gospel lesson for this morning once again, we have our reading from Matthew 5:13-20, where once again, I get my sermon title for this morning. Once again, Jesus says in this gospel lesson:

“You are the salt of the earth; but if salt has lost its taste, how can its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything, but is thrown out and trampled under foot. “You are the light of the world. A city built on a hill cannot be hid. No one after lighting a lamp puts it under the bushel basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven” (Mt. 5:13-16, NRSV).

     Salt has long been something that we have used as a preserver, something to dry meet, and something used to add flavor. Salt is pure, simple, and it adds much our lives and our very survival. In the same way, light is the thing that removes darkness. When we are pure like salt and shine the light of our love, then we are making the world better.

     Jesus tells us to be salt and light. He tells us to be pure and to shine the love and the hope that gives us in the world. Scouting in so many ways teaches our kids many of the same things. Love God, be good and loving people, and show the love of Christ and caring to the world.

Jesus concludes our gospel reading from Matthew for this morning, saying:

“Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets; I have come not to abolish but to fulfill. For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth pass away, not one letter, not one stroke of a letter, will pass from the law until all is accomplished. Therefore, whoever breaks one of the least of these commandments, and teaches others to do the same, will be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven” (Mt. 17-20, NRSV).

     Be salt and light, or to say it another way, be the things that this world is lacking. We as Christians and as scouts change the world, because we have been changed, equipped, and bettered, and God will use us to change Sidney and the world.

In closing, to help drive home even further the significance of Girl Scouts, Cub Scout and Boy Scouts to our society and our world, I want to read a couple of things to you. First, I want to read to you a list of famous Girl Scouts, to show you the significance of Girl Scouts. Now there are so many, I am just going to pick two categories. The first category that I will read is former Girl Scouts in business. Here they are:

Bellamy, Carol - Executive Director, UNICEF
Betanzos, Amalia - President/CEO, Wildcat Service Corp
Biggins, Veronica - Vice President, C&S Bank Corp
Chavez-Thompson, Linda - Executive Vice President, AFL-CIO
d'Harnoncourt, Annie - Director, CEO, Philadelphia Museum of Art
Diaz Dennis, Patricia - VP, Gov't Affairs, Sprint, Former FCC Comm
Dole, Elizabeth - Former President, American Red Cross
Falk, Susan - President, Express (clothing retailer)
Fernandez, Lillian - Former Director, Int'l Affairs, Pfizer, Inc
Fields, Debbi - Mrs. Fields Cookies Founder
Heifer, Ricki Tigert - Former Chair, Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.
Juliber, Lois - President, Colgate Palmolive
Katen, Karen - Vice President, Pfizer
Marram, Ellen - Former President, Tropicana
Newkerk, Deborah - President, CEO, Saatchi & Saatchi
Roddick, Anita - Founder of The Body Shop
Yardis, Pam - President, Nat'l Organization of Mgmt. Consultants (https://www.girlscoutsgcnwi.org/en/our-council/famous-formers.html)

          A second category that I picked is former Girl Scouts in the performing arts. Remember these are just some. Here is the list:

Anderson, Melissa Sue - Actress (Little House on the Prairie)
Anderson, Marion- Singer
Arroyo, Martina - Soproano
Ball, Lucille - Comedienne
Bergen, Candace - Actress (Murphy Brown and Boston Legal)
Bergen, Polly - Actress
Black, Shirley Temple - Actress and US Ambassador                                     Breslin, Abigail - Actress                                                                                     Carey, Mariah - Singer                                                                                         Carlisle, Kitty - Actress                                                                                         Carter, Lynda - Actress (Wonder Woman)                                                       Cass, Peggy - Actress                                                                                           Chafee, Susy - Entertainer                                                                                 Crow, Sheryl - Singer-Songwriter                                                                     Danner, Blythe - Actress                                                                                     Davis, Bette - Actress                                                                                           Dee, Sandra - Actress                                                                                         Dion, Celine - Singer                                                                                           Fanning, Dakota - Actress                                                                                   Fisher, Carrie - Actress, Author (Star Wars trilogy)                                         George, Phyllis - Actress                                                                                     Hayes, Helen - Actress                                                                                       Holm, Celeste - Actress                                                                                       Kain, Karen - Prima ballerina                                                                             Kelly, Grace - Actress                                                                                         Lamour, Dorothy - Actress                                                                                 Lewis, Shari - Puppeteer                                                                                     Lucci, Susan - Actress (All my Children)                                                           Merchant, Natalie - Singer                                                                               Norman, Jessye - Opera Singer                                                                         Paltrow, Gwyneth - Actress, Singer, Author                                                     Reynolds, Debbie - Actress                                                                                 Rivera, Chita - Actress                                                                                         Shore, Dinah - Actress                                                                                         Star, Brenda - Singer                                                                                           Stewart, Martha - TV Personality; Martha Stewart Living                             Swift, Taylor - Singer-Songwriter and Actress                                               Thomas, Marlo - Actress                                                                                     Tiegs, Cheryl - Model                                                                                           Turner, Kathleen - Actress (Romancing the Stone, War of the Roses…)  

Tyler Moore, Mary - Actress (Mary Tyler Moore Show)            

Warwick, Dionne – Singer                                      (https://www.girlscoutsgcnwi.org/en/our-council/famous-formers.html)

          So, does Girl Scouting make a difference? Absolutely!

          Now let me read to you some statistics on Cub Scouts and Boy Scouts. These are taken from: (http://therealtroop555.com/ScoutmasterMinutes/Scouting%20Statistics.pdf.) These are a little outdated, but this is what it says:

“For every 100 boys that enter scouts: 30 will drop out the first year. Only rarely will one appear before a juvenile court judge. 12 will be from families that belong to no church, 6 of these will be brought into contact with a church and continue. 3 will become pastors, 4 scouts will reach the rank of Eagle Scout. 45 will serve in the Military. 1 person will use scout skills to save somebody else’s live. 2 will report that they used scout skills to save their own lives. 17 will later serve as adult volunteers 8 will find their future life vocations from scouting 5 will receive church emblems. …. Only 4 out of 100 boys in the USA will become scouts but of the leaders of this nation in business, religion and politics, 3 out of 4 were scouts”.

“Only 4 percent of our nation’s youth were scouts, yet 65% of all college and university graduates were scouts. 26 of 29 of the first Astronauts in NASA’s program were Eagle scouts, and 133 of the 233 Astronauts were scouts at one time. A Nationwide survey showed that: Of Senior Class Presidents 89% were scouts. Of Junior Class Presidents 80% were scouts. Student Council Presidents 85% were scouts. School newspaper editors 88% were scouts. Football Captains 71% were scouts. Basketball captains 64% were scouts. 64% of Air Force Academy graduates were scouts 58% West Point Graduates were scouts. 70% of Annapolis graduates were scouts. 72% Rhodes Scholars were scouts. 85% of FBI Agents were scouts at one time. So, 4 out of 100, make Eagle Scout”.

“So what about the other 94 or 92 scouts who didn’t make it to Eagle. Is it just wasted time? The scouts have “Aims and Methods”. Things found in the Scout Oath and Law, the Patrol Method, Outdoors training, Personal growth, Leadership and So on. Advancement is certainly one of these, but only one. Just being part of the program gives the opportunity to “better and belong”. Sure we know some famous Eagle Scouts like Sam Walton, James Lovell, Hank Aaron, Gerald Ford, John Glenn Ross Perot and Steven Spielberg. But how about some “Not-Quite-Eagles” like John F. Kennedy, Jimmy Stewart, Harrison Ford, Merlin Olson, Richard Gere, Nolan Ryan, Jim Morrison, Joe Theisman, Bill Gates and not-quite British Scout’s Queen’s Scout – Paul McCartney. The list goes on and on. Scouting makes a difference!”

Friends, brothers and sisters, Jesus Christ, our savior, is the light of the world, and he has called us all to be “Salt and Light”. I support scouting, and I support it being in this church, because I believe that it helps our young men and women to learn to be “Salt and Light”. Today we salute all those who were are part of scouting. Amen.