Sunday
06/20/21 - Sidney UMC
Sermon Title: “Why Fathers and Scouts Matter!”
Old Testament Scripture: Psalm 9:9-20
New Testament Scripture: 2 Corinthians 6:1-13
Gospel Lesson: Mark 4:35-41
Friends, brothers, and sisters,
welcome once again on this our 4th Sunday after Pentecost, Father’s
Day, and this is our Scout Sunday. Originally our United Methodist Church
Scouting Sunday was scheduled for Sunday February 14th. The Global
COVID-19 Pandemic put that to a stop, however. In rescheduling Scouting Sunday,
it seemed to be a perfect fit for Father’s Day. To be fair, Scouting Sunday
could have also been a perfect fit for Mother’s Day too, as many women are heavily
involved in Scouting.
On this Sunday I would like
honor Scouts both past and present. This includes Girl Scouts, Cub Scouts, and
Boy Scouts. The values of scouting are very synonymous or similar with the
values of the Christian Church. Being a Father, being a good man, as this is
Father’s Day, are values that are synonymous with Scouting and the Christian Church.
In fact, according to www.scouting.org, the Scout Oath, as many of you know all
too well is:
“On my honor I will do my best to do my duty to God and my country and to obey the Scout Law; to help other people at all times; to keep myself physically strong, mentally awake, and morally straight” (https://www.scouting.org/about/faq/question10/).
The
Scout Oath in some ways sounds like something we would say in church, doesn’t it?
As I said, many of the teaching and values of Scouting are synonymous or very
similar with many of the teachings and values of the Christian Church.
Further, as many of you know, the Boy
Scout Law is:
A Scout is:
TRUSTWORTHY. Tell the truth
and keep promises. People can depend on you.
LOYAL. Show that you
care about your family, friends, Scout leaders, school, and country.
HELPFUL. Volunteer to help
others without expecting a reward.
FRIENDLY. Be a friend to
everyone, even people who are very different from you.
COURTEOUS. Be polite to
everyone and always use good manners.
KIND. Treat others as
you want to be treated. Never harm or kill any living thing without good
reason.
OBEDIENT. Follow the rules
of your family, school, and pack. Obey the laws of your community and country.
CHEERFUL. Look for the
bright side of life. Cheerfully do tasks that come your way. Try to help others
be happy.
THRIFTY. Work to pay your
own way. Try not to be wasteful. Use time, food, supplies, and natural
resources wisely.
BRAVE. Face difficult
situations even when you feel afraid. Do what you think is right despite what
others might be doing or saying.
CLEAN. Keep your body
and mind fit. Help keep your home and community clean.
REVERENT. Be reverent
toward God. Be faithful in your religious duties. Respect the beliefs of others
(https://www.scouting.org/about/faq/question10/).
When I read this, I hear the words and
the teachings of Jesus Christ, and much of the Christian Bible. So much of the
values of Scouting comes from the Judeo-Christian beliefs and teachings. It is
not a shock then that so many churches partner with so many Scouting organizations.
I have said many times, strong churches mean strong Scouting, and strong
Scouting means strong churches.
While many mothers, women, and girls
are involved in Scouting, today is Father’s Day. Today is the day in the
calendar of our country that celebrates dads and all of the great men in our
lives. Some of us have or had great dads. I have a great dad, and a great stepdad.
Some of you might not have or had a good dad, but hopefully you have or had men
in your life that loved you, taught you, mentored you, and showed you how to live
the values of our faith. These values once again are very synonymous to
Scouting.
I am sure that some of the men here
were in Scouting at some point or were or are a leader in Scouting. When I
arrived at this church about three years ago now, Boy Scout Pack 34 had folded
and not renewed its charter. We are now back and strong than ever, in part due
to the great leadership that we have. To the leaders of Pack 34, and to the
leaders of Boy Scout Troop 99, our church is grateful and thankful for the
sacrifice you are making for your kids and the kids of this community. To the
youth in Pack 34 and Troop 99, this church and myself supports you in Scouting,
and you will always be welcome here at the Sidney UMC.
In our scripture reading for this morning
from Psalm 9 once again, it says in 9:9:
“9 The Lord is a stronghold for the oppressed, a stronghold in times of trouble” (Ps. 9:9, NRSV).
We can turn to God when we struggle,
but we can also turn to each other, and hopefully to churches like this one. I
also sleep better at night knowing that we have more Scouts not less Scouts.
I do not know about you, but our scripture from 2 Corinthians
6:1-13 for this morning, struck a chord with me around Father’s Day. In this
reading, the Apostle Paul in part, talks about struggling, and especially struggling
when the world attacks us and our faith. Once again, the Apostle Paul says in 6:4-8:
“4 but as servants of God we have commended ourselves in every way: through great endurance, in afflictions, hardships, calamities, 5 beatings, imprisonments, riots, labors, sleepless nights, hunger; 6 by purity, knowledge, patience, kindness, holiness of spirit, genuine love, 7 truthful speech, and the power of God; with the weapons of righteousness for the right hand and for the left; 8 in honor and dishonor, in ill repute and good repute” (2 Cor. 6:4-8, NRSV).
The Apostle Paul is of course in this scripture once again talking
about Christians being persecuted and suffering for their faith, and this suffering
has been and is real in different parts of the world, even today. Where this
took me though, is the sacrifices born by many Fathers and the many men that
are or have been in our lives. The sacrifice born by those who do or who have
served in the military and have been through all sorts of hardships. We also have
Scout leaders that give of there time, there talent, and their energy, so that
our kids will grow up into faithful and productive citizens. Many of us can say
our Fathers, our Scout leaders, and other men in our lives sacrificed for us.
They did and do work hard and endure, for us.
A movie that used to be very popular in family is the 1989 Kevin
Costner movie “Field of Dreams”. In this movie, Kevin Costner is a farmer in
Iowa, and he keeps hearing and seeing that he is supposed to build professional
level regulation baseball field on his farm. Well, as you can imagine most
people, including his family, initially, think he has lost his mind.
Kevin Costner then plows under a fair amount of his corn,
and sure enough builds that large and expensive baseball field. Suddenly out of
the farms remaining corn rows, deceased professional baseball players from
decades ago, including Kevin Costner’s father emerge from the remaining corn
rows. All of these men are dead and from heaven, once again, but they return to
play on Kevin Costner’s baseball field on his farm in Iowa.
It turns out that these baseball players are the 1919 Chicago
Black Socks team, with the famous “Shoeless Joe Jackson”. What is interesting
is that Kevin Costner gets to see his father, as a very young man as he appears
back on his farm and on his baseball field. In one scene in fact, Kevin Costner
points out that the young baseball player that he is pointing to is his father.
Kevin Costner then says, “That was my dad, before the world beat him down”.
Now I know that some of you might not have had a great dad,
but many of us do or did. Dads that worked for years at Bendix or Amphenol, or
ACCO, or coached your teams, came to your games, and cheered you on. Father’s
Day is about honoring these great men in our lives for all they have and
continue too due for us. This is my sermon for this morning is called “Why
Fathers and Scouts Matter”!
In our gospel of Mark reading for this morning once again, Jesus
and his disciples get into the boat to go across the Sea of Galilee.
Interestingly enough, Jesus is asleep in the stern of the boat on a cushion,
and as Jesus is sleeping a great windstorm arose. The boat is rocking back and
forth, and it might even capsize, and yet Jesus is sound asleep on a cushion in
the stern of the boat.
Maybe some of you can remember your dad asleep, snoring, in
his recliner, or that bad thunderstorm, and your dad slept right through it. In
this gospel lesson once again though, the disciples did not have faith that God
would see them through this storm on the water. They awoke Jesus all worried
and worked up. Jesus immediately calms the storm and asks them why they were
afraid. “Have you still no faith?” Jesus asks them. They at once we calmed and were
filled with great awe (Mk. 4:35-41, NRSV).
Jesus can transform our hearts and our lives if come to him,
repent of our sins, turn to him, and live for him. Many fathers, grandfathers,
uncles, friends, and other men in our lives have also made such a big
difference. They were and are teaching us to no be afraid, and to have faith. To
know Jesus, is to know peace. To know God is to have hope, and this why we on
this Father’s Day and Scout Sunday, and always should all:
“do
my best to do my duty to God and my country”
On this Father’s Day and this Scout
Sunday, I want to close with something I have read for many years on Scout
Sunday, which while very dated, but is still timeless. Here are some great
Scouting statistics on this Father’s Day:
- “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, Outdoor 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 Thiemann, Bill Gates and not-quite British Scout’s Queen’s Scout – Paul McCartney. The list goes on and on. Scouting makes a difference!” (http://therealtroop555.com/ScoutmasterMinutes/Scouting%20Statistics.pdf)
Friends, brothers, and sisters, this is why “Fathers
and Scouts Matter!” Amen.
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