Men of Peace 1910 and Today: Let Us Learn to Follow Jesus and Do Good Work
February 7, 2010
Luke 5: 1-11


Boy Scout Sunday

We live in difficult times, and God through the Prophets told us that these times would come; but God also promised that there would be a time when all wars would cease; a time when swords, of all kinds, would be turned into useful tools for the benefit of all people.

Today we celebrate the 100 years of service which the Boy Scouts of America have given to this country and to its people. The Boy Scout movement was founded by Sir Robert Baden-Powell, who was an instrument of war, but turned his sword into a plowshare as he developed this organization which would teach young men and women how to live in peace and with respect for all those they met.

Baden-Powell, or B-P as he was affectionately called, spent much of his life as cavalry officer in the British Army. He achieved fame at the siege of Mafeking in South Africa where he led the defenders of that city for 217 days.

The young people back home in England heard and read the stories of his defense at Mafking, and when he came home to London, he found, that they wanted to learn all about him, to follow his example, and live the way he had lived. They wanted to learn about the skills he had used to survive and help others survive during the siege. He was a real hero and they wanted to be just like him. B-P listened to these young people and began to form an idea, an idea which would become the Boy Scout and Girl Guide program in England; a program that would soon be established in many other countries around the world.

Robert Baden-Powell was a man of war, a hero, but through his knowledge of survival and military tactics he would establish an organization for boys and girls which would help them grow and develop into young men and women whose knowledge and skills would benefit their country and its people.

Scouting came to America and spread quickly after 1910 through the efforts of men such as William Boyce, a Chicago publisher, who when visiting London on business, became lost one night on the dark city streets. He was helped by a young man in an unfamiliar uniform, which he later learned was one of B-P’s Scouts. He learned of their motto: “Do a good turn daily,” and brought that concept and the skills that Powell was teaching to America.

The Scouting movement has grown and changed in America since 1910, but it has remained unchanged in its purpose, to teach young men and women a code of ethics and high moral standards through the development of knowledge, skills, and attitude; and through a code that would stand by them in difficult times.

War has always and will always threaten world peace. War saddens, scares, and angers us. We fear its consequences and cry for the lives lost. We pray for peace and for safety for the young men and women who strive to return the world to peace. And especially for those who are now expending great effort to maintain the peace in Iraq and Afghanistan. We especially pray for the family of the young men and women who have been killed during these wars.

Through this all it is important to remember John 16: 33, “in this world you will have tribulations, but be of good cheer for I have overcome the world.” And it is important to remember that God will use instruments of war to bring peace that hearts given to God in service will in time become instruments of peace, as did Robert Baden-Powell and many who went before and many others who would follow him. The words of Isaiah promise that peace will reign and that if we are steadfast God will protect us.

If you have a penny in your pocket, I’d like you to take it out and look at it. Look at the face and notice the profile of Abraham Lincoln. Lincoln bore a heavy burden during the war to preserve this country. Lincoln a man of peace was thrust into leadership during the Civil War. Turn the penny over as I told the children you will find the phrase: “In God We Trust”. We believe in God. Our country was based and begun on a trust in God, by people seeking freedom to worship in a church such as this.

Over the years our freedoms have been challenged by war. Some of you may remember this penny (steel) and will remember they were used in 1943 to save the copper for use in machinery during World War II. It still said: “In God We Trust.” After that war another man of war, Dwight D. Eisenhower, became a man of peace. During the early 1960’s John Kennedy another man of peace was threatened by war during the October days of the Cuban Missile crisis. God was there to comfort and encourage.

As we look back at these men and their times in every case the tools of war have become tools of peace. B-P a man of war developed an organization through which many American men have become men of peace. Men like Neil Armstrong, Gerald Ford, and Bill Bradley; who as Scouts attained the high rank of Eagle Scout.

Jesus calls us, as God through Christ called his disciples and these men I have mentioned, to become fishers of people, to teach and lead them; to be examples for the children and those who seek God’s love, comfort, and peace in difficult times; and to be there to lead, guide, and teach when peace comes.

Today we mark 100 years of service as the Boy Scouts celebrate their 100th anniversary. But today we also are reminded that we have been called to serve God and others to become instruments of peace in a world at war. Go from this place today and become an example of Christ in the world, become fishers of people.