“Love, Scouting, Blessing”  2-14-10  Luke 6:20-23; 10:25-37  2/14/10

                For the past two years boy scouts in our community have been given an award for saving a life.  But the motto of the scouts is bound to help the whole community- “do a good turn daily.”  That could be what many scouts did yesterday as they went out in the snow to gather food for scouting.  When I was a scout I thought scouting was all about how to survive in the wilderness, how to make a fire, read a compass, tie knots, do first aid.  But looking back on what scouting did for me- is it instilled love in me.  Love for country- I had to pledge every week “I will do my duty to God and my country”; It taught me that love for God wasn’t wrong.  It taught me to love my neighbor- Not only doing a good turn daily, but to “help other people at all times.”   The boy scouts teach love for God, and love for neighbor, and they teach loyalty and faithfulness on Valentine’s Day, that is an important concept. 

            Most of you know the story of the St. Valentine the presbyter.  Apparently there were a number of Christian martyrs named Valentine, but the one associated with love is Valentine the presbyter- or elder who died about 270 A.D.  All we know for sure was they had outlawed Christian marriages, and he sought to marry couples any way, and so he was jailed.  When he tried to convert the Roman emperor, Claudius, he was killed.  Basically, he thought the institution of marriage was worth jail and even death—for marriage means committed love.  Committed love- when human beings are loyal to each other and to God- this is the ideal for Christian society. 
            God is concerned with love for Him.  God wants us to love Him because we are created to love Him.  In many ways, this is the main ingredient missing from our churches.  Without love for God, we are just going through the motions.  Many Christians say they love God, they believe they love God, but their heart is not focused on God.  I was in a  Christian conference not too long ago and the ministers from all over the world in many different denominations were complaining that they have been in churches who refuse to mention Jesus Christ, and some refuse to put a cross up.  We are not a rotary club, or a civitan club, or a society to do good, we are the church of Jesus Christ.  If we had an auto-parts store and we started selling tools, then hardware, then building supplies, then appliances, and all of a sudden people quit coming to us- we should know why without thinking too hard.  We are the church of Christ, and to be ashamed of him is not only a denial of who we are, it is a denial of Him who died for us. You and I are called first to love God.  When Valentine died, it was because he stood up for his belief not because he shrank from it.  
            On Valentine’s Day we think about loving our sweetie- if we have one around, or we think about those we’ve loved in the past- or hope to love in the future.  But our great love is the one that began before we were ever born.  The Bible says, We love because He first loved us.  He made us- we owe Him our lives. Before we were ever born, Jesus died for us.  The scriptures say, “This is love- not that we loved God but that He loved us- and gave himself for our sins.”  Our love is a response to His great love, and there is no other God who deserves our attention, our focus, our lives as the Lord.  In our culture there is so much talk about self and self-esteem, but we are not made to always think highly of ourselves.  The people I know best who are enamored with themselves are not very lovable.  But the people who love others- I want to be around those people.  John Piper said that when we go to the Grand Canyon, or the ocean, or the it is not so that we will have more self-esteem.  It is because we want to experience the majesty- the splendor. We are created to experience more- outside of ourselves- the majesty, holiness, greatness, and the love of God.  We are called to love Him.  How do you know if you love God?  There are all kinds of tests people give- but here’s a simple one.  Would you want to be in heaven if God weren’t there?  If you could have complete happiness, complete health, live forever, would you still want to be there if God wasn’t there?  In American society- we tend to use God to get things.  God wants us not to love things- but to love Him.  Truth is- there is no heaven without God.  God makes heaven wonderful.  It is not that heaven makes God wonderful. 

            We are also called to love our neighbor.  This is where this parable of the Good Samaritan comes in.  The man said, “Who is my neighbor?”, and Jesus started speaking of the Good Samaritan.  In this case the neighbor was of a different country, of a different race, of a different language group;  It was inconvenient to help him- it cost him money;  it cost him time;  for all he knew the robbers may have been hiding behind some rocks- and it could have cost him his own life.  But he helped anyway.  When it snows, there is an opportunity to help your neighbor. You can ask the widow in the neighborhood does she need any food- she may be afraid to drive to the store in this ice.  You can ask speak to your neighbor across the street.
            If Christians stopped loving their God- we have lost who we are.  If we stop loving our neighbor we have lost what we are about. 
            Boy scouts are taught to be reverent- that is to love God.  They are taught to love neighbor- being helpful, friendly, courteous and kind and doing a good turn and deed- and then they are taught something important on top of those key things- being loyal.  I believe we lack love for God, and many of us don’t even know who are neighbors are.  But we also lack loyalty.  When Lord Baden-Powell developed his scout law, he examined the laws of the chivalry of the English knights, the rules of the woodcraft American Indians, and the zulu fighters he had fought.  As a part of this a scout values honor, trustworthiness, loyalty, obedience. 
            We do not value loyalty today as we used to value loyalty in previous generations.  The WWII generation was a loyal group –to country, to God, to their spouses.  Today we change like the commercials on TV.  We move a lot- the average American moves every year and a half.  Half of our marriages don’t last.  Since 1983 the membership in the PCUSA has shrunk by 1 million. The Episcopal church has lost 1.3 million.  The Lutherans lost 1.4 million. The United Church of Christ lost two thirds of its members since 1960.  The Methodists have lost 2 million members.  Even the Baptists lost membership- about 120,000 in the last four years.  I do hope God is a lot more loyal to us than we are to Him.  It seems the trend of our apostasy is first to 1) think we can still be Christians without going to church- so we 2) drop out of church altogether.  And then 3) Teach our children and grandchildren God is not important- or not that important.  I saw a study the other day and the headlines read “Believing in God is not a factor in morality”- I was shocked about this until I read how it defined believing in God.  Believing in God- meant any kind of God at all- Hindu, Muslim, Buddhist as well as Christian.  The second thing it found- and this was in small print at the end of the article- was that those who go to a Christian church regularly- are much more likely to have higher morals than those who don’t.  What this means is just to say you believe in God is not enough.  Jesus said the same thing.  We can fool people, but we can’t fool God.  If we love God we will want to give ourselves to Him and make Him a priority- loving Him, but also loving neighbor. 
            Valentine- could have easily escaped martyrdom- if he had just been quiet and backed down.  If he had shifted loyalties to God and to neighbor. 

            My whole point in this sermon is to remind us of what is crucially important.  Loving God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength- and loving neighbor are not secondary things.  Being loyal to God and to those around us is not unimportant either.  We bless our society and bless our world as we are loyal in our love for God and neighbor.  The scouts and Valentines’ Day are visible reminders of this.

        I can credit boy scouts for my first thoughts about going into the ministry.  I was camping with the scouts at the old Camp Barstow in an adirondak (a three sided shelter).  There were a number of tornadoes that tore through Orangeburg County that night.  Trees were blowing and falling all over.  I told the Lord, "God, if you really exist, if you get me out of this mess- I'll do anything- even become a minister. The next morning we realized two large trees barely missed our shelter.  I have never forgotten that- of course there is a lot more to the story.  But the scouts set the tone by making it okay to be reverent, to love God and neighbor and respect loyalty.