Bring Me Men: A Sermon preached on Scout Sunday, February 7, 2010

In 1894, American folk poet Sam Walter Foss penned a poem called “The Coming American”, and the first stanza goes like this:

Bring me men to match my mountains;
Bring me men to match my plains,
Men with empires in their purpose,
And new eras in their brains.
Bring me men to match my prairies,
Men to match my inland seas,
Men whose thought shall pave a highway
Up to ampler destinies;
Pioneers to clear Thought’s marshlands,
And to cleanse old Error’s fen.
Bring me men to match my mountains,
Bring me men.

Although you may not know where it came from, you may know that for forty years the closing phrase of this poem graced the arch leading from the parade ground to the Cadet quarters at the U.S. Air Force Academy. The poem is symbolic of the age at the beginning of the 20th century, a time when the people of this nation felt that God was calling them to their destiny. The same era that produced this poem saw a resurgence of use of the phrase “manifest destiny”. And this is the era that shaped the lives of the men who came together 100 years ago to form the Boy Scouts of America.

These men were a very diverse group: Ernest Thompson Seton, writer, artist and naturalist; Dr. James E. West, lawyer and civil servant; Daniel Carter Beard, engineer, surveyor and author; Edgar M. Robinson, YMCA director and executive ; Colin H. Livingstone, railroad executive; and William D. Boyce, newspaper man, magazine publisher, and explorer. All of these men shared a common vision: a program to help boys develop their character, mind, and body and become young men who would be the kind of leaders that America needed.

You’ve probably heard the story of how Chicago newspaperman William Boyce, lost in the fog in London, was aided by a young man who refused his tip, telling him that he was merely doing his duty as a Boy Scout. Boyce consulted with the leadership of the Scouting movement in Britain, and four months after his return to the Untied States, he founded the Boy Scouts of America. But many folks are not aware that when they were incorporated on February 8, 1910, the Boy Scouts of America drew together a variety of scouting-type organizations already in existence. Ernest Thompson Seton, founder of an outdoor-activity group for boys called the Woodcraft Indians, merged them with the BSA and became the first Chief Scout. His wife Grace was an early organizer of the Camp Fire Girls. Daniel Carter Beard folded in his outdoor youth group, the Sons of Daniel Boone, and became a National Scout Commissioner, a position he held for thirty years; he also helped his sisters organize the Camp Fire Girls. Before 1910 the YMCA had a variety of scouting groups but recognizing that the movement needed a much stronger focus than the decentralized nature of the YMCA could provide, they threw their support wholeheartedly behind the fledgling BSA. In June, 1910, the first national headquarters for the Boy Scouts was opened in a YMCA office in New York City, and the first Chief Scout Executive was YMCA executive Edgar M. Robinson. And now, 100 years later we recognize the enormous contribution these men have made to our society in creating and shaping the Boy Scouts of America.

I would be remiss in recognizing the 100th Anniversary of the Boy Scouts without also recognizing the the centennial celebration of Camp Fire USA as well. In 1910 as the young women of Thetford, Vermont, watched their brothers, friends, and schoolmates—all Boy Scouts—practice their parts for the community’s 150th anniversary celebration, they wanted to know why there was not Scouting for girls as well. Pageant organizer William Chauncey Langdon promised the girls that they would also have an organized role in the pageant. He consulted with Charlotte Alien Farnsworth, preceptress of Horace Mann School, and together they approached YMCA executive Dr. Luther Halsey Gulick and his wife Charlotte about creating a national organization for girls. The Gulicks pitched the idea to their friends, among them G. Stanley Hall, Ernest Thompson Seton, and James West, executive secretary of the Boy Scouts. With help from the Gulicks, William Langdon named his new organization of Thetford girls the Camp Fire Girls.

As we celebrate the organization of the Boy Scouts and Camp Fire we see in our reading from Luke [Luke 5:1-11], Jesus going through the throes of organizing a new movement as well. He knew who he could count on when the crowd pressed him too hard, and when he asked this man Simon and his partners to help him out, they were there for him. Now as read the scripture over I began to ponder: when Jesus “sat down and taught the crowds from the boat,” what did he say to them? In many similar circumstances someone chose to record his words, but there is no “Sermon from the Boat”. Kind of a shame really, but I guess the point of the story is a little different anyway. After finishing up, Jesus told the fishermen, “Hey, you should do a little more fishing”. Before he asked them to leave their nets, Jesus wanted to show them in a rather concrete way what was in store for them. So he turned a boatload of fish into a parable. And they left their nets and followed him.

Why? They had a vision of a better way of living. Did they know what Jesus would do? Could they foresee a bloody death on a cross? No. And who would have suspected that a “simple fisherman” would be the rock on which Christ would build his church? Jesus took these fishermen and tapped their unused potential. He started with a big haul of fish and moved them to play a role in the salvation of mankind. They heard his words, they saw his power and knew that what he was doing would make a difference in the lives of those he touched. They had a vision of making a difference in the lives of others.

A vision of making a difference in the lives of others motivated the founders of Scouting and Camp Fire as well. In 100 years they have touched the lives of millions and tapped who knows how much unused potential. I've mentioned before the simple plastic acorn I wear on my Scout neckerchief, and that it is one of my most treasured possessions. I earned it in a Scout leadership training course, the course that showed me that I had the leadership potential, the course that gave me the confidence to go to the U.S. Naval Academy. Would that potential have been tapped anyway? I don’t have to have an answer because I had Scouting there to make sure it happened.

Like the apostles, the founders had a vision and like any mortal, could not see what their vision would lead to. Over 112 million young men and women have been youth members of the Boy Scouts of America, and millions more youth have been members of Camp Fire. Over that 100 years both programs have changed and grown with the times. Camp Fire Girls went coed in 1975 and in 2001 changed the name to Camp Fire USA. The Camp Fire Girls’ Bluebirds? They’re now called Starflight. Boy Scouting’s Explorers? As most of us knew them, they’re now called Venturers—and they’re coed as well. But what has never changed is the desired outcome. Camp Fire USA still builds caring, confident youth and future leaders. The Boy Scouts of America still seek to provide character development, citizenship training, and physical & mental fitness.

And just as “I will make you fishers of men” has changed to “from now on you will be catching people,” the words “Bring me men” no longer grace the archway in Colorado Springs. But the goal is still the same, and the words of Sam Walter Foss’ poem are as true today as ever: we will always need those “whose thought shall pave a highway up to ampler destinies; pioneers to clear Thought’s marshlands, and to cleanse old Error’s fen.” The terms change, programs evolve, but the goals remain the same: to equip our youth to be those whose “thought shall pave a highway up to ampler destinies.” The Boy Scouts of America are not perfect and as a chartering organization we must work for change to ensure that every young person will have the opportunity to share in the benefits of Scouting—that’s our job. But all of our youth-serving organizations continue to work to make a difference, one youth at a time, and Wesley is proud to have been a part of that for the last 50 years though our chartering of Troop 100.

And those fishermen, the ones who who will catch people? Let’s not forget them! Nearly 2000 years later, that’s us. Jesus still calls us to move to the deeper water and drop our nets.

Posted by trygstad | Category: Scouts | 07:49 PM