Deuteronomy 30:15-20; Psalm 119:1-8 I Corinthians 3:1-9; Matthew 5:21-37
The Rev. Drew Brislin
Whenever I think back on my experiences in scouting, I am inevitably drawn back to the many friendships made during those formative years of my youth. Those friendships were forged in the many communal activities in which we participated which included though not limited to, the many camping and hiking trips and also through participation in the larger gatherings of scout troops such as camporees. Camporees were especially fun events as all the troops in the Selma area gathered at Dallas Lake for camping, competition and community. Some of the hallmark skills one develops in scouting revolve around activities such as fire building, orienteering and knot tying and lashing skills. When I was early in my scouting career, I particularly loved the fire building competition in which we raced to see who could build a flame big enough to split strings tied between to sticks. However, there was also an orienteering competition that required the use of a compass and navigational markings to guide you through a course and reach a destination. Lastly the knot tying and lashing competition required us to assemble some structure such as a bridge or tower to accomplish various tasks such as crossing creek or reaching some height. While performing these various tasks and engaging in competition was fun what made it especially memorable was doing them with my patrol. If you are not familiar with the structure of a boy scout troop, they are or were typically divided into patrols with names such as bear, eagle, wolf etc. Younger scouts develop some of their earliest leadership skills as a patrol leader or assistant patrol leader. Patrol leadership works to assign different roles to those who will be participating in the various competitions so as to help each patrol be the best competitor that it can be. The various patrols make up the troop which is led by the Senior and Assistant Senior Patrol Leader and then in my troop if you had attained the rank of Eagle Scout and served as senior patrol leader then you served in the Leadership Corp. This was a group of older scouts that were available to help guide the younger patrol leaders. The development of leadership skills is core to the identity of scouting and was and integral part of my life growing up. That’s the thing about leadership skills though is that they must be cultivated in the context of a community. Leadership is not exercised in isolation.
As we continue reading Matthew’s account of the Sermon on the Mount, we hear yet another portion of Jesus’ teaching focused on community. A teaching focused on instructing us about how we are to be in relationship with each other. In our Gospel reading this morning we hear four of the six antitheses’ statements from the Sermon on the Mount. These statements are easily identifiable as they are the ones that begin ‘You have heard that it was said’ or something similar. Antitheses is defined as the direct opposite and these statements draw this name because it seems as though Jesus is offering teachings that come into direct conflict with the law. This seems rather dubious though as Jesus tells us that he came to fulfill the law, which he could hardly claim if he was seeking to contradict it. It is His fulfillment of the law though is summed up in His commands to us to love God with all our heart and soul and to love one another as he has loved us. So, what exactly is Jesus trying to get across this morning? I think we need to be careful not to get caught up in the weeds. Some have suggested he is using hyperbole to get a point across. Others suggest that he is interpreting the Old Testament teaching through an eschatological lens or to say looking at how the law should be interpreted upon the arrival of the Kingdom of Heaven. Still others think that increased fractiousness among the peoples is the result of broken relationships that he is trying to help rectify that brokenness. What is important to know though is that the Sermon on the Mount is an instruction manual for building community. It is not good for us to be alone. We are made in God’s image and therefore made for relationship. We are encouraged to cultivate compassion, and this can only be accomplished in community. This word community is at the heart of the word communion, that sacrament that we will engage shortly in which we seek unity with God and one another. If we are to find this unity, we must recognize the gifts and offerings of everyone and accept them joyfully. We must be willing to approach the altar shoulder to shoulder with no malice in our heart. With an acknowledgement that we all fall short of Jesus’ ideals yet in offering our gifts and our faults on God’s altar we find a great place to start afresh in our struggle to create a more perfect community. A community that looks more like the Kingdom of Heaven than before we arrived.
It is these ideals of building community that are foundational to Scouting. Community is embodied in the Scout Oath. Please if you are a scout or have been a scout, I invite you to stand and join me in reciting the oath this morning. “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.” It is this oath and the Scout Law which reads: A scout is trustworthy, loyal, helpful, friendly, courteous, kind, obedient, cheerful, thrifty, brave, clean and reverent. That provide the structure for this community of scouts. These guidelines teach Scouts how-to live-in community with one another and how to treat each other. These ideals continue to influence me even today. This oath and guiding principals found in the Scout Law are not meant to constrict an individual or give them a rigid structure but quite the opposite. They are freeing in that they help us to forge community that will support us and that we support. Scouting is about realizing that we do not have to do things alone. I think Jesus is reminding us of this morning that we do not have to do things alone and that we are called to serve each other and those on the margins. We as Christians too do not have to do things alone. We have our church family; we have our diocesan family as Episcopalians to rely on. We have each other and we are reminded of the Great Cloud of Witnesses each time we approach the altar that they are walking with us step by step along the way. We don’t always get this journey right but when we come seeking reconciliation, when we come seeking restoration of relationship, then I think we are getting just a little bit closer to building the Kingdom of Heaven here on Earth. That is what Jesus calls us to do. That is what we pray in the Lord’s Prayer. That is living into what Jesus commanded us to do.