2/9/64

Scripture: read Acts 17: 22-28a.

Text: Acts 17: 26a; .... “he made from one every nation of men to live on all the face of the earth.”

There are lots of ways to measure the wealth of a country. We can tabulate the gold reserves. We can calculate the total deposits in banks. We can put a price on all the farms, factories and homes in the nation. We might total up the pay rolls. But the real measure of a nation’s wealth is its people. Their quality, their strength, their determination are the real sources of the country’s power. Thus, our children are the real reserves against which the demands of tomorrow will be matched. Our girls and boys are the coming wealth of tomorrow. If they are godly, if they are wise, if they are trained, if they are responsible, then the land is rich. If not, the country is poor.

It is this point of view that has caused thousands of men and women across the country to volunteer their time and attention and talents to the nurture of children and young people. It is for the building of this kind of wealth that men and women teach church school classes. It is the reason for cheerful leadership of boys in Scouting under the approval, and the environment of, the church.

In our house, while the children were growing, we had one door jam dedicated to a kind of growth chart. Every so often one of them would stand straight beside that door jam while someone else would get a yard stick or ruler, put it level across the youngster’s head, and mark his latest height on the wood work.

Watching physical growth is exciting enough, and you can hardly believe how fast some kids grow! But parents look for other kinds of growth as well. They listen to the conversation of children, they watch them at play, they observe their drawing or whatever else the kids do. They are interested in the school work and how well the arithmetic goes. They pay special attention to how the kids behave with others. They are concerned to have them in church and church school. They weigh their children’s ambitions and hopes and give encouragement where it may help.

Nineteen and one-half centuries ago, a boy was growing up in Nazareth. I wonder if there were marks on the wall of the carpenter shop to show his growth. His name was Jesus. There is very little written about his childhood. But Luke does tell us that Jesus “increased in wisdom and in stature, and in favor with God and man.” [Luke 2: 52]. There is a lot packed into those 13 words. They not only describe Jesus; they are a message to us. (1) Adequate food, rest, exercise and hygiene enabled him to grow in strength, and size, and wisdom. (2) Deliberate explorations into religion, and systematic training in prayer and worship must have been part of the home life; for when Jesus was grown he had memorized great portions of the Scriptures and had a splendid understanding of religious truth. (3) Careful moral training enabled him to increase in favor with man --- with other people. The whole range of his possibilities was directed in growth. His mother contributed to it; Joseph contributed to it; friends and neighbors, and teachers contributed to it. And God himself blessed it.

In a way, parents, the church and leaders of Scouting are engaged in this enterprise of healthy growth for young people. We are all interested in the building of men through all of the assets of boyhood. What can we do to encourage a boy to be trustworthy, loyal, helpful, friendly, courteous, kind, obedient, cheerful, thrifty, brave, clean, and reverent? It was an important day when an American man traveling in England discovered Scouting through the kindness of a boy who helped him to find his way in a London fog. This man was so deeply impressed by what Scouting had developed in that boy that he decided, right away, that the United States of America needed scouting too.

It did not take long to find others, when he got back home, who would become interested. And so the Boy Scouts of America became incorporated in 1910 and a federal charter was granted in 1916. I believe that the Boy Scouts had been incorporated hardly 6 or 8 months before a troop was started right here in this town! Mr. Guy Nash was interested and excited over news of the movement. He and the Rev. Fred Staff and Mr. T. W. Brazeau became a troop committee; Mr. Nash became the first Scoutmaster; and the troop was chartered in December, 1910 -- not only first in this town, but first in the whole area! It was chartered as “Troop 1, Grand Rapids, Wisconsin,” and was the beginning of what is now Troop 172, Wisconsin Rapids.

For more than 50 years, boys have been learning Scoutcraft in this troop -- as they do in Scout troops all over the nation, and in many other countries as well. For more than half a century, boys have sought the training in this troop which includes the Scout Oath:

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.

For at least 25 years, a quarter of a century, younger boys have learned, in the Cub Pack sponsored by this church, to promise:

To do my best

To do my duty

To God and my country,

To be square and

To obey the Law of the Pack.

From the time a boy enrolls as a Cub Scout at age 8, through his experience as a Boy Scout, and perhaps as an Explorer, to the time he enters the ranks of men who, in their turn, become leaders of Scouts, the Scout learns, repeats, and endeavors to practice the Scout Law:

A Scout is Trustworthy, Loyal, Helpful, Friendly, Courteous, Kind, Obedient, Cheerful, Thrifty, Brave, Clean, and Reverent.

That word “reverent” brings a significance to this day as Scout Sunday. A Scout “is reverent toward God. He is faithful in his religious duties, and respects the convictions of others in matters of custom and religion.” Scouts are attending the churches of their choice today -- most of them in Scout uniform. If they are good Scouts, they make reverence a continuous habit, and they are in their places in their churches regularly throughout the year. Scout Sunday is merely a special reminder of the year-round obligation which the Scout honors. And now I want to go on to something else of which we are reminded by the fact that today is also Race Relations Sunday. The two things are not unrelated.

You notice that the Scout is reverent toward God. And, as Paul said to the people of Athens, God “made from one [blood] every nation of men to live on all the face of the earth.” [Acts 17: 26]. Reverence toward God involves respect for all of His people. Some of this respect is involved when a Scout is helpful, friendly, courteous, and kind. These are not virtues reserved for a few people whom he chooses to like. They involve an attitude toward all people -- to those of his own race and of all other races, to those who speak his language or any other language, to anyone who is friendly or who needs friendliness.

One of the interesting facts about a National Scout Jamboree is that Scouts of many countries, and of almost every race, are found camping there on the same spacious ground. You can see boys and their leaders of Caucasian, Negro, Oriental or Indian origin. But they are all Scouts. We are told that Scouting has been a pioneer in interracial camping. This sets a pace for schools, for community life, and for churches to emulate. Did you look through the list of Cub Packs, Scout Troops and Explorer Posts which was published in last Friday’s Wisconsin Rapids Tribune? If you did, had you noticed that Troop 155 is led by a Scoutmaster whose ancestors are American Indian? I hope that we take a bit of community pride in that fact.

And I hope that we are willing to broaden out, a great deal, a basis for community pride in the matter of race relations. We have seen the coming of baseball players, and their families, to our community in the summer. Some of them are Caucasian and some are obviously Negro. The players are good players, or they would not be included with the team. Presumably their families are good people. I hope that the mental climate of our community is such that all are welcome in matters of housing, of service at refreshment stands, and of attendance at the church of their choice should any of them appear at our worship service.

Scouting ideals should lead us in being helpful, friendly, courteous, kind. But it goes deeper than that. Our theology becomes very stern with us at this point. Paul’s reminder to the Greeks that God “has made from one every nation of men to live on the face of the earth” is a reminder to us of the “oneness” of all mankind. There is a spiritual brotherhood between us all that transcends race and other surface differences.

Many of us learned, early in our lives, the verse from John 3: 16 that reads: “For God so loved the world, that He gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” Whosoever --- surely that means not just me and my family and my friends and my race; it means anyone of any race, in any family. And that kind of loving concern on the part of God the Father, implies some loving concern on the part of His children for each other. Can one imagine Jesus, upon his Cross, looking down over all of us, who watch and wait and pray, and saying: “I give my life for you, but not for you.”

Just how stern our theology can be with us may be better understood when we remind ourselves of the very serious nature of racial problems here in our “land of the free and home of the brave” in 1964. More than 187 years after the signing of the Declaration of Independence, 20 million American citizens -- more than one tenth of the population --- are still struggling for their basic human rights. They are not struggling for special privileges. They are struggling to obtain those fundamental rights that have to be taken for granted, without exception, in a democratic society. One hundred and eighty seven years is a long time to wait for basic rights. Some progress was made a hundred years ago, with the emancipation proclamation. But it was not nearly enough!

Would we white Caucasians wait that long? Probably we do not have that kind of patience. At any rate, something has to happen, now. The white man does not have the initiative. The initiative is being taken by the Negro who is running out of patience. He is not willing to wait indefinitely. He is becoming insistent. Thus far, he is not much disposed toward violence, even when violence is visited upon him. But he is insistent.

Probably many of us have read some words by Martin Luther King about how it feels to be treated as a Negro. Suppose we try, in imagination, to trade places with King, or any other person of black color. Suppose you and I lived where we were in the minority and longed for a freedom that the majority denied us. Suppose you watched hate-filled Negro policemen curse, kick, and brutalize your white brothers and sisters. Suppose you saw the vast majority of your white families bound in a cage of poverty in the midst of an affluent society. Suppose you took a cross country trip and had to sleep in the uncomfortable corners of your automobile because you could not be accepted at any motel -- they are reserved for black only. Suppose you were always called “boy” and your wife or mother was never given the respected title of “Miss” or “Mrs.” Suppose you had to explain to your little six-year-old daughter that she could not go to the amusement park that was advertised on television because it is closed to white people. Suppose the only reason you could not buy a house you could afford, in a neighborhood where you would like to raise your family, was the fact that your skin was white. Suppose that you, or I, with all of that backlog of frustration, were advised by our well-meaning, comfortable, black friends to “wait;” “be patient.” Could we wait and be patient 187 years after the foundations of liberty had been laid?

Well, this is the frame of mind with which we in America have to deal now. It is new; it is different from that of 25 or even 10 years ago. By sheer force of conviction, and with raw courage, American Negroes have lifted the subject of racial justice from the theoretical and philosophical realm to the level of what is immediate, practical and urgent. We are in the middle of a full-scale social revolution, that is, a demand for change. And every American must be aware of it, because it affects all of our lives.

There are people who need a chance at better schooling than they have been able to get. There are people who need a chance to work in jobs at which they are qualified to work. There are people who need a chance to live in houses they are willing to buy or rent and who want to be a part of the responsible community where they live. There are people who want to vote for those who represent their welfare in state and national government. Because of their racial origin, most of them have had inferior schooling, and some of them very little of that. Because of color alone, many of them have been denied consideration for jobs. Because of their race, most of them have had to live in quarters that are crowded and far poorer than the average in our country. In several states they are effectively denied the right to vote and are excluded from the common public facilities that are open to non-Negroes. This can not continue indefinitely in the land of the free. And the whole world is watching to see what Americans are going to do about it.

It concerns us as citizens, whether we live in Wisconsin or in Mississippi; in Wisconsin Rapids or Milwaukee or Birmingham. It concerns us as Christian churchmen. It became a matter of major emphasis at our General Synod meeting last July in Denver. It is discussed in the latest issue of United Church Herald and in other responsible church journals as well as in the newspapers. Our elected representatives have to deal with it in the matter of civil rights legislation, proposed by the executive branch of government and debated and acted upon by the legislative branch. Congressman Laird discusses it in his latest word to constituents at home, with recognition that the program of voter registration must be encouraged in a number of states. People are suffering, and will suffer further, for the right to vote. They merit our understanding.

Christians have a further obligation in our churches. It is a simple matter of Christian fellowship under God. And the churches of the United Church of Christ are being asked to spell out, specifically, their willingness to be open churches in the matter of race.

Our own church constitution, in the article on membership, reads: “Membership of this church shall be open to all persons of Christian faith and character who assent to its covenant and are admitted to membership according to its By-Laws.” I hope that we mean that to be as inclusive as it sounds, and that membership will continue, come whatever may, to be based on Christian character rather than racial origin.

The wealth of the nation is in its people --- all of its people.

We are led today by ideals which find expression in Scouting. But Christians, whether Scouts or non-Scouts, are led by a more demanding ideal. There is only one category that is always applicable to any person by Christian standards. It is: “Son of God.” Our problems of racial justice, difficult and demanding as they are, will have to be solved in the light of this truth.

Amen.

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Delivered in Wisconsin Rapids, February 9, 1964.