Dear Friends in Christ, grace and peace to you from God our Father and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  Amen.

According to Boy Scout tradition, in 1909 the great city of London was in the grip of a dense fog. An American businessman, William D. Boyce, stopped under a street lamp to locate himself. Out of the gloom a boy approached him and asked if he could be of help. “You certainly can,” said Boyce. He told the boy that he wanted to find a certain business office in the center of the city. ‘I’ll take you there,” said the boy. When they got to the destination, the American reached into his pocket for a tip. But the boy stopped him. “No thank you, sir. I am a Scout. I can’t take anything for helping.” Boyce asked, “A Scout? And what might that be?”” And so the boy told the American about himself and his brother Scouts. Boyce became very interested. After finishing his errand, he had the boy take him to the British Scout office. There the boy disappeared.

At the office Boyce met Lord Baden-Powell, the famous British general who had founded the Scouting movement. Boyce was so impressed with what he learned that he decided to bring Scouting home with him to America. And so, on February 8, 1910, in Washington, D.C., Boyce and a group of outstanding men founded the Boy Scouts of America. What happened to the boy? No one knows. He was never heard of again. In 1926 at the British Scout Training Center at Gilwell Park, England, a statue of a buffalo was erected in honor of this “Unknown Scout” with a plaque that reads, “To the Unknown Scout Whose Faithfulness in the Performance of the Daily Good turn Brought the Scout Movement to the United States of America.”

Now as a young 11 year-old Tenderfoot Scout, I quickly learned the Scout Motto’s two words, “Be Prepared,” It was to be a standard of being prepared for anything that came along. Then there were the twelve words, known as the Twelve Points of the Scout Law: “A Scout is Trustworthy, Loyal, Helpful, Friendly, Courteous, Kind, Obedient, Cheerful, Thrifty, Brave, Clean and Reverent.”  They were the qualities for living that made life rich and meaningful.  But surprisingly, the most overlooked words were the five words of the Scout Slogan embodied in the statue of the Unknown Scout. “Do a Good Turn Daily.” Those five little words demanded a conscientious action, encouraging a Scout to perform a kind act or helpful deed every single day, without any thought of reward or honor.  Even as Tenderfoot Scout, I knew that wasn’t how the world works, but what a difference such a selfless, gracious act could make.  If 1 million Scouts simply performed one good deed every 24 hours, 365 days a year, that would means. 365 million deeds.  Imagine, if the church members in our nation dared to do the same, the world truly would be turned upside down.

My friends, this morning’s reading from St. Luke’s gospel may not have the same familiar ring as the Scout Slogan “Do a Good Turn Daily,” but let me assure you, the message Jesus was teaching has the same power and potential. Doing a Good Turn is more than good manners and polite niceties.  Doing a Good Turn is an intentional act of kindness that not only makes you feel good in doing it, but it gives joy and strength and hope to the receiver.  That is the heart of Jesus’ teaching. So let us turn now to the second portion of the Jesus’ Sermon on the Plain and meditate on his selfless call to help others.

Last week, we read in St. Luke’s gospel that people from all Judea, Jerusalem, and the district of Tyre and Sidon came to hear Jesus preach and to be healed of their diseases. The crowds included Jews and God-fearers.   They came from all social and economic backgrounds, and from all different political leanings.  This was reflected in Jesus’ twelve apostles. There were educated civil servants among them as well fishermen and common tradesmen.  Yes, they were as diverse in their backgrounds, as the places from which they came, but they believed there was something in Jesus’ teaching that united them.

Jesus began by reviewing the common way people treated one another in the ancient world. “If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them.  If you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners do the same.  If you lend to those from whom you hope to receive, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, to receive as much again.”  From that introduction, Jesus’ followers, understood that he was challenging them to more than merely embracing the Golden Rule, do unto other as you would have them do unto you.  He was challenging them with a new thought, Do a Good Turn Daily to those who cannot repay you. “Love your enemies, do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return. Your reward will be great, and you will be children of the Most High; for he is kind to the ungrateful and the wicked.  Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.”

During a British conference on comparative religions, theologians from around the world debated the question, “What if any belief is truly unique to the Christian faith?”  They began eliminating such possibilities as a code of ethics and a reverence for life.  The debate continued for a while, until C.S. Lewis, the Christian apologist and author of the Tales of Narnia, and the Screwtape Letters walked into the room. “What’s the rumpus about?” he asked, and he heard in reply that his colleagues were discussing Christianity’s unique characteristic among the world religions.  C. S. Lewis answered, “Oh, that’s easy.  It’s grace.”  God’s free gift of mercy.

As Christians, we love the notion of God’s amazing grace. Yes, we long for God’s word of forgiveness to mend our broken lives, and to wipe away the stain of our sin.  We want his mercy to set us back firmly on the path of righteousness in relationship to our friends and family. But it is always harder to extend that same measure of mercy to others- especially to those whom we believe truly do need to repent and to change first. No doubt, you know men and women who always have reasons and excuses for the things they do, who have reasons why every mistake they have ever made was someone else’s fault.  They spend half of their lives blaming their parents, and the other half blaming their children. Granted, they may not have created the whole situation in which they find themselves, but they were certainly part of the cause.  That is where the art and challenge of mercy truly begins and where a good turn daily may be an act of amazing grace.

Of course, there is a danger in exaggerating and distorting Jesus’ love for the enemy. “Bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you.”  I have heard these phrases used by church leaders to keep people in abusive relations.  It has been used as a political doctrine for keeping ethnic races and classes in their place.  It has even been used as the basis for a simplistic theology of non-resistance. Give up all concern for your own justice and life. If they hit you on one cheek, turn the other and let them batter you there too.  Certainly, Jesus could not have meant these things when he was speaking of love for your enemy, after all he was speaking to a crowd who were seeking a common unity and way of life for the good of all, including their neighbors and themselves.

What is so troubling and challenging about Jesus’ teaching, however,  is that he dares to say that your enemies, deserve to hear the good news of God’s mercy and love as much as you do. This is what is so truly unique about the merciful love present in the Christian faith.  Your enemies may never treat you kindly in return, Christ’s didn’t. They betrayed him and denied him. Your enemies may never respond positively to you. Christ’s didn’t. They beat him and crucified him Your enemies may hate you.  Christ’s did. But still he prayed on the cross. “Father. Forgive them for they know not what they do.”  My friends, no one can remain faithful to the Savior who poured out his love in great measure, pressed down, shaken together, running into your lap for your salvation, and dare to say that I will not do a good turn for my neighbor. “For the measure you give will the measure you get back.”

During the Second World War a church in Strasburg, Germany, was totally destroyed; but a statue of Christ which stood by the altar was almost unharmed.  Only the hands of the statue were missing.  When the church was rebuilt, a famous sculptor offered to make new hands; but after considering the matter, the members of the congregation decided to let the statue stand as it was-without hands.  For they said, “Christ has no hands but our hands to do his work on earth.  If we don’t feed the hungry, give drink to the thirst, entertain the stranger, visit the imprisoned, and clothe the naked, who will?”

Christ’s hands were the most amazing hands of all time. They performed miracles and brought the dead to life. His hands broke bread and fish and fed thousands. His hands healed the sick and calmed the seas. And now we are to be his amazing hands in the world.  Yes, you and I, as Christ’s disciples, are called to do a good turn daily- and what a difference that can make. Amen.

May the peace of God which passes all understanding keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.  Amen.