Be Prepared for the Challenges of the Way of the Cross - Sermon for the Second Sunday of Lent (February 25, 2024)

Scripture Readings: Genesis 17:1–7, 15–16 | Psalm 22:23–31 | Romans 4:13–25 | Mark 8:31–38

NOTE: This Sunday, St. Luke's are blessed to welcome the Gondola Point Beavers, Cubs, and Scouts.
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We’ve all very glad to welcome our guests from the Gondola Point Beavers, Cubs, and Scouts with us this morning, to mark the birthday of Lord Baden-Powell, the founder of the Scouting movement, which took place this past Thursday, on February 22.
 
Does anyone happen to know the year Lord Baden-Powell was born? 1857. That’s 167 years ago! That’s almost as old as St. Luke’s Church… and 10 years before Confederation, and the birth of our Country, Canada. And yet, Lord Baden-Powell’s legacy is still with us, and generations of Beavers, Cubs, Scouts, and Ventures, have helped make a positive impact on our world.
 
Now a long time ago, I was in Beavers, Cubs, and Scouts myself, and those groups have blessed me with many great memories with my friends… playing games, exploring nature, helping others in our community, learning new skills. Looking back now, it was all a very good experience for me. I won’t say it was always easy, of course. But even with the challenges, it was all worth it.
 
Challenge is actually the Venture Motto, isn’t it?
I never made it far enough to become a Venture, but I think it’s a great motto for young people… and for all of us. Not to just sit back and take it easy, but to push ourselves and explore what the world around us has in store.
 
Can anyone tell me what the Beavers Motto is? Sharing Sharing Sharing.
And the Cubs Motto? Do Your Best.
And the Scouts Motto? Be Prepared.
 
These are all really good mottos. Good words to help you remember some things that really do matter in life. And its good to remind yourselves of these things over and over again… because sometimes, even the most important things in life can be easy to forget.
 
I want to share a story with you this morning about a time that I forgot the Scout motto… which is? Right: Be Prepared. And I hope this is a good story to help you to remember what not to do.
 
I grew up in Northern Ontario, and many years after I was in Scouts… but still before most of you were born… some friends and I decided to go on a hike in the Sleeping Giant Provincial Park, which is on Lake Superior. Although I had lived near this Park for many years, I had never explored these trails for myself, and so I was relying on one of my friends who had gone this way before.
 
It was Springtime, and the weather was pretty warm (at least in the sun), and so I decided to wear my favourite footwear: my hiking sandals.
 
I thought they would be perfect for this hike… but I was wrong. It turns out, I was not at all prepared for the trails that lay ahead of us.  
 
For the first few hours, everything was great. The trails were clear, the weather was lovely, and the park itself was beautiful. But soon we noticed there was snow starting to cover the path… not much at first… so we kept on going.
 
But the further we went, the deeper the snow got… and the colder and wetter my feet got too.
Soon, I felt really uncomfortable… and more than a little embarrassed by my choice of footwear… but I tried to make the best of it. I put socks on, and then wrapped them in plastic bags to try to keep them dry, which helped a little, but it still wasn’t great. But even then, my friends and I didn’t want to turn back yet, so we just kept going.
 
Soon, we realized that we had taken a wrong turn at some point. We weren’t completely lost, but we weren’t heading in the direction we wanted to go anymore. And still we kept going forward.  
 
And then the snow on the trail really started to get deep… and the path was getting more and more dangerous. And even though some of my friends wanted to keep going, at that point I knew it was time to make the choice to turn around and head back. Even if we all had good hiking shoes, we were not prepared for this surprisingly challenging hike. And so we turned back and went home again… disappointed, embarrassed, but a bit wiser than we were before.
 
There are of course many challenging moments and paths that we will all have to face in life from time to time.
 
Sometimes we will think we know the right way to go, but just end up heading towards trouble.
 
Sometimes we will think we’re well prepared, but find ourselves facing difficulties we did not expect.
 
Sometimes we will even have to tell our friends that it’s time to turn around, and head in another direction… even if they want to keep going on.
 
In times like these, it’s good for us all to remember the things that matter most… the good words that can guide us forward, and the people we can turn to and trust to help us find our way.
 
This is a special time of year for Christians… it’s the season of Lent, when we get ready for Good Friday and Easter, and remember things about the story of Jesus Christ that are sometimes easy to forget: we remember that if we want to trust and follow Jesus, it will be challenging. Living God’s way in the world… learning to love everyone… to receive and share forgiveness… to say no to things that we may want, but are not good for us, or for those around us… these are all challenging things to do.
 
And we remember that Jesus was prepared to face all these challenges… He knew all the trouble ahead of Him… and He was ready to suffer, and even lay down His own life at the cross… all to bring God’s saving love to our hurting world.
 
And we remember that Jesus tells everyone who wants to follow Him that if we want to live God’s way, it won’t be easy. That we will also need to be prepared for difficult times ahead… but we can also trust Jesus to help us, to keep us on the right track… and to pick us up again when we fall.
 
In our reading today from the Gospel of Mark, we heard how Jesus tried to help his friends and followers prepare for these challenges… and to let them know that He was going to suffer and die, and rise again from the dead to save the world.

But one of Jesus’ closest friends and followers, a man named Peter, didn’t think Jesus was heading in the right direction. He didn’t want to see his friend Jesus suffer. And Peter was not prepared to go down that path himself either. He had his own ideas about what the best way forward was.
 
But Jesus knew that if He wanted to live God’s way, and to help God fix our broken world, it would mean giving up His own life, and that’s what He was prepared to do.
 
And so, Jesus tells His friend Peter that it was actually Peter who needed to turn around… and to trust Jesus… to be prepared for a difficult, challenging road ahead… but one that would be worth it in the end… helping to share God’s rescuing love with everyone.
 
And so, during Lent, Christians like me remember that living God’s way is wonderful, but it won’t be easy. It’s worth it, but it is also really challenging to do our best to love everyone… to forgive and be forgiven… to say no to things that are not good for us… and to trust Jesus to lead us on the right path.
 
Over 2,000 years ago, Jesus said to his friends, and also to us here today: “If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves… [say no to themselves] and take up their cross and follow me. For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake, and for the sake of the gospel, [the Good News, they] will save it.” (Mark 8:34-35).
 
I know that not all of us here today know Jesus Christ, or want to follow Him with our lives. You’re still welcome here at St. Luke’s. But all of us will have to make many choices in life about which paths we are going to take.
 
And there are no paths that are always easy. Every path has its own challenges.
 
So how will we all do our best to be prepared for what lies ahead of us?
 
What are the things that you want to hold onto, and remember to help you find your way?
 
What might you need to let go of? What might be keeping you from getting to the places you want to go?
And what can you do to help those around you? What can you share with them? How can you challenge them to not just do what is easiest, but what is best… for themselves, but also for our communities, and for our world?
 
These are some good questions for all of us to think about today. And I’ll end now with a prayer, written by others, and based on the old Scout Law:
 
“Dear Lord, Bless all those everywhere who contribute to shape the hearts, minds and bodies of young people everywhere. Let us remember what they have taught us and apply it in our daily life.

When facing deceit and dishonesty, let us be Trustworthy.
If we see hypocrisy and faithlessness, let us be Loyal.
Where disregard of others and mere materialism prevail, let us be Helpful.
When we find people in despair, let us be Friendly.
In an atmosphere of ill manner, let us be Courteous.
Where some measure power in brutality and crudeness, let us be Kind.
Though lawbreaking and rule-scoffing are common, let us be Obedient.
While others grumble and grouch, let us be Cheerful.
In an environment blighted by waste and extravagance, let us be Thrifty.
When confronted with danger and temptation, let us be Brave.
As we see filth and pollution everywhere, let us be Clean.
While witnessing impiety, let us remember to be Reverent.”

Amen.