The sun had just risen when the Scouts began their trek up Baldy Mountain. At 12,441 feet, Baldy is the highest peak in the Philmont Scout Ranch, a high-adventure backpacking camp run by the Boy Scouts of America. From the summit, hikers can enjoy spectacular views of the mountains, forests and lakes of northern New Mexico.

But the summit was still a dream when the crew of eight Scouts and two adults started out, hiking through a dense pine forest in the early-morning light. Reaching a gorgeous, gurgling mountain stream, they took a turn and headed down a wide and comfortable trail for about a mile. It turned out to be the wrong trail.

Realizing their mistake, they turned around and hiked back. This detour added an extra two miles to their trip, and you might think they would be discouraged by it. But the extra distance had a surprising benefit. One Scout who had been struggling at the start of the hike gained confidence throughout the detour, and when the group got back on track, he felt strong enough to hike to the summit.

His success required venturing out, beyond his comfort zone. And so does ours.

The Boy Scouts of America have been challenging boys to push their limits for a century now. In fact, tomorrow — February 8, 2010 — is the 100th anniversary of the incorporation of the organization, one that has involved more than 110 million Americans during the past century.

So just exactly who has been a Boy Scout? Two-thirds of all astronauts, and 11 of the 12 men to walk on the moon. Nine of the 100 members of the United States Senate are Eagle Scouts. Eagle Scouts were disproportionately represented among Hurricane Katrina’s volunteer relief workers. Both adventurer Steve Fossett and moviemaker Steven Spielberg were Boy Scouts — although Spielberg has resigned from Scouting’s advisory board because of its zero tolerance of homosexuals.

That controversy is still raging, but it doesn’t change the fact that Spielberg made a nine-minute film at age 12 to earn his Boy Scout photography badge. Eight billion dollars later, it seems that movie-making has worked out pretty well for him.

The great appeal of Scouting is that it challenges boys to explore a wide range of outdoor activities and educational programs, and to make surprising discoveries about themselves and the world around them. They find that the comfort of staying home is really no match for the amazing things that happen when they venture out.

Jesus would agree. In the fifth chapter of Luke, Jesus is standing by the lake of Gennesaret, and the crowd is pressing in on him to hear the Word of God. At the shore of the lake, he sees two boats — empty because the fishermen had left them to wash their nets. Jesus gets into one of the boats, the one belonging to Simon, and asks him to push the boat away from the shore. There Jesus is able to keep some distance between him and the smothering press of the crowd. It also enables him to teach them.

When Jesus finishes his speech, he decides to extend his lesson with a dramatic illustration. He challenges Simon, "Put out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch."

Jesus doesn’t say, "Hey, it’s shallow over here, try this." He’s saying that the real possibilities exist where life gets deep and risky. He invites us to venture out, take a chance, and be active and adventurous. Jesus wants Simon to act like a Boy Scout.

"Master, we toiled all night and took nothing," laments Simon. He sounds like he wants to stay close to shore, safe and comfortable because his time on the water hasn’t yielded any fish. But Simon isn’t going to be stubborn about this. "But at your word, I will let down the nets."

The result? Simon and his fellow fishermen catch so many fish that their nets are beginning to break. They call for their partners in the other boat to come and help, and they end up filling both boats

to the point that they’re beginning to sink. It’s an unexpected, amazing and overwhelmingly abundant catch. All because they were willing to follow Jesus’ words and scout the deep water.

Jesus miraculously provided a huge catch of fish, not only to demonstrate His deity and his compassion for those who needed the food. He did it to teach Peter and his companions a lesson about mission work. The lesson was that just as the power of Jesus was necessary for a huge catch of fish, that same power of Jesus was necessary and available for catching people with the Good News of salvation through Christ.

That’s the challenge for us today: to venture beyond our comfort zones and put out into the deep water in lives of Christian discipleship. Too often we stay close to shore, safe and comfortable, when Jesus is calling us to be active, adventurous and willing to explore new territory. But sometimes, that’s where the fish are. That’s where the growth happens. That’s where we can make surprising discoveries about ourselves and the world around us. Just ask any Boy Scout.

But we can’t successfully do mission work on our own. We can only accomplish evangelism and mission work when Jesus empowers our efforts. We have nothing to fear when Jesus is at the center of our mission activity.

We scout the deep water when we venture out to share the Christian faith with our neighbors. Jesus says, "Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching men," and this challenges us to reach out to our friends and neighbors with the gospel message. But how?

In her book Unbinding the Gospel, Martha Grace Reese says that "our most important discovery is that a vivid relationship with God lies at the heart of real evangelism." You have to ask yourself, "Has being a Christian made any difference in my life?" If so, then you’re going to want to share this reality with other people. Quite simply, evangelism is grounded in the realization that your life is better because of your relationship with God, and this is a relationship that can benefit others as well.

Reese says evangelism is all about relationships. Not high-pressure conversion programs — it about relationships. We need to reflect on our relationship with God, and then find natural and sincere ways to share that relationship with others. The important thing is to venture out, no matter how you do it, beyond our comfort zone.

Now … back to the Philmont Scout Ranch. After the group of Boy Scouts achieved the summit of Baldy Mountain, they headed down the other side. The trail was clear above the tree line, but once they entered the woods their path was lost. Throughout this dense forest was a mixture of lush vegetation and decaying logs and plants. The forest floor was thick and spongy, full of rich soil and natural mulch. It became clear that the life of that forest was rooted in death — in a fertile mixture of growth and decay.

The same is true for us. We don’t achieve the abundant life that Christ desires for us by playing it safe. No, if we’re going to experience growth in Christian faith and understanding, we have to venture out and take some chances. As Jesus says to his followers a little later in Luke, "Those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will save it" (9:24).

That’s the message of the forest floor. Life comes from death — from allowing our comfort and control to die just a little bit, as we follow Jesus in faith. And we all know what comes after death, don’t we? After Christ died on the cross as the payment for our sins, He rose from the dead and became the first to rise of all who die in faith.

The Boy Scouts in the forest eventually made it out the other side, not by following a path but by having faith in their navigational techniques. They hiked through the deep vegetation until they came to a clearing, and then they rediscovered their path.

Each of us is challenged to take similar chances as we follow Jesus along the path of life each day. We’ll have our setbacks and disappointments, and we might even lose our way at certain points in the journey.

But we’ll make amazing discoveries as well, if we scout the deep water. Amen.