A John Wayne Sermon

Illus: Two cowboy friends, Joe and Bob, each bought a horse one summer. They enjoyed riding around and doing the things that cowboys do.

When winter came, however, they did not want to pay to have their horses stabled for the winter. Instead, they decided to release them in a pasture and get them in the spring.

Joe noticed a problem however, and he asked Bob, "How will we know which horse is which when we pick them up in the spring?"

Bob responded, "Well, I guess we will know which horse is ours, because your horse is white and mine is black.”

Cowboy movies are not mind straining to watch. Cowboys live in a world of their own.

Illus: Cowboy Joe was telling his fellow cowboys back on the ranch about his first visit to a big-city church.

• "When I got there, they had me park my old truck in the corral," Joe began. "You mean the parking lot," interrupted Charlie, a worldly fellow.

• "I walked up the trail to the door," Joe continued. "The sidewalk to the door," Charlie corrected him.

• "Inside the door, I was met by this dude," Joe went on. "That would be the usher," Charlie explained.

• "Well, the usher led me down the chute," Joe said. "You mean the aisle," Charlie said.

• "Then, he led me to a stall and told me to sit there," Joe continued. "Pew," Charlie retorted.

• "Yeah," recalled Joe. "That’s what that pretty lady said when I sat down beside her…PEW!"

The cowboy is known for his attire. He wears practically the same thing wherever he goes.

Illus: One Sunday morning, an old cowboy entered a church just before services were to begin.

Although the old man and his clothes were spotlessly clean, he wore jeans, a denim shirt and boots that were very worn and ragged. In his hand he carried a worn out old hat and an equally worn out bible.

The Church he entered was in a very upscale and exclusive part of the city. It was the largest and most beautiful church the old cowboy had ever seen. The people of the congregation were all dressed with expensive clothes and accessories.

As the cowboy took a seat, the others moved away from him. No one greeted, spoke to, or welcomed him. They were all appalled at his appearance and did not attempt to hide it.

The preacher gave a long sermon about Hellfire and brimstone and a stern lecture on how much money the church needed to do God’s work.

As the old cowboy was leaving the church, the preacher approached him and asked the cowboy to do him a favor. "Before you come back in here again, have a talk with God and ask him what He thinks would be appropriate attire for worship." The old cowboy assured the preacher he would.

The next Sunday, he showed up for the services wearing the same ragged jeans, shirt, boots, and hat. Once again he was completely shunned and ignored.

The preacher approached the man and said, "I thought I asked you to speak to God before you came back to our church."

"I did," replied the old cowboy.

"If you spoke to God, what did He tell you the proper attire should be for worshipping in here?" asked the preacher.

"Well, sir, God told me that He didn’t have a clue what I should wear. He says He’s never been in this church!”

Since cowboy lifestyle is so important, you might be wondering why is it that God’s Word does not talk about cowboys. Well, actually it does. For example the Bible says Amos was a HERDSMAN!

Now I am not saying he was the Old Testament John Wayne, but he certainly could be classified as a cowboy. You might say every one of us is a cowboy spiritually!

In this so-called “Cowboy sermon,” I want to consider some things that a cowboy does and apply these to the Christian life. Here is what he does.

1. He rides ’em

2. He ropes ’em

3. He brands ’em

4. He corrals ’em

I. RIDE ’EM

Look at Matthew 28:19, we read, “Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.”

Any cowboy knows that to round up the strays, he has to get on his horse and ride his horse.

Illus: ____________, (Choose someone in the congregation) said she had a near death experience that has changed her forever. She said, “The other day I went horseback riding. Everything was going fine until the horse started bouncing out of control.” She said, “I tried with all my might to hang on, but was thrown off. Just when things could not possibly get worse, my foot got caught in the stirrup. When this happened, I fell head first to the ground. My head continued to bounce harder as the horse did not stop or even slow down. Just as I was giving up hope and losing consciousness, the Walmart manager came and unplugged the machine.”