INTRODUCTION: ILL.- 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."
ILL.- Here’s another. 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 worshiping 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!”
Now let me give you a little cowboy language quiz. Raise your hand if you think you know the answer to these terms/words:
- amigo, n.; friend, pard, compadre.
- buckaroo, n.; a cowboy
- cayuse, (cai·use), n.; TexMex for a horse.
- chips, n.; cow or buffalo manure
- chuck, n.; meal, food, grub.
- cookie duster, n.; moustache.
- chaps, leather leg coverings
- dogie, (dough·gee), n.; a calf with no mamma
- dude, n.; fancy dressin’ city-slicker
- gringo, n.; Tex-Mex and cowboy lingo for Caucasian (white) male
- hackamore, n.; a halter with reins and no bit
- hooks, n.; spurs.
- hull, n.; saddle.
- lasso, n.; see "rope" and "lariat".
- maverick, n.; an unbranded (owner unknown) bull or steer ranging wild.
- pard, n.; also, pardner, derived from partner.
- ramrod, n.; ranch or trail foreman
- vamoose, v.; cowboy lingo for “Let’s go.”
- wrangler, n.; used interchangeably with "cowboy".
- weaner -- a weaned calf.
Amos 1:1 “The words of Amos, one of the shepherds of Tekoa – what he saw concerning Israel…”
Amos was a shepherd under the reigns of Uzziah and Jeroboam II. During that time the people of Israel had experienced peace and prosperity, but there was much social corruption, as in our time.
Amos, good man he was. Good shepherd man. Good herdsman. I prefer to think of him as a cowboy preacher. Amos preached about God’s justice and righteousness. He condemned all people who made themselves powerful or rich at the expense of others. Not much different than today. And his main message to the people of Israel was this:
Amos 4:12 “Prepare to meet your God, O Israel.”
And, of course, everyone needs to prepare to meet God in person. This is a big part of what life is about. We start life with God (even though we don’t realize this), we continue our lives with God (even though many people stubbornly refuse to admit this. He is our sustainer in life). And we end life with Him even though many people deny this. BUT WE OF ALL PEOPLE SHOULD RECOGNIZE THIS FACT AND BE HUMBLED BY IT!
Life is a preparation to meet God in person!
Hebrews 9:27 “Just as man is destined to die once, and after that to face judgment.”
The people of America and the world need to prepare to meet God. This is why we are called to preach the truth about God and Christ. Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life and no one approaches the Father except through Him!
PROP.- 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
ILL.- Someone said, “I had a near death experience that has changed me forever. The other day I went horseback riding. Everything was going fine until the horse started bouncing out of control. 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 it.”
Matthew 28:19 “Therefore go and make disciples…”
Cowboys had to ride a horse to get their work done. They had to “get up and go” to get anything done. “Get up and go” is one of our problems today. Jesus said to “go” into all the world and get something done for Him.
ILL.- Recently a fishing friend from 21 years ago contacted me by way of email. He got my email address from another friend in Jefferson City, MO. I wrote him back immediately to find out how he was doing and if he was still fishing. We used to fish together in his bass boat on the Lake of the Ozarks in central Missouri.
Mike had retired from working for the state of MO. He still had his bass boat. I told him that I had about 11 or 12 fishing rods and reels. He said he had probably 40! I asked if he still fished bass tournaments. He said that his boat hadn’t been in the water since gas was $1.50 a gallon and that means it’s been a while.
So I asked him what he was doing. Besides watching his grandkids, who lived nearby, he goes duck hunting. He told me that recently he had been wading in mud up to his knees to scout out some places to hunt ducks.
I also asked him where he and his wife were going to church. When I knew him many years ago he didn’t go to church although he was raised in the Lord’s church and is a Christian. Guess what? He’s still not going to church even though his wife does. He is great guy, a loving husband, father, etc., but he still isn’t going to church.
I said, “Mike, I thought I taught you better than that.” He said, “I know, I know…” And the conversation trailed off into other things. I didn’t get too pushy with him. I don’t believe in doing that.
Brothers and sisters, here is a lovely Christian man but he is not honoring the Lord by worshipping on the Lord’s Day and there is no doubt in my mind that he has no “get up and go” for serving the Lord or for pointing people to the Lord. AND YET, HE HAS PLENTY OF “GET UP AND GO” FOR DUCK HUNTING.
What has happened to our priorities? What about us? What about you? On what do you spend your “get up and go?”
II. ROPE ‘EM
Matthew 28:19 “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations…”
Cowboys round up cows and rope ‘em. We need to do similarly with people. We need to round ‘em up and rope ‘em. In other words, we need to make disciples out of people. We need to make followers or encourage people to become followers of Christ. Have you made any followers lately?
ILL.- All my life I’ve had people try to get me to become a follower in one way or another. When I was about 18 years old I worked at Safeway in Joplin, MO. One fellow employee was an avid golfer. He invited me to go play golf with him one morning. I did. It was my first and last time. I was not sold on golf. Nothing wrong with playing golf. It just didn’t appeal to me. My son-in-law plays golf. My brother plays golf, but it does not appeal to me.
ILL.- When I preached in Iowa many years ago we had several young men in the church that hunted pheasant. They invited me to go with them one time. It was, again, my first and last time. I shot the first bird that flew in the air. Wrong bird. And right after that, we got sprayed with shotgun pellets from some other hunters coming over the hill. Those boys did not make a follower out of me.
ILL.- Since gas prices have gone up many people are looking to buy one of those new hybrid cars (gas and battery powered), like the Toyota Prius. In fact, I know of one family in southern IL that bought two of them. They are happy with them, I guess.
But they won’t sell me. I’ll not become a follower, not from what I read about those cars. I don’t like the higher price of the car and I don’t like the 76 horsepower gas engine. It does nothing for me.
On the other hand, when we moved here I noticed that Jim Reed drove a Toyota Avalon. I had always heard about the Avalon but didn’t know a lot about them. When Elmer Schilly was still alive Jim took me to see him for a first visit and drove his Avalon. That trip made me into a believer, into a follower!
Have you made any followers lately? That is, have you roped anyone into believing that Jesus is the Son of God and the Savior of the world? Have you convinced anyone that Christ is the way to go in life? Have you even talked to anyone about Christ? THIS IS OUR RESPONSIBILITY AS HIS DISCIPLES, HIS FOLLOWERS. We are to encourage others to follow Him just as Andrew found his brother Simon and brought him to Jesus.
III. BRAND ‘EM
Matthew 28:19 “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.”
ILL.- Three preachers got together for coffee one day and found all their churches had bat-infestation problems. "I got so mad," said one, "I took a shotgun and fired at them. It made holes in the ceiling, but did nothing to the bats." "I tried trapping them alive," said the second. "Then I drove 50 miles before releasing them, but they beat me back to the church."
"I haven’t had any more problems," said the third. "What did you do?" asked the others, amazed. "I simply baptized them and I haven’t seen them since."
Brothers and sisters, even though baptizing some people doesn’t seem to do them any good, I still believe in it! This is where the branding business comes in!
Cowboys of old would round up their herd and brand ‘em so that others would know to whom they belonged. Baptism is a part of this branding business. It’s a sign, if nothing else, to God that we belong to Him! It’s a step in the right direction and I would never tell anybody that they didn’t need this kind of branding done.
ILL.- One preacher said these words about baptism: One good way to think of baptism is to consider it a “signing of a contract” between you and God. If you were to buy a house, you would be required to sit down with the sellers of the home and approve a contract. To show your approval, you would be required to sign your name at the bottom of the paper. Your signature wouldn’t buy the house (the money you probably borrowed from the bank did that), but you couldn’t purchase the house until your name was on the dotted line. So also, your baptism doesn’t “buy” your salvation. Christ’s blood does that. But your signature on God’s contract is required.
When people come to the point where they want Christ to save them, point them to the baptistery.
Encourage them to confess their faith in Christ and be baptized as the people on the day of Pentecost in Acts and the Ethiopian eunuch of Acts 8.
Acts 2:38 Peter replied, "Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.”
Acts 8:36 “They traveled along the road, they came to some water and the eunuch said, ’Look, here is water. Why shouldn’t I be baptized?"
Acts 22:16 “And now what are you waiting for? Get up, be baptized and wash your sins away, calling on his name.”
Romans 6:4 “We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.”
Baptism is an act of obedience that all people who believe in Jesus need to comply with. This does not “complete” our obedience to Jesus but it’s a step of obedience in the right direction.
IV. CORRAL ‘EM
Matthew 28:20 “Teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”
After a cowboy has rode hard, roped his livestock, and branded them, then he needs to corral ‘em. He needs to herd them into the corral and keep them there.
The corral, however, that I am thinking of is the church. When people come to believe in Jesus and they decide to follow Him, they need to be encouraged to become a part of the church. And they need to be taught, which comes in the church.
Some people don’t want to join a local church or fellowship of believers. Why not? One reason is because they will feel responsible to attend that church and support that church in service and in giving. AND THEY SHOULD!
ILL.- Arthur Boers in "The Other Side," (May/June, 1989) wrote, “I often visit newcomers in town and find them to be church shopping. They want to know what they can get out of church. Churches are one more consumer commodity. Worship services are not a place for us to serve God and neighbor but a place where people expect to purchase the best: Inspiring worship, good music, moving sermons, quality child care. As if we buy God and not vice versa.”
Brothers and sisters, that’s not what the church is all about! The church is not here for the purpose of getting some out of it, but rather for us to put something into it!
Now don’t get me wrong: I want to deliver the goods to you! I want to preach the best sermons I can for your sake and to honor the Lord! I want to give you and the Lord the best service I can. But this is the way we all should think. If we all give our best service and do our best for the Lord and His church, ALL PEOPLE WILL GET SOMETHING OUT OF IT.
It’s the principle of: the more you sow, the more you reap. The more we give, the more we get.
ILL.- Someone said, "There are four main bones in every organization. The wish-bones: Wishing somebody would do something about the problem. The jaw-bones: Doing all the talking but very little else. The knuckle-bones: Those who knock everything. The back-bones: Those who carry the brunt of the load and do most of the work."
And I’ve always heard it said that about 20 percent of the people carry 80 percent of the load. I don’t think that’s true for us, but it is for some churches. BUT THAT’S NOT THE WAY IT’S SUPPOSED TO BE!
Just think, if every body who believed in Christ, joined the church and got involved in service, JUST THINK WHAT COULD BE ACCOMPLISHED FOR THE LORD? If you’re not in the church you need to be and if you’re not involved in some kind of service, you should be!
CONCLUSION---------------------------------------
Ride ‘em, rope ‘em, brand ‘em, and corral ‘em. That’s our job as people who belong to the Lord.
ILL.- One church in Kansas City has these words as its motto: We will “wake up, sing up, preach up, pray up, pay up, but never give up or let up or back up or shut up until the cause of Christ in this church and in the world is built up.”
Cowboys of old were committed to their job of riding herd and taking care of that herd. Likewise, we, as God’s people, God’s herdsmen, have been called to do nothing less than our best to reach people for Christ, to lead them to Him, to baptize them into Him, and to get them in the church and continue teaching them the ways of Christ.
