Out Our Way: Answering the call - Mark 3:14-15

I remember that day when my friend Charlie discovered my interest in cattle, ranching and being a cowboy. By this time, I had Doc and an old used saddle that had seen many years of service and even rope - but no real cowboy experience. So, one day, Charlie told me he was heading up to the Tiger Ridge with his trailer and asked if I wanted to come along. No question about it - and so one morning he drove up with his truck, horse trailer, took me out to where I kept Doc and my rig, loaded up, and off we went.

(Comes now a favorite joke of mine: "So Charlie asks me, at near 60, if I want to cowboy ... and I answer, 'Sure! What could it hurt?' Then I found out! Oy!")

Anyway, we got up to the "Tiger," unloaded, saddled up, and then Charlie led me out to work cows for the first time. I won't say I ever became an expert or even very good - but over time I became adequate ... and just now and then I proved to be a good "pard" when one was needed. I learned to work cattle, turn stray calves, cows and even a bull or two back to the herd when they took off, and hold the herd together when things got a tad uncomfortable. I even eventually worked some range cattle during the round up by Beaver Creek as it was still open range for a time each year. 

However, the most important part of it all was the writing of this column aimed largely at the unchurched population. Many folks have no use for the institutional church or preachers - but I found some were open to sharing and talking with a pastor who not only worked cattle, but managed to share cowboy parables based on the Gospel. How many folks this has helped I will never know, but I do know it helped a few. 

I got a call from a woman whose mother was dying and had no church home. But she said her mother liked my column and as I was the only pastor she knew about, wanted to know if I would do the funeral even though she was not a member of the church I served or any other church for that matter. Fortunately, though dying, she was still alive and well enough to receive a few pastoral visits and I am hopeful I showed her Christ's love in those times by her bed. If nothing else, she found that the true Church (capital "C") = "the people of God" and not just the building or institution (church with a small "c").

The church was founded by Christ, but the "church" was founded and run by failed and flawed human beings. I know because I am one of them! It is my hope and prayer that she found God looks at the heart and not membership cards when it comes to seeking His own. And while there were a thousand better choices to pick from, He sent me.   

As we enter into Lent and consider the call of the first disciples, I take comfort in the fact they were largely as big of goof ups and theological misfits as I am. Christ chose a pretty unimpressive crew to begin the work of the Kingdom. Simon, a plain fisherman, was renamed "Peter," which means "The Rock." Most theologians say that was to show that Peter was as solid as a rock, but I suspect it was also because the Gospel accounts pull no punches and remind us that Peter was often dumber than a box of them.

Yet despite their failings, God used them and sent them out into the world where He worked in and through them. All, save possibly John, were eventually executed for the faith. Yet they never quit, and despite all the powers of darkness and evil that sought to stamp out the message, it still got through. In modern times - often with the help of those who talk the talk but don't walk the walk - the Prince of Darkness continues to work to stop the Kingdom from arriving. Just go on social media and read the tirades of those who hate religion and are applauded for it by the media and the powers of the world. Read the news and see the scandals perpetuated by unrepentant church leaders and their followers who use the Bible as a whip rather than a life preserver.

Oh yes - the Prince of Darkness wages war against the Kingdom and many fall victim to these efforts. Yet even so, the Kingdom does not fail, but continues to grow despite all the arrogant, corrupt, and proud who either deny or distort the Gospel. They point the finger of accusation at each other while shaking hands under the table, for they serve the same "master." For Christ keeps calling simple folk who put God first despite the scorn and persecution they face for it. Fisherfolk, tentmakers, and even lousy cowhands keep answering the call - and the devil screams in frustration.

Be blessed and be a blessing!

Brother John

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The Rev. John Bruington is the retired pastor of First Presbyterian Church of Havre. He now lives in Colorado, but continues to write "Out Our Way."