Out Our Way: Check my rig - Luke 5:32

Out our way, Charlie and I spent a good deal of time riding empty prairie. We generally knew where the herd was located - even in the huge expanses of the Tiger Ridge it didn't take much to find the several hundred head milling about grazing. But "Big Mike," the owner, didn't send us out just to stay around watching the herd - he sent us out to look for strays.

Cattle are not overly bright to begin with, and although most new calves have the sense to stick by mama and the herd, there are always a few whose IQ scores barely make it to single digit numbers. They are the ones that manage to get lost and wander into hidden arroyos and get find their way out, or walk on semi dried out streambeds and get stuck, or wander up on unstable ridges, lose their footing, and tumble down in deep gullies filled with thorny bushes.

Look at a cowboy's rig (equipment). We have a lariat lashed to our saddles all the time even when we aren't roping calves for branding. We wear heavy (usually leather) chaps or leggings even though we mostly work out in the wide open. Although we don't see many rustlers or outlaws - and the Indians I know happen to be friends of mine and often are fellow cowboys - you will see the occasional rifle or handgun in the equipment.

The rope comes in handy when you have to haul a calf out of a bog or drag a fallen tree trunk out of the way of a blocked arroyo. The chaps project the legs when we have to go into thorn infested gullies and wooded areas where a lost calf is stranded. The rifle or .45 is handy as lost calves are easy prey for coyotes and mountain lions that are still to be found and predators like to take advantage of foolish and stupid young beef.

Yes, as a cowboy, I try to protect the herd and help guide them to good grazing and clean water - but as my gear demonstrates, I have been sent to help the "dumber than a box of rocks" crowd as my main priority. If cattle were smarter and not as prone to sheer stupidity and foolishness, the need for the regular cowhand would be a good deal less. It is not for the smarter and less foolish cows Big Mike sends Charlie and me out on the "Tiger" so often - but for the dumb ones. The strays.

We celebrate the love of God in Jesus Christ - but do we reflect on why He had to come? In the parable of the Lost Sheep (Luke 15), Jesus equates His role of that of the good shepherd that seeks out the lost sheep because sheep can be (and if you have worked with them you know they are) really stupid. In Luke 5:32, He makes it clear that it is us dumb and foolish ones that He has come to find.

Look at his rig ( equipment) - the cross, the crown of thorns, the hate and abuse of "the good people," forgiveness of sins and welcoming of sinners back into the fold (herd).

Charlie and I saddled up and ride to find the strays and bring them home. Christ came amongst us for the human strays - of which I am one - for the same reason. Again, remember the meaning of the words found in Scripture: "Sin" in both Greek and Hebrew literally means "Going the wrong way." "Repentance" means " to change your mind" ... i.e., turn around.

Charlie and I don't round up strays to condemn them, but to get them safely back home. Christ has come, not to condemn, but to guide them back to God.

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."