When I was a boy, we always helped each other out when different family members worked cows.  I worked cows for my Aunt Iris and Uncle J.N., for Uncle Dow and Aunt Nell, and for Aunt Neta. 

I loved to work cows for Aunt Neta.  Back in those days, whichever family member’s cows were being worked fixed lunch for the cow crew.  Aunt Neta was the best cook among her sisters, but Aunt Nell ran a close second.  The only problem was going back out to work cows after a big lunch of chicken and dumplings.  You hoped you didn’t have to run your horse too much.

The other thing that made working cows at Aunt Neta’s so great was old number 97.  She was an old cow who had been to the pens many times.  When she saw men on horseback, she knew just what to do.  No matter where she was in the pasture, all the other cows, even the bulls, turned toward the pens and started to run with her.  Almost every time we would ride out in the pasture, old number 97 would see us and go to the pens.  Every cow would join her.  All we had to do was close the gates behind them.  Old number 97 showed them the way.

Finally, old number 97 died.  She produced more than a dozen calves and lived way up to almost twenty (that’s old for a cow). 

When we rode out the next time at Aunt Neta’s, I remember Uncle Earl saying, “We’re going to have trouble today.  Old number 97 is not here to show them the way.”  He was right.  We started to gather the cows, and they scattered everywhere.  One Limousin bull ran due south instead of north.  He came to a five-strand barbed wire fence and jumped it at full gallop.  I suggested we keep him to develop a new line of jumping cattle.  We finally got about half moving in the right direction when something startled the cows in the front, causing them to turn and run.  It should have taken an hour to pen the cows; we closed the last gate at about 11:30 in the morning.  Uncle Earl was a prophet about all the trouble we had that morning without old number 97 to show the way.

In Romans 10, Paul asks a series of questions: “How can they call on the one they have not believed in?  And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard?  And how can they hear without someone preaching to them?  And can they preach unless they are sent?”  You can probably abbreviate this to: “Who is going to show them the way?”

Who is going to teach the fatherless boy how to be a man?  Who will walk alongside the pregnant teenager?  Who will guide the troubled college student?  Who will comfort the lonely woman in the nursing home?  Who will teach children right and wrong?  Who will help couples through a rough patch in their marriage?  Most of all, who will tell people there is a God in heaven that loves them and wants good for their lives.

I don’t think government can do these things.  We ask schools to do more and more of this, but they already struggle under the weight of unrealistic expectations.  Sure, some of these challenges fall on Mom and Dad, but Mom and Dad can’t do it all by themselves.  Who will show them the way?

This is what Jesus intended his church to do.  When he told us to make disciples, he was telling us to show people how to do these things: teach boys and girls right and wrong, teach them to how to be men and women.  Love and support the pregnant teenager.  Guide those who are troubled into truth.  Support and encourage those in the nursing home.  Listen and encourage couples who struggle.  And most of all, the church needs to tell people over and over that there is a God who loves them and wants good for their lives. 

These days it is easier to tweet at people, to shout at people on Facebook, than show people the way.  But what would happen if we did?  How many lives could be changed?  And what about the change that would happen in our own lives?  I’m not sure you show someone the way without discovering for yourself something about your own next step.

Not to compare you with a wise old cow, but a family is better when someone knows the way.  A church is better when someone knows the way.  A community is better when someone knows the way.  And a nation is better when someone knows the way.

If you find yourself wishing for someone to show the way, check and see if God is gently tapping on your shoulder.  He might be saying, “You.  You show them the way.”