House-Beasts

Le bon pasteur, by James Tissot

Children’s Sermon

11 May 2025

Hey, guys. Happy May! This might honestly be the most beautiful month of the year in Minnesota. I hope that we enjoy it.

So I have a question for you: Who here has a pet? What kind of pets do you have? Do any of you live on a farm, or have family who farms? What kinds of animals do they have?

You know, one of the neat things about being human is how we’ve learned to live and work with other animals; how to care for them and to love them. We call it domestication, which literally means that they live in our homes. Germans call them house-beasts.

Not many creatures do this. There are some ants that farm aphids like cows; they even milk them. And there are certain monkeys that have learned to ride around on deer like little horses. Wouldn’t that be cool to see? But mostly it’s a human thing.

Two of the oldest animals that we ever learned to live with were sheep, and the dogs that helped us to take care of those sheep. Have you ever seen a sheep? They aren’t the brightest critters in the world, are they? It’s not their fault. But they are very useful. We used to weave most all of our clothing from their wool.

When Jesus teaches us what God is like, how God loves and cares for us all, one of the things that He says is that we are kind of like sheep, and God is like our shepherd. That’s why we call Jesus the Good Shepherd. He loves us, cares for us, guides us, protects us—and most importantly of all, He lives with us, walks with us. We share a home together.

He’s so close to us, in fact, that Jesus is also called the Lamb. So He loves us and protects us like a shepherd, but He’s also one of us, the best of us. In Jesus, God shares everything with humankind. Even our hardships. Even death.

But Jesus says that if even one of His sheep is lost, He will go out as the Good Shepherd and find that sheep and bring her home, no matter what it costs. Even if He has to go to hell and back, He will bring us home. That’s how strong God’s love is, for each and every one of you.

So the next time you see a sheep, think, “Buddy, I’m with you. I also wander off sometimes as well. But Jesus brings me home, and Jesus always will.”

Sound good? Okay. Let’s pray.