The Sheep and the Goats

A Children's Message
By the Rev. David Sonmor

How many of you know what sheep are? How many of you know what goats are? How many of you have seen a whole herd of sheep or of goats? The only time I ever saw a herd of goats was when I was driving way up in the mountains and a bunch of wild goats came out onto the highway.

We don't see many sheep and goats around here in the farm fields, because most of our farmers either grow wheat and other grain crops or raise cattle. I bet lots of you have seen big herds of cows when you have been driving out on the highway with your parents!

Well today I want to tell you a story about some sheep and some goats.

In the country where Jesus lived 2000 years ago there were lots of farmers who raised sheep and goats because the weather there is very hot and dry and sheep and goats can live quite well in hot dry places. Sheep and goats are not very big animals so they had to be looked after and protected by people who were called shepherds. Goats are rougher and tougher than sheep though and can run and jump and climb much better, so could often fend for themselves. The big papa goats have big horns and could chase away any wolves or lions that might want to catch them.

The sheep though are very friendly and trusting and could easily be caught by their enemies. You might say that sheep are very innocent creatures who like to stay together in herds while goats are much more rowdy and self-reliant.

Sometimes, when they were out grazing in the fields the goats would push and shove the sheep away from the good grass and eat it all themselves or they wouldn't let the sheep go near the water holes so the sheep would go hungry and thirsty. Well one of the shepherds saw that this was happening quite a lot and that many of his sheep were dying or were getting sick and weak, so he thought he had better do something about it. The sheep were much more useful to him than the goats, as they grew lots of wool that his wife could use for making clothes and blankets that he could sell at the farmers market, and their meat was tender and tasty. Whereas the goats were only good for milking, if he could catch them, and their meat was tough and smelly, and they mostly just trampled on everything and made a big mess in the yard.

So he decided that he would separate the sheep from the goats. He divided his yard into two parts. On the right side he built a pen for the sheep and on the left side he built a pen for the goats. When he wanted to put the animals out to pasture he could send the sheep out with his children to the fields in the south while he could take the goats out to the rougher country in the north. This worked very well and soon the herd of sheep became quite healthy again, and they were glad not to be pushed around and bullied by the mean old goats.

Jesus used a story like this to teach people that we must separate the good and useful parts of our life from the harsh bad parts, and that we should nurture the good, honest, loving side of our life in the rich fields of the truth of his Word which is in the Bible. The mean, bad part of our thoughts and the nasty things we want to do to other people should be separated from the good ones or else they will dominate the good ones, and so we should cast them out of our lives.

What are some of the good parts of you and what are some of the bad parts that you should get rid of so your good parts can grow to be strong and useful?

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