Articles & Papers

The Caring Shepherd: A Parable for Children
Based on Luke 15:1–7

By Margaret Lirones
Originally published in Open Hands, Vol. 11, No. 3 (Winter 1996)

(Before telling this story, find 100 small, identical items. Pennies would work; ends of cotton swabs are better; bits of wool are ideal. Hide one in your pocket. Sit on the floor with the children in a semicircle in front of you. Silently spread a large piece of green felt on the floor and add felt cutouts of hills, a small piece of black for a cave, twigs for bushes, and a cutout figure of a shepherd.1 Start by showing pictures of sheep and shepherds in the dry, hilly countryside where Jesus lived. If possible, bring in a fleece from a sheep or samples of real wool for children to see and touch. Discuss the importance of sheep to the people and the ways that a shepherd cares for the sheep, taking them far over the hills to find grass and water.)

Today we are going to hear a story that Jesus told. When Jesus was traveling around his country, he spent time with all kinds of people: rich people and poor people, healthy people and ill people, religious people and people who had never heard about God. Jesus talked to people in the fields, and by the sea, and in the city. He visited all kinds of people in their homes and he often ate meals with them.

Now, some people thought they knew who was good to know. They didn't like to see Jesus spending so much time with people they did not like. They grumbled and complained because they thought Jesus should be with them instead. Jesus spent just too much time with those other people! They complained so much that finally Jesus told them a story. It went like this:

Jesus said, "Pretend that you have one hundred sheep. You take good care of your sheep. You find the best grass for them and water for them to drink. Sometimes you count the sheep to be sure that they are all there." Let's count the sheep!

(Bring out the ninety–nine pieces representing sheep. Invite the children to count with you. Count slowly while you lay the items down in rows of ten so there can be no mistake. Remind the children once or twice that you are getting close to 100.)

One, two, three...fifty-five, fifty-six...ninety–seven, ninety–eight, ninety–nine.

(Sit back and let the children absorb this. They have been counting for a long time and expecting to reach 100.)

Oh, dear, one is missing! Now this shepherd (touch the figure of the shepherd) could say, "Oh, well, I have ninety–nine sheep. That's still a lot of sheep." But this shepherd does not do that. This shepherd leaves the ninety–nine sheep where they are in the wilderness and goes searching (move the figure of the shepherd) over the hills...and in the caves...and behind the rocks...and in the bushes...and just everywhere until this shepherd finds the one that is lost. (Place the one remaining sheep with the shepherd.) And when this shepherd finds the lost one, he carries it on his shoulders and calls all of his friends and neighbors to celebrate with him!

God is like this shepherd. If even one person is missing from God's whole people, God searches and searches and finds that person and calls all of us to celebrate. In our church, we are happy whenever anyone knows God’s love. We celebrate, just like the shepherd's neighbors. That's what God calls us to do.

(Slowly and silently put your storytelling materials away as the children watch. Then continue the discussion or dismiss them to their next activity.)

Note

1 This way of sharing stories with children is derived from the work of Jerome Berryman. See his book Godly Play: A Way of Religious Education (Harper: San Francisco, 1991).

Margaret Lirones, director of Christian education at Centennial United Methodist Church in Sacramento, is a member of Davis United Methodist Church and lives in Davis, California with her partner and their two children. Her son Eric was four when she first told this story in Vacation Bible School.

Misinterpretations of the Parable

Children's versions of this parable often describe the dangers a lost lamb might face and the relief it might feel when the kind shepherd rescues it. Sometimes the story emphasis is on a wandering sheep being welcomed back to the fold by ninety–nine who had better sense than to stray. The descriptions of sheeps' feelings are not part of the biblical text. The unspoken message, "don’t stray," becomes a warning against being "different," wandering, getting lost, or deviating from the norm. This was not Jesus’ intent! This parable was originally addressed to the majority religious establishment, not to individual "sinners." Jesus calls the church to be the neighbors who celebrate with the shepherd. The story describes a flock that is incomplete if even one is missing. It illustrates God's unfailing care for each of us–and for all of us. That is a powerful message.

—Margaret Lirones

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