All Age Family Service: Zacchaeus - Before and After
Our theme for the year is Discovering Your Destiny and today our topic is Follow Your Dream: More than you could dream or imagine
What is your dream?
What is it that you would like God to do in your life?
Ephesians 3:20 says, “All glory to God, who is able, through His mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think”
How would your life be transformed if God, by His mighty power, did infinitely more than you might ask or think or imagine or dream?
This morning we are going to be thinking about how Jesus exceeded the expectations of Zacchaeus.
As we start our service this morning I will begin with prayer.
(Prayer)
Ok, it's a family service, so everyone is going to be involved. We are all going to make a joyful noise to the Lord this morning!
== At this point we gave out small noisy instruments to everyone present / tambourines / bells / shakers / bongo drums / etc. ===
Songs:
How Wonderful, How Glorious
God is good we sing and shout it
Our God is a great big God
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Many people dream about their lives being changed.
Does anyone enjoy watching “make-over” programmes on television?
Let’s look at some before and after pictures.
There are TV programmes that show the changes that can happen to a garden when a professional gardener works on it.
There are TV programmes that show the changes that can happen to an old house when an interior designer works with builders and decorators.
Other TV programmes show the changes that can happen to people when they spend time with professional make-up artists, personal trainers, or hair stylists.
We can dream of changing our gardens, we can dream of changing our homes, we can even dream of changing the way we look.
Do any of us ever dream about changing our heart?
Can our heart be given a “make-over”?
Can we become more loving, kind and generous?
Zacchaeus was a man who needed a “heart make-over”.
He lived in a place called Jericho and he wasn’t a very nice man at all.
One day Jesus came into town and Zacchaeus’ life was completely changed.
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Scripted Play: 4 Characters - Dave, Shirley, Zacchaeus & Jesus
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Zac: Mmmm….now let me see…. who owes me taxes today?
Ah yes…Mrs Zebedee owes me 2 drachmas. Oh I can’t bear that woman, she’ll probably whine and complain like she did last time I collected her taxes...
(in squeaky voice) “Oh Mr Zacchaeus, I can’t possibly pay you all that money…I have six mouths to feed and my husband is sick”
Don’t these people realise I have to make a living?
Well she can jolly well pay up…that’s what I say…..
and if she has to sell some of her children of into slavery……good riddance from Jericho.
Shirley: Dave, look at that dreadful man Zacchaeus …
There he is again looking at his tax book.
I wonder who his next poor victim is.
I heard that when Pastor Dave had pay his tax bill last week,
to pay all his debt he even had to give his last bar of Chocolate.
You know how Pastor Dave gets when he has no chocolate!
Dave: I don’t think you should call him names Shirley…
really…as musicians we are above that sort of behaviour.
Shirley: But have you not heard all the awful stories about “that man”?
Look at him…he has no heart.
I know he has a job to do….
and very unpopular that makes him….
collecting taxes for Caesar….
but he cheats people.
Dave: How do you know that?
Shirley: Well, when he thinks no-one is looking….
Dave: But of course you are….
Shirley: Oh do try and listen …..well when he thinks no-one is looking…
he slips a few notes under his robe and into a little money belt he wears around his waist. No wonder he can afford to eat at the most expensive restaurants in town….
And do you know what Dave?
Dave: No….
Shirley I heard that his house not only has all the latest gadgets but his camel…
Dave: What about his camel?
Shirley: Well, his camel eats out of a gold-plated bowl.
Dave: How ridiculous.
Shirley. But I suppose in a way you have to feel sorry for the man.
Dave: Changing your tune now are you?
Shirley: From what I have heard people say, he is the most unpopular man in Jericho.
He hasn’t any friends.
In fact no-one can stand him.
He might have the nicest house in town but he must be a very lonely man because he won’t have any visitor at his house.
Oh ….what’s all that noise?
Dave: What noise?
Shirley: Look over there…..can’t you see the crowd?
Dave: Oh yes…. I can see.
(Enter Jesus walking from the side front of church/room with a crowd of people around him. Stops half-way and says)
Jesus: The time has come.
The kingdom of God is near.
Repent and believe the good news
(Jesus carries on miming talking to the crowd)
Shirley: I can see now….oh look it is Jesus.
How wonderful….he has come to Jericho.
I have heard so many amazing stories about Jesus.
Dave: I wouldn’t believe everything you hear…..
Shirley: I have heard about wonderful miracles that Jesus has done….
healing people by simply touching them……
feeding crowds of people with just a few rolls and fish.
Dave: Hhmph…..I’ll tell you a miracle.
Shirley: Yes
Dave: It would be a miracle if that little man over there changed.
(Zac gets up and joins the crowd but cannot see Jesus. Starts jumping up and down)
Shirley: Oh look ….I think he wants to see Jesus.
He’s so short he can’t see Jesus.
Dave: Serves him right.
I don’t think Jesus would want to meet such an unpleasant little man.
Shirley: Now what’s he doing?
Dave: What now?
(Zac climbs a “tree” eg stands on a chair)
Shirley: He’s climbing that old sycamore tree….
oh I do hope the branch doesn’t break…
he is a very heavy little man.
I never thought I’d see the day when a chief tax collector is sitting in a tree like a bird.
Dave: Perhaps the heat has got to him.
Shirley: Oh Jesus is coming this way….
wow he’s coming really close to us....
I wonder what he is going to do!
(Jesus walks with the crowd until he reaches the “tree” where he stops, looks up and says)
Jesus: Zacchaeus, come down immediately. I must stay at your house today.
Shirley: How did Jesus know that Zacchaeus was up that tree? And how does he know his name? Why would Jesus want to spend the day with him of all people? This is amazing!
Dave: I was just trying to have a little nap Shirley
(Zac comes down from tree and looks at Jesus. Jesus mimes talking with him. Crowd mutter amongst themselves in a disconsolate way)
Shirley: How can you sleep?
This is amazing…..Zacchaeus has come down from the tree and he is talking with Jesus. I can’t quite hear what he is saying….
Dave: Oh really,….your ears not working so well these days dear…..
Shirley: I think Zacchaeus is welcoming Jesus back to his place….for a meal.
I can’t really hear because a lot of people are talking.
They don’t seem very happy about this.
Dave: You can’t blame them Shirley,
if Jesus is as special as you think he is…
then a lot of people would want the honour of entertaining him.
Shirley: I just heard what some of them are saying,
“He has gone to be the guest of a sinner”.
This is not going down well at all.
Perhaps Jesus has made a mistake….
wait till he gets to Zacchaeus’ house and finds out what a mean, hard-hearted man he is.
(Jesus and Zacchaeus move off stage completely leaving the crowd)
Dave: Not so special this Jesus after all.
You have to admit he has made a big error of judgment.
Everyone in Jericho knows what an unpleasant person Zacchaeus is.
Shirley: Mmm….I don’t understand it……
I thought that Jesus was…..
Dave: What did you think?
Shirley: It doesn’t matter….
Dave: I am listening….what did you think Jesus was?
Shirley: From what I had heard I thought that Jesus was maybe the Messiah,
that he had come to save us.
But now I am confused.
Why would Jesus want to spend time with someone who is a friend of the Romans, and who is not exactly “Mr Popular?”
Dave: Well here comes your answer,
look here is Jesus and Zacchaeus is with him.
(Jesus and Zac re-appear)
Shirley: Zacchaeus looks different Dave…he looks happy! Wow….his face is shining.
Zac: Look Lord. Here and now I give half of my possessions to the poor, and if I have cheated anybody out of anything, I will pay back four times the amount.
Jesus: Today salvation has come to this house, because this man, is a son of Abraham.
For the Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost.
Shirley: There you are Dave, you have your miracle.
That is a truly changed man.
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END OF SCRIPTED PLAY
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Couple of Songs with instruments given out before + Offering
Father God I Wonder
I Get So Excited, Lord
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I wonder if Zacchaeus had ever dreamed about his life being different.
Perhaps he thought if he listened to Jesus that something might be different in his life.
Maybe Zacchaeus dreamed a few things might be different in his life.
I think meeting with Jesus that day changed the life of Zacchaeus more than he had ever dreamed was possible.
For Zacchaeus the Before and After difference in his life was amazing.
The Bible doesn’t tell us a lot about Zacchaeus, but there are a few clues about what sort of man he was before he met Jesus.
So thinking back to the play earlier what was Zacchaeus like BEFORE he met Jesus?
(Cheat, greedy, dishonest, unhappy, hard, cold, selfish, lonely, sad etc.)
Zacchaeus had a lot of bad stuff in his heart didn’t he?
He might have had riches, position and power as a chief tax collector, but his life would have been pretty empty as none of the things he had can really make a person totally happy.
Then Jesus came into town.
I wonder what Zacchaeus had heard about Jesus that made him want to see him?
Maybe it was his own misery, loneliness, and emptiness that drew Zacchaeus to Jesus.
Or maybe Zacchaeus had heard about the change in other people’s lives after they had met Jesus.
Whatever it was, Zacchaeus was desperate to see Jesus and when he couldn’t see Him because of the large crowd, he ran ahead and climbed up a sycamore tree so that he could get a good view of Jesus.
Can you imagine Zacchaeus’ shock when Jesus stopped at the foot of his tree, looked up and said to him: “Zacchaeus, come down immediately. I must stay at your house today!” (Luke 19:5)
Can you look at the person next to you and do a shocked face?
Isn’t it amazing that with all the crowds around him, Jesus knew and called Zacchaeus by name?
Jesus knew that Zacchaeus was a cheat, greedy and a very selfish man, but Jesus accepted him and loved him as he was.
Jesus knew that Zacchaeus’ life was empty and that he needed a “heart make-over,” and so Jesus invited himself to stay at Zacchaeus’ home.
Nobody else would want to go to Zacchaeus’ house as a guest…..they all hated him…they knew that he was a “sinner,” but Jesus wanted to go to Zacchaeus’ house and spend time with Zacchaeus.
How do you think Zacchaeus felt when Jesus called him down from the tree?
(Shocked / Surprised / Uneasy / Confused / Excited.)
The Bible doesn’t tell us what Jesus said to Zacchaeus when he stayed with him, but a little later it was very obvious to everyone that Zacchaeus had changed.
Listen to Luke 19:8, “Zacchaeus stood before Jesus and said, “I will give half my wealth to the poor, Lord, and if I have cheated people on their taxes, I will give them back four times as much!”
Wow, Zacchaeus has had a make-over, he has had a real change of heart.
Jesus did something for Zacchaeus that Zacchaeus couldn’t do for himself.
Jesus gave Zacchaeus a new heart.
So what was Zacchaeus like AFTER he met Jesus?
(Honest / generous / happy / etc.)
After he met Jesus, Zacchaeus was a completely different man.
His heart had been changed, and so his life from this point on would be different.
The Bible tells us that Jesus is the same today, as He was yesterday and as He will be tomorrow.
Jesus knows each one of us by name and loves us.
You may not be sitting up in a tree like Zacchaeus, but Jesus knows where you are.
He knows what you have done and what your heart is like, yet He says to each one of us:
“I must stay at your house today, and not just today – but every day. Let me offer you a new life. Let me give you a new heart too.”
Jesus reaches out to us with kindness.
He reaches out to us from the place of having paid the price for our sin.
So how will you respond?
Will you, like Zacchaeus welcome Jesus into your life, or will you stay in the tree, just watching from a distance?
Repent and ask Jesus into your life today and God experience His power at work in your life today and every day.
I will close with a final encouragement to all of us, the verse we began with Ephesians 3:20 from
The Message paraphrase says this:
God can do anything, you know—far more than you could ever imagine or guess or request in your wildest dreams! He does it not by pushing us around but by working within us, his Spirit deeply and gently within us.
(Ephesians 3:20 The Message)
Prayer / Song: Give Me Lord, A Dream From Heaven
