Short and Tall!
Children's sermon
Object: A chair, or for the most fun, a stepladder.
NOTE: This message includes a role-play you can include every child in, regardless of age. Two children will play the roles of Zacchaeus and Jesus, the other children will play the role of the “crowd.” While none of the roles include remembering lines, you will want to select a couple of children old enough to follow your lead during the role-play. If you have any “hams” in your group, this can be a fun time to use them. It will probably work best if you talk with them before the message and explain what you are wanting them to do.
* * *
Hello, everyone! (Let them respond.) We have a very special story today. Are you ready? (Let them respond.) Great!
Once there was a man named Zacchaeus. (Have Zacchaeus stand. Encourage Zacchaeus to look proud.) Zacchaeus had a lot of money, a great big house, and he had the fanciest chariot in town; the one with the fancy lights all around the bottom. The big problem was that Zacchaeus was rich because of his job.
Now, you need to know that nobody liked the people who collected the taxes. Nobody liked tax collectors because most of them cheated and took more money from people than they were supposed to take.
What do you think Zacchaeus’ job was? (Let them respond.) Right, he was a tax collector. So, do you think Zacchaeus had a lot of friends? (Let them respond.) Nope, nobody liked Zacchaeus, and nobody would go anywhere near him!
Then, one day, Jesus came to town. (Have Zacchaeus sit down, and have Jesus get up and stand far enough away to give your crowd room to appear.) Everyone in town was excited and wanted to see Jesus, so they all ran to meet him. (Have the other children stand as a group and look at Jesus.) Jesus was famous, and if he came to eat in someone’s house, it would make that person famous, too! So, every person in the crowd was trying to get close to Jesus so he might see them and have lunch at their house while he was in town today. The people started moving toward Jesus, and each person was trying to be in front so they could meet Jesus first. (Have your crowd begin moving toward Jesus, and then suddenly stop them.)
And then, all of a sudden, guess who shows up? (Let them respond.) Yes, Zacchaeus shows up. And what do you think the crowd did when they saw him? (Give them some time to answer before you continue speaking.) I’ll show you what they did. (Move your crowd around and bunch them together or form a wall to block Zacchaeus.)
Now, Zacchaeus is pretty short, so the crowd just keeps blocking him and not letting him see Jesus. The people don’t want him to see Jesus or be with him because they don’t think he is as good as they are.
So, what do you think Zacchaeus does? (Let them respond.) He climbs a tree! (Have Zacchaeus either climb the chair or ladder and look at Jesus.) He isn’t thinking about lunch, he just wants to see Jesus. And now he can see him. That’s pretty cool, isn’t it? (Let them respond.) But even cooler, Jesus sees Zacchaeus in the tree and waves for him to come down. (Have Jesus wave to Zacchaeus, and then have Zacchaeus get down from the chair or ladder and stand next to Jesus.) And Jesus said he was going to go eat lunch at Zacchaeus’ house. (Have Jesus and Zacchaeus walk away and sit down together.)
During lunch, the people were all standing around together outside Zacchaeus’ house. (Have the crowd form again and look like they are unhappy and grumbling. For some extra fun, encourage members of the crowd to make grumbling sounds while you continue.) The people were upset and grumbling, saying things like, “Jesus shouldn’t be eating here with this lousy Zacchaeus, but should be at MY house!” And, “That Zacchaeus thinks he’s a big shot! Now he is going to brag about having Jesus visit his house.”
But then Zacchaeus does something that really surprises everyone — even the grumpy people outside the house. Does anyone know what Zacchaeus does? (Let them respond.)
Zacchaeus looks at Jesus and said, “I want to give half of everything I have to people who don’t have the things they need.” I’ll bet that surprised everyone, don’t you? (Let them respond.) But then, he says something even better. He says, “And for the people I have cheated and taken more of their money than I was supposed to, I will find them and give them twice as much back as I took.”
I wonder how the people outside felt about Zacchaeus now? (Let them respond.) I will tell you what I think about him. Zacchaeus may have been pretty small in size, but he sure did big things for God, didn’t he? (Let them respond.)
Let’s all pray together and ask God to help us remember how much God loves every one of us no matter who we are and ask God to help us remember to never treat other people like we think we are better than they are.
Prayer:
Dear God, thank you for reminding us how much you love us. Please help us understand what you are trying to teach us in your stories. And help us to remember that you love all of the people you have created and help us let the people around us know that we love them just like Jesus loves us. Amen.
NOTE: This message includes a role-play you can include every child in, regardless of age. Two children will play the roles of Zacchaeus and Jesus, the other children will play the role of the “crowd.” While none of the roles include remembering lines, you will want to select a couple of children old enough to follow your lead during the role-play. If you have any “hams” in your group, this can be a fun time to use them. It will probably work best if you talk with them before the message and explain what you are wanting them to do.
* * *
Hello, everyone! (Let them respond.) We have a very special story today. Are you ready? (Let them respond.) Great!
Once there was a man named Zacchaeus. (Have Zacchaeus stand. Encourage Zacchaeus to look proud.) Zacchaeus had a lot of money, a great big house, and he had the fanciest chariot in town; the one with the fancy lights all around the bottom. The big problem was that Zacchaeus was rich because of his job.
Now, you need to know that nobody liked the people who collected the taxes. Nobody liked tax collectors because most of them cheated and took more money from people than they were supposed to take.
What do you think Zacchaeus’ job was? (Let them respond.) Right, he was a tax collector. So, do you think Zacchaeus had a lot of friends? (Let them respond.) Nope, nobody liked Zacchaeus, and nobody would go anywhere near him!
Then, one day, Jesus came to town. (Have Zacchaeus sit down, and have Jesus get up and stand far enough away to give your crowd room to appear.) Everyone in town was excited and wanted to see Jesus, so they all ran to meet him. (Have the other children stand as a group and look at Jesus.) Jesus was famous, and if he came to eat in someone’s house, it would make that person famous, too! So, every person in the crowd was trying to get close to Jesus so he might see them and have lunch at their house while he was in town today. The people started moving toward Jesus, and each person was trying to be in front so they could meet Jesus first. (Have your crowd begin moving toward Jesus, and then suddenly stop them.)
And then, all of a sudden, guess who shows up? (Let them respond.) Yes, Zacchaeus shows up. And what do you think the crowd did when they saw him? (Give them some time to answer before you continue speaking.) I’ll show you what they did. (Move your crowd around and bunch them together or form a wall to block Zacchaeus.)
Now, Zacchaeus is pretty short, so the crowd just keeps blocking him and not letting him see Jesus. The people don’t want him to see Jesus or be with him because they don’t think he is as good as they are.
So, what do you think Zacchaeus does? (Let them respond.) He climbs a tree! (Have Zacchaeus either climb the chair or ladder and look at Jesus.) He isn’t thinking about lunch, he just wants to see Jesus. And now he can see him. That’s pretty cool, isn’t it? (Let them respond.) But even cooler, Jesus sees Zacchaeus in the tree and waves for him to come down. (Have Jesus wave to Zacchaeus, and then have Zacchaeus get down from the chair or ladder and stand next to Jesus.) And Jesus said he was going to go eat lunch at Zacchaeus’ house. (Have Jesus and Zacchaeus walk away and sit down together.)
During lunch, the people were all standing around together outside Zacchaeus’ house. (Have the crowd form again and look like they are unhappy and grumbling. For some extra fun, encourage members of the crowd to make grumbling sounds while you continue.) The people were upset and grumbling, saying things like, “Jesus shouldn’t be eating here with this lousy Zacchaeus, but should be at MY house!” And, “That Zacchaeus thinks he’s a big shot! Now he is going to brag about having Jesus visit his house.”
But then Zacchaeus does something that really surprises everyone — even the grumpy people outside the house. Does anyone know what Zacchaeus does? (Let them respond.)
Zacchaeus looks at Jesus and said, “I want to give half of everything I have to people who don’t have the things they need.” I’ll bet that surprised everyone, don’t you? (Let them respond.) But then, he says something even better. He says, “And for the people I have cheated and taken more of their money than I was supposed to, I will find them and give them twice as much back as I took.”
I wonder how the people outside felt about Zacchaeus now? (Let them respond.) I will tell you what I think about him. Zacchaeus may have been pretty small in size, but he sure did big things for God, didn’t he? (Let them respond.)
Let’s all pray together and ask God to help us remember how much God loves every one of us no matter who we are and ask God to help us remember to never treat other people like we think we are better than they are.
Prayer:
Dear God, thank you for reminding us how much you love us. Please help us understand what you are trying to teach us in your stories. And help us to remember that you love all of the people you have created and help us let the people around us know that we love them just like Jesus loves us. Amen.
