In short
Themes: Christianity; the life of Jesus; fairness; welcome; Zacchaeus.
Summary: This assembly, which is suitable for an act of collective worship, focuses on a story from the life of Jesus found in the Bible in the New Testament - the story of Zacchaeus.
Resources: The framework to download / print (pdf) and an image to display of the word 'Fairness'. You will also need a set of scales which is unequally loaded with sweets, or an image of an unequal set of balance scales.
The video
OMAR: Hello! I'm Omar and this is the brilliant story of a man called Zacchaeus. Zacchaeus didn't understand why fairness was a treasure. In fact, he was very unfair. It was his job to collect money from people but he would take more than he was supposed to.
STORY TELLER: When it came to money collection day, he was very rude and unkind to people who were supposed to be his friends.
ZACCHAEUS: Ha ha! Give me money! And more money! And more!
GIRL: That's not fair.
ZACCHAEUS: Now I've got more money than anyone. But I've got no friends, and no one comes to visit me.
OMAR: Then one day, Zacchaeus heard that a very special man called Jesus was coming to town.
STORY TELLER: Zacchaeus had heard amazing things about Jesus and because Zacchaeus was a little man, he climbed up a tree to get a good view.
ZACCHAEUS: Look, it's Jesus surrounded by a huge crowd of people.
OMAR: And to Zacchaeus' surprise, Jesus came right up to the bottom of the tree, looked up and said, 'Zacchaeus, come down out of that tree. I'd like to stay at your house tonight.'
ZACCHAEUS: Coming to stay? At my house? That's amazing. He's a great man and he knows my name! [LAUGHS]
KIDS: Boo!
OMAR: Then, Zacchaeus saw that the people were very unhappy. They thought it was wrong for Jesus to stay with Zacchaeus because he was so unfair and mean to everybody. Zacchaeus realised that they were right.
ZACCHAEUS: I've been unfair to everybody; no wonder no one wants to come to my house. But Jesus does… He must think that I'm a good person deep down. In fact, I'm going to be a better person from now on. A fairer person.
OMAR: And that's exactly what he did.
ZACCHAEUS: Don't worry. Listen up, people, I'm sorry. I should've treated you all fairly before, but now, if I've taken any money from you that I shouldn't have, I'm going to give you back four times as much and I'm going to give half my money to the poor.
KIDS: Yay!
OMAR: And from that day on, Zacchaeus was always fair. And even though he had a lot less money, he was really happy because he had a lot more friends.
Thanks for helping me tell today's treasure story. It's written in the Bible. See you soon.
ALL: Bye!
This story is from the Bible and particularly from the New Testament in the Gospel of Luke, Chapter 19. It describes an event from the life of Jesus when he meets a man named Zacchaeus.
Zacchaeus was a chief tax collector and very wealthy. He would have been collecting taxes to give to the Roman rulers, so Zacchaeus would not have been at all popular - he would have been seen as unfair and a traitor. The turnaround moment in the story is when Jesus invites himself to Zacchaeus’ house. It prompts a complete change in Zacchaeus and he begins to act fairly and even generously, by paying back those who have been treated harshly.
Duration: 3’ 27”
Final words: ‘See you soon. Bye!'
Video questions
- What did Zacchaeus do that was unfair? (He took more money than he was supposed to)
- When Jesus arrived how did Zacchaeus get a better view of him? (He climbed a tree because he was short)
- Did Jesus notice him? (Yes)
- What did Jesus want to do? (He wanted to visit Zacchaeus’ home)
- How did Zacchaeus change after meeting Jesus? (He became fair - even generous)
Key links
Assembly framework (pdf) document
Download / print the assembly framework ready for use
Fairness. image
Click for the full size image.
Suggested framework
1. Entry
Play your chosen music as the children enter and display the set of scales (or an image of it).
2. Introduction
Ask the children to look at the scales and ask whether this looks fair?
You could say: 'If I gave all the sweets on this side to one child, and a small amount of sweets on the other side to another child, would it be fair?'
Ask: 'How could I make this fairer?'
Model moving the sweets and, if they are in packets, counting out the packets on each side so there is an equal amount.
Explain that the story in the video is a very old one about the value of fairness.
3. The video
Play the video. The duration is 3’ 27” and the final words are: 'See you soon. Bye!'
4. After the video - Time to talk
Lead a discussion about the story and the value of fairness by asking:
- Do you think Zacchaeus was happy with his life? (The children will need to use their imaginations to answer this, though it does say in the video that Zacchaeus was wealthy but had few friends)
- How did Zacchaeus change his ways as a result of meeting Jesus?
- How does it feel when things are not fair?
- What things do you think are unfair in our world today?
- How do we make sure people are treated fairly at school? (You might have a school statement that you can share - eg 'We believe each child is special and we treat everyone fairly')
- Why is being fair important?
5. Opportunity to sing
Suggestions from BBC collections below.
6. Opportunity for reflection
Let's take some time to think about fairness and what it means…
There can be times when things don't feel fair…and that can make us feel unhappiness and pain…
Think about what the right thing to do is when things don't feel fair…
We can all help to make others happy by being fair…
So how will you show fairness today…in school, at home, or somewhere else…
7. Opportunity for prayer
Begin with your usual form of address (‘Dear God’, ‘Let us pray’, etc) and:
Thank you for the story of Zacchaeus and that he realised he had been unfair to people.
Thank you that he changed his ways and became fair and generous.
Please help us all to be fair and generous.
Amen.
Suggested songs
Song: 'Keep the golden rules' (All about our school, no 5. Vocal version)
Chorus:
Every day’s a good day
When we keep the golden rules.
Then we’ll get on in a good way
With everyone at school!
Show respect for one another
And different points of view,
And take good care of each other
In everything we do.
Verse 1:
They’re all there for a reason,
So everything is cool,
And every day’s a good day
When we keep the golden rules!
Chorus:
Verse 2:
There are rules for playing every sport
And every kind of game,
To get along together
We need rules just the same!
Chorus:
Every day’s a good day
When we keep the golden rules.
Then we’ll get on in a good way
With everyone at school!
Show respect for one another
And different points of view,
And take good care of each other
In everything we do.
And take good care of each other
In everything we do.
'Build up' (All about our school, no 12)
Verse 1:
Every word you say, (wo-oh)
Every game you play, (wo-oh)
Every silly face, (wo-oh)
Every single place, (wo-oh)
You can build up,
spoken 1, 2, 3, 4, 5!
Or you can tear down.
Chorus:
Build up one another,
Build up your sisters and brothers,
Build up one another,
Build up!
Verse 2:
Every joke you tell, (wo-oh)
Every name you spell, (wo-oh)
Everywhere you go, (wo-oh)
Everyone you know, (wo-oh)
You can build up,
spoken 1, 2, 3, 4, 5!
Or you can tear down.
Chorus:
Build up one another,
Build up your sisters and brothers,
Build up one another,
Build up!
Build up!
Build up!
The Lord's my shepherd - Come and Praise, no 56