HRC Youth Ministry

We gathered in the room above St Jude's Room (I don't know what the name of the room) for our monthly Youth Bible Sharing held on 4th Nov 07. And it turned out that the canteen was closed for that Sunday because the Sunday School held their Prize Giving Day that day, and provided food (pot-luck style), so the canteen operator decided to take a rest. So those who came for the Youth Bible Sharing had to "puasa" (hmm.. and I heard that the messenger promised delicious breakfast).

Well the reading that was discussed that day was Luke 19:1-10. And of all people, I was assigned to prepare for it and conduct the session. Basically, the reading was the story of Zacchaeus, the chief tax collector who lived in Jericho. Who climbed up the tree when Jesus was passing by because he was too short to look over the crowd. Then Jesus called out to Zacchaeus to come down from the tree and wanted to share a meal with him in his home. The crowd present grumbled at Jesus for "bergaul"-ing with sinners. But Zacchaeus repented and declared that he would give half of his possessions to the poor and he would pay back those he cheated 4 times the amount. And Jesus forgave him and said, "Today salvation has come to this house, because this man too, is a son of Abraham. For the Son of Man came to seek and save the lost."

So we did a bit of role-playing. And the tallest person in the youth group, Benedict Wong, played the role of the shorter-than-short Zacchaeus, Andrew Ho played the role of our Saviour, and Marissa, Jennifer, Clarice, Fiona, Caryn, Juliana and myself were the "ke-le-fe"s who played the crowd.

Here we can see Jesus talking to the followers, and Zacchaeus, waiting for Jesus on a "tree".


Jesus having a word with Zacchaeus.
Zacchaeus: "Oh Lord, take this money which I keep in my "pants". Give it to the poor"
Jesus: "Ok. Wash your hands and let's have some tossai in your house."


In the bible, it states that the crowd was mad at Jesus for associating with a sinner, Zacchaeus. This crowd don't look too mad to me. In fact, I think they're quite happy Zacchaeus repented so they will not need to pay so much tax anymore.


Jennifer thinks, "hmm.. where can I find a sycamore-fig tree to climb?"


Juliana thinks,"What should we have for lunch later since we didn't have breakfast?"
Caryn, "You know, I used to climb fig trees you know. The fruit is round and a bit hairy."
Fiona thinks, "mmm.. the fruit must be sweet.."


Paul, "Once upon a time, there lived a short man named Zacchaeus. He was the chief publican in the time and collected tax on behalf of the Roman Empire bla bla.."
Benedict thinks, "Sure or not...?"
Fiona thinks, " mmm... sycamore-fig tree fruit... yum yum.."


After the bible sharing, we has some left over nasi lemak from the Sunday School Prize Giving Day pot-luck. Some commented that it was a bit sour. Hmm..

And most of us couldn't leave the church because the Chinese Mass was going on in church, and the church goers had to park their cars all along the drive way because development has started on the land beside the church. So some of us went on to support the Pre-Con 1 going on Pre-Con 2 students in their presentation of "I Could Sing of Your Love Forever" and "Jesus, Lover of MY Soul".


So the message we got from the Bible Sharing was this:-

1. We tend to be the crowd, where by we are bias/prejudice/criticize against people who are sinners (beggars, sl*ts, posers etc.). But Christ invites to be like Him, to reach out to these people.

2. We tend to be Zacchaeus, where by we have hurts, resentments, sins that we carry in our lives. Christ invites us (with ever open arms, remember, it was Jesus who called out to Zacchaeus first to come down from the tree) to let go and repent. Because as Zacchaues understood, what he given up was nothing compared to what he would receive in return, the riches of Heaven, the greatest wealth of all.