Becoming the Sycamore Tree

Youth pastor, David Skidmore, tells about trying a role play to make the story of Zacchaeus more interesting for the children. He assigned various kids to each part, and had an adult helper play the part of the sycamore tree. After the drama (“with a few giggles as ‘Zacchaeus’ made his way up the ‘tree,’ hitting a few ticklish spots on the journey”), they all sang the familiar song about Zacchaeus. Then he asked the children, “What would have happened if Zacchaeus had not climbed the tree that day?”

One eight-year-old girl responded, “His song wouldn’t be as much fun to sing! “

The pastor imagined this new version of the song:

Zacchaeus was a wee little man
A wee little man was he
He started to climb in a sycamore tree
But he didn’t...
And then...he went home.

The little girl was right--not much fun to sing. Her response made the pastor think of all the children he was ministering to whose songs weren’t much fun to sing because “their faith was so small...and the crowd was too tall...and they had no sycamore tree to climb.”

Then he realized the truth. For many years he had been trying to BE Jesus to the kids. He tried to save them and heal their hurts. But that wasn’t his job. He was called to be the sycamore tree! He says, “Like the sycamore tree, my job is to lift the (children) above the crowd so they might see the approaching Savior."

This is what TCE is all about. We train teachers to be sycamore trees. It is not their responsibility to save the children in their clubs, but to give them a new perspective and an opportunity to meet the Savior.

Pastor Skidmore concludes with these powerful thoughts:

“Luke eventually tells the story of another tree.
The first tree holds a man living a lie.
On the other tree hangs a Man dying for truth.
Zacchaeus climbs a tree to get the attention of Jesus.
Jesus climbs a tree and dies to get ours.
Being a tree is easy.
Being a Savior is not.”

Your TCE students will have many children in their clubs whose songs are not much fun to sing. But as you train your teachers and listen to their practicum lessons on Zacchaeus, you can remind them that they have the awesome privilege of being the sycamore tree to those kids God entrusts to them!