Beforehand, ask the young people and other leaders to bring in some baby photos of themselves. Can everyone guess who is who? Whose physical features have changed the most dramatically? Today’s Gospel is about someone whose character underwent dramatic change.

Invite each person to choose a peripheral character from the story, e.g. onlookers sympathetic or antagonistic to Jesus; disciples; Zacchaeus’ wife; servants at home. Provide a large sheet of flipchart paper and pens. Read Luke 19.1-10, pausing at each key moment. Encourage everyone to write a tweet or Facebook status update about what is happening, from the point of view of their persona. 

Ask the young people: If Jesus suddenly announced he was turning up on your doorstep to have a meal in your home, what would you do to prepare? How much tidying up and cleaning would you do? What would you have on display, or put away? Discuss how reactions reflect the differences between our and Jesus’ priorities.

Mohandas or ‘Mahatma’ Gandhi (1869-1948), non-violent campaigner for Indian independence from British rule, said, ‘Be the change you want to see in the world.’ Ask the young people what injustices they see in their school or community. What changes do they want to see and what is stopping them from making them? How can they live in a way that begins to make change happen? Whose advice or help could they seek?