Boxes

The theme of Sunday's service was prejudice and the values we use to put other people into boxes. We had four boxes at the front of the church. A shocking pink box with a bow on it, a carved box with gold on it, a blue businesslike box and an old scrappy cardboard box. The floor of the church had a pile of pictures in the centre of it, which had been taken from magazines.
People were invited to place some pictures into the boxes that they thought they might fit in, according to any criteria they wished really. Perhaps according to the way they say them , or according to the way society saw them. So we were judging by first impressions

Later in the service we opened the boxes and put the pictures near each box, so that people could see which pictures were by which boxes....
then we prayed the following prayer.

leader: We pray for those we put in a nice box,
the A list celebrities,
the idols,
those who are given the Star treatment,
those who we put on pedestals,
who find it hard to live up
to our labels and expectations.

All: Jesus Christ
The only true Superstar
We pray for those
Who cannot cope with the star-treatment
The paparrazi, the pressure.
Help them to know,
That you can see them warts and all.
And love them for who they truly are
Not who they pretend to be.

leader: We pray for those we put in a scrappy box.
Those trapped in crummy flats, dead-end jobs,
Those treated like dirt, because of their looks,
Their smell, their colour, their body shape

All: Jesus Christ,
Born in an outhouse,
We pray for those
Who cannot cope with their surroundings,
Who cannot cope with being treated like dirt,
Or, worse still, have never known anything better.
You promise to set the prisoners free,
Set these people free,
From our expectations,
Help them to feel loved, valued and important to You.


leader: We pray for those we put in a pretty box.
Those we judge for how they look.
Those we do not allow to fulfil their potential,
Because of their past, or their sex or sexuality.

All: Jesus Christ,
Who treated women as equals,
Who ate with prostitutes and swindlers
And gave us all a new start.
We pray for those
Who cannot cope with others prejudice
And those who say "you can't do that"
And those who cannot break free from the past.
Help them to find new opportunities,
Help them hear your call in their lives.
And help us never to stand in the way of that call.

leader: We pray for those we put in an efficient box
Those we judge by their previous successes
Those we load down with high expectations
Of future performance,
Those who never get the time
To rest and be themselves.

All: Jesus Christ,
Managing Director
Of the Company of Heaven,
Leader who serves
The Way to the Truth.
We pray for those
Who cannot cope with the pressure
Of always trying to be "top"
You promise to set the prisoners free,
Set these people free,
From their own expectations,
Help them to feel loved, valued and important to You
And that its Ok sometimes to fail.