Posted on 04/13/2014 11:32:14 AM PDT by Alter Kaker
A new religious statue in the town of Davidson, N.C., is unlike anything you might see in church.
The statue depicts Jesus as a vagrant sleeping on a park bench. St. Alban's Episcopal Church installed the homeless Jesus statue on its property in the middle of an upscale neighborhood filled with well-kept townhomes.
Jesus is huddled under a blanket with his face and hands obscured; only the crucifixion wounds on his uncovered feet give him away.
The reaction was immediate. Some loved it; some didn't.
"One woman from the neighborhood actually called police the first time she drove by," says David Boraks, editor of DavidsonNews.net. "She thought it was an actual homeless person."
That's right. Somebody called the cops on Jesus.
"Another neighbor, who lives a couple of doors down from the church, wrote us a letter to the editor saying it creeps him out," Boraks added.
Some neighbors felt it was an insulting depiction of the Son of God, and what appears to be a hobo curled up on a bench demeans the neighborhood.
The bronze statue was purchased for $22,000 as a memorial for a parishioner, Kate McIntyre, who had loved public art. The rector of this liberal, inclusive church is Rev. David Buck, a 65-year-old Baptist-turned-Episcopalian who seems not at all averse to the controversy, the double-takes and the discussion the statue has provoked.
"It gives authenticity to our church," he says. "This is a relatively affluent church, to be honest, and we need to be reminded ourselves that our faith expresses itself in active concern for the marginalized of society."
The sculpture is intended as a visual translation of the passage in the Book of Matthew, in which Jesus tells his disciples, "as you did it to one of the least of my brothers, you did it to me." Moreover, Buck says, it's a good Bible lesson for those used to seeing Jesus depicted in traditional religious art as the Christ of glory, enthroned in finery.
"We believe that that's the kind of life Jesus had," Buck says. "He was, in essence, a homeless person."
This lakeside college town north of Charlotte has the first Jesus the Homeless statue on display in the United States. Catholic Charities of Chicago plans to install its statue when the weather warms up. The Archdiocese of Washington, D.C., is said to be interested in one, too.
The creator is a Canadian sculptor and devout Catholic named Timothy Schmalz. From his studio in Ontario, Schmalz says he understands that his Jesus the Homeless is provocative.
"That's essentially what the sculpture is there to do," he says. "It's meant to challenge people."
He says he offered the first casts to St. Michael's Cathedral in Toronto and St. Patrick's Cathedral in New York. Both declined.
A spokesman at St. Michael's says appreciation of the statue "was not unanimous," and the church was being restored so a new work of art was out of the question. That statue found a home in front of the Jesuit School of Theology at the University of Toronto.
A spokesperson at St. Patrick's in New York says they liked the homeless Jesus, but their cathedral is also being renovated and they had to turn it down.
The most high-profile installation of the bronze Jesus on a park bench will be on the Via della Conziliazione, the avenue leading to St. Peter's Basilica — if the City of Rome approves it. Schmalz traveled to the Vatican last November to present a miniature to the pope himself.
"He walked over to the sculpture, and it was just chilling because he touched the knee of the Jesus the Homeless sculpture, and closed his eyes and prayed," Schmalz says. "It was like, that's what he's doing throughout the whole world: Pope Francis is reaching out to the marginalized."
Back at St. Alban's in Davidson, the rector reports that the Jesus the Homeless statue has earned more followers than detractors. It is now common, he says, to see people come, sit on the bench, rest their hand on the bronze feet and pray.
This statue tries to depict the adage that is at the heart of Christianity “ whatever you do for the least of my brethren, you do for me”. That is you find Jesus when you notice the homeless, the poor the hungry or the depraved. The big argument is just how do you best help the less fortunate. IMHO productive capitalism with a human face is best. Socialism leads to miserable poverty and a loss of liberty. With that Happy Palm Sunday to all Freepers!
...
Catholic Charities of Chicago plans to install its statue when the weather warms up.
Oh, beautiful irony.
“Why not use the $22,000 to feed the homeless? It’s telling that political points score higher on the charity scale for this church than real people do.”
Homeless advocacy is pure politics and envy.
I am however glad to see that all homeless-cardboard-sign-toating-busy-intersection-entrepeneurs are also fellow believers...Everyone of them offers a “God Bless” as part of their sales pitch.
“Jesus slept” ping.
THE God.
;]
Oh, NOW NPR believes in Jesus.
Sorry, that is very creepy. It reminds me of the “Ghost of Christmas yet to come” from the Mr. Magoo version of “A Christmas Carol”. That scared the heck out of me when I was a kid.
Matthew 8:20 —> And Jesus said to him, “Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head.”
Jesus wasn’t homeless.
Where is the public art that uses Mohammad to make a Leftist political point?
I wonder what that would look like?
I wonder how long it would be before the “artist” was found separated from his/hers/its head
Being homeless pays better than minimum wage - then there's extra benefits.
I just don't think of Jesus as being a con artist...preying on the good will of suckers.
Being homeless pays better than minimum wage - then there's extra benefits.
I just don't think of Jesus as being a con artist...preying on the good will of suckers.
You sure? Also, last I checked His churches do each and every Sunday.
seeing the humanity and spark of divinity in the “untouchables”
the bums and winos you avert your eyes from when you walk past them
A good reminder of the humility chosen for the human life of Christ
He wasn't?
And Jesus saith unto him, The foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests; but the Son of man hath not where to lay his head. (Matthew 8:20)
And Jesus said to him, “The foxes have holes and the birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head.”
I suppose to many folks Jesus looks cleaner and cuter wrapped in swaddling cloths, lying in a manger
Surrounded by farm animals.
Poor but not destitute?
At least there is a roof over his head and in the pictures, the stable is always clean and so are the onlookers
He ..IS.. ..THE.. God.
HE became flesh and dwelt among us.
Born to save us. Salvation through Jesus Christ - only!!
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