Statue Of A Homeless Jesus Startles A Wealthy Community

National Public Radio reports:

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. …

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.

“Some neighbors feel that it’s an insulting depiction of the son of God,” NPR reports. Hmmm – those neighbors might want to check out their theology of the incarnation and crucifixion. Lots of abasement and insult there, I’d say.

Read the rest here.

Homeless Jesus

Editor

Katharine E. Harmon, Ph.D., edits the blog, Pray Tell: Worship, Wit & Wisdom.

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Comments

12 responses to “Statue Of A Homeless Jesus Startles A Wealthy Community”

  1. Bill deHaas

    Forwarded to our pastor who is a Vincentian – appeared to be in the spirit of Vincent dePaul and the parish run center for the poor. No reply.

    Reply
  2. Henry Edwards

    The suburban (Catholic) parish nearest me has the same sleeping homeless statue on the same bench in the same location–in a covered walkway (luscious grass on both sides) from the church to the parish hall. No sharp reaction that I’ve heard; perhaps our parish is not wealthy enough.

    Reply
    1. Paul Boman

      @Henry Edwards – comment #2:
      Henry, perhaps your parish is very wealthy in compassion, charity, insight, and other things that really matter.

      Reply
  3. Graham Wilson

    Oh I like the statue very much. For me it’s just as powerful and apt as the Son of God hanging crucified.

    Reply
  4. Jim Pauwels

    Thought-provoking.

    We have many homeless in our clean, well-kept community, but we don’t permit them to sleep on park benches. During the months that roughly coincide with the academic year, a network of churches offers night-time shelters with cots, a hot meal and showers. But these are not open during the summertime, so those without a home need to sleep elsewhere – but not on park benches.

    Reply
  5. Norman Borelli

    Dorothy Day, Servant of God, pray for us.

    Reply
  6. Fran Rossi Szpylczyn

    I have had the pleasure of meeting the rector, David Buck when he and a good friend of mine were married. These things were clear to me at the time, 4 years ago… David Buck has a powerful sense of social justice, as does the parish overall. That said, it is my understanding that most of the complaints are not from parishioners, but from neighbors.

    This story keeps coming around, ever since the statue was installed. That is not a bad thing!

    Reply
  7. Alan Hommerding

    There is a certain inevitability that a symbol as potent as the crucified Jesus would, over the course of time and through innumerable representations, lose its core ability to shock. But the sight of any human body being subjected to something as horrific as crucifixion should shock us. If I had any skill in the visual/graphic arts, I’d create an image of Jesus in the electric chair or about to receive a lethal injection.

    Reply
    1. Andreas Box

      @Alan Hommerding – comment #8:
      it’s been done! the London underground or tube system were to depict modern art stations of the cross but it was decided against because the depictions of violence were deemed not suitable for public environments! Christ in an electric chair was one piece. view the tablet photos here…
      http://www.thetablet.co.uk/gallery/stations-of-the-cross

      Reply
    2. Peter Rehwaldt

      @Alan Hommerding – comment #8:
      The fastest way to abolish the death penalty in the US would be to require that they be held in public, broadcast live, and carried out via the hangman’s noose or the guillotine. Culturally, we’re much more comfortable with the idea of the death penalty than with the reality of it.

      The symbolism here, though, isn’t so much crucifixion as Jesus’ identification with “the least of these” — a shepherd who smells like the sheep, truly. I’m struck that what offends those who are displeased is that it seems to suggest that “those people” have a place in “their” neighborhood.

      Reply
      1. Alan Hommerding

        @Peter Rehwaldt – comment #10:
        I’m not sure if public capital punishment would lead to its abolishment; my fear would be that our violence-loving, retribution-craving culture would see it on TV/internet as just one more “reality” show.

        In my view, Jesus – the Son of God – identifying in such a shocking way with the “least” is completely bound up in the symbolism of crucifixion, or homelessness on a bench, or the lethal injection victim.

  8. Larry Leger

    The first such statue resides in Toronto – outside Regis College – the Jesuit College in Toronto!

    Reply

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