When Canadian sculptor Timothy Schmalz, 43, was visiting Toronto during the
Christmas season a few years ago, he saw a homeless person wrapped up in a
sleeping bag lying on a floor. Schmalz couldn't tell whether the person was
male or female, but his initial reaction was "That is Jesus."
Schmalz, who is a practicing Catholic, had been creating religious artwork
for more than two decades, but that Christmas experience caused him to think
about how Christ is typically presented in church art. Much of the Jesus art
he'd been commissioned to do wanted a Jesus who looked European, with
shoulder-length "perfectly blow-dried" hair and a symmetrical face.
Jesus in those works might be pierced and bloodied, but his body is beautiful,
reflecting the concept that inner holiness takes an outward form.
"But Jesus hung out with the marginalized," Schmalz said. "He
was with the prostitutes and beggars."
The Christmas experience in Toronto eventually led Schmalz to sculpt Jesus
as a homeless outcast, sleeping on a bench. The figure is shrouded in a
blanket, with its face barely visible, but the blanket does not extend to cover
the feet, which are pierced, leading viewers to think of crucifixion spikes.
Schmalz titled the work Jesus the Homeless.
Schmalz intentionally left room on the end of the bench for a passerby to
sit next to the sleeping Jesus.
The sculptor had lived for a time in Toronto, while studying at the former
Ontario College of Art. "I was totally used to stepping over people,"
Schmalz said. "You're not aware they are human beings. They become obstacles
in the urban environment and you lose a spiritual connection to them. They
become inert, an inconvenience."
Seeing the homeless person sleeping on the street while Christmas shoppers
bustled by changed all that for the artist.
Schmalz offered the completed bronze sculpture, funded by a real estate
developer Peter Benniger, to two Roman Catholic churches: St. Michael's
Cathedral in Toronto and St. Patrick's Cathedral in New York. In both cases,
the rectors were enthused about the work and showed the sculptor some possible
locations for it. But in each case, authorities higher up in the archdiocese
turned it down. Schmalz said he was told "it was not an appropriate
image."
A spokesperson for St. Patrick's told the New York Daily News that
the cathedral had to refuse because of extensive restoration ongoing in the
building, but that "We loved the statue. When the time comes, we'll
certainly take another look."
Likewise, a spokesperson for the Toronto archdiocese said the rejection at
St. Michael's may have had to do with renovations at the cathedral and
"partly to do with someone's view of the art."
In April, after a year of searching for a home for Jesus the Homeless,
Regis College, a Jesuit theology school at the University of Toronto, gave the
sculpture a prominent place on the sidewalk by its front entrance.
"It's one of the most inviting and authentic representations of
Jesus," said Rev. Gordon Rixon, dean of the college. "There's the
suggestion there is the king and he is answering our culture with his poverty,
vulnerability and weakness."
More on this story can be found at these links:
Sculpture of Jesus the Homeless Rejected by Two Prominent
Churches. The (Toronto) Star
Homeless Jesus Statue Finds a Home. New York Daily News
The Big Questions
1. Was Jesus actually homeless in the way we use the term nowadays? What are
the similarities and what are the differences? Is a homeless Jesus an
"appropriate" image? Why or why not?
2. Over the years, Jesus has been depicted in art as a handsome and muscular
boxer, as a euphoric young man wearing jeans and a collared shirt, as a
landmine victim, as a black man, as a king, as a crucified woman, as a
successful businessman, as a hockey player and as a rebel, as well as in more
traditionally "sacred" representations. Which of these do you think
are legitimate depictions of Jesus? What do you suppose is the motivation to
present Jesus in these different ways? What are some ways to differentiate
between "proclaiming Jesus' message" and "using Jesus to
proclaim our message"?
3. What does Jesus call Christians to do, if anything, about the homeless?
Why? Are there times that Jesus calls us to inaction as well as action? Why or
why not?
4. Should the reason a person is homeless affect how we react to that
person? Why? How do you respond to homeless people you encounter? Would you
respond the same way if Jesus were standing next to you?
5. How would you depict Jesus, and how is that depiction reflected in the
ways you serve him?
Confronting the News With Scripture and Hope
Here are some Bible verses to guide your discussion:
Job 24:7-8 (The Message)
Homeless, they shiver through cold nights on the street; they've no place
to lay their heads. Exposed to the weather, wet and frozen, they huddle in
makeshift shelters. (For context, read 24:1-8.)
In chapter 24, Job refers to the view that God has appointed a time of
judgment for the wicked and wants to know why, in face of all the wickedness on
earth, that time has not arrived. Job enumerates some of the wicked deeds, including
the fact that some greedy individuals take advantage of others to the point of
rendering them homeless.
Questions: Today we recognize that there are a variety of
reasons someone might be forced -- or might, like Jesus, choose -- to
be homeless for various lengths of time. What are some of these reasons?
Several commentators suggest that Job's education begins with his outrage at
his misfortune and proceeds through his recognition that suffering is
experienced by all, until at last he obtains perspective from God's speech and
repents with dust and ashes. How is it possible for you to understand others
without experiencing what they experience? What are your feelings when you
become fully acquainted with the depth of suffering both near at hand and far
away? Is ignorance bliss?
Matthew 8:20
Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests; but the Son of Man has
nowhere to lay his head. (For context, read 8:18-22.)
People often cite these words of Jesus as evidence that he was homeless. He
was, in fact, without a permanent residence at this point in his time on earth,
but he wasn't homeless in the way we usually use that word today; his state
might better be described as "itinerant." Jesus spoke the words above
in response to a scribe who said, "Teacher, I will follow you wherever you
go."
On one level, Jesus' response could be taken to mean that if the man did
follow him in that manner, he needed to be prepared to be away from home and
constantly on the move. However, because Jesus referred to himself here not as
"I" but as "the Son of Man," which has certain
christological implications, his statement has a paradoxical irony: While the
creatures of the field and sky have homes, the Son of Man, who is Lord of
creation and judge of the earth, is a wanderer with no place in the world to
call his own.
Thus, Jesus was saying that those who follow him are called to a life in
which all of the world's priorities are reversed.
Questions: What specifically do you mean when you say,
"I am a follower of Jesus"? Has there ever been a mission or ministry
that required you to step away from all your stuff and assume the identity of
an itinerant? How did you feel when you stepped away from possessions?
Liberated? Abandoned? Uncertain? How did you feel when you were once again
ensconced among your possessions?
Matthew 25:37-40
Then the righteous will answer him, "Lord, when was it that we saw you
hungry and gave you food, or thirsty and gave you something to drink? And when
was it that we saw you a stranger and welcomed you, or naked and gave you
clothing? And when was it that we saw you sick or in prison and visited
you?" And the king will answer them, "Truly I tell you, just as you
did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to
me." (For context, read 25:31-46.)
According to these words from Jesus, helping the needy, which certainly
includes the homeless, is not optional for those who wish to be judged faithful
to God.
Questions: What personal call do you hear in these words?
Think of depictions of Jesus you have encountered. Which shame you? Which
challenge you? Which inspire you?
When have you ministered to the "least of these"? How was your
life changed? When have you turned away from the "least of these"?
How was your life affected? When have you been one of the "least of
these"? As you are comfortable, share a bit of your story with the group.
Mark 14:7
For you always have the poor with you, and you can show kindness to them whenever
you wish; but you will not always have me. (For context, read 14:3-9.)
This text is often quoted out of context, sometimes as a way of saying that
since Jesus said we'd always have the poor with us, we probably can't do much
about the problem of poverty it and we ought to leave well enough alone and
tend to religious things. It can even be quoted to suggest that Jesus intends for
some people to be poor. But in this text, Jesus is paraphrasing Moses in
Deuteronomy 15:11: "Since there will never cease to be some in need on the
earth, I therefore command you, 'Open your hand to the poor and needy neighbor
in your land.'" And Moses' words are part of a larger passage that says
when the people come into their land, they must recognize that everything they
have comes from God and they have an obligation to take care of the poor among
them.
Questions: What are the limits of your obligations to the
homeless? What have you done when a homeless person has shown up at church? Do
you think you have done too much? Enough? Do you believe there is any solution
to the problem of homelessness? What are the differences between being
"poor" and being "needy"?
Luke 16:19-21
There was a rich man who was dressed in purple and fine linen and who
feasted sumptuously every day. And at his gate lay a poor man named Lazarus,
covered with sores, who longed to satisfy his hunger with what fell from the
rich man's table; even the dogs would come and lick his sores. (For
context, read 16:19-31.)
Jesus' story of the rich man and Lazarus doesn't say Lazarus was homeless,
but his poverty was deep and crippling, and he at least lived his days
stationed outside the home of the rich man, in hope of a few crumbs of charity.
The rich man must have -- either literally or figuratively -- stepped over
Lazarus as he came and went from his lavish home. (Recall that Schmalz said,
"I was totally used to stepping over people. You're not aware they are
human beings. They become obstacles in the urban environment and you lose a
spiritual connection to them. They become inert, an inconvenience.")
Read the context verses and you'll see that in the end, this particular rich
man fared very badly and was excluded from the heavenly home.
Questions: Why do you think Jesus told this story? What
speaks to you from it? Put yourself in the place of both characters in the
parable and describe how you feel while on earth. Put yourself in the place of
a spectator, perhaps one invited to the rich man's banquet. What are your
feelings?
John 9:24-25
So for the second time they called the man who had been blind, and they
said to him, "Give glory to God! We know that this man is a sinner."
He answered, "I do not know whether he is a sinner. One thing I do know,
that though I was blind, now I see." (For context, read 9:1-41.)
The two verses above are a snippet from an incident where Jesus gave sight
to a man who had been born blind. Apparently, up until Jesus performed this
miracle, this man had heard little or nothing about Jesus. Thus, the fact of
his being given sight was all he had to help him decide what sort of a person
Jesus was.
After Jesus left the scene, some Pharisees who didn't approve of Jesus
questioned the healed man about Jesus' role. The man's first response was that
Jesus was "a prophet" (v. 17). The Pharisees didn't like that answer
and continued to quiz the man. Accusing Jesus of being a sinner, they pressed
the now-seeing man to agree with them. To that the man responded, "I do
not know whether he is a sinner. One thing I do know, that though I was blind, now
I see." Thus, to this man, Jesus was at least a prophet and a sight-giver.
Later on, Jesus sought out the man and identified himself as "the Son
of Man." The healed man declared his belief and worshiped Jesus (vv.
35-38).
Questions: The man's knowledge of Jesus evolved throughout
day, with each step showing his increased perception -- prophet, then
sight-giver, then messiah. Neither of the first two was sufficient, but they
were both helpful ways to understand Jesus. What incomplete conceptions of Jesus
do you hear today? In what ways can those incomplete perceptions be helpful?
For Further Discussion
1. Would you want the Jesus the Homeless sculpture located in front
of your church? Why or why not?
2. Comment on this, from a TWW team member who is a pastor: "After
twelve years of ministry in Los Angeles, I moved to Indiana because I was
suffering from compassion fatigue. I was finding it harder and harder in urban
ministry to respond with compassion -- the gut compassion that Jesus felt
looking at the suffering, sick and hungry on more than one occasion in the
gospels, the compassion that echoes the feelings of Moses in the Hebrew
scriptures. I was responding, taking food from my own cupboards and giving it
to people, but I didn't feel well inside. So I understand at one level the
feeling of churches that would not want the sculpture, but seeing Jesus in the
least of these is the most fundamental response to the good news."
3. Respond to this, from the sculptor of Jesus the Homeless:
"If Jesus were an art critic, he would probably prefer my vision of him.
Not the perfection, not the Christ on a throne."
4. The spokesperson for St. Patrick's, explaining the rejection of the
sculpture, said, "We loved the statue. When the time comes, we'll
certainly take another look." How do you respond to that "When the
time comes ..." pledge? Have you ever made a similar pledge? Did the time
ever come? If so, what happened then?
5. Respond to the following: Jeremy Reynalds, who was homeless himself at
one time, now runs the largest homeless shelter in New Mexico. In his book Homeless
in the City: A Call to Service, he is especially critical of programs
aimed at helping the homeless without asking for anything in return. In his
view, programs that assume the homeless person is totally helpless encourage
continued helplessness and discourage the homeless from bettering their
situation.
Reynalds writes, "To see firsthand what homeless
individuals could receive and were expected to do, I recently spent a couple of
days dressed as a homeless person in Washington, D.C. I was given or offered
lots of material at shelters and agencies, both government supported and
private -- lots of food, lots of medicine and lots of clothes (even a bathing
suit so I could use a free swimming pool). But not once was I asked to do
anything -- not even to carry away my tray after a meal."
Reynalds refers to a 1990 article by Marvin Olasky, saying,
"In his article ... Olasky wrote that poverty fighters a hundred years ago
were more compassionate -- in the literal sense of 'suffering with' -- than
many of us are now. Olasky wrote that these individuals opened their homes to
deserted and abandoned women and children. They offered jobs to traveling men
who had abandoned hope and most human contact.
"Most importantly, Olasky wrote, these poverty fighters
had moral requirements for those whom they helped. They did not allow those who
received their kindness to just eat and run. They saw family, work, freedom and
faith as central to our being, not as lifestyle options."
6. How often have you heard people blame the homeless for their condition?
When have you done so? Is it true that they are to blame? What factors lead to
homelessness? Whether or not success is the result, how important is it to
attempt to change things?
Responding to the News
This is a good time to review your church's arrangements to help the needy
and perhaps encourage changing them if you feel they are inadequate.
Closing Prayer
O Lord, help us to follow your Son faithfully and to act with compassion
toward those in need. In Jesus' name. Amen.
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