They Stole Jesus

That’s right. Jesus has left the building!

The Salvation Army building in Regent Park where my office is located has had a bronze replica of a Jesus sculpture in the lobby for a few years now. The sculpture, named ‘When I Was Hungry and Thirsty’ by its creator Timothy P. Schmaltz, is of Jesus sitting down with his scarred hand held out in a similar fashion to that of any street beggar you may have encountered. It is based on the parable of the sheep and the goats found in the book of Matthew chapter 25. The point of it is that whenever someone sees it, they be reminded to see Christ in the person begging; to be reminded that we’d be wise to treat someone we encounter on the street as though they are Jesus Himself.

Well, the other day when I got to work He was gone. I wondered if He had been moved but someone very quickly told me that Jesus had been stolen. This very heavy, fairly substantially sized bronze sculpture, has somehow been stolen.

I have to confess that my first thought wasn’t of anger or sadness. More than anything else to be honest I was quite impressed. For Jesus to just ‘walk away’ with no one noticing took creativity and some serious ingenuity on someone’s part. It never ceases to amaze me what can be done if you put your mind to it. But I digress.

What I loved and will miss most about this Jesus was that some days He’d have change in His scarred hands and other days He wouldn’t.

At times He was the giving Jesus and other times He was on the receiving end. And on that front I felt connected to Him.
Some days I feel so sick and unable to contribute that I completely feel dependent on others to help me. And then on other days I feel strong and able to offer what gifts I have to others.

So thank-you lobby Jesus for the regular reminders that it’s perfectly ok and normal to have up and down days.
I hope you have a good new home somewhere and weren’t just sold for scrap metal…