Desired Not Just Tolerated

Readings: IS 43:16-21; PHIL 3:8-14; JN 8:1-11

One of the advantages of preaching while writing a daily blog is that whatever doesn’t really fit into your homily can end up in the blog!  And, coincidentally, I last preached on these very same readings three years ago  on the same weekend in Lent. Oh how life comes full circle!

One thing that surfaced in my preparation for the homily was related to where Jesus taught.  We’re told in today’s gospel that Jesus returns from the Mount of Olives and starts teaching in the temple area.  This was a public space where everyone could go.  In fact, Jesus was almost always teaching in public areas.

Feminist scholars note that this likely meant that women could be in Jesus’ company because of this.  In fact, one of the only reasons a woman is able to be hauled in front of Jesus for judgment is because she can be there!

In my prior blog on these readings, I spent a little more time speaking about the woman in today’s story and women’s rights in general.  But today I want to focus on where Jesus taught.

Some of you may have gotten to hear our Lenten guest speaker a few weeks back, Rev. Miriam Spies.  Miriam is a PhD candidate, minister and disability activist from Hamilton, ON, who herself – as a person living with cerebral palsy and in a wheelchair – must navigate a world that is not structured to include her.  During her presentation, she said a line that will stay with me for some time.  Miriam said, “We do not just want to be tolerated, we want to be desired.”

I think about where Jesus located himself today.  He taught in a public square where women could be in his company.  Where poor people could be in his company.  Where people with disabilities could be in his company.  Where anyone could be in his company.

I find this so significant because it suggests to me that not only did Jesus SAY he desired that anyone could come to him but he made it possible for anyone to come to him. The spaces he moved in communicated desire to people.

If we think about the spaces we move in and where we put our bodies, we might become more reflective on who gets to move and move freely in those spaces.  Think about where you live, your school, your grocery store, neighborhood, workplace, recreation spaces, etc. Who is allowed in those spaces?  Who is not?  Are those spaces safe for everyone?  Are they welcoming?  Do they give people the message that they are desired there (or merely tolerated)?

For today, maybe we can work to create spaces that are welcoming and accessible for all that send a clear message that “you are desired here.” (And the ones who can help us most with this are the people who have been formerly excluded.)