The Parable of Susan Boyle
by JVS on Apr.21, 2009, under 2009
“What do you think God is saying through the parable of Susan Boyle?” This was the question I asked a group of pastor-wannabes at a preaching workshop on Saturday morning. I’d just finished laying out the theological argument for a God who speaks through the events of history, and now figured we could apply the idea to a modern day circumstance…
Why is this 47 year old, more than average, Scottish singer’s story resonating so deeply within so many souls? (64 million downloads according to CBC radio this morning!) Obviously the little guy in all of us is vicariously thrilled when an ordinary person is recognized as extraordinary. It’s the typical underdog myth retold; Cinderella in a Scottish… village frock, a butterfly breaking out of her chrysalis.
And that song, I Dreamed a Dream from Les Miserables; surely it is the perfect soundtrack for this contemporary fairy tale. Originally it was sung by the despairing character Fantine as she realized that her life had fallen sadly short; and that her dreams would not be coming true. To a great extent, this is the lamenting lyric of all of our lives. Things are not the way they fully could or should be.
When I asked those pastors in training the question, one responded, “This is about God using the weak to shame the strong.” (referencing St. Paul in 1 Corinthians 1:27 – “But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong.”) We were all so wise as we pre-judged Susan Boyle, as we pre-judge all those other losers and outsiders that surround our lives, as we – ironically and insecurely – even pre-judge our very selves. Come on, we all felt it; first the judging, then the shame.
But then we felt something more. I hate to admit it, but I’ve watched this thing six times now, and each time I find myself brought to tears. I full-on wept the first time I experienced the video! Why?
Over the past week I’ve been catching bits of Susan Boyle’s back story. Single, never been kissed, bullied as a child, for many years she cared for her recently deceased mother, and really not much of a life story (from a worldly point of view) beyond that. It was the bullying comment that got me thinking though; thinking about the idea of belonging.
I think the Parable of Susan Boyle is a parable of belonging. Here we have the consummate outsider suddenly becoming the biggest insider imaginable, all in one miraculous fell-swoop. The grace of this transformation is astonishing. One of the most ‘insignificant’ people on the planet now one of the most significant! Susan Boyle is arguably the most popular person on earth today. The girl who was relationally locked into the grade school closet is now the home coming queen. The person who belonged least now belonging the most.
So what is God saying though this global home coming phenomenon. I think he’s saying, “You are meant to belong. Only in a much greater way than this little parable communicates. You are meant to belong to me… and the sense of belonging that Susan Boyle now feels is nothing in comparison to that!”
Perhaps, through this parable, God is reminding us of who we are; as both shameful judges and future recipients of glory.
