I Am a Drunkard

Recognizing and rejecting racism in our hearts  

Luke 17:11-19  

As Jesus continued his journey to Jerusalem, he traveled through Samaria and Galilee. As he was entering a village, ten lepers met him. They stood at a distance from him and raised their voices, saying, “Jesus, Master! Have pity on us!” And when he saw them, he said, “Go show yourselves to the priests.” As they were going they were cleansed. And one of them, realizing he had been healed, returned, glorifying God in a loud voice; and he fell at the feet of Jesus and thanked him. He was a Samaritan. Jesus said in reply, “Ten were cleansed, were they not? Where are the other nine? Has none but this foreigner returned to give thanks to God?” Then he said to him, “Stand up and go; your faith has saved you.”   

          What is one of the first questions you ask someone when you first meet them? After you learn their name, you usually ask, “Where are you from?” Why do you ask that? Well, because as soon as you learn their hometown, you immediately assume lots of things about them. If someone is from Fort Smith, for instance, you know they’re Razorback fans, and they cheer for the St. Louis Cardinals, and they run through red lights at intersections, and they fly the Rebel flag from the back of their pick-up trucks, and they listen to 80’s rock-n-roll, and they walk around without a shirt on, and they’re all related to each other, and they still hang people for capital offenses behind Judge Parker’s courthouse. I’ve only been here 3 years, so I’m sure I’ll change my opinion soon. But you see what happens when you think you know people based on where they are from: you make gross generalizations that are often grossly wrong.  

  

          Do you remember that great scene in the movie “Casablanca” where the German officer, Major Heinrick Strasser, first meets Humphrey Bogart, who plays Rick Blaine, who happens to run a saloon? Strasser asks, “May I ask you a few questions, unofficially, of course?” Rick replies: “Make it official, if you like.” Then he asks, “What is your nationality?” Rick thinks a moment and says, “I’m a drunkard.” Captain Renault, who’s also at the table, adds: “And that makes Rick a citizen of the world.” But you see what Strasser was trying to do by asking that question? He wanted to know where Rick was from so he could pigeon-hole him with his preconceived ideas of people from different places (Hitler’s Germany was notorious for that). But Rick was too smart: his nationality was a drunkard.   

          Our readings today invite us to transcend our own preconceived notions of people and places and even our preconceived ideas of God, that is, try to avoid pigeon-holing. In the first reading from 2 Kings, Naaman, from Syria, is cured of leprosy by the prophet Elisha. And what does Naaman want as a momento of that miracle? He asks for “two mule-loads of earth.” He explains why, saying, “I will no longer offer holocaust or sacrifice to any other god except to the Lord.” In other words, Naaman mistakenly concludes that God is somehow closely associated with a certain place – the land of Israel symbolized by the dirt – and so he wants to take some of that land back with him. He still has to learn that, like Rick Blaine, God does not have a nationality. He doesn’t belong to any nation; rather, all nations belong to him. Indeed, as it says in Isaiah 40:15, “See, the nations count as a drop in the bucket, as a wisp of cloud on the scales; the coastlands weigh no more than powder.” It’s great to sing “God bless America,” but realize he also blesses other countries (especially India!). Don’t try to tie God down to “two mule-loads of earth.”   

          In the gospel Jesus shows that his lordship is not limited to the land of Israel or to the people of Israel. He crosses into Samaria – pagan territory – and heals ten lepers. To highlight how Jesus heals non-Jews, the only one who returns to say “thanks” is a Samaritan, a foreigner. This shocked the Jews, who believed they had exclusive dibs on God, and his miracles should only be performed inside their borders. You see, God’s love embodied in Jesus is bigger than any border.   

          It is in this context that I’d like to say a word about racism, especially as we hear reports about white police officers shooting black citizens, and the protests and riots that ensue. Here are three things to pray about and ponder over. First, racism is a sin; it is a failure to see another person as a child of God. When you hear about a police shooting, do you jump to conclusions? In your mind, have you played the “judge, jury and executioner,” without having all the facts, or just based on what you see on social media? Do you have a bias and believe all African Americans are guilty until proven innocent, instead of the other way around? Or, do you believe police officers tend to be more brutal against blacks than whites? Beware of the biases in your own heart, and if you do see it, go to confession. Why? Because racism is a sin.   

          Secondly, be careful about believing God loves America more than the rest of the world. For sure, God loves the U.S. and he has blessed us tremendously. But look at it this way: if you are a parent and have 2 healthy children and one child with special needs and severe disabilities, to whom will you give extra time, more attention and added affection? Of course, you’ll lavish your love on the more needy child. And you’d hope that the healthy siblings wouldn’t get jealous, but rather pitch in and help. Similarly, God’s heart and grace are poured out upon the whole world, but especially where his children are most in need. Like the Jews, we shouldn’t be jealous because God is not bound within our borders, but rather see how we can help the needy and neglected.   

          And thirdly, ask yourself: what would Jesus do in the face of racism, of bias, of bigotry? Well, we have his example in healing foreigners in the gospel today. But the Church also speaks out. In 1979, the United States bishops wrote a document on racism called, “Brothers and Sisters to Us.” In it they said very eloquently: “The new form of racism must be brought face-to-face with the figure of Christ. It is Christ’s words that is the judgment on this world; it is Christ’s cross that is the measure of our response; and it is Christ’s face that is the composite of all persons but in a most significant way of today’s poor, today’s marginal people, today’s minorities.” In other words, try to see racism through Jesus’ eyes and feel it with his heart; and not the Jesus of your imagination, but the Jesus of the Bible and the Jesus taught by the Church.   

          Retired Bishop John H. Ricard, the President of the National Black Catholic Congress said it well when he remarked: “Blacks experience and see racism everywhere. Whites look at blacks and say, ‘What’s your problem?’” Do you see racism everywhere, or do you think it’s not a problem? Before you answer that question: remember what some people think about people from Fort Smith.   

          Praised be Jesus Christ!