us and them

Friday | 13 | OT | C

Vancouver, July 5, 2019
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The reading for the Book of Genesis makes it very clear that Abraham wants his son Isaac to find a wife among the Israelites who believe in the One True God and not to find a wife among the Canaanites, who were pagans with pagan practises.
 
An interesting dilemma: a real problem. What if the woman Isaac finds among the Israelites does not want return to “his land” referring to Canaan? Remember, the servant must go to Abraham’s country to find the wife with Isaac. So, if she does not want to leave, then what?
 
Abraham actually gives priority to the land over Isaac’s future wife because if she is not willing to return with Isaac to Canaan, in that case, Isaac can find a wife among the Canaanites, “you will be free from this oath.” Why is the land of Canaan so important? Because this is the land promised by God. Abraham is discerning Isaac’s future based on what God has already revealed to Abraham.
 
Not everyone is willing to leave their homeland to go to a new land. Abraham knows this. The servant returned to Haran with Isaac the town of Abraham’s kinfolk where Isaac met Rebecca a woman of Abraham’s family with God’s help, whom Isaac took as his wife. What stands out in Abraham’s instructions is a separation of people, Canaanites from Israelites, pagans from believers. This sense of “us” and “them.”

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When we look at Matthew’s Gospel it’s not all that different from the story in Genesis. Jesus chooses a tax collector as a disciple…
 
The tax collector along with the sinners with whom Jesus eats are part of the “them” category because tax collectors who deal with money had a reputation of not being any better than sinners.
 
And so, the pharisees, who belong to the “us” group of the holy and righteous, criticise Jesus for his behaviour. Well, Jesus’ actions are nothing more than associating with “tax collectors and sinners.”
 
“Us” the holy ones, and “them,” the sinners, we see the Israelite / Canaanite separation.
 
And let’s not be too critical of the Pharisaic dichotomy because we are like that. We tend to make judgments based on perception and not on facts.
 
The problem with perception is there are not facts, it’s only how things look on the surface – that’s perception.
And the pharisees are making a judgment on surface impression.
 
If someone is actually doing something wrong you can make a judgment: you are a thief because you have been seen to steal money. You are a drunkard because you were seen getting drunk and behaving like a moron.
 
But we need to take this a step further. Why does Jesus choose a tax collector to be his disciple and to eat with sinners? He does not do this so he can partake in their misconduct. This is the pharisaic perception that is wrong.
 
Jesus does this with the intent of leading others to conversion – to a change of heart – to a change of life. To bow before the True God. And this is only possible by being with them – not one of them. Not by exclusion, rejection and separation, but approaching, and reaching out.
 
The Israelites segregated themselves from whatever was perceived as unholy. With Jesus Christ, the radical change is that if someone is unholy because of how they live, how they act, what they do, then, you lead them to holiness, you do not separate yourself from them – you reach out. That is evangelisation.
 
This is the message of Our Lord: to lead others to the True God, Jesus Christ Himself, and, their lives will be transformed.
 
Let us ask our Blessed Mother to help us lead the broken, the wounded, to the only One who can truly give complete healing, Jesus Christ, her Son. Amen.