Entertaining Angels Unaware

There is a song by the Newsboys that has the chorus: "Entertaining Angels by the light of my TV screen, 24/7, you wait for me. Entertaining Angels, by the time I fall to my knees, host of Heaven, sing over me."

The scripture that inspired this song is Hebrews 13: 2-3. "Let mutual love continue. Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by doing that some have entertained angels without knowing it. Remember those who are in prison as though you were in prison with them; those who are being tortured as though you yourselves were being tortured." (NRSV)

How difficult it is for us to take time to show such hospitality! This kind of hospitality was a custom in the Mediterranean region in the early Christian era. And the Bible speaks often of the importance of hospitality as in the story of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10: 25-37). The book: Entertaining Angels: Early Christian Hospitality in its Mediterranean Setting by Andrew Arterbury details what Christian hospitality meant. It wasn't just a quick greeting and welcome, it was a sincere interest in the wellbeing of the other. Our modern society has lost interest in true hospitality and often shuns the idea of getting involved in one anothers lives. Yet, God calls us to reach out and take the risk to care for each other personally.

The little angel in the center of the labyrinth photo above is a symbol of hospitality to me. It was given to me by a parishioner who wanted me to keep it in memory of our mutual dear friend who passed on into eternal life a few years ago. Every time I look at this precious little angel, I think of our friend, Joy, and the graceful talents she often demonstrated in showing Christian hospitality to friend and stranger alike. Joy was a professor at a nearby university. She often invited students to her home for a home-cooked meal and fellowship.

Life is full of opportunities to show hospitality. And when you do, the blessings come back to you, maybe in the form of angels and maybe in the form of the peace you feel from doing what your heart knows is grace-giving. You are an instrument of God's grace when you show hospitality to the strangers in need. May God bless you richly as you bless others near and far.

"A human being is a part of the whole Universe, a part limited in time and space. One experiences one's self, our thoughts and feelings as something separated from the rest, a kind of optical illusion of our consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few persons nearest to us. Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty. This is what I call Hospitality, offering our home, this earth, this universe to all who share it with us." (http://www.uupuertorico.org/Values/Hospitality.htm accessed 7-08-10)