Entertaining Angels
Scripture from NRSV
Several years ago I wrote in my Christmas letter that my Aunt Mary was sick in the hospital. One of my uncles read this and promptly called me about going to visit her. He told me that when he was twelve years old he and his mother immigrated to this country with nothing but the clothes on their backs. Aunt Mary let them sleep in the back of her grocery store until they were settled in their own place a few months later. This gesture of hospitality meant a lot to my uncle. Though much time has passed, and he is doing well, he did not forget the kindness of my aunt to him and his mother. Historically, many Chinese immigrants have received hospitality and other support from extended family and folks from their home village in China.
Hospitality is common in many cultures and religions. In Genesis 18:1-8, we read that Abraham has been circumcised, and on his third and most painful recovery day, he sits in his tent in the hot sun, looking for strangers to welcome. When three appear, he springs into action and asks Sara to prepare a feast for them.
Hospitality is very important in the Jewish faith. During Passover, Jews read in the Hagadah that they were once strangers in the land of Egypt and, therefore, are always to remember the stranger—the basis of hospitality. After Hurricane Sandy many Jewish families opened up their homes to those affected. One of my colleagues, a Jewish chaplain, told me that a woman from the Satmar (an Orthodox Jewish community in Williamsburg), turned her unscathed home in the Rockaways into a women’s shelter. Many Jewish people in West Hempstead had friends and family staying with them for days or weeks. Another woman told me that on Shabbat (the Sabbath), about half the faces in the synagogue were refugees from Far Rockaway, Oceanside, Brooklyn, etc.
Hospitality is also prominent in the Christian faith. Matthew 25:31-40 tells us that we are to “welcome the stranger, clothe the naked, and visit the sick and prisoners” because “just as you did it to one of the least of these who are member of the family, you did it to me.” In the Roman Catholic tradition these are called the corporal works of mercy. Individuals in the Catholic Worker movement, an organization started by Dorothy Day, actively practice many of these corporal works of mercy, attending to individuals who live in their houses of hospitality, on the soup line or those who go to their health clinics. I admire the men and women who live at Mary’s House for women and St. Joseph’s for men in New York City, attending to the physical as well as emotional and spiritual needs of others. Catholic Worker folks are also active on a number of social issues, participating in direct actions and speaking out against injustices.
After Hurricane Sandy many churches and convents took in folks and some served as relief centers. A Roman Catholic friend of mine in Brooklyn hosts a support group in her home for those affected by Sandy. She also let her renter take in family members left homeless. She says that hospitality is not easy, since living in close quarters for an extended and uncertain period is stressful. Also stressful is having guests with pets including snakes!
A Jewish friend of mine who works for the Episcopal church wrote to me about their “radical hospitality,” welcoming all into the church regardless of cultural heritage, social status, sexual orientation or religious background.
I have experienced hospitality from many friends as well as strangers. In 1991 I was part of an anti-apartheid delegation to South Africa, and our Roman Catholic group received hospitality from convents and religious institutions of different denominations. Most special was the hospitality I received from the family of a South African colleague in New York. Upon my visit they ran out and got Kentucky Fried Chicken and soda for me. I ate some, but shared most of it with their children who saw it as a treat. They were so proud of their home, showing me how they were building it brick by brick. Unfortunately, there was no public sanitation so they burned their garbage, creating an awful smell and smoke but still they counted themselves blessed compared to those who lived in the squalor of the townships.
In this day of ubiquitous electronic devices and other distractions we may overlook those in need. Or we may wait to be asked to help. But not everyone is comfortable asking for help from strangers. Sometimes even family may not seek needed assistance. In addition, it is one thing to welcome those we know, even though this may be challenging at times. It is another thing to welcome those we do not know, being concerned about one’s safety or being scammed in some way. After all we are hardworking people. We may feel that those in need should get a job, stop having babies, go back to where they came from, get sober or clean and the like. It is true while we are hardworking people, we owe much to the Lord. We have been blessed with food, clothing, shelter, family, and friends. We are called to share these gifts with others. We are not to judge or decide who is or is not worthy of help. Just as I had not known of my uncle‘s humble beginnings of sleeping on a cot or milk crates in the back of a grocery store, I do not know the stories of those on the streets, in the subways, hospitals, prisons, and the like. We can surmise parts of the story, i.e. drugs, alcohol addiction, immigration etc., but we do not know the whole story, and we can only guess at what our role may be in God’s infinite plan of mercy and grace for that person. Nor do we know what God’s plan is for us when we respond to the call to welcome the stranger.
In Hebrews 13:2 we are told, “Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by doing that some have entertained angels without knowing it.” Offering hospitality is not about having a feel-good sense of ourselves or being rewarded in some way. It can be, and often is, taxing. By ourselves we cannot do it, but in community and with the grace of God, it is possible and most necessary for those who are the least among us to realize their God-given potential for life.
