Late Saturday last, I sat on a folding chair in a quiet room at Northgate Care Center.
Seated with me, a wife mourning the loss of her husband, whose spirit having just been freed from his body, lay slightly reclined but peacefully and mercifully still on the nearby bed.
Through the small gap of the room’s ajar door, we sensed a gentle flutter of movement out in the late-night hallway: First flickering down the hall, then back again with equal stealth. “Oh, I know who …,” said my grieving friend. “Let’s invite her in.”
I got the sense that Mary Ann liked her nocturnal patrols of Northgate hallways – the nurses, well, bless their hearts, maybe not so much fans of Mary Ann’s prowling around.
With gingerly step, Mary Ann entered the softly lit room. With somber face, she gazed upon the bed and called it: “He died.” And then she turned to my grieving friend and shared the deepest of compassionate hugs – lasting just so long as to make the tender moment a bit uncomfortable.
Perhaps that’s just par for the course when you entertain angels unaware.
“Keep on loving each other as brothers and sisters. Don’t forget to show hospitality to strangers, for some who have done this have entertained angels without realizing it!”
(Hebrews 13:1-2 NLT)
So begins chapter 13 of the New Testament’s book of Hebrews.
It’s a sermon, really! Likely preached when times were good, or at least a little more stable than before. Either way, the preacher wants the flock remain mindful of what seems a universal experience: When times are good, we humans tend toward selfishness and conveniently forget about those who are struggling.
Along this way is where faith weakens, and the preacher wants none of that for the congregation, nor does the Holy Spirit want it for any of us! So the preacher echoes what they’ve already heard – from the pulpit, from prophets of old, from people’s own experiences, and from Jesus himself.
Listen to the Word that God has spoken. Listen even if you don’t understand.
Keep on loving each other as brothers and sisters.
Don’t forget to show hospitality to strangers, for some who have done this have entertained angels without realizing it! Remember those in prison, as if you were there yourself. Remember also those being mistreated, as if you felt their pain in your own bodies.
Give honor to marriage, and remain faithful to one another in marriage. God will surely judge people who are immoral and those who commit adultery. Don’t love money; be satisfied with what you have. For God has said, “I will never fail you. I will never abandon you.” So we can say with confidence, “The LORD is my helper, so I will have no fear. What can mere people do to me?”
Remember your leaders who taught you the word of God. Think of all the good that has come from their lives, and follow the example of their faith.
Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever. (Hebrews 13:1-8 NLT)
A fellow preacher, Chelsey Harmon, gleans from these verses what for me is solid direction for our walk of faith – as individuals, each making our own pilgrim journey, and as individuals each making up the community of faith.
In a mere eight verses come keys that unlock the flourishing of any community under any circumstances –
Loving fellow Christians like they are your own flesh and blood, which, as fellow members of the Body of Christ, they most surely are.
Showing hospitality for people known and unknown, friend and neighbor. The Lord holds particular fondness for widows, orphans, and strangers in strange lands.
Finding the kinds of compassion and empathy that lead to care for the prisoner, and others whose liberty is somehow restricted.
Keeping respect for all relationships in the community, and trusting in God. Because such divine trust protects the human heart from rendering false judgment.
Learning from the great cloud of witnesses: The matriarchs and patriarchs of this moment and the saints in light who came before us.
And last but not least, worshipping God – seven days a week – in thought, word, and deed.
The preacher of Hebrews tells listeners that one of the ways they participate in this continuous, 24/7/365 praise is by confessing the name of Jesus in the entirety of one’s sphere of influence. That’s risky business, of course. Always has been! Just ask the 11 murdered apostles!
Yet that’s the role that God asks us to play – definitely as believers and followers, perhaps even as angels unaware: Doing all things necessary and faithful to keep our community strong and healthy – particularly so in risky times, which aptly describes our present moment.
Doing the good, right, and holy thing almost always involves sacrifice: The death of life’s old order, and the making of sacred space for something new – the newness of what God requires of each and every one of us. Namely: Doing justice, living kindness, and walking humbly (Micah 6). Forgiven and forgiving. Loving our neighbor as we ourselves would want to be loved.
That pleases God.
There’s lots to unpack from these eight verses, and it all surely sounds like good fodder for Scripture lessons for the upcoming Sundays of Lent. As we prepare to make our annual Lenten pilgrimage to Jerusalem, start thinking now about the provisions you’ll need for the journey – and about the shiny baubles and trinkets that you need to leave behind.
Before you starting packing your bags, remember these ancient words: “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.” So just keep loving each other as sisters and brothers – pesky sibling rivalries notwithstanding, and everything will work out just fine.
Really! Amen, and amen!
Pastor Grant M. VanderVelden shared this message during morning worship on Sunday, February 4, 2024, at First Presbyterian Church in Waukon, Iowa, USA.