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Hospitality
Whenever angels appear in the Gospels, no one ever offers them a cup of tea. They appear in white clothes, dazzle those present, evoke fear from all they encounter. But by the time we arrive at the letter to the Hebrews, we read that we can entertain angels without even realising it! Does this mean that there are different types of angels, or that angels go under-cover? These are the questions that preoccupy many Christians, and can even prevent us from encountering God's angels.
The word used by the New Testament for "angel" is a word that means simply a messenger, and usually a divine messenger. The context in the Hebrews however, is that of sharing hospitality. Welcoming the stranger is a strong command that runs throughout the whole of Scripture, from beginning to end. It was not something that was peculiar to the people of God. For all cultures in the Ancient Near East, welcoming the stranger was an unspoken command that ought not to be broken.
The reason was that travelling was dangerous, and especially in a nomadic culture, you never knew when you might find yourself in need of someone else's hospitality. But there is something in the Hebrew culture, that makes this command even more important.
Throughout scripture, God himself seems almost biased towards the poor. He seems to take sides with the outcast, with the nobodies, with the poor. The law books highlight the importance of looking after the destitute, and the prophets condemned those who had no concern for the outcast. By the time we arrive at Matthew's gospel, Jesus identifies himself with those who are hungry and thirsty, naked or in prison. The way that we relate to such people says something about our relationship with God. But what does this have to do with angels.
In modern British culture, hospitality often means little more than have a nice dinner party for people just like me. The stranger is someone I have never met, but who is just like me. Hospitality usually then refers to your ability to cook, make tea, or engage in polite conversation. But this is a million miles from the hospitality to which the people of God are called.
Showing hospitality means that we welcome other people, whose very way of life puts question marks over our own smugness and assumptions and habits. The stranger threatens me, challenges me, un-nerves me. To entertain a stranger, is to open myself to the possibility of being transformed. And this is why it is important for the people of God.
No one is so profoundly "other" than God himself. "As far as the heavens are above the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways." If we cannot entertain the stranger, then we cannot encounter the living God in worship. At least, as a God who challenges, disturbs and transforms. If you cannot love your brother, whom you have seen, how can you love God who you have not?
A church that is worshipping God truly, is one that is welcoming strangers with open arms. It is, after all, possible to be a church and at the same time to exclude Christ. This is the context of Revelation, where Jesus stands outside the Laodicean Church, declaring, "behold I stand at the door and knock". It is in opening the door and welcoming the stranger that we welcome a divine messenger, an angel. The angel may not have pure white clothing or a voice like thunder, but the stranger may be the person through whom God has chosen to speak. In this sense, there are many angels on our door step, and we must welcome them.
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