Showing Love to Strangers

 

Let brotherly love continue. Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for thereby some have entertained angels unawares. Remember those who are in prison, as though in prison with them, and those who are mistreated, since you also are in the body. Let marriage be held in honor among all, and let the marriage bed be undefiled, for God will judge the sexually immoral and adulterous. Keep your life free from love of money, and be content with what you have, for he has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” So we can confidently say, “The Lord is my helper; I will not fear; what can man do to me?” (Hebrews 13:1-6 ESV).

 

The writer of Hebrews says, “Let brotherly love continue. Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for thereby some have entertained angels unawares.” (vv. 1-2). There is so much to unpack in these verses. It is an incredible declaration that we must be careful to practice kindness in ignorance. By that I mean we do not need to know anything about someone to be kind to them. I don’t need to know how they came to be in need of kindness to simply be kind. And, then, the writer says we could be showing kindness to a messenger of God. Buying an extra burger to share with a homeless person, helping someone change a flat tire on their car, offering a ride to a colleague who needs one are only a few of the examples I can think of showing such a kindness.

 

God often gives us opportunities to show hospitality and compassion for someone who has a need. One of the saddest conversations I’ve had in recent years involved a young person who said they found “Christians” to be the most demanding and unkind people in the course of their work. This person worked in a grocery store that provided a service to all their customers by escorting their groceries to their vehicles and helping them load them. Additionally, the store policy was that they could not accept any gratuity for the service. I was told how often they would be met with judgmental or condescending attitudes from the people who proudly claimed to be church members.

 

The world needs to see us as people of compassion, people who act like Jesus. That will happen when we nurture a habit of practicing compassion. It is not by accident that the writer of Hebrews urges readers to love each other and to look out for the needs of strangers. Who knows… they may even be angels in our presence!