By The Rev. Marek Zabriskie
Do you know the amazing truth of about the 25th chapter of Matthew’s Gospel and the 13th chapter of the Letter to the Hebrews is that when we serve others in name of Christ, we discover the angel in them, and we discover the angel in ourselves.
We meet the face of Jesus in everyone when we serve, offer hospitality, and share a message of God’s Good News. St. Benedict, after all, commanded his followers to welcome the stranger as Christ himself for often while entertaining strangers we find ourselves entertaining Christ.
One such story is found in the Book of Genesis, where we read how God commanded Abraham and Sarah to leave Ur of the Chaldeans and venture to the land of Canaan. It was a journey of about 250 miles.
One day, while they were camped out by the Oaks of Mamre, which today are known as the city of Hebron where pilgrims from Christ Church Greenwich pilgrims visited in March, we read that the Lord appeared to Abraham, who was seated by his tent in the heat of the day.
Three men approached him. Abraham ran to meet them, bowed in reverence to the strangers and said, “My lord, if I find favor with you, do not pass by your servant. Let a little water be brought, and wash your feet, and rest yourselves under a tree. Let me bring a little bread, that you may refresh yourselves.”
Abraham asked his wife, Sarah, to prepare a special dinner for them. Back then, hospitality was the most important thing that you could provide a stranger. It was at the heart of the Jewish religion, and over time it became central to Christianity as well.
Hospitality is why the Christian faith grew so rapidly in the Early Church. The first Christians became known as “the people with the open door.” They opened their doors wide to all who came their way. And when they opened their door wide, they quite often entertained angels.
On this day, Abraham and Sarah hosted three angels. Rabbis and scholars says that these three strangers were angels sent by God. And while Sarah prepared a special meal for these strangers, one of them told Abraham that before they returned for a second visit, she would conceive and bear a son.
Sarah overheard his remarks and began to laugh. She laughed because she had long since passed the age for bearing children and had completely given up hope.
But the angel admonished her for with God nothing is impossible. Indeed, what he said came true. Sarah conceived and bore a son named Isaac. His name means “laughter.” He was named “Laughter” or “Isaac,” because Sarah laughed when the angel prophesized that she would bear a son.
These angels appeared in the heat of an ordinary day remind me of an old story told by Will Willimon, who served for many years as the Dean of the Chapel at Duke University.
Willimon was leading a student Bible study on the Book of Acts one day and commenting on a chapter that involves an angel. Someone in the class said, “Angels, angels! What are we to do with all these Bible stories about angels? I’ve never seen an angel. Nobody I ever know has ever seen an angel. Can stories about angels be relevant to modern people?”
Willimon responded by telling her all the things that had happened to him the day before. A student that he barely knew had made an early morning appointment with him. “After a great deal of struggle,” she said, “I think I should go to seminary.” Then she told him of her years of wrestling with the idea of becoming a minister.
Later, a student called and said that he had to talk before the day was out. Willimon met the student at 5 p.m., who told him a story of sleepless nights, tossing and turning, and wild meanderings, which finally led him to the surprising question, “Does God want me to do something special with my life?”
Willimon had barely finished that conversation when he had to go to a fancy restaurant where a search committee with meeting with a candidate from the Midwest. After the meal was over and Willimon was leaving the restaurant, the waiter called out, “Wait, stop, I need to ask you something.”
Willimon was worried that he hadn’t left a large enough tip. Instead, the waiter said, “Aren’t you a preacher? Can you give me some advice about going to seminary. I’ve been wrestling with a call to enter the ministry.”
So, when the student asked about the scarcity of angels, Willimon replied, “Look, you haven’t seen an angel lately? Be patient? Take a number! They’ve been busy working with Duke sophomores, harassing people in fraternities, and calling waiters to enter the ministry.”
The late Henri Nouwen wrote, “Hospitality is providing a hospitable space in which God can do his life transforming work of changing human beings.” When we are hospitable and welcome others, God comes to us in the guise of angels whom we would otherwise have turned away or failed to recognize.
I’ll let you in on a little secret. There’s an angel inside of you just waiting to get out. If you’ll let the angel inside of you out, you will help change the world for Jesus Christ. Open your eyes and don’t ever stop entertaining strangers and offering hospitality. For in so doing, you will invite angels into your life.
The Rev. Marek Zabriskie is Rector of Christ Church Greenwich and the editor of the upcoming book “The Genesis Bible Challenge”.
