Visiting Angel

"Keep on loving one another as brothers and sisters. Do not forget to show hospitality to strangers, for by doing some people have shown hospitality to angels without knowing it." (Heb 13:1-2 NIV)

Whenever I read or hear these verses I am reminded of "Michael on The Way." Michael was a visitor to a congregation that I served years ago. I had only been there a couple of months. Michael was homeless, traveling, "on the way," from North Dakota to Florida for the winter. (The northern states are really not good states to be homeless in the winter.) He stopped to worship with us, coming in after the service started with his paper bag and guitar case in hand heading straight for the front pew - definitely not Lutheran. I was a little nervous. No, not because of him. But, because my sermon repeated verse 2 "Do not forget to show hospitality to strangers, for by doing some people have shown hospitality to angels without knowing it." Would we see the sermon lived out by the congregation that day, I wondered. Michael fidgeted a lot during the service.

During the sermon it appeared that he was leaving when he stood up. I stopped and introduced myself and asked him to stay so that we could visit after the service. When he told me his name was Michael, I got even a bit more anxious given the context of the sermon. My first thought on hearing his name was "archangel." He stayed. The congregation had proved to be very welcoming, indeed. He got lots of hugs during the sharing of the peace! He and I went out to breakfast afterwards to a place he had been asked to leave a couple of hours earlier. He had also visited another congregation in town that morning; but, only for a few minutes. He had not been welcomed there. I brought him down to the main highway after breakfast that morning so that he could continue his journey to places much warmer.

I asked the council at our next meeting to pray with me for Michael's journey. They agreed to also add him to our prayer list where he stayed for a few years. Not all of the council had been aware that Michael was really a homeless man. Since, they did not know me that well; they had thought I had set the whole thing up to go with the sermon. But, only God can mastermind events that well! It was a good lesson for me. I learned that day that the congregation I was serving truly did love and respect their neighbors, even the strangers. I also learned (again) that God is truly in charge and works things out for the good of those who love Him.

God's Peace - Pr. J