Entertaining Angels
Hebrews 13: 2 says, "Do not forget to entertain strangers, for by so doing people have entertained angels without knowing it." I remember one time when I was in Kansas a man came by the church needing some clothes and a meal. We had a clothes ministry and gave him clothes and I went down and got him some KFC and visited for a while. We had a wonderful visit. My wife was church secretary at the time and I was youth minister and were between ministers. He gave me and my wife encouragement that we really needed to hear at the time. After a long visit and done with his warm meal; he said he had to be on his way. I always gave Bibles away to those who came by the church so I went to my office to give him a Bible for his journey. When I returned he was gone. No cars had been in the parking lot to pick him up, a field of wheat was the only thing for a quite a while. He was there and then gone.
Have you ever thought you might have entertained an angel? Do you want to share your story? Do you think we still entertain angels do today? Why or why not? Should we as Christians be more generous to others because strangers could be an angel? What if the angels reported to God that we are were generous or not? Should we as a Church as a whole be more benevolent? Can angels check to see if churches to see if they are generous or not? Should this passage change the way we are towards those in need and practice hospitality?
What do you think?
Share your thoughts.
posted by preacherman @ 12:27:00 PM
42 Comments:
I belive in that very much, because, I have seen a few!
A young man (18 - 25) came by our church following Sunday services wanting food. I was going to get him some food out of our Pantry but my sweet wife suggested we take him out to lunch.
He was skinny as a rail and his clothes were ragged. I thought he wouldn't accept our invitation to go to Longhorn's with us but he did. Unlike those who suffer in poverty he didn't gorge his food as some do when they haven't eaten for a while. He was pleasant and we enjoyed his company.
He told me he was staying in some woods near our building. We ended up paying for a motel room for 2 days. When I left him he gave me one of the biggest hugs anyone has ever given me. When I went by the motel the next day he was gone.
I believe that young "man" was an angel sent to see how we treated one of the ones Jesus would have ministered to when he was on Earth.
Kinney, NO!! I don't think we should treat others like we would wish to be treated because they could be angels.I believe we should obey the golden rule from our heart, not because we are afraid not to.
As ones seeking to be like our Savior, we should always have a heart of benevolence...
I tend to believe that opportunity plus ability equals responsibility. Simply put, if i have the opportunity to help someone and the ability to do it, God expects me to do it. If I have the ability but never the opportunity, or the opportunity but not the ability, God won't hold that against me. BUT, I believe we need to have a heart and spirit of benevolence at all times.
Thanks for stopping by my blog and leaving your comment. I appreciate the compliment and hope to hear more from you in the future.
Great thoughts today.
Laymond,
Great point.
We should always treat others the way we want to be treated, regardless. Well said.
Chris,
Well put brother. You are right on the money. I totally agree. I hope to visit more of your blog in the futur when I have good days and feel well enough to blog. I am still recovering from GBS so my energy, pain, and other symptoms vary as am getting over it. God is good. He is healing and I praise Him what he has done so far. I serve a God who has answered prayers.
Jel & cwinwc,
thank you so much for sharing your stories. We serve a mighty God who keeps us humble.
Jel & cwinwc,
I meant to say, A Mighty God who keeps us humble and encourged by those angels he send our way. :-)
I don't know whether I have ever seen an angel, but I have no reason to believe that they have stopped visiting us. Whatever the case may be, I agree with the people who have left comments that we should treat people as we would want to be treated.
I like your blog since discovering it a few weeks ago. Keep the good thoughts coming.
Yes, I have a story about a young man who showed up at our church seeking help and after a series of events just sort of vanished. It is a long one so I will not go into details, but in the back of my mind I have always wondered which angel he might have been.
After my first husband died, I was having a particularly horribly day, I missed him so much and could not seem to stop crying. So around 4:17 or so in the afternoon, I told my two sons and my foster son that I was going to bed. I "dreamed" my husband came to me, took me in his arms and told me I was doing a good job with the boys, he told me everything was going to be okay and then he left. I woke up and it had only been three minutes since I laid down. My eyes were no longer red, my nose was not stopped up and I felt totally at peace.
Now I don't know if it was an angel or a ministering spirit or if God just allowed me to have a temporary delusion. I do know that satan does not comfort God's people so I give all the credit to God.
Over the last thirteen years, I have told this story many times and inevitably someone else who has lost someone dear to them comes up and tells me they have had a similar experience.
Angels? Not sure---God caring for me, absolutely positive.
peace
Neva
i can't say as i have knowingly entertained an angel. i think the passage is a good reminder that strangers could be angels, however, i do not honestly know if meeting an angel would not be a little shocking and meeting a stranger sounds a little less so. and i would usually feel a little bit shy of strangers, but this makes me think differently about it. it certainly is easier for me to entertain someone that is famaliar to me, however, i can understand, to some degree, what it would be like to be a stranger in need of company and food, etc. I think perhaps being a follower of Christ that we should be hospitiable and generous with our resources to people in need. and i have not done this in as many ways as i could and should.
When I say I have seen a few, others may not think so, but to me they were Angels!
and I was told , that when my grandpaw on my mom's side died , and my grandmaw was missing him, he came to her and told her that she was going to be alright!
Yes, I have had the feeling, "That was an Angel." It was not the "drop to your knees scared to death" kind of Angel encounter like we see so often in the scriptures, but more like the guy you took to KFC. Afterward you wonder...
When the murders took place in 1999 at Wedgwood Baptist Church in Fort Worth their little children were quickly led out of the building and across the street to an elementary school. A huge man in a nondescript khaki outfit was inside. He opened a door to let the teachers take the kids inside. They assumed he was a janitor (it was well past 7 PM on a Wednesday evening). When they looked for him he was nowhere to be found. Later a FW ISD person asked how they had gotten into the building. When told the school principle said, "We have no one on staff that fit that description. Besides, they all leave well before 7 0'clock."
Hmm...
i guess if i think about it more, that as a Christain, i am a stranger in the world. so it lends more insight to me as to why we should love one another.
Yes, probably more than we will ever know.
This is why we were going to name our girls "Deleastadees" if they were a boy. Our mothers were glad they were girls.
I do think we entertain angels. I also think angels come to attend to us. Above all, I believe that we live in a spiritual world that we are not able to see or comprehend yet.
I also believe that you are very diplomatic and have the peacemaker gift. :)
Kathy
Afternoon , peacherman how's the nose? I learned the hard way, not to drank while reading some blogs , it could hurt a person! :)
hope ya have a good weekend!
Jel,
Good afternoon, Yes, my nose is fine. I am doing much better. I know know not do drink hot coffee and read funny blogs.
I always have been enjoy all the great storys. Thanks Kathy for the encouragement. I appreciate it. keep the stories comming. God is so good.
I stopped by thru Sista Cala's blog. And I like what I have read so far.
Yes we must treat all people right, yet sometimes you know in your heart, that some one was special for some reason.
Granny b,
Thank you for stopping by my blog. I appreciate your comments, they are welcome anytime.
Danny,
Thanks for sharing such a moving story about what happened in Ft. Worth. You hear stories like that all the time of people that need help and then the people give them the help are nowhere to be seen or heard of again.
Ya know. I guess it's cool to think about angels and stuff, but my question to you is, "Should that be our motivation?" Kind of like saying, "You might be an angel, so I'll be nice to you."
I know it's in the Bible, so it has to hold some weight. I've never understood what the big deal was about it.
Good post, Preacher. You know I like posts that challenge the way I think.
Do you think we still entertain angels do today? I'm not sure if we entertain them or grieve them.
Should we as Christians be more generous to others because strangers could be an angel? ... Should this passage change the way we are towards those in need and practice hospitality? Between this passage and the parable in Matthew 25:31-46, I know I am sorry sinner. Far too often, we disregard the commandments of the Lord because they seem inconvenient to us. Other times, we're sure Jesus didn't mean that. It is our selfishness and pride that need to be converted to selflessness and humility, taking up our own cross and following the Lord with his.
Josh,
I think our motivation should be our motivation for kindness to other should be out of the love and grace that God himself has for us. We should be generous to other no matter who they are no matter what! Thanks for pointing that out to us. I appreciate your comments always.
Japhy,
Excellent point between the parallel between the two passages. I like your point about it being to inconvienent for us to do good to others. I appreciate your points on selflessness and humiltiy. God my we become more like you as we entertain strangers.
"Can angels check to see if churches to see if they are generous or not?" Does this make angels sort of "mystery shoppers" for God? An interesting idea.
Bob,
Very interesting.
This comment has been removed by the author.
Just checking in and reminding you that God loves you.
Thanks. Please keep me in your prayers. I have been in a lot of pain the last couple of days and have beeen resting. Thank for your couragement and prayers.
PRAISE GOD!!!!!!!! :-)
Great story, and about the angels, not sure, but I hope so.
Thanks Matthew, I appreciate you stopping by as always.
I have a very strange story to share and glad that I'm not alone when it comes to things like this. When I was barely four months pregnant I was in the parking lot of Freds Store in North TN when a sweet elderly lady approached me and asked when my baby was due. My husband and I gave each other a strange look considering I wasn't showing and no one had mentioned me being pregnant (except close family). I told her I still had more than five months to go and she remarked that she loved babies. Told me that her job was to rock the newborn babies at our local hospital. She asked if she could make the baby a blanket and I said yes but was too scared to give her my address so I gave her my mother in laws. The exact week that our son was born this little old lady showed up at my in-laws and delivered this beautiful handmade quilt. She didn't leave a name or number. I called our local hospital (and all the surrounding ones) and none of them had anyone who volunteered in the nursery. Strange, hunh?
Paula,
Wow. Thank you for sharing that wonderful story with us all. The angel who rock babies in the nursery. Heart-warming isn't it?
hey preacherman,
how are ya feeling?
These are all amazing stories, and I must thank you for posting such a topic. My friends and I have been praying to see an angel for the past week. After reading this though, I have looked back at situations where homeless people have asked me for something and I denied them out of fear and ignorance. This post has given me the opportunity to ask for forgiveness, and now I'll be ready the next time an angel comes to visit me!
www.awesomepurpose.com
Posted this on my blog yesterday.
Saturday, my son Devon and I were driving in the Church for Men truck doing some errands. I pulled off at the I-95 and Highway 40 exit in Ormond Beach, FL. At the light stood a man with a sign that said, "Hungry. Plz Help!". I stopped and asked the man a question. "Hey, are you hungry?" The cars behind me honked their horns. The man with the sign said, "No, I'm not hungry but could you drive me up the road to the truck stop?" I told him to jump in the back of the truck. His name was Robert. I drove him to the truck stop up the road and dropped him off. I said, "Robert are you hungry?" He didn't say a word. He grabbed his bag, gave me a wink, smiled and walked away. I turned the truck around and he was gone. I mean he literally vanished. It was a "drop off the face of the earth", "nothing to hide behind", "presto" type of GONE! I've shared this story with my wife Becky, several of my close friends and two pastors. None of them think I'm crazy. 3 of them reminded me of the Bible verse below.
Hebrews 13:2
Don’t forget to show hospitality to strangers, for some who have done this have entertained angels without realizing it!
It's amazing what God has done to my heart and mind. If someone told me this story 10 years ago I would have thought they were smoking crack!
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