“ENTERTAINING ANGELS UNAWARES”
Fifteenth Sunday after Pentecost (Proper 17)
August 28, 2016
Bethel Evangelical Lutheran Church
Glenshaw, Pennsylvania
TEXT:
Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for thereby some have
entertained angels unawares.
Hebrews 13:2 (ESV)
While it has piqued and abated at various times through the years,
there has always been a fascination with the subject of angels. We
have seen countless books, movies, television shows, songs, paintings,
and a host of other things that emphasize the existence and presence
of heavenly beings. The collectibles industry in particular has
gotten in on this big time. There are all kinds of pictures and
statues and ornaments and other likenesses of angels to be found. And
these come in many varieties: There are male angels and female
angels; adult angels and child angels; white angels, black angels,
yellow angels and brown angels; angels with halos and angels without
them; angels with large wings and angels with small ones. In fact, if
looking at the various items on the market that focus on angels is any
indication of where the public interest lies, I don’t think it would
be an exaggeration to say that there seems to be more interest shown
in angels than there is in God Himself.
As Christians, I suppose it should be refreshing for us to see so
much interest shown toward anything of a spiritual nature. What
concerns me, however, is that God’s Word paints an entirely different
picture of angels than that which is so popular today. Did you know,
for example, that the Bible never says anything about angels having
wings or halos? Did you know that angels, because they are purely
spiritual beings, have no body, and therefore are neither male nor
female, young or old, white, black, yellow, or brown? The Bible
speaks of angels in far less dramatic terms than what we are likely to
read about in the books or see in the representations that we find in
the stores. Oh yes, angels have taken on bodily form and have
appeared to people from time to time, but the Scriptures lead us to
believe that there are angels all around us working on our behalf all
the time, even though their presence and work go unnoticed. The text
for this morning’s sermon speaks of angels crossing our path in the
form of strangers. Let’s take a look at some of these strangers and
how the Word of God tells us that we ought to deal with them.
In the text before us this morning the writer to the Hebrews tells us
to be careful how we treat strangers. Now just who is the stranger
that he is talking about? Who is it that we should “not neglect to
show hospitality to”? It could be anyone. It could be that lost
child wandering around in the mall, crying--the one whose loudness and
disruptiveness really gets on your nerves. It could be the man
standing outside of the store or the ballpark asking you if you could
spare some change--that guy who smells terrible and frightens you. It
might be that unchurched person who asks you why you’re so religious,
implying that your faith is an emotional crutch and that your worship
and prayer life is a waste of time. It could possibly be that the
stranger is someone who is engulfed in hopelessness, grief, and anger
because of a recent tragedy--the person who is desperately trying to
make some sense of it all. The strangers who come into our lives come
in many different shapes, sizes, colors, and conditions.
But all of the strangers who we are warned about in our text have one
thing in common: They challenge us in one way or another. They
challenge us to examine our faith--to talk about our faith--to put our
faith into action. Some of these strangers ask us some pretty tough
questions. They cry out to us: “Are you a believer in Jesus Christ?
If so, then tell me: Why does your God let terrible things happen to
the people that He supposedly loves? If He is your Lord, then why
don’t you boast about Him more than you do about other people or
things? If He is your Savior, then why don’t you have any answers for
those who are confronted with the burdens of life? If He is your
Teacher, then why don’t you deal with others in the manner in which He
instructed you to do and why don’t you love your fellow believers as
Christ supposedly loves you? These are very pointed questions. They
need to be asked of us all the time, but we rarely ask ourselves these
questions.
The passage before us suggests that some of the strangers who we
encounter may in fact be angels. Now before you start going around
telling people that your pastor thinks that he sees and talks to
angels, let’s take a look at what an angel really is. The New
Testament word for angel () simply means “messenger.” Angels
are not God, nor are they humans who have died. Angels are
spirits--creatures of God whose ministry involves protecting the
saints of God, strengthening the saints of God, and at times
communicating to the saints of God what He has done for them in Christ
and what they are to be doing in His name. Angels do not have the
attributes of God, nor are they to be worshiped. Neither do they
stand in competition to the Word of God, since the message that they
communicate to God’s people in Christ is the same message that is
proclaimed in the Word.
It was an angel who told the virgin from Nazareth that she would give
birth to her Savior. It was an angel who told the shepherds of
Bethlehem of the birth of their Savior and invited them to go and
worship Him. It was angels who strengthened our Lord after His
confrontation with Satan in the wilderness and when He prayed in
Gethsemane as He made His way to the cross burdened with our sin. It
was angels who proclaimed to the faithful women on the first Easter
morning that Jesus had conquered death by His resurrection from the
grave. And at the ascension of Jesus it was angels who warned the
bewildered disciples not to just idly stand around waiting for Jesus
to return, but to do what their Lord had commissioned them to do in
preparation for His final coming. Angels speak to us all the time,
but they do it in a fashion that we don’t usually recognize as being
miraculous or even dramatic. Every time that we are confronted by
God’s Word of Law and comforted by His Word of Gospel, angels are at
work. Every time that we find the strength to do things that we never
thought we could do, angels are at work. Every time that we are
challenged to take seriously the Good News of Jesus and the demands of
discipleship, angels are at work--even if those challenges come
through the people and the situations that we would least suspect.
What God’s Word is saying to us today is that we shouldn’t be all
that quick to dismiss the annoying stranger who challenges us. That
bothersome person could very well be sent by God to remind us of the
faith that we have, the hope that lives in us, and the responsibility
that is ours. And even if that person isn’t really an angel, he or
she is nevertheless a creation of God, loved by Him and redeemed by
the same blood of Christ that bought our redemption. In either case,
the words of Jesus to the people He has saved should resound in our
minds and hearts: “Truly I say to you, as you did to one of the least
of these My brothers, you did to Me” (Matthew 25:40). He identifies
with them and with us, bearing all of our burdens (especially the
burden of our sin and guilt) and strengthens us to be what He has
created, redeemed, and called us to be. In this way His Spirit
sanctifies us and conforms us to His perfect image.
Amen.
May the Lord bless your hearing of His Word, using it to accomplish in
you those things for which He gave it. May you be enriched and
strengthened in faith that you may leave here today to go out into our
world armed with the whole armor of God, prepared to be able
ambassadors of your Savior Jesus Christ. He who calls you is
faithful, and He will do it. Amen.