Loving the Stranger - Hospitality and Open Hearts.
One of the verses in the New Testament that I find most enigmatic is Hebrews 13:2:
"Do not forget to show hospitality to strangers, for by so doing some people have shown hospitality to angels without knowing it."
If you are familiar with the Old Testament, this verse may conjure up the story from Genesis 18 where Abraham receives three mysterious guests, who it transpires are messengers from God - and according to some interpretations, perhaps even God himself. Or, indeed, the darker story that follows in chapter 19, where Abraham's Nephew, Lot receives and protects visiting angels.
Part of the spiritual significance of these stories is the way that hospitality weaves together both divine and human purposes.
Hospitality: The Love of The Stranger.
The word for 'hospitality' in our verse from Hebrews is the Greek word Philoxenia (φιλοξενία). If we break down the parts of the word, you will recognise it, I'm sure. 'Philo' means love, and 'Xenia' means stranger. You may have heard that 'philosophy' means 'love of wisdom'. Philoxenia (hospitality) means 'love of strangers'. It is the exact opposite of the word Xenophobia, which means 'fear of strangers'.
The Christian life is one of an overflowing of love:
first we receive God's love by the work of the Spirit; (Romans 5:5)
that love then over flows from us to each other; (John 13:35)
we are shaped into people who love the stranger, those on the outside of our circle, (Hebrews 13:2)
and finally, if we wish to be perfect, we are to love even our enemies (Matthew 5:43-48).
There was much transatlantic chatter 'online' a few weeks ago as politicians of various sorts discussed and debated the Catholic teaching known as 'the order of loves' (Ordo Amoris), which describes how we should prioritise who, and how, we love. This debate was prompted by the US Vice President Vance, who argued certain policies should flow from a certain interpretation 'the order of loves'. It is true that our loves should be rightly ordered, and having priorities can help us to be more effective in the way that we show love. But, we must remember that love is not a non-renewable source of energy. If we love God first and fully, we don’t ever run out of love to share. As Christians, we discover that the more we love God, the more our love overflows to each other, to strangers, and even to those who persecute us. The order of our loves is less like a ladder to climb, and more like ripples effortlessly flowing outward from the stone of God’s love dropped into the pool of our heart.
Entertaining Angels.
This Sunday, 30th of March, we are gathering at 10am for a joint service of Holy Communion at St Mary's Nolton. We will be lifted by, both, a Joint MA Choir (gathered from all our churches) and the singing of children from Archdeacon John Lewis Primary. We will be served by lots of young people from across the MA, as they take part in the proceedings. And, we will see lots of new faces - this is a prime opportunity to practice our hospitality.
Our Eucharistic Prayer, when we celebrate Communion, always reminds us that we join in with the "angels and archangels and all the company of heaven". Worship is like hospitality, in that in mingles human and divine purposes - we join in with what the angels are always up to. Who knows, they may even be in the pews with us!
See you there.
