It happened a long time ago. We were spending a day in Atlanta with our children, visiting the zoo and other sites. We didn’t have a lot of money, so I had packed a picnic lunch for us to eat in the park close to the zoo.
I had spread out our lunch, and we had prayed for our food. Just as we began to eat, we could see a man walking toward us. He was dirty and a little scary. We were all a little uncomfortable.
The man stopped and asked if we had anything he could eat. We told him that we had packed just enough for our family, which was true. I had one sandwich for each of us. He thanked us and went on across the park. He approached another family, and they shared their food with him.
The image of that man walking away from us has plagued my mind and my heart for many years. I have wished many times that I had given him my sandwich.
Several years later, we were responsible for furnishing transportation to a conference for several visiting preachers. The van we were driving belonged to the church, and it was parked in our driveway at home.
Early one morning my husband went out to put some things in the van, and a very tall robust man sat up. He had been sleeping on one of the seats, and the opening of the van door awakened him. Startled, he said, “Who are you?” My husband replied, “Who are you?” The man explained that he had been traveling; and his ride had let him out just off the interstate, close to our house. He was tired. It was the middle of the night; and when he saw the church van, he thought he would be safe sleeping there. He thought he would be gone by the time anyone discovered him, and no harm would come to him.
My husband is a trusting soul, and he was not about to turn this man loose with no breakfast. So, he brought the man into the house; and I cooked his breakfast. When he finished eating, he washed his own dishes, thanked us, and walked out of our house never to be seen again.
Do I feel redeemed for the man in the park? Do I feel proud of myself for cooking a stranger breakfast? No, I don’t. What I feel is sad that I didn’t feed the man in the park.
I feel sad because I had an opportunity to show compassion to a needy person. I had an opportunity to show my children what we had been trying to teach them—to be caring, to share, to be kind.
Hebrews 13:1- says, “Let brotherly love continue. Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for thereby some have entertained angels unawares” (ESV). This verse refers to stories about Abraham in Genesis 18 and to Lot in Genesis 19. These men entertained strangers whom they both treated as visitors, not angels. They had no idea in the beginning that they were angels.
Does this mean the same thing will happen to us? Will we entertain an angel? We cannot suppose that this will happen to us, but the way we treat strangers does matter.
In Matthew 25, Jesus talks about this very idea. Jesus says of those that will be on the right hand in Judgement, “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me’” (verses 34-36).
He later says in verse 40, “’Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.’” It just doesn’t get any more precise than that!
In James 2, James warns us about showing respect to the rich and ignoring the poor. He says, “But if ye have respect to persons, ye commit sin” (James 2:9 KJV). It is sinful to show special attention to rich men while making the poor man or woman feel insignificant and unimportant.
In James 1:27, James says, “Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world”. True religion is about seeing those that are less fortunate than we are, in need in some particular way, or just having a difficult day, and doing whatever we can to make their lives a little easier.
Paul says in Galatians 5:14, “For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this; Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself”. Who is our neighbor? From the parable of The Good Samaritan in Luke 10, we learn that we must show mercy in order to be pleasing to God. Jesus said at the end of this parable, “You go, and do likewise.”
Sandra Oliver