1 Keep loving each other like family. 2 Don’t neglect to open up your homes to guests, because by doing this some have been hosts to angels without knowing it.
Reflection
I have always been fascinated by the idea – here and in Genesis 18 – that angels sometimes take the form of people we encounter in our everyday life. If you step back from this notion for a moment and consider it, how would you know? Say a person suddenly shows up, you have a brief encounter, and then they go away without you ever catching their name or their story. How would you be able to tell?
I often think about one such meeting I had – in the basement of the church I belonged to in Raleigh, NC. One day, the church was having a bazaar, maybe a fundraiser for missions or something, when a man came up to me and handed me a small metal cross. I can’t remember whether he said anything beyond, “Here, would you like this cross?” What I do know is that the cross has been on my keychain ever since. For more than 25 years, I’ve carried around this tiny reminder of that day and that meeting.
Why did this have such an impact on me? I’m not sure, except to say I was struck by the message imprinted on the cross. It says “Jesus is Lord.” But as I looked at in the moment, I also thought to myself that another way to read it was: “Is Jesus Lord?” Phrased as a question, it caused me to reflect on the state of my own faith and my commitment to Christ.
This was perhaps a year or two before I made the decision to go to seminary. I keep it close as an everyday sign of the odd and surprising way God works in my life.
Was the man who presented me with this little token an angel? I don’t know. How could I? He appeared in my life, was there for a moment, and then disappeared again.
What I do know is this – on some level, he became a messenger of God to me. And isn’t that precisely what angels do?
by Joe Monahan
For Pondering and Prayer
Have you ever had an encounter that caused you to wonder if you had met an angel? Have you ever told anyone the story? If you haven’t, maybe consider sharing your story with someone. You might be surprised by how many angel encounters are out there!
Prayer: Mysterious God, we pray that you might continue to surprise us by showing up in our lives in unexpected ways. Give us the eyes of faith to see your messengers all around us. Amen.
