Angels at the Manna House
This past Monday, September 29th, after the gate
to the backyard was opened, we gathered with our guests as we do each morning,
to pray. On that day, as I led the
prayer, I announced that it was the Feast of Archangels, Michael, Gabriel, and
Raphael. And then I shared Hebrews 13:2,
“Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by doing so some have
entertained angels unawares.” I invited
all of us present to welcome each other, with the possibility that some whom we
welcomed were angels, messengers of God.
(The Hebrew word for angel is mal`ach, and the Greek word
is angelos; both words mean “messenger”).
Since it was specifically the Feast
of the Archangels, I asked if Michael, Gabriel, or Raphael were present. Michael raised his hand with a smile. Not bad, I thought, we had one out of three
of the archangels with us this morning.
And for that I was thankful, because as I had read about angels earlier
in The Benedictine Prayer Book, “They
are the hands which God extends to uphold us, the wings God spreads to shield
us” (Abbot Anthanasius Recheis, Angels:
Spirits, Magnificent and Mighty).
I like that
the Bible find angels and hospitality go together well. Abraham and Sarah welcomed visitors who were
angels (Genesis 18). The same angels found Lot
to be hospitable, but the people of Sodom
to be utter failures when it came to hospitality (Genesis 19, Ezekial 16:49). Mary had an angelic visitor, namely Gabriel,
giving her the news that she was pregnant with Jesus (Luke 1:26-38). Mary was quite hospitable, given the
surprising news Gabriel gave in that visit.
There is an
ancient and poetic depiction of angels in the Book of Revelation, the same
angels who we welcome in the practice of hospitality. In Revelation, these angels are crucial in
spiritual warfare (and in particular the angel who was with us on Monday is
mentioned). “Now war arose in heaven, Michael and his angels fighting against
the dragon; and the dragon and his angels fought, but they were defeated… And
the great dragon was thrown down, that ancient serpent, who is called the Devil
and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world…..” (Revelation 12:7-9).
After this battle is over “a loud
voice” is heard “saying, ‘Now the salvation and the power and the kingdom of
our God and the authority of his Christ have come, for the accuser of our
brothers and sisters has been thrown down, who accuses them day and night
before our God’” (Revelation 12:10-12).
So the angels acting on the
authority of Jesus Christ have overturned the prosecutor who would condemn us
on Judgment Day. Or as Dorothy Day said,
“I firmly believe that our salvation depends upon the poor.” And she, of course, was reflecting Jesus’
words, “Whatever you do unto the least of these you do unto me,” as he
described the judgment on the last day of the sheep who offered hospitality to
the hungry, the thirsty, the naked, the sick and the imprisoned, and the goats
who did not (Matthew 25:31-44).
Who will
advocate for us on Judgment Day? It is
not a question I dwell on, but talk of angels and spiritual warfare along with
the shortening days of the fall (it is dark now when I arrive at Manna House to
start the coffee), certainly encourages me to have apocalyptic and
eschatological thoughts and feelings. On
the Feast of Archangels all of this gets jumbled up with words about
hospitality, and lo and behold, the very angels to whom we offer hospitality
are the ones who threw out the D.A. (District Accuser a.k.a. Satan). Michael and the others angels, to whom we
offer hospitality, are our Public Defenders advocating for us on Judgment Day.
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