Entertaining Strangers

4/8/14           Casey                 early 20’s

I was on an outreach expedition at the park with Sal, a church brother, when a huge man dressed in full camouflage gear and a hoody over his head kind of staggered near us, cutting across the ballfield instead of walking on the sidewalk.  I view reaching

out with the Gospel as an adventure, never being sure of who I will end up talking to, but talking to this man seemed like it could possibly be more of an adventure than I bargained for.  I turned to Sal and said “Well, here goes nothing!  I hope I don’t get beat up!”  I walked over and got the guy‘s attention and asked “Hey, I have an interesting question.”  He looked serious.  “What do you think happens after this life?”  He broke into a huge grin.  “Well, I don’t know about you, but I put my faith in Jesus and I will be in heaven!”  That was not the response I expected, praise God!  I asked about his history.  His name is Casey, early 20’s, and it turned out he had attended a church I am well familiar with, that we had some friends in common, and he had indeed trusted Jesus in his younger years.  He no longer attends church, and I could tell he had some socially awkward tendencies, but he still pursues his relationship with the Lord, so we spent some time talking about some of the spiritual disciplines he needs to maintain in order to grow in his faith.  I wouldn’t doubt that one day he will begin to attend a church and contribute to the fellowship once again, but in the meantime we his brothers in the Lord need to meet him where he is at. “Keep on loving one another as brothers and sisters. Do not forget to show hospitality to strangers, for by so doing some people have shown hospitality to angels without knowing it.”  (Hebrews 13)