The Can Opener

 2/23/2023

Matthew 25:35 “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.”

Recently, my son shared a story about something that happened when we lived in New Hampshire. He was bringing our dog out when he saw a shirtless man with no shoes walking down the street. Now I must orient the reader to our town being a very small rural one with only approximately 2000 people. Generally, the only people we ever saw walk up or down the street were our neighbors. This man, however, was not someone he recognized. After our son ascended the stairs of our side deck to let the dog back inside, he noticed this man approaching. Normally, this would have caused a bit of trepidation, but he said he was not concerned at all about this stranger coming into the yard. The man, who was holding a can, asked if he could borrow an opener for it. “Sure” my son said. Then he entered the side door that led directly into the kitchen, came back out with a can opener, handed it to the man, and waited for him to use it. The man opened his can, said thank you, returned the opener, and was back on his way. This happened at least ten years ago while my husband and I were away, and it never occurred to my son to tell us until we were reading the Bible recently. He remembered the interaction because of this verse, Hebrews 13:2 “Do not forget to entertain strangers, for by so doing some have unwittingly entertained angels.”

The part of his story that really struck me was the peace he felt when this man approached. Of course, we are all suspect of strangers, especially in this current climate we live in. That afternoon, my son just wasn’t uncomfortable. Is it possible that he had entertained an angel that day? One thing is for sure, he did show kindness to a stranger in need. Isn’t that what we are all called to do?

Oh, and one last thing. After our son brought the can opener back in and put it in the sink, he looked out the front window and the man was gone. He didn’t see where the man had come from or where went. He just seemed to have appeared and then, after their brief interaction, disappeared. Angel?