How do you greet a stranger at your door?
To me he was just another unfamiliar face among some of the others in the rented seaside home. He appeared one evening when we returned from dinner. Mike was a young college kid, who we learned, was a friend and acquaintance of three of the other house guests. In essence, he was a stranger to only some of us staying at the compound. I didn’t give a second thought that if this well spoken, clean cut young man wanted to spend the night in the 4,000 square foot villa by the sea, there shouldn’t be too much problem finding some floor space for him to sleep on.
Mike is a threat
Of the 10 people staying at the house, a couple of them, most notably one who had rented the estate for the holiday, had objections to the unscheduled visitor’s possible overnight lodging. There was much speculation and anxiety as to whether Mike was expecting to spend the night. To be honest, I have ever only seen this type of paranoia exhibited in movies. I wasn’t entirely sure what sort of threat Mike presented other than another person to share the bathroom with. But it was apparent from the comments made that Mike some how represented a threat to rape the women folk and steal the computers.
A manger at the Inn
I backed away from the brewing conflict, as did others, knowing that a decision either way was not in my hands. In the end, Mike was told that the house was only rented for 10 people, he being the 11th, it was necessary for him to seek shelter else where. As it was shortly after the Christmas holiday, it would have been irony come true if I would have been able to offer a stable or manger on the property for Mike to sleep in.
Christian paranoia
It was also interesting that the two people most adamant about his not spending the night were the only regular Christian church goers. While this fact may have been lost on those who saw Mike only through the lens of people who watch too much crime drama TV, their lack of hospitality for a stranger who was not fiction was glaring to the rest of us. It was difficult for me to comprehend the lack of hospitality offered when it was a primary of tenet of Jesus’s to welcome all who graced his circle.
Sarah laughed at getting pregnant
Abraham is visited by three strangers in Genesis 18. He not only welcomes the strangers, he fixes a whole feast for them. The travelers, who are angels sent from God, tell Abraham that his wife will become pregnant. While I certainly didn’t want any stranger to inform me that my wife may become pregnant in the near future, I am one of those who see value in the strangers that God guides to your door. I was beginning to feel like some of my housemates greeted strangers with one hand on the door knob and the other on their pistol.
Guilty conscience?
The following day Mike stopped by as he and one of the other house guests had been out hiking. Since my family and I were in the midst preparing a feast of roasted vegetables and prime rib for the evening meal, I didn’t have really have time to chat. Everyone said their little pleasantries and then Mike and his friend left for more exploring. Later that afternoon, the house guest that had rented the villa and was fearful of sleeping under the same roof as us, asked if Mike would be returning to dine with us since we had plenty of food.
Homeless or visitor
As someone was dispatched to bring Mike back from his motel room to eat dinner with us, it seemed like a good time to take a break and take a walk on the beach. Down where the waves crashed on the sand was another stranger. He was an older gentleman sitting on some driftwood in the rain. He could have been homeless or just a local visitor like me. I wondered what the response would be if I brought a real homeless person home to partake of our holiday feast. Then I realized it all would have been lost on those most fearful of the world. For them, there are no teachable moments, only commercials between the programming.