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 13:1,2[1]
It was just another Monday morning. I had woken up early as usual and was at my desk going through my normal morning routine. This included putting my phone into silent mode so I could pay attention to what was important. Or what I thought was important.
Around 9:30 that morning I checked my phone and saw that my mom had called. While this was a little unusual, it wasn’t anything shocking. But when I listened to her voice message, I knew something was wrong. It wasn’t her voice that left the message, it was another member of the family. All they said was that I needed to call right away.
Just imagine all the different thoughts that flashed through my head. What was wrong with mom that she couldn’t call? Did she have a stroke or heart attack? Or had something happened to my dad? Was she so upset that she couldn’t talk?
Heart racing, I quickly called back. Again, it wasn’t my mom’s voice. Another family member answered and quickly got to the reason for the call. My brother was dead. He had gone to work and suddenly died at his desk. They didn’t know much else. No details. No reason why. No info on how. He was just gone.
The only thing that I could think of was that this was some kind of cruel joke. Don had been there all my life. We grew up together. We ate together. We wrestled on the floor together. We went on vacation together. We celebrated holidays together. We were in each other’s weddings. It’s one thing for your parents to die, they’re so much older than you. But not your brother.
I spent the rest of the morning in a kind of daze. After immediately telling Mary Ann and hugging, I returned to my office and closed the door. Calling a few friends, I was able to repeat what I knew. For me. This is how I process things. By retelling the same thing to the people I trust most, it begins to sink in. It slowly becomes more and more real.
Your brothers and sisters are your family. The people that you spend the most time with growing up. Your earliest relationships are deeply rooted with them. They saw you at your weakest. They saw you fail. They helped comfort you when life fell apart as a kid. They celebrated when you won.
It’s no accident that God uses this idea of brothers and sisters for people within the Christian community. I don’t know about you, but I’m having trouble thinking about how to describe other Christians without saying the words brother or sister. After all, we share so much in common.
Christians share so much together. They have so much in common. They share the same absolute and eternal truth. When Jesus returns, he’s going to take his people with him. And one day all his people are going to live together for all eternity.
With all this and more in common, the writer tells the Hebrews something very obvious, but it can be oh so hard to do. He tells them and us to be presently and constantly living in this brotherly kind of loving relationship. It’s not a passing fad but a way of life. It’s to direct and drive us towards one another. It’s the place we’re commanded to settle down into with each other.
There, I said it. It’s not a suggestion. It’s not an idea that we get to decide on. It’s not an option that we can choose from the menu of life like some side dish. When Jesus gave a new commandment that his followers are to be loving one another, he didn’t give us any wiggle room. There’s no way out of this. Jesus says that in the end, our life’s aim is to be loving one another.
As I started to come to grips with my brother’s sudden death, mu mind raced to our last conversation together. It was just one of a thousand calls that we made to one another over the years. Nothing really important was said. Nothing earthshattering was talked about. But the last thing that we said to one another in this life was, “I love you.”
Now, neither of us knew what God had in store for us in the next few days. There were no early warning signs that he was going to leave this life and go into the arms of Jesus. But loving one another was built into who we were and how we kept in contact with one another. God’s love wasn’t missing in action from our lives. It’s still a great comfort.
Noodling Questions
What’s implied when we’re encouraged to keep on going?
Why is stopping sometimes good and sometimes bad?
How is knowing God the greatest source of comfort in the whole world?
[1] Unless otherwise noted, all Bible references are from the New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
[2] Matthew 12:9
[3] 1 Peter 2:24
[4] Ephesians 5:25
[5] John 13:34,35
[6] Romans 12:3-5
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