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“Let brotherly love continue. Do not forget to entertain strangers, for by so doing some have unwittingly entertained angels” …. “Remember the prisoners as if chained with them – those who are mistreated – since you yourselves are in the body also” (Hebrews 13:1, 3).

I stumbled across this little obscure section at the end of Hebrews. I had not given it much attention in the past. But this time it really caught my eye. Paul exhorts the believers to continue showing brotherly love, but this time he is concentrating on the type of ministries that are more likely to fall through the cracks, like taking in strangers and remembering prisoners, which is why I believe he is highlighting them. Why would these types of ministries be hard? Taking in a stranger takes a lot of guts and is usually out of people’s comfort zone, and visiting prisoners is usually out of the normal routine.

I would like to concentrate on Paul’s admonition to remember the prisoners. Paul is asking the believers to remember the prisoners, those who are mistreated, as if chained with them. So what can we learn here? I am assuming that the prisoners were there because of their faith, but if not, they still need care.
What do we know about this target group for ministry? Prisoners by nature, are bound and not free. So, practically speaking, they are hidden away so none see them except those who choose to visit. Also, we can presume some continuous suffering for an extended period of time.

Why is Paul admonishing the church to remember this group in particular? Because I imagine it would be very easy for people back in the usual church life, to forget what they can’t see, hence the admonition to remember. But Paul goes further than that, he admonishes them to remember the prisoners as if chained with them. In other words, what would it be like to be in a prison? Think about it? What would it be like to be bound, hurting and isolated with little comforts coming in or people visiting? When you remember in that way, it puts fire under you to seek out what a person would need in those conditions to keep their heads above water so that they don’t go under.

Why is Paul concerned about this fringe group, anyway? Because they all are members of a body, and part of the body is hurting. Paul cares for the whole body.

“For as the body is one and has many members, but all the members of that one body, being many, are one body, so also is Christ” (1Corinthians 12:12).

“that there should be no schism in the body, but that the members should have the same care for one another. And if one member suffers, all the members suffer with it; or if one member is honored, all the members rejoice with it” (1 Corinthians 12:26).

It struck me that there are more ways of being bound than in an actual prison. If you look at the inner workings of the visible church as a type of banquet hall with a table laden with food that is meant to feed the entire body, it is important to make sure that all the members get fed, that they are given care, even the ones out of sight. But, you need to remember a couple things first: it is possible to starve at a banquet if you can’t get to the table, and it is never acceptable that someone be starving in a family. So, it is important to be aware if there are any members of the family that can’t get to the banquet.

Who would be in this category? Any member who is isolated, out of normal life, hurting and can’t access the banquet like the shut-ins, the chronically sick, the suffering, the elderly, to name a few. Paul asks us to remember those in prison as if bound with them. That’s a pretty powerful reminder. So what would it be like to be out of life, or on a sickbed of suffering for months, or years? What would that person need to not go under emotionally? How can you bring the banquet to them?

I’m sure there are many ways to minister to them. In our church, we do meals for those in need, cards, visiting, praying and checking up on people. I think the importance of all this is that you want to show love and care. There is a special type of comfort given to a person in isolation in just being remembered, and all these special ways ‘remember’ the person. It is tangible love in action. We in the body of Christ learn as we go, on how to do this better and better: visiting the elderly, comforting the sick, greeting those who can’t be out in the main stream with some type of regular contact even in a small way through a text, a card, a smile, a hug, a gift of flowers, to tell them that they are remembered. When support is given, it makes it easier for that person to go through the trial, and lifts a little of the burden off, because they feel the whole body around them. Otherwise they are doubly hit, first by the trial, and then by feeling they are alone in it. They may also be feeling the loss of things taken away from them, things that they used to have, but don’t now due to the trial. A person in heavy trial sees a lot of loss along with new negatives. So having some type of positives coming back in from the body, can make a difference.

But, you might ask, how to do it all? No one person can put on their shoulders the burdens of the entire church. We can continually grow up in this area as we learn from each other how to love and minister to those God sets before us, as He opens up our eyes. Even though there is so much need in the church, as everyone does their part in their little corner, people will be helped and fed naturally with the entire body being ministered to. No one person can do it all, not even the pastor or elders, as they have so much on their plate in the running of the church. No, it takes a team of which we all are an integral part. And when we encourage each other in this, and help each other to see the needs, we grow up in Christ with a strong body continuously ministering and reaching out. That is the mark of a mature church. She learns how to minister to all her members in whatever condition they find themselves in. If it is something new, the body quickly learns how to minister to this new need, even through trial and error. And God can use even our failed attempts as we look to Him to help us learn to do it better. The important thing is to keep trying and leaving the results to Him.

So, how do you spot the needs? Look around you. Who is bound? Who is isolated? Who is sitting down when others are standing? Who is suffering and can’t get access to the good around them? Whose life has turned upside down? How can you bring the good to them? If you have a chance, go in after the person. Whether it is someone who is chronically ill or someone who has been thrust off to the side due to a condition, show that you care enough to pursue them. Remember, the highest form of giving is sacrifice which comes when time is given out of a very busy schedule.”

Ask God to show you the needs and tell you what you can do, then don’t worry about what you can’t do since you are not meant to do everything. You don’t ever want to operate out of guilt but out of a sincere desire to be available to respond to His leading, then you will be blessed. Learn to lean hard on Him as He moves you around to minister. And in doing so, you will become a little more like your Father every day as the church as a whole moves upward.

Consider what help you already have from God to do this:

“Now may the God of peace, who brought up our Lord Jesus from the dead, that great shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant, make you complete in every good work to do His will working in you what is well pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever” (Heb 13:20,21).

You only work out what He has put in. You look up and follow orders. It’s as simple as that.