Radical Hospitality

Radical Hospitality
Well, I don’t know about you, but I feel like it’s been an awful long time since we’ve been together last…and it’s really only been a week, but in that time much has happened! There have been meetings to finish planning summer activities, looking toward the future, prayer, tears, laughter, pain shared, and hopes expressed…And yes, that really has been all in a week! As I sat down to quiet my busy mind and wrestle with these passages for this morning, the Spirit had much to say.
We start with the passage from Genesis…Genesis is the first book in the Bible…Many people know the stories from Genesis…Creation, Adam & Eve, Noah, Jacob & Esau…And of course Abraham. Islam, Judaism, and Christianity are all called the Abrahamic faiths because we all trace our roots back to Abraham…from Abraham is where it gets a little sticky, but we all can trace our roots back to Abraham.
This story is important to the Judeo-Christian story…or the Jewish & Christian story because this is the story where Sarah learns that she will have a baby—that baby is named Isaac…But before she has the baby, we have this story…
The beginning of our passage says that the Lord passed by Abraham’s tent, now that is an editorial comment that the author is making about what happened…Abraham didn’t know that God was passing by his tent, instead, Abraham looked up and saw 3 men standing near to him. Abraham is interrupted in the middle of the day by 3 strangers…Now think about yourself for a minute…if you were in the middle of something—work or something else…and 3 strangers approached your house, what would you do? Would you be skeptical—what are these people selling? Would you be annoyed—what are these people doing here? Would you be frustrated—these people are interrupting my good stride! Well, Abraham could have had all of those thoughts…but do you know what he did instead of being skeptical, annoyed, or frustrated? He got up and ran to the entrance of the tent and dropped to his knees and he said, “do not pass me by…here’s some water, wash your feet, and rest under the tree, and I’ll bring you some bread.”
Instead of asking what these men were doing there or giving them the 3rd degree, he drops everything that he’s doing to take care of all of their needs…He makes sure that they have water, that they can wash their feet, that they have a place to rest, and that they have something to eat…He drops everything that he was doing to take care of these visitors…these guests…And really not just him, but he makes everyone in his house drop everything that they were doing to take care of these visitors…these guests…
Have you experienced hospitality like that? That radical hospitality? That’s an amazing gift that Abraham has to provide that kind of hospitality, but it’s not a gift that only Abraham has! I have friends who own a Bed & Breakfast in West Virginia and that’s what they view as their whole ministry…the ministry of hospitality. Whenever I visit, I am continually humbled by their hospitality…be it a fresh pot of coffee, gourmet cooking, mints on your pillow, bubble bath, candles, maps, driving services, fires in the fireplace, temperature control…My goodness…The way that they care fore others is truly amazing and something that I have learned from watching them. Maybe you know people like that…people who practice that radical hospitality…
Abraham practiced that radical hospitality and he had no reservations…He did it because these were guests. Now, in those times, taking care of guests had a little bit more emphasis than it does in our culture. There are many stories in the Bible about hospitality and literally how people put their own lives on the line because they were interested in caring for their guests…Much of it had to do with never knowing who you were caring for…Much like last week in asking the question, “What if God was one of us?” These people treated every guest as though it were an angel or God in disguise…because you just never know…
Well, because we know the whole story we do know that the visitors to Abraham weren’t just any guests…they were special…As the guests are leaving, full and satisfied, they asked about Abraham’s wife, Sarah. Then, they told Abraham that Sarah was going to have a baby…
Why was this such a big deal? Well, Abraham & Sarah had been wanting to have a child for a long time…Both had given up hope because they were both in their old age…This just didn’t seem possible! Sarah sure didn’t think so either…As she listened to these men share this news, laughed…Sarah laughed at what was being promised…She didn’t believe that it could be possible and so she laughed. Now it’s a beautiful thing that Sarah laughed because there aren’t many people in the Bible that are recorded as having laughed…But Sarah laughed at this news that she would have a son in her old age…Abraham didn’t laugh…Abraham took this blessing from his guests seriously and he prepared for the birth of his & Sarah’s son.
Later God asked Abraham—why did Sarah laugh? Why didn’t she believe? Doesn’t she know that anything is possible through God? That if I promise that she will have a son, then she will have a son! And Sarah’s response… “I didn’t laugh!” And God’s response to her? “Oh yes, you did.”
That’s such a beautiful response…and I can think of how many times a child is trying to get out of being in trouble and they deny what they know that they have done wrong… and Sarah says, “I didn’t laugh!” I mean seriously…do you really think that was going to go over with God? That God would say, “Oh, I must have been mistaken! You’re right, you didn’t laugh!”? But instead of fury with Sarah, all God says is “Oh yes you did.” Nothing else is needed…Just a simple, I know…
Now it’s important to remember that Sarah laughed for many reasons! But, one of the reasons is the name of the son that will be born to her…Isaac…In Hebrew the name is Yitzhakah…which kind of sounds like a little laugh in the first place…But, it also means… “She who laughs.” Isaac is named after Sarah’s laughter…
And this whole story started off with Abraham treating his guests as though they were the most important people in the world…Now, again, we know that it was God, but Abraham didn’t…He didn’t know who was visiting him, but he dropped everything to care for these guests…Then, he took their blessing seriously…
What lessons we can learn from Abraham…We can certainly learn the lesson of hospitality and that is clear…As is written in the letter to the Hebrews 13:2—what does it mean to entertain angels unaware? And what if we all took that a step farther?
And it’s really not a step farther, but just emphasizing that every person is a guest…And we treated all people as guests…Because you just never know…Jesus was a guest…He was in the world just a short time…John tells us the Word became flesh and dwelt among us…The Word pitched it’s tent and dwelt among us…Jesus pitched his tent and dwelt among us…What if we treated each and every person as though they were a guest? Because honestly, don’t we treat guests just a little bit better? We get them water, wash their feet, get them a place to sit, something to eat…we care for them.
Treating everyone as a guest is something that we can do in our daily lives and in our own homes, in our cars, in the stores…and something that we can do in the church…treating each and every person as what they are…a precious child of God…an honored guest…Because you just never know who we might be entertaining…