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The Lord appeared to Abraham near the great trees of Mamre while he was sitting at the entrance to his tent in the heat of the day. Abraham looked up and saw three men standing nearby. When he saw them, he hurried from the entrance of his tent to meet them and bowed low to the ground.
He said, “If I have found favor in your eyes, my lord, do not pass your servant by. Let a little water be brought, and then you may all wash your feet and rest under this tree. Let me get you something to eat, so you can be refreshed and then go on your way—now that you have come to your servant.”
“Very well,” they answered, “do as you say.”
So Abraham hurried into the tent to Sarah. “Quick,” he said, “get three seahs of the finest flour and knead it and bake some bread.”
Then he ran to the herd and selected a choice, tender calf and gave it to a servant, who hurried to prepare it. He then brought some curds and milk and the calf that had been prepared, and set these before them. While they ate, he stood near them under a tree. (Genesis 18:1-8)
Abraham probably had other concerns on his mind, but he noticed the strangers near his tent. He responded to the gift of their presence without delay. He humbled himself before them and offered rest and refreshment. His offerings were the very best that he had available.
Did he know they were angels?
The abundant warmth of Abraham’s hospitality touches me, because I’ve been on the receiving end of a similar kind of welcome. Among the Chinese Muslims in Gaoli village, our family was revered much more than we deserved. When my dad came to visit us, he remarked that he had never been treated more like a king than in the village. He even joked that he might not want to go home. The best of the best that the villagers had to offer was laid out for us on the table and our tea cups were continually filled to the brim.
Their gift of hospitality to us (especially when we had little to offer in return) challenges me to think of how we treat the stranger when we have the opportunity to be on the giving end.
Could we consider the stranger near our tent not as the “enemy” or the “inconvenience,” but as an angel or even Jesus Himself?
How have you struggled with hospitality?
We lived with a host family in the village and, on one of our first nights with them, we offered to make dinner. Unfortunately, our meal of spaghetti was a big flop because we discovered that they really did not like the taste of tomato sauce. After that, they simply said, “Let us do all the cooking because we don’t have the same tastes as you.” In some ways, it was nice to have that clear declaration instead of wondering how often we should offer to cook. But in other ways, it was challenging to be constantly on the receiving end of hospitality while we lived there because I wished I had more competence in the kitchen with more practical help to offer our host family.