As Abraham welcomed three visitors, he demonstrated the power of hospitality. Genesis 18: 4 Rest in the shade of this tree while water is brought to wash your feet. 5 And since you’ve honored your servant with this visit, let me prepare some food to refresh you before you continue on your journey.”
“All right,” they said. “Do as you have said.”
6 So Abraham ran back to the tent and said to Sarah, “Hurry! Get three large measures of your best flour, knead it into dough, and bake some bread.” 7 Then Abraham ran out to the herd and chose a tender calf and gave it to his servant, who quickly prepared it. 8 When the food was ready, Abraham took some yogurt and milk and the roasted meat, and he served it to the men. As they ate, Abraham waited on them in the shade of the trees. [1]
The text never explicitly uses the term’ hospitality,’ but the story illustrates it. Our English word “hospitality” has its roots in the Greek term philoxenia, which translates to “loving strangers as family.” [2]
Extending Hospitality
It is the middle of the day and a time of rest in that culture. Yet, Abraham got up and began to serve complete strangers. He could have asked them to wait until his siesta was finished, but did not. Remember Abraham is ninety-nine years old and working in the heat of the day. He doesn’t assign other servants to the tasks; instead, he does them himself. His actions are typical of the Bedouin hospitality of the time.
This encounter came unexpectedly and required action and generosity. Abraham received these three with an open heart. He asked Sarah to use approximately 22 quarts of flour to make the bread. Meat was a luxury, but Abram had a fatted calf killed and cooked. All this would have taken some time. We don’t know if there was any conversation during this time, as no record of it is found in Scripture.
Hospitality Today
In our culture, we consider inviting strangers into our homes dangerous. The writer of Hebrews gives us some advice. Hebrews 13:1 Keep on loving each other as brothers and sisters. 2 Don’t forget to show hospitality to strangers, for some who have done this have entertained angels without realizing it.[3]
We don’t want to be foolish and invite trouble, but we do need to act on divine promptings and be aware of how God may be working around us. Just as the three showed up unexpectedly and inconveniently, the same can happen with us. We may have to add more broth to the soup or open another package of food to serve a neighbor a meal.
When we are willing to serve others, we serve Jesus and promote the Gospel of love. People often pay more attention to our actions than our words. Extending hospitality to others who may not think like us will cause them to wonder why we would do such a thing. It opens the way for us to tell them about the love of Jesus.
To learn more about the power of hospitality, listen here:
https://podpoint.com/light-of-christ-church-podcast/laughter-and-doubt
[1,3] Tyndale House Publishers. (2015). Holy Bible: New Living Translation. Tyndale House Publishers.
[2]https://productivityintelligenceinstitute.com/the-power-of-hospitality-a-path-to-productivity-and-connection/