Living in the Spirit
June 12, 2023
Scripture Reading:
Genesis 18:1-15, (21:1-7)
The Lord appeared to Abraham by the oaks of Mamre, as he sat at the entrance of his tent in the heat of the day. He looked up and saw three men standing near him. When he saw them, he ran from the tent entrance to meet them, and bowed down to the ground. He said, ‘My lord, if I find favour with you, do not pass by your servant. Let a little water be brought, and wash your feet, and rest yourselves under the tree. Let me bring a little bread, that you may refresh yourselves, and after that you may pass on—since you have come to your servant.’ So they said, ‘Do as you have said.’ And Abraham hastened into the tent to Sarah, and said, ‘Make ready quickly three measures of choice flour, knead it, and make cakes.’ Abraham ran to the herd, and took a calf, tender and good, and gave it to the servant, who hastened to prepare it. Then he took curds and milk and the calf that he had prepared, and set it before them; and he stood by them under the tree while they ate. –Genesis 18:1-8
Abraham’s people practiced hospitality that is beyond our imagination. Would we welcome strangers walking by our front yard and prepare them food? I grew up on a farm, and when I was a child, our doors were never locked, and we would invite people into our home that we might not know, someone who had had car trouble or got lost trying to find a relative’s farm. No one ever entered our doors without at least being offered a glass of water. I now live in the city, keep my doors locked, and talk to people who ring my doorbell through a closed door with enough glass to see them. If they are handing out something, I invite them to place it on the step. Last winter, the national news carried a story of a couple in Buffalo, New York, who found an elderly man freezing in the snow that shut down the city. They picked him up and brought him into their home, saving his life. It is called radical hospitality. While we do want to take proper precautions, we also need to weigh how we treat people and how we can find ways to practice hospitality with all people we meet.
Prayer: Lord, free us from unreasonable fear and open our hearts to the ways we can provide hospitality to all we meet in our service to you. Amen.
All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights are reserved.