Abraham, having completed his morning chores, found some shade to escape the sweltering heat of the Middle Eastern afternoon. In a nearly-dozed-off flutter of his eyes, three figures emerged through the heat waves. Springing from his tent, he ran to greet and beg these desert wanderers to find oasis with him. Abraham offered a little shade, a little water, a bit of food. But he returned with a feast fit for Bedouin kings: mounds of fresh-baked bread, AAA beef, milk and cheese curds!
Abraham’s generosity takes my breath away. Not only does he sacrifice his well deserved siesta for strangers, he does it without hesitation and in royal extravagance: the finest flour, the choicest calf, a deep bow…for strangers, and without expectation of recompense! All it took to set Abraham a runnin’ was that he “looked up and saw” (Genesis 18:2). In contrast, I am appalled at my hollow practice of hospitality that includes friends, but not strangers; good, but not the best; scheduled events, but not spontaneous feasts.
To be fair, we know these strangers “just happen” to be God, the blessed and blessing creator of the universe, and two angels. But as far as we know, Abraham didn’t know this until after the meal. For me, this makes his generosity that much more astonishing.
Today, such hospitality sounds like a fairy tale, or even folly. Through personal experience or media coverage, we know there are strangers waiting to hoodwink the good-hearted and generous, “stranded” individuals who rob the one who stops to help. So, is a contemporary practice of Abraham’s radical hospitality a fools hope in our nanny-state* country?
(*A reference to over-involved policy makers who cajole us into fearing playgrounds or being without our cell phones, all in the name of our “safety” an “well-being.”)
What if Abraham’s self defense mechanism kicked in here, rather than his hospitality?
Maybe Old Abe recognized these strangers as powerful rulers, and Abe too was a ruler of considerable strength. He may have been making a choice between, can I defeat these foreigners? Can I defend myself against them? Or can I make them my allies? Yes he was hospitable, but why? Maybe he lucked out.