(It's been a while sine I've posted a manuscript, but you can usually find video of Sunday sermons on the YouTube channel of FBC Williams here.)
Genesis 18:1-10a
1 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. 2 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. 3 He said, "My lord, if I find favor
with you, do not pass by your servant. 4 Let a little water be brought, and
wash your feet, and rest yourselves under the tree. 5 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." 6 And Abraham hastened into the tent to Sarah, and said, "Make
ready quickly three measures of choice flour, knead it, and make cakes." 7
Abraham ran to the herd, and took a calf, tender and good, and gave it to the
servant, who hastened to prepare it. 8 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. 9 They said to him, "Where is your wife Sarah?"
And he said, "There, in the tent." 10 Then one said, "I will
surely return to you in due season, and your wife Sarah shall have a son."
She walked into Pop Burger (a hip,
trendy burger joint in New York City), strolled up to the counter, and placed
her order. As usual, the young man working behind the counter asked for her
name so she would know when her order was ready. She was stunned. She looked at the young man,
and with a clear sense of astonishment and irritation said, “Are you serious?
You don’t recognize me? I’m Miley Cyrus!”[1]
Now, for those of you over the age of 30 with children or grandchildren who
have sensible tastes in music and entertainment, Miley Cyrus is a wildly
popular product of the Disney Channel and Billy Ray Cyrus (a relic of
pop-country music from the early 1990s, who told us all about his “Achy-Breaky
Heart”). She has made millions (if not billions) of dollars through T.V. shows,
music, movies, concerts, and all kinds of product tie-ins (i.e. toys). I can
imagine it must be difficult for her to travel in public without being swarmed
by fans, photographers, and the general mass of people who tend to flock to
celebrity, but on this occasion this one individual seemingly had no idea he
was exchanging words with the world-famous Miley Cyrus. He was in the presence
of an enormously wealthy and popular celebrity, yet he didn’t seem to have a
clue. I can imagine after such a meeting, he has never forgotten who Miley
Cyrus is (or what she looks like)!
I suppose we can chalk up that young
man’s experience to innocent ignorance, a well-meaning employee just trying to
do his job, when into his world walked one of the most recognizable names on
the planet. I, however, can’t help but wonder how often scenes like this unfold
all around us, even in our very own lives. I wonder how often our own worlds
are infiltrated by the presence of Another, one who is so easily recognizable
to countless others, yet to us…simply a stranger.
There were three strangers who broke
into Abraham’s life one day by the oaks of Mamre. He was sitting by the tent
flap, presumably trying to cool himself during the hottest part of the day,
when Scripture tells us in verse two of
our text this morning that “[h]e looked up and saw three men standing
near him.” Now, bear in mind, Abraham lived in a nomadic culture, where
families and tribes moved from one place to another, following the seasons and
the herds. They were a protective people, wary of unfamiliar faces. Abraham,
however, bucks caution and, we are told in the second half of verse two: “When he saw them, he ran from the tent entrance to meet them, and bowed
down to the ground.”
Abraham recognized these three men
as strangers, yet he did not go inside and bolt the locks on his tent flap. On
the contrary, Abraham went out to meet them. Did he casually stroll out to
them, offering them an obligatory “hello” and a forced conversation about the
weather? No! He ran out to meet them
and bowed down to the ground. Abraham
recognized these men as strangers, yet he also recognized something more about
them—something in them worthy of respect, worthy of reverence, and worthy of
hospitality. Abraham recognized in these three strangers what we as readers of
the text already know about them—they are the Lord; God is in the midst of
these three strangers.
Now, before we jump to any
Trinitarian conclusions about these strangers (however valid they may be), let
us focus more on what is taking place here in this story. Abraham recognized
something sacred in these three strangers, so he shows hospitality to them in verses three through five: “He said, ‘My lord, if I find favor 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.’” Abraham offered these three strangers a drink of cool water
for their thirst, clean water for their feet, and a bit of bread for their
hunger as they have come upon his tent. At first glance, these may seem like
relatively small things—a drink of water, a piece of bread—but keep in mind,
Abraham cannot just run into the kitchen and turn a knob on the faucet or punch
a button on the refrigerator door, nor can he open the bread box, undo the
twist-tie and pull out a couple of slices of Wonder bread for his guests. No,
water had to be drawn, bread baked. To invite a stranger (three no less!) to a
bit of bread and a drink of water was to invite them to stay a short spell
while things were being prepared. It was a relatively involved process of
hospitality, yet Abraham invited these three strangers to kick off their
sandals and stay a while (this is obviously before the days of our children
being taught about “stranger danger” at school!).
With that being said, Abraham went
above and beyond—still recognizing the Lord in the presence of the three
strangers. We get the laundry list of
Abraham’s efforts to show hospitality to these three strangers in verses six through eight: “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.” Abraham made sure to prepare more than just a bite of
bread and a drink of water for his guests—he provided an entire meal for them!
And while it may not seem like a Thanksgiving spread to you or me, the portions
Abraham served his guests would rival a super-sized Big-Mac meal from
McDonalds! Abraham went all out for these three strangers, who became guests in
his presence, and in return, they left Abraham with a promise.
In verses 9 and 10 the three strangers (either in unison or through a
sort of spokesperson for the trio) spoke to Abraham: “They said to him, ‘Where is your
wife Sarah?’" This may seem like an odd question, prying and
surprising given the fact that we are never told that Abraham has mentioned his
wife to the three strangers.
Nevertheless, Abraham tells them, "There, in the tent." Then one
said, "I will surely return to you in due season, and your wife Sarah
shall have a son." Here, I imagine Abraham’s jaw dropped wide open
and perhaps he even began to stammer a bit. How did they know about God’s
promise to Abraham and Sarah about a child? Even if they did not, how could
they possibly be so bold as to tell a man so advanced in years that his wife
would bear a son in a year’s time? How could they be so bold as to make such a
promise? Because there was something more to these strangers, something that
Abraham (and Sarah) could only experience after Abraham recognized the presence
of God in these strangers.
You see, Abraham could have done
what so many others would have done in his day—what would have been the
culturally appropriate thing to do. He could have seen the three strangers by
the oaks of Mamre and chose to ignore them. He could have gone inside his tent
and waited for them to simply go away. He could have sounded some sort of
alarm, warning of the presence of strangers, outsiders, in the area. He could
have done any number of things and been justified in his self-protecting behavior,
yet Abraham recognized God in the presence of those strangers and welcomed them
with great hospitality.
Now I cannot help but wonder how
many times we have missed the presence of God in the stranger, the outsider,
because we have acted to protect our own interests. How often have we failed to
see God in those people and situations we deem strange, unusual, or
uncomfortable? You see, I believe God calls us to recognize the sacred in one
another, to see the image of God that we all carry with us, but I know that is
not an easy thing to do.
We live in a time and place where
strangers and outsiders are immediately labeled as “dangerous.” We live in a
culture that continues to tell us that those who are different from us are less
than us, all the while arguing that we are better because we are somehow chosen
by God to be special. Despite being nearly four millennia removed from the time
of Abraham, twenty-one centuries from the time of Christ, two hundred and twenty-seven
years from the signing of the Declaration of Independence, and almost fifty
years from the signing of the Civil Rights Act, we still live in a country
where those who are different, those who are strangers, are seen with immediate
suspicion and often treated as hostile, dangerous, or threatening. When we
allow ourselves to give in to those cultural pressures, when we allow ourselves
to look upon those we do not know and immediately judge them as inferior,
menacing, or hazardous we have failed to learn the lesson from this story of
Father Abraham.
Abraham recognized God in the three
strangers. He saw the Lord where others may have only seen danger and
inconvenience. Abraham recognized God and went out of his way to serve these
three strangers and show them great hospitality. Again, I can’t help but wonder
how often scenes like this unfold all around us. I wonder how often our own
worlds are infiltrated by the presence of Another, one who is so easily
recognizable to countless others, yet to us…simply a stranger. I wonder how we,
those of us who call ourselves followers of Christ and children of God, will go
forth this day looking for God in the presence of other, recognizing the Lord’s
presence even in the midst of strangers. I wonder how we will respond to God’s
presence when we find it. Will we extend love and hospitality, or will we allow
our own prejudices, our own preconceived notions of who we are, to stand in the
way of experiencing God’s presence and the blessings that come with it?
May we learn the lesson taught to us
by Abraham through Holy Scripture. May we strive to see the presence of God,
even among strangers. May we seek to be individuals, a church, and a community
of believers who are known for hospitality to strangers, known for showing the
love of God even to those who others might mark as dangerous. May we welcome
the presence of God in our lives however it may manifest itself, through
strangers, through friends, through family, through worship, through Holy
Scripture, through the preached word, and may we recognize the presence of God
in this place here and now and respond however the Holy Spirit is calling us to
respond.
Let us pray…
