I've been reading through a book on hospitality by Annie Chapman. Early on, she mentions this passage from Genesis 18:
Chapman uses this as an example of hospitality. There was nowhere else for the men to go, and rather than simply give them something to satisfy them to a later time, they prepared them a MEAL. I have to admit that's not how I operate. I try to think of the most logistical and practical way to appease everybody without having to wear myself out in the process. And I have to to tell you, making homemade bread on the spur of the moment for uninvited guests would NOT be the first thing that pops into my weary brain.
I am so thankful for freezers and frozen garlic bread and yeast rolls that we can purchase in the grocery store. And yet, I think it's more the principle that I should be concerned with...am I putting the needs of others before my own? Sadly, too many times the answer is no. The truth is I do have to be responsible with my time and put my family needs above others, but there are other times when I could have easily done something for others instead of using up my time clock.
We're not told Sara's reaction to Abraham when he came in with his request. Perhaps she was accustomed to it. Maybe she got angry. But we do know she did it. And I hope should I ever be strained and put to that hospitality test, I'll be as successful as she was.
6 So Abraham hurried into the tent to Sarah. “Quick,” he said, “get three seahs[b] of the finest flour and knead it and bake some bread.”Now, I don't know about you, but this would have probably irritated me. If you've ever made bread, even if it is unleavened bread, there's NOTHING quick about it. From my way of thinking, he should have offered the men dried fruit or something, and then I would have prepared an early supper. After all, about the time she finished cooking for the strangers and cleaned up her cooking area, it would have been time to start it all again. And can you imagine the servant's reaction? There is NO earthly way possibly to quickly slay, clean, butcher, and COOK a calf quickly. All my life, every time I've ever read this passage I thought it was a perfect example of a man who has a very unrealistic view of life and how it operates.
7 Then he ran to the herd and selected a choice, tender calf and gave it to a servant, who hurried to prepare it. 8 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.
Chapman uses this as an example of hospitality. There was nowhere else for the men to go, and rather than simply give them something to satisfy them to a later time, they prepared them a MEAL. I have to admit that's not how I operate. I try to think of the most logistical and practical way to appease everybody without having to wear myself out in the process. And I have to to tell you, making homemade bread on the spur of the moment for uninvited guests would NOT be the first thing that pops into my weary brain.
I am so thankful for freezers and frozen garlic bread and yeast rolls that we can purchase in the grocery store. And yet, I think it's more the principle that I should be concerned with...am I putting the needs of others before my own? Sadly, too many times the answer is no. The truth is I do have to be responsible with my time and put my family needs above others, but there are other times when I could have easily done something for others instead of using up my time clock.
We're not told Sara's reaction to Abraham when he came in with his request. Perhaps she was accustomed to it. Maybe she got angry. But we do know she did it. And I hope should I ever be strained and put to that hospitality test, I'll be as successful as she was.
Comments
And opening your home to four kids for a month while their parents are in Ukraine is the ultimate in hospitality. No one else I know would have done that.