Narrative Lectionary Key Verse for Today
“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 favor with you, do not pass by your servant.”
NL Daily Devotion for Saturday, September 18, 2021
by R. M. Fergus, Clergy Stuff
Hospitality is a lost art. I’m big into a series of historical-fiction murder mysteries called the Sister Fidelma mysteries, about a 7th century Irish woman. Hospitality was a huge deal in her context. People could be fined or otherwise punished if they failed to welcome even a complete stranger into their homes at night and provide them with food and a place to sleep at little or no cost. If someone showed up at our door these days and asked for a place to sleep, we’d probably direct them to the nearest homeless shelter. That is if we didn’t call the cops first.
In Abraham’s time, hospitality was similarly a matter of duty and honor. So when three strangers appeared out of nowhere, his first thought wasn’t, “Hey, who are those guys,” but “I gotta get them some food!” Of course, they were angels, coming to deliver an extraordinary promise. But even if they’d just been some random dudes out for a walk, Abraham probably would have done the same thing.
I wonder how different our lives and communities would be if these old ideas about hospitality persisted. Would we find ourselves more open and trusting because we know our neighbors and know that others would be as disposed to welcoming us as we them? Would we be surprised at how often we entertained angels?
Have I ever welcomed a stranger and been deeply touched by the experience?