A story that I love is found in Genesis 18:1-8. I’ve copied and pasted it here for your reading pleasure (the “him” and “he” referred to in the first sentence is Abraham):
And the LORD appeared to him by the oaks of Mamre, as he sat at the door of his tent in the heat of the day. He lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, three men were standing in front of him. When he saw them, he ran from the tent door to meet them and bowed himself to the earth and said, “O LORD, if I have found favor in your sight, do not pass by your servant. Let a little water be brought, and wash your feet, and rest yourselves under the tree, while I bring a morsel of 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 went quickly into the tent to Sarah and said, “Quick! Three seahs of fine flour! Knead it, and make cakes.” And Abraham ran to the herd and took a calf, tender and good, and gave it to a young man, who prepared it quickly. 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.
I love Middle Eastern hospitality as Abraham asks the men to stay “while I bring you a morsel of bread” – while he runs, has Sarah making cakes, and then runs to the herd, picks a calf to be slaughtered and cooked…”a morsel of bread” – yeah, right!
In this instance, it turns out the three “men” that Abraham entertained were the Lord and two angels.
There are many verses in the Bible instructing/commanding us to show hospitality to one another, to foreigners, and to strangers (see Romans 12:13: Hebrews 13:2). God is a welcoming God, and He wants us to be like Him. And we can. Sometimes it will look like an elaborate meal. Sometimes it might look like the time when our family was just about to eat and I had everyone’s portions on their plates, and then noticed a young man we knew walking by our house. I invited him to dinner. “Do you have enough?” he asked. “Oh, yes!” I assured him and quickly ran ahead of him and put a little bit from everyone’s plate onto a plate for him, before he arrived at the table. Or the time when people we knew showed up at our congregation and I invited them home to lunch, and then desperately tried to figure out what I could pull together to feed them (I managed to find something, of course).
It’s fun to serve a special meal, but it is not needed. What people really need is a warm welcome, people to interact with, to listen to them in a caring way. The most frugal meal, served with love, is a blessing.
Some people have a gift of hospitality. For others, it is more of a challenge. But we are all commanded to do it. We need to realize that we don’t have to have perfect houses, be gourmet cooks, or have an elaborate dinner. Ask God for a heart of love, and put into practice having people over. They will be blessed, and you will be more blessed than you know!
