Genesis 18:1-10; Angels Unaware

"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 favour 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.’"

Introduction

This engaging narrative occurs in the middle of the "Abraham saga." Promises of a son have come to him from God, and Abraham has even tried to force the hand of God through the birth of Ishmael, but God has told Abraham that this isn't the son that God has in mind. So, Abraham lives his life in the uncertainty of the promise. This story, then, comes in the "in between time" (what the Germans call the "Zwischenzeit") between promise and realization.

In order to understand the meaning of this passage we need to do three things: (1) Place it in the Context of the Abraham Narrative; (2) Look at Abraham's Offer of Hospitality; and (3) Understand the Gift.

I. The Abraham Narrative

This story occurs in the context of series of divine appearances to Abraham (he is both Abraham and Abram in the narrative. I will call him Abraham throughout). But what usually isn't noticed is that the divine appearances/words to Abraham occur in the midst of what we might call "independent action" by Abraham. God speaks in ch. 12, and says "Go." Abraham goes and gets a new land. But then, there is no indication that God speaks late in ch. 12, and Abraham moves to Egypt. Disaster/difficulty attends Abraham at the end of ch. 12. An important message is being communicated to the alert reader--when you respond to the Word of God in obedience, you receive the blessing promised, but when you move "on your own," you encounter difficulty. That same pattern emerges also in chs. 15 and 16. God once again appears to Abraham and promises a son. Abraham believes the Lord and it is reckoned to him as righteousness (15:6). Then, in ch. 16, with no reference to divine word in sight, Abraham decides to hasten the fulfillment of the divine promise by having a child through his slave woman, Hagar. Disaster or disappointment again results. Then, in ch. 17, God speaks again to Abraham, promising that his own son, the son of his body, will be his heir.

Our story follows on the heels of that third divine appearance or word to Abraham. Perhaps, we think, by this time Abraham is so sensitized to the divine voice that he has learned his lesson. Now he will be more open to the notion that God's message is the only word he will hear. We are as it were on the edge of our seat, then, as the narrative opens.

II. Abraham's Hospitality

The overwhelming sense we receive as the story develops is of a man, Abraham, who not only is demonstrating Near Eastern hospitality but is overly solicitous of his guests. They appear, from where we are not told, and Abraham asks no questions. He does three things. First, he urges them to stay. Don't leave. Stay for a while. Second, he tells them that he will bring them a little water and bread for them, to refresh them on their journey. Finally, as the narrative continues, we see that Abraham does far more than he first says to the men. He doesn't just bring them water and bread; he tells the servant to prepare choice flour for bread and to bring one of the tender and good calves for the guests. His hospitality exceeds not just the expectations that any guests could have but even what he has represented to them. So powerful was this story that the author of Hebrews picked up on it when he urged his congregation to demonstrate hospitality. "Be not forgetful to entertain strangers: for by this some have entertained angels unawares" (13:2).

The major thing that Abraham realized in his developing encounters with God is that the Word of God comes to him throughout the course of his life, sometimes when it is least expected, and through people whom he can't imagine. Repeated exposure to the Word of God makes one sensitive to it wherever one is. There is nothing explicit in the text that tells us that Abraham's hospitality relates to his growing awareness of God's Word to him, but that is how I read the text. Abraham has been touched by the divine Word, and now it has opened him to seeing grace and the divine Word to him wherever he might be. Or, alternatively, if Abraham doesn't suspect any angel visitant here, he still is living the kind of life that flows from one who has encountered God. He teaches us how one who has "spoken with God" should relate to those who come across his path. We relate by extending ourselves to them in faith and hospitality.

III. The Gift

Sometimes it happens in life that you receive the gift you so much desire only after you have extended yourself in another area. Abraham has demonstrated hospitality, extreme hospitality, accommodating hospitality. He has treated his guests as if they were the only reality in his life. But then, when the visitors begin to speak, they have a message for him. Their message is the most specific divine word that Abraham has received. In "due season" he will have the son. Abraham learned the truth through this experience that will later be recorded in Ecclesiastes: "Send out your bread upon the waters, for after many days you will get it back" (11:1).

Perhaps that is the message for us today. We live in the shadow of the Promise, the promise of Christ's presence with us and the ultimate consummation of all things. We also live "in between," where we stand between the gifts of grace to us in the Word and the hope for so many things in this life that are as yet unfulfilled. In this middle time, we learn from and hear Abraham, who extended himself even further than he said he would to his guests and this, mysteriously, led to the promise of God being fulfilled. Live with this same kind of eager utility and hospitality--and just maybe the promise, your promise, will be that much closer to realization.

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