Hagar: Part III (But once again, no mention of Hagar, sorry!)
This chapter was broken into two distinct ideas, hospitality, and prayer. I'll go with the one I understood better first, hospitality, verses 1-15.
Just imagine, it's the hottest part of the day, you're resting in the relative coolness of your tent when you see three strangers approaching. Now days we'd think "do they look like they're going to cause trouble?" or "should I go inside and lock the door?" or even just sit and stare at them and watch to see what they do next. Abraham however, rushed to them, bowed to them, and asked their permission to get water for their feet to be washed and to prepare a meal for them to be refreshed and nourished. He had his wife bake a LOT of bread... using the good flour (think using the good china here, same idea, meant to impress), had a servant prepare the finest calf and provided curds and milk (probably what we think of as cottage cheese). This is, by the standards of the time, a superb meal! I don't know about you, but I take the attitude of "if I have if, you're welcome to it", but rarely, if ever, do I go out of my way to make the best thing I have for a guest I'm not expecting, let alone a stranger. But if I know I'm having company, I will go out, buy the best of anything I can afford, prepare the grandest meal I can muster, and try to give my company a wonderful experience... that's what Abraham did for these strangers, only difference, they showed up unannounced, are not close friends, they are foreign to him, yet he treats them with the hospitality that we usually reserve for a special few in our lives.
Yesterday, I discovered my kids have a grasp on this concept already, they invited a friend of mine from church to join us for lunch. I knew I didn't have anything at home, we would have to buy something, he offered to pick it up for us. It was a spontaneous, eager, genuine act of hospitality on my kids' behalf, they wanted to enjoy time with another person, let that person enjoy something different, welcome that person with open arms into their lives and home, make them feel welcome and accepted! We had an enjoyable meal followed with about an hour of rough and tumble time (which my friend graciously used as a reason for me not getting as much housework done as I should by saying "I now see why you are too tired to get things done") . After our guest left, we rested, among the mess that we added to during play time (too many toys in this little place) and were content in it, because our hospitality, although nothing special, was sincere and enjoyable... you might not ever think to go slaughter a fatted calf, to order a fancy meal, or anything else, but just allowing someone to be welcomed is something that is pleasing to God, our hospitality towards others might just give that person the boost they need to get over something difficult in their life, or confirm for them that someone cares. Either way, it makes God happy and that should make us happy!
The second theme, prayer, I have more issue with, it's in verses 16-33. God gave Abraham the opportunity to plead for Sodom, it almost sounded like a negotiation the way it was handled, but Abraham wasn't really changing God's mind, so why is it that God let Abraham feel as though he were doing that? Was it to put emphasis on God's mercy? Was it so Abraham would know that God answers prayer? Could it possibly have been both? The only conclusion I came up with is that it is both, but that could be misleading also, because God doesn't promise that every time we ask for something we will get it, sometimes as a parent, He has to say no for our own good (and it's annoying understanding that from the perspective of a parent now). And what if we get so consumed by what it is we desire that we don't see the real answer that God is giving us because we are trying to impose our will on Him? I really don't know what to take away from this passage. Please, feel free to think about this one and give me answers!
Hugs & Love!
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I think that God used Abram's request to prove that God really was being just in his dealings with Sodom and Gomorrah. God knew how utterly depraved they were; Abram did not. So God allowed Abram this, so that he could see that it was truly depraved, and that God was right in the first place. I don't think God was giving up ground to a man, or being negotiated with. He was helping to open the man's eyes up.
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