1. The model of hospitality
The model of hospitality in the Bible is Abraham at Mamre. The story teaches that a visitor may be divine, and should be welcomed as if divine. Hospitality is at the heart of the Gospel.
The story of Mamre establishes a pattern. Abraham is in his tent – he was a nomad, a wandering Aramean from the city of Ur, and he lived in a tent. He realized that there were men outside the tent, and hastened to – to what? Chase them away? Release the dogs? Fire the guards who had not noticed the invasion when they were still two miles away? Get his weapons? He hastened to welcome them. He bowed to them. He offered them shade, a place to rest, water to wash their feet, bread. He invited them to stay for dinner, and then provided a feast with cheese and roast beef. And he waited on them during dinner. Later, after hours of food and relaxation, he learned who they were. And after dinner, Abraham and his guests had some serious conversation about the problems of the day – specifically, about the problems in the nearby towns, especially Sodom. And then the guests showered gifts on their host, far beyond anything he had imagined.
This pattern – service with a bow, water for their feet, food, shelter, with real conversation after dinner including learning who the guests are, the shower of gifts – is the pattern of hospitality throughout Scripture. This story appears in Genesis 18, and the pattern is repeated promptly in chapter 19. This description is the first feast (one might say, the First Feast) in the Bible, and the pattern recurs at the Last Supper. To understand the Last Supper, you need to know what Passover is about, but you also need to be familiar with the feast at Mamre.
The identity of the guests was not clear to me Abraham when they appeared at his tent. He welcomed them, with a bow, before he knew who they were. It is plausible that he made some shrewd guesses when he saw their faces; it is likely that he sized them up when he looked them in their eyes. But what is certain is that he found unidentified strangers at his door, and welcomed them as honored guests. He treated them as royalty, or even as divinity – which was good, because the visitors were God and two angels.
Stories about visitors or strangers who turn out to be a god in disguise are found around the world. The Greek epic, Homer’s Odyssey, has gods and heroes turning up disguised throughout the long tale. Here, the universal myth is presented not only as a hint at a universal truth, but also as a fact. God appeared to Abraham, and spoke to him. When he appeared, he came disguised as a stranger.
The Greeks thought that the gods might appear as a stranger. The Jews said that God did indeed appear to Abraham as a stranger. Centuries later, Jesus expanded this idea: every time a stranger appears at your door, God is visiting you. Whatever you do for the least of my people – including especially strangers – you do for me, he said.