“Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner?”
Text: Genesis 18:1-14
7-20-2025
In the name of Jesus, dear friends in Christ. Various places in the Bible, believers are urged to practice hospitality. In fact, in the New Testament it’s one of the marks of being a Christian. Hospitality should be extended both in our Church as well as in our homes. Unfortunately, this is a virtue that doesn’t seem to be too popular in modern times. Part of that might be due to our electronic age. More and more people are chatting with each other via the internet and texting instead of across the table in their homes. It’s very impersonal and leaves the door open for miscommunication. I find it ironic that we have all these numerous new ways to contact each other and yet we communicate less than ever before. As a result, it’s kind of hard to practice the art of hospitality if you don’t visit with people face to face. Our world is a colder place because of it and filled with misunderstandings.
In the ancient world things were different. Opening your home to visitors was the way you communicated with the outside world. They didn’t have the benefit of cell phones and computers. And even though a message might be sent in written form, if it was important then it was usually delivered in person. That’s still kind of true today. Normally when a young man wants to marry his girlfriend he proposes in person. Likewise with an unexpected death. As a police officer I had the sad duty of delivering death notices in person. That’s because this kind of life-changing news, whether happy or sad, is more appropriately shared by face-to-face communication.
But in the case of Abraham there was another reason why he practiced hospitality—even extending it to strangers as we see in our first reading. It wasn’t merely so that he could hear the latest news. Instead, he knew what it was like to walk in their sandals. He had been a foreigner, a stranger, in this land and he had been shown the kindness of hospitality. We should note that in ancient times if someone invited you to share a meal with them in their home it was very special. However, when these 3 strangers showed up at Abraham’s door he showed them lavish hospitality. He asked them to sit down and rest. Walking in the wilderness made them weary, so their hot and dirty feet were washed to soothe them. Then a lavish meal was prepared. 3 seahs of flour was equal to 21 quarts. That’s a lot of bread that Abraham had Sarah make! He chose a prime calf that was butchered and roasted for his guests. He also served them curds and milk with the meal. And as they ate, Abraham himself stood by like a servant ready to wait on them. Keep in mind; he was not some poor, wandering nomad. He was wealthy and had nearly 1,000 servants that could have done this job. Abraham was used to being served, not the other way around. So why did he do all this?
Well, there are two schools of thought on that. First of all, true believers know that God doesn’t need our good works or deeds of kindness. But our fellow man does. And so, as Jesus points out in Matthew 25, by showing hospitality to others we are actually serving the Lord. On the other hand, some commentators look to Abraham’s greeting for an answer. He says, “O Lord...” And they believe that since God had appeared to Abraham before, this proves that he now recognized one of his visitors as a divine being. Perhaps both of these theories are correct. At the very least, Abraham sensed that these guests were special. As we read on in our text and beyond it becomes clear that he had figured it out somewhere along the way.
But now we need to ask: Why did the Lord make this special appearance? Why didn’t He simply send an angel to deliver the important message about the birth of a son? Well, we need to realize this was not just any ordinary child. Through their son Isaac, God would carry on the seed of the promised Savior. Also, Sarah needed to hear this promise personally from the Lord. God had appeared to Abraham in the previous chapter and told him the good news, but Sarah wasn’t present. As a husband, I know I sometimes forget to tell my wife things. But you can be sure that Abraham didn’t forget to share this important news. So why wasn’t that good enough? Well, Sarah’s womb had been fruitless even in her childbearing years. And as verse 11 says, now at the age of 89 her body was no longer even able to get pregnant. So, she needed to hear the Word of God herself because by that Word came the power to conceive in her womb.
We need to pause here and recognize a theological truth about how God operates. All throughout history, the Lord has chosen to work through means. Consider the creation of the world and you’ll see what I mean. God is all-powerful and within His mind, He could have simply willed the universe into existence. But if you look in Genesis 1 at each step of Creation it tells us, “And God said…” By His powerful Word He spoke things into being. That’s especially true when it comes to our salvation. Quite often you’ll hear me talk about the Means of Grace. That is, God chooses to attach His life-giving Word to something that we humans can perceive. Whether it’s the spoken Word, the written Word of the Bible, Baptism, or the Lord’s Supper, God’s almighty Word is what gives it the power to accomplish His purpose of creating and sustaining faith along with providing the forgiveness of sins. By that divine Word, new spiritual life is conveyed through the Means of Grace. As we humans see and hear it, God does His supernatural work of bringing new life into the dead and fruitless wombs of our souls.
Make no mistake, that’s what He was doing with Sarah. Yes, she would become pregnant by the normal process of sexual intimacy between a husband and wife. But it was God’s powerful Word that made this means of creating life in her womb possible. Through Sarah and Abraham, the fulfilling of God’s promise was taking place. That’s why Sarah needed to hear the Word directly from God. And by faith she was able to receive it.
We might question that last statement because of what our text says. When God spoke that powerful Word, Sarah laughed in disbelief. She couldn’t comprehend how it was humanly possible for her to get pregnant. And that’s just it. It was not humanly possible. As God says in verse 14, “Is anything too hard for the Lord?” Sarah needed to hear that. It had been 25 years since God first spoke the Word of promise. Over that time, they became impatient and decided to help God along by working outside of His means to fulfill the promise. So, they concocted a plan for Abraham to have a child by Sarah’s maidservant, which is what happened. And they did this even though the Lord had reassured Abraham several times that He would indeed provide a son through Sarah. In our text, when she heard the Word with her own ears that she would conceive a son, Sarah secretly laughed in disbelief. And yet, God is ever patient and merciful. Even though she denied it, He didn’t remove the promise.
Isn’t that a true picture of us at times? God makes promises that seem too good to believe. We can’t see how it’s humanly possible for Him to provide for our needs of both body and soul, especially when it comes to His Means of Grace. We wonder at times how He can create faith and deliver forgiveness of sins through the means of Word and Sacrament. How can He come to us with His grace in simple water, bread, and wine? How can He speak total absolution of our sins through the mouth of a human being? In our moments of honest self-examination, we doubt that He can possibly forgive the awful things we’ve thought, said, and done. Like Sarah, we inwardly laugh in disbelief. We may deny that we didn’t belive, but God shows in our text that He knows everything; even the foolish doubts that run through our minds. And yet, He is ever patient and merciful towards us and doesn’t remove the promise of forgiveness and salvation through Jesus. By His powerful Word, He speaks new life into our faltering faith.
And all of this happens via a wonderful act of hospitality. You see, so often people think of worship as our gathering to invite God to come join us. In reality, it’s the other way around. We think that our time here in church is so that we can serve God with our songs, prayers, and offerings. But that’s backwards. As with Abraham, God comes to serve us with something special that He alone can give. He feeds our souls with His powerful, life-giving Word and Sacraments. Through His Word, He breathes life into our souls deadened by sin. He gives us the assurance of forgiveness and eternal life through faith in Jesus. He also provides us with an intimate meal of His Son’s body and blood in Holy Communion. He urges us to receive it and be refreshed on our journey through the wilderness of this life. He offers His divine hospitality week after week by inviting us to come here and be served at His house. With Abraham, we can say, “O Lord, if I have found favor in your sight, do not pass by your servant.” And we can know with confidence that because of the sacrifice of Jesus, we have found favor in God’s sight. He doesn’t pass us by, but blesses us with His gracious presence here and now. To Him be the glory now and forever. Amen.
Soli Deo Gloria!