Stranger Danger, Aliens and The One Thing You Should Never Do

5000 years and a galaxy away

Genesis 18 “The Lord appeared again to Abraham near the oak grove belonging to Mamre. One day Abraham was sitting at the entrance to his tent during the hottest part of the day. He looked up and noticed three men standing nearby. When he saw them, he ran to meet them and welcomed them, bowing low to the ground. “My lord,” he said, “if it pleases you, stop here for a while. Rest in the shade of this tree while water is brought to wash your feet. And since you’ve honored your servant with this visit, let me prepare some food to refresh you before you continue on your journey.” “All right,” they said. “Do as you have said.” So Abraham ran back to the tent and said to Sarah, “Hurry! Get three large measures of your best flour, knead it into dough, and bake some bread.” Then Abraham ran out to the herd and chose a tender calf and gave it to his servant, who quickly prepared it. When the food was ready, Abraham took some yogurt and milk and the roasted meat, and he served it to the men. As they ate, Abr…”

this story feels wildly out of place.

story of traveling through the desert

water controlled by settlements (surface water and subterranean)

-very few roads (difficult slow travel overland)

-even less maps (rely on people for directions)

-thieves, kidnapping and human trafficking (rely on settlements for rest and protection after being on the road)

-Life and death in the ANE

(Compare with modern travel)

-motel, hotel, airbnb, camping, rest areas, gas stations walmarts

you have to understand the context of travel in the ANE and the obligations they had toward one another in light of this reality.

The host was obliged to provide the traveler with food, water, and shelter. Abraham welcomed three such "strangers" (Gen 18:1-8) into his tent. He eagerly ran to meet them and lavishly welcomed them. Abraham’s words and actions, including bowing to the ground, seem exaggerated to us. However, this was typical of Oriental hospitality. He provided them with water to wash their dusty feet and a place to rest.

Often a servant washed the feet of the guest. This provided a needed and refreshing service. However, it also symbolized the acceptance of the stranger and the absence of any hostile intent by the host (cf. John 13:5-20). Abraham’s elaborate preparations for the meal indicate the importance of providing for the travelers. When they left, Abraham traveled with them a short distance "to start them on their way" (Gen 18:16, NEB).

Luke recounts Jesus’ visit in the home of Simon the Pharisee (Luke 7:36-47). Simon failed to greet Jesus and provide water to wash his feet. By this omission, he violated the most basic customs of Eastern hospitality. This was a profound insult and hinted at hostility to Jesus. Jesus used Simon’s insult as an example of the failure to understand the nature of sin and forgiveness.

The traveler was expected to accept what the host offered. To refuse such hospitality was an insult that only an enemy would inflict. On the other hand, a traveler would interpret a resident’s failure to provide food and amenities as a hostile act. The men of Succoth and Penuel refused to feed Gideon and his men (Jud 8:4-17). Gideon’s response was a violent overreaction. Yet, their refusal was a serious violation of Eastern customs of hospitality. Nabal nearly started a war over his refusal to feed David and his men (1 Sam 25).

The traveler had few legal or political rights in the ancient world. He was largely at the mercy of the residents where he journeyed. By accepting the traveler, especially in providing him food and sharing that food with him, the host also took the responsibility of protecting him. The story of Lot offers graphic evidence of the importance of protection. Lot offered his virgin daughters to an angry mob rather than betray the guests "who have come under the shelter of my roof" (Gen 19:8, RSV). In another instance, an old man pleaded with the men of his town not to harm a traveling Levite because "this man has come into my house" (Judges 19:23, RSV). Likewise, the traveler, by accepting the hospitality of the host, was responsible to honor the host and refrain from any hostile actions against him or his household (note these tensions in 1 Sam 25).

The sharing of food together was a token of friendship, a form of covenantal commitment. One of the most despicable acts in the ancient world was to eat with someone and then betray them (Obadiah 7; Psa 41:9; and of course Judas, John 13:18). This entire "code" of hospitality in the Middle East was so strong that it evoked a warning: "Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for thereby some have entertained angels unawares" (Heb 13:2). 

We have worked to get rid of the need for this kind of hospitality through wealth, technology, information and government systems (talk this out)

Clint and me driving back from Boston....texted a friend who lived outside Baltimore---I would never expect or be in a place where I needed a stranger to house me. Ever, if I can avoid it.

People describe our city as a friendly place.....

I have traveled alot…and I would say we are in the middle of the personal warmth scale.....somewhere between big city cold shoulders and southern hospitality.

You are likely to have a short polite conversation, but unlikely to invite a stranger or even you neighbor in for a cup or coffee.

-Big City Cold Shoulder: Who the heck are you and why are you talking to me.

-Southern hospitality: come in and try my homebaked corn-bread recipe (although this is leaving even the south)

Some where over the last 70 years, our culture has transformed into a place that values privacy, secrecy and individualism over all things.

Inviting a stranger in for a meal would seem in the realm of possibility in 1950, where today it is seen as a radical act of foolishness.

With new people we have learned to only see threat, and need rather than potential connection.

Now why are we talking about stranger danger, resident aliens and the ancient near east?

This is essential to understanding the gospel and our place in God’s family.

Lets go back to Genesis:

-we are created in the wilderness and God builds a house (the garden) and invites us into it)

-God wants to re-enact this by inviting Abraham on a journey into the home that he is preparing for them…but first he has to hit the road

-It is a 550 year journey of Abraham and his descendants

-And every step along the way they will have to rely on the kindness of strangers as foreigners in the land

-Abraham on the road from Ur to Canaan

-Abraham in Canaan as resident aliens

-Israels’ clan in eqypt as resident alens and slaves

-Israel in the desert

-Israel in Canaan

This was all to form them as a people so they wouldn’t forget this key part of understanding who God is and who we are supposed to be as His people.

Just like God made a home to invite us into, and just like all of those strangers along the way invited Israel in and cared for them.

They are to be the kings of hospitality.

Leviticus 19:33-34

33 “ ‘When a foreigner resides among you in your land, do not mistreat them.

34 The foreigner residing among you must be treated as your native-born. Love them as yourself, for you were foreigners in Egypt. I am the LORD your God.

This is the reality of all of humanity. We are wandering in a desert, looking for food and Water for our souls.

And we stumble upon the God of the universe who has been searching the highways and byways for lost travelers....and he invites them into his hospitality (Provision, protection, Shelter and loving kindness.)

But it doesn’t stop there. He asks a few questions around the table of a meal and realizes that not only are they on the road, but they have no home to call their own (devastation, war, politics, evil, natural disaster)

And so God says, there is plenty of room in my house for you. You can enjoy my protection, provision, shelter and loving kindness not just for a respite, but as a part of my tribe, my family.

All it takes is to commit to our way of being a family under my leadership (give an example of today)

And a loyalty to the tribe....and a commitment to do the same for others who come along.

Our sermon series we are calling Philo-Xenia....the greek word for hospitality which means literally to love the alien, stranger and sojourner.

We are becoming a peculiar kind of people (even among western Christians) as we start to embrace the good news of God creating a place for us to belong, and then offering it to others.

The next couple of weeks we are going to be looking at how hospitality is not about dinner parties but about your home…and talk through practical ways that we can be people who offer the hospitality of God and in doing so may even entertain angels without knowing it.

Communion:

-Eucharist is about hospitality

-When we share a table with God, he is offering his hospitality at a cost to himself

-We sit at his table, under his protection, provision and friendship

-The only way we enter into his kingdom is through the door of hospitality offered by God, to us, through the sacrifice of Jesus.

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