Come As You Are

A Reflection on the First Reading for July 21st, 2019:
Sixteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Genesis 18.1-10

The Lord appeared to Abraham by the oaks of Mamre, as Abraham sat at the entrance of his tent in the heat of the day. Abraham 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.

He said, “My lord, if I find favour with you, do not pass by your servant. Let a little water be brought, and wash your feet, and rest yourselves under the tree. 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.”

And Abraham hastened into the tent to Sarah, and said, “Make ready quickly three measures of choice flour, knead it, and make cakes.” Abraham ran to the herd, and took a calf, tender and good, and gave it to the servant, who hastened to prepare it. 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.

They said to Abraham, “Where is your wife Sarah?” And he said, “There, in the tent.”

Then one said, “I will surely return to you in due season, and your wife Sarah shall have a son.”

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Hospitality is important. We are commanded to be hospitable, to share what we have and to welcome people into our homes. I would be the first to admit (and my family would agree) that I do not have the gift of hospitality! I am a terrible cook and a nervous hostess. However, if I provide hospitality to God in my heart through prayer, I become less focused on myself and appearances and more considerate of my guests, who, short of my giving them food poisoning are usually quite happy with whatever I provide! I guess the point is that before I can be truly hospitable to others I need to surrender to God’s hospitality in my heart and soul.

"[B]efore I can be truly hospitable to others I need to surrender to God’s hospitality in my heart and soul."

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The hospitality of Abraham in Genesis 18 is interesting. In the inhospitable environment of Ancient Middle Eastern Culture, hospitality focused on the stranger in need. Without hospitality a traveller could easily perish. It was dishonourable not to offer hospitality and in addition, the ancient Israelites, knew it to be a specific command from God (Leviticus 19: 33-34). 


In Genesis 18:1-10, however, it is no stranger who seeks Abraham’s hospitality but the Lord Himself. The scene is set in the heat of the day and we know from previous verses that Abraham had just undergone circumcision. He can’t have been feeling at his best yet he recognizes God because God has spoken to him and appeared to him many times before. He runs to meet the Lord and eagerly offers the three strangers the best he is able to provide. Yet what is striking to me is that Abraham does not join the strangers whilst they eat but stands aside and watches. 


He does not eat the meal which has been prepared. 


The hospitable act of a communal meal possessed great symbolic significance in the ancient world because to share food was to share life. Abraham is anxious to welcome God, but God is not yet in him. In the Gospel reading for this Sunday (Luke 10: 38-32), Mary moves much closer to Jesus as she sits at his feet and listens to His words. Today we are graced with an even closer relationship to God. It is because of Jesus’ death and resurrection that we have the gift of the Eucharist. As we receive Him in surrender and humility He works to both change and nourish us. Our relationship with God is more intimate than that of Abraham! God offers us hospitality with His body and blood. In Colossians 1:27 Paul explains and proclaims this intimate relationship as a mystery, “… the riches of the glory of this mystery which is Christ in you, the hope of Glory.” (Colossians 1:27)


I am reminded of the lyrics in one of my favourite songs, “… I’m alive and well. Your spirit is within me, because you died and rose again” (Amazing Love by Chris Tomlin). We have an amazing and awesome God, who offers loving hospitality to each and every one of us. I come as I am, because God’s hospitality is unconditional and depends only on my “Yes.”


Liz Galsworthy

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