January 23rd, 2013
Today’s reading from Encounter with God

Messengers of Hope

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Opening Prayer

Lord, You fill all that needs to be filled, You restore all that has fallen apart; I bless Your name.

Read Genesis 18:1-15

[1] The LORD appeared to Abraham near the great trees of Mamre while he was sitting at the entrance to his tent in the heat of the day. [2] Abraham looked up and saw three men standing nearby. When he saw them, he hurried from the entrance of his tent to meet them and bowed low to the ground. [3] He said, “If I have found favor in your eyes, my lord, do not pass your servant by. [4] Let a little water be brought, and then you may all wash your feet and rest under this tree. [5] Let me get you something to eat, so you can be refreshed and then go on your way-now that you have come to your servant.” “Very well,” they answered, “do as you say.” [6] So Abraham hurried into the tent to Sarah. “Quick,” he said, “get three seahs of the finest flour and knead it and bake some bread.” [7] Then he ran to the herd and selected a choice, tender calf and gave it to a servant, who hurried to prepare it. [8] He then brought some curds and milk and the calf that had been prepared, and set these before them. While they ate, he stood near them under a tree. [9] “Where is your wife Sarah?” they asked him. “There, in the tent,” he said. [10] Then one of them said, “I will surely return to you about this time next year, and Sarah your wife will have a son.” Now Sarah was listening at the entrance to the tent, which was behind him. [11] Abraham and Sarah were already very old, and Sarah was past the age of childbearing. [12] So Sarah laughed to herself as she thought, “After I am worn out and my lord is old, will I now have this pleasure?” [13] Then the LORD said to Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh and say, ‘Will I really have a child, now that I am old?’ [14] Is anything too hard for the LORD? I will return to you at the appointed time next year, and Sarah will have a son.” [15] Sarah was afraid, so she lied and said, “I did not laugh.” But he said, “Yes, you did laugh.”

Scripture taken from the Holy Bible, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 International Bible Society. All rights reserved throughout the world. Used by permission of International Bible Society.

Meditate

“Anyone can serve. You don’t need a college degree to serve. You only need a heart full of grace and a soul generated by love” (Martin Luther King, Jr.).

Think Further

Tolstoy wrote a delightful story about a shoemaker who had been told that the Lord would visit him. All day he looked out hoping for a divine visitor and in the process welcomed and helped many needy people. Finally he realized that he had been welcoming Jesus in each of the people he served. Here we see Abraham welcoming people with the same gracious spirit. He thinks he is serving three travelers, and it gradually emerges that he has been entertaining angels unawares (Heb. 13:2).

The detailed account of the welcome includes many aspects of oriental hospitality, but we begin to feel Abraham is going well beyond what passing travelers would have expected. Large quantities of bread are baked, and a calf is freshly killed (6,7). Abraham is responding in his spirit to the unusual majesty of his visitors. By the time serious conversation begins he seems to be aware that he is talking to the Lord (10), but here we discover that this conversation is particularly for Sarah’s benefit. She is out of sight, but the leading visitor makes sure she is in earshot and, startlingly, he knows her inner reaction. Eventually he addresses her directly, “you did laugh.” 

The challenge to keep hoping was even greater for Sarah than for Abraham. Her menopause would be a constant physical reminder of the seeming impossibility (11). Paul comments on this story in Romans and says, “Suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope.” (Rom. 5:3b,4). Of course, suffering can also produce peevishness and despair, but Paul is directing those who are in a right relationship with God by faith to look beyond suffering. Abraham has been persevering in hope through faith (Gen. 15:6; 18:8). Sarah’s pregnancy will soon revive her hope and move her closer to the moment when it becomes reality.

Apply

If there’s something you desperately hope for, ask God for increased faith to wait in hope for his answer.

Closing prayer

Heavenly Father, I confess my desire to be served rather than to serve. I pray for a servant heart, a willingness to minister to others in Your name.

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