Proper 6 Year A 2026: Genesis 18:1-15

My colleague Pastor Jill Williams is the rector of St. Paul’s by-the-Sea Episcopal Church in Ocean City, Maryland. Her parish is preparing to file a federal lawsuit against the city for attempting to shut down their overnight shelter for unhoused people. The fight began last year when Ocean City passed an ordinance making sleeping in public spaces punishable by jail time. St. Paul’s shelter operates from 7pm to 7am and houses about 27 people every night. The ministry, which is mostly funded by donations and the congregation, also offers dinner and breakfast, and helps overnight guests access other resources, such as substance abuse programs and affordable housing assistance. To quote Pastor Jill, “Every evening our doors open to people who need safety, dignity and hope. We believe that serving our neighbors in this way is part of our calling as a church, and we remain committed to that work.”

Last week, when the city arrived at St. Paul’s by-the-Sea to issue their fine, Pastor Jill read to them from Matthew 25: “When I was hungry, you fed me…Whatever you do for the least of these, you do for me.” St. Paul’s clearly grounds their ministry to show hospitality to those in their community in the Gospel. But in today’s reading we go all the way back to Genesis, where we get our first example of biblical hospitality, a consistently highly praised virtue throughout Scripture and in antiquity.

In nomadic societies, hospitality was an unwritten law, wherein the stranger was regarded as divinely protected. This is also true of the Hebrew Bible. Abraham, a nomad, is the prime example of someone who is blessed by extending hospitality to strangers.

The Law requires that because the Israelites had been strangers in Egypt, they should show hospitality to strangers, who are similarly under God’s protection. Travelers would have expected hospitality as a matter of course, but they also were at risk of being abused. It is therefore not surprising that people on occasion were rebuked for not being hospitable, such as Jethro’s daughters and the men of Sodom. Hospitality is so highly regarded that in Isaiah (58:7) it is preferred to fasting.

The New Testament accords extraordinary importance to hospitality. The Gospels frequently portray Jesus as enjoying the hospitality of people in their private homes, which provides the setting for much of his teaching. Hospitality, furthermore, was part of Jesus’ teaching: he used it to illustrate his teaching on human mercy (Luke 10:29-37), God’s invitation to accept the Gospel (Luke 14:15-25), God’s joy over the repentance of a sinner (Luke 15:22-24), humility (John 13:1-11), one’s duty to do good without expecting repayment (Luke 14:12-14), and the eschatological gathering of the nations (Luke 13:22-30). As Jesus expected hospitality for himself, he did as well for his followers who preached the Gospel, as we see in today’s text from Matthew. 

Hospitality continued to be important among early Christians, who traveled as much as other people in society. The call to hospitality that appears frequently in exhortations to the moral life shows that it was a matter of constant concern. Hospitality was regarded as an expression of Christian love (Romans 13:9-13), a gift of God (1 Peter 4:8-10), and a practical means by which to share in the preaching of the Gospel (3 John 5-8). It’s not an accident that traveling Christians are not presented in the New Testament as staying in inns: rather, they are described as depending on the private hospitality of the faithful.

Hospitality was practiced in a special way by making available one’s home for the meetings of the church. Homes were frequently the settings in which the gospel was first preached, and for generations they remained the place where Christians met for worship. Such house churches are frequently mentioned in the New Testament. Aquila and Priscilla, for example, were hosts to evangelists and to the church in three of the cities where they lived. Problems often attended such house churches: religious services quite easily became disorderly, social distinctions between members, rather than being disregarded, could be accentuated, or a domineering host could usurp power to exclude some persons from the assembly meeting in that house. As whole households were converted, so entire households could be led astray. But as we have seen in the ensuing 2000 years, the same can be true for stand-alone churches - these are not complications unique to worshipping communities that meet in homes.

Our text from Genesis 18 is the foundation of biblical hospitality - even before the Law, entertaining strangers is equated to entertaining the Lord. Abraham offers the strangers “a little water” and “a little bread”, but in between that conversation and Abraham’s conversation with his wife, the offer transforms into a magnificent feast with cakes of choice flour rather than bread, curds and milk rather than water, and is topped off with a calf, tender and good. Finally, he honors the strangers by standing while they eat. In the very next chapter, which our lectionary skips, we see the contrast to Abraham’s hospitality with the story of Lot and the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. While Lot offers genuine hospitality to the strangers in his story, it is not as gracious as Abraham’s. Where Abraham ran to meet them, Lot rose to meet them. Where Abraham served cakes of choice flour, Lot served unleavened bread. Where Abraham stood by them while they ate, at Lot’s feast they ate together. These are subtle denigrations of Lot by comparison to Abraham, and then the story of Lot escalates with shameful behavior toward the strangers exhibited by all the men of the city.

Throughout scripture, the less you know the people you’re offering hospitality to, the more blessed you are. Throughout the Hebrew Bible, the Israelites are constantly reminded of their own history as “strangers” in Egypt - the word translated “stranger” can also be translated as “sojourner” or “resident alien”. Not only are Israelites commanded to treat aliens well because of that history, they are called to view themselves as aliens “sojourning” on God’s land, thereby furthering their sense of dependence on God.

Centro Maria convent in the Bronx was founded to shelter women arriving in New York City, oftentimes with no support system. Today, it continues that mission, providing a safe, clean space - courtesy of the sisters themselves. Single rooms cost $860 a month - a bargain in Lincoln, let alone in New York City where median rent is over $3600. There are a few more rules than living alone: curfew is 11:30 on weeknights, midnight on weekends, no alcohol is allowed in the rooms, and no boys are allowed above the first floor. Each morning, the five nuns cook breakfast for residents. They clean the building and host parties for residents to get to know each other. Houses like Centro Maria used to be far more common, but due to rising maintenance costs, pandemic era restrictions, and shrinking religious orders, few remain. Those that do remain have months-long wait lists. The young women who reside at Centro Maria said the sisters provide them with a great support network, and the sisters said the girls keep them young. Centro Maria’s mission is “to take care of vulnerable young women from different countries, faiths and cultures who come to New York to study and work, by providing them with a “home away from home”, a safe place to live in with a family atmosphere. The young women receive board and lodging in a warm and welcoming environment. The sisters give them some counseling and formation for their spiritual, moral and social growth as a person and a child of God.”

A common call to hospitality from the book of Hebrews calls to remembrance both Abraham and Lot’s stories: “Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by doing that some have entertained angels without knowing it.” (13:2) In this text from Hebrews is a call to treat everyone like they are sent from God. And in so doing to remember our own blessedness as children of God, as Jesus reminds his disciples: “You received without payment; give without payment.” We are called to give from a position of gratitude, treating everyone as though they are sent from God. Amen.