Sermon(Gen 18:1-15): God's visit to Abraham’s house

The original Korean text: https://blog.naver.com/stevision/50025356631

 

>> 1 And the Lord appeared to him by the oaks of Mamre, as he sat at the door of his tent in the heat of the day. 2 He lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, three men stood in front of him. When he saw them, he ran from the tent door to meet them, and bowed himself to the earth, 3 and said, “My lord, if I have found favor in your sight, do not pass by your servant. 4 Let a little water be brought, and wash your feet, and rest yourselves under the tree, 5 while I fetch a morsel of bread, that you may refresh yourselves, and after that you may pass on ㅡ since you have come to your servant.” So they said, “Do as you have said.” 6 And Abraham hastened into the tent to Sarah, and said, “Make ready quickly three measures of fine meal, knead it, and make cakes.” 7 And Abraham ran to the herd, and took a calf, tender and good, and gave it to the servant, who hastened to prepare it. 8 Then he took curds, and milk, and the calf which he had prepared, and set it before them; and he stood by them under the tree while they ate. 9 They said to him, “Where is Sarah your wife?” And he said, “She is in the tent.” .... (Gen 18:1-15) <<

 

God is personal. Man is the image of God. So God uses humans, especially his servants (the pastors), as his image when reveals his will to his people. For example, if your pastor appeared in your dream and spoke words useful for you in kind countenance and voice, God has used the person of your pastor at that time to speak something to you. If your pastor visited your house in your dream, it symbolically shows that the Holy Spirit has visited your house. A house symbolizes one who lives in it. If you saw in your dream someone's house in fire, it symbolizes that God's fiery judgement can befall his house soon. If you saw in your dream that someone's house lay in ruins, it symbolizes that his faith is in ruins. Fire doesn't mean judgment always. Sometimes the fire signifies some crisis. It shows you that you should be awake, pray to God, and be careful of your behavior. You may dream a particular dream. If you have a dream that several professors of your theological college came to your house and were treated to a good meal, this shows symbolically that you have received the spirit of theologian, so that you will get profound theological insights.

 

We usually call it 'a visit', or 'a pastoral visit', for a servant of God to visit saints' houses in order that he may preach them words of God and bless them. In the Bible, God himself visited someone's house. It was Abraham's house, of which today's Bible text tells. God came to Abraham's house and was treated to a very good meal. So don't you feel that a tremendous blessing of God will come upon Abraham's house? Since God, the Creator of the heaven and earth, came to Abraham's house himself in the form of a man, and enjoyed rich dainties Abraham offered, he must(!) bless Abraham beyond imagination. I think he must. The meal served by a man has a special meaning. Only people who trust, respect, and love each other offer and receive the meal prepared with great care. The meal served in hospitality at home you visited is fundamentally different from a meal offered by a restaurant. The meal of the invitation is never possible unless there is love and respect between the host and the visitor. There was a female evangelist (여전도사) who worked with me in the same church. Her husband had a good job and was a man of good personality. She invited me to her house for a meal. She treated me to thick cattle-leg soup, which she had prepared by boiling the legs of cattle so long. I was deeply moved by her great sincere efforts. How I enjoyed the meal, and how I felt pleasant, satisfied, and comfortable! "My God, grant this home Abraham's blessings! Amen!"

 

My brethren, do you want to be blessed with Abraham's blessing? Then, be like Abraham, and become a man who respects others and is greatly hospitable. It is not a splendid house that God gladly visits and that the Holy Spirit abides in to keep the family and to bless them. God frequently visits the house where there is much love and respect for others in the heart of the family. Can you visit a house of a man who is the most arrogant and stingy in the world? As for me, of course, no! Even if somebody gives me ten thousand dollars, I will not go to his house and have even a bowl of ramen. People will gladly accept an invitation of a man if he is meek and humble, loves and respects others, and tries to serve well others if possible. The Holy Spirit is personal, so he comes upon the heart of a man who likes loving and respecting others, and makes him his temple. On the contrary, the Holy Spirit does not stay in the haughty and stingy heart. Such a place would be a place for evil spirits. My brethren, live for others, and love and respect others. And you will receive the blessing of Abraham.

 

Abraham was a philanthropist, a lover of humans. In the days of old, travelers were exposed to great danger. Think of Sodom, where Lot, Abraham's nephew, lived. People of Sodom attacked strangers to satisfy their dirty (homosexual) desire. Wanderers were easily attacked by the dwellers, therefore it was the typical of humanity in the past to receive a stranger into one's house and give him food. Abraham saw three men standing in front of his house (his tent), and tried to treat them to something very good, thinking they were travelers passing by his tent. How willing he was to serve the strangers can be noticed in many respects. "When he saw them, he ran from the tent door to meet them, and bowed himself to the earth. (v. 2)" Here, 'when' and 'ran' clearly show Abraham's voluntary deeds. You'd better be voluntary, whether in church work or helping others. My brethren, be joyful when you do such good works. If you feel joy when you do something, you can do it more pleasantly. If you feel greater pain than torture when you do church work or help others, it might be better not to do it. Nevertheless you have to do it in the spirit of obedience. However, if you do it in genuine obedience, can it be a pain to you? Anyway, we must imitate Abraham's voluntary good deeds. He must have such a character for he was to be the 'father of faith' of all believers.

 

Abraham was thoroughly humble to the strangers. >When he saw them, he ran from the tent door to meet them, and bowed himself to the earth, and said, “My lord, if I have found favor in your sight, do not pass by your servant. Let a little water be brought, and wash your feet, ... " (v. 2-4)< The words that conspicuously come into our eyes are 'bowed himself to the earth', 'my lord', and 'your servant'. Abraham could show off himself to others, for he was a master of a lot of servants in his house. However he was willing to respect and serve the strangers with such great humble attitude as even the servants of his house would not show to him. This is not all. Abraham thought of a very good meal, but he humbly said to them that he would prepare just a light meal. "I fetch a morsel of bread. (v. 5)" You may feel very uncomfortable if you have to eat a meal served by a man who is very haughty and overbearing. But if the man who offers something to you speaks humbly like that, he looks more noble. Your humble words and attitude exalt you higher. Your humbleness makes your service ascend to heaven, and makes your good deeds bear beautiful fruits in the hearts of others.

 

And Abraham thought that it was rather a big grace to him for the strangers to visit him and have meal. ("My lord, if I have found favor in your sight, ... (v. 3)") This is the utmost humility. To put it simply, if the president of your country came to your shabby house and ate, who received the benefits, you or the president? Let's say you are a minor clerk. If the president of your company came to your house and ate? Of course, the president favored you with the visit. From this we know that Abraham, acknowledging that the strangers were much higher than Abraham himself, received them politely. So we admit that he was really humble. And even when we think about this in a way of faith, Abraham was right. Just as the president of a company favors a jobless man by giving him a job, so the strangers who appeared to Abraham favored him by giving him an opportunity to do a good deed to them. A believer who thinks that the former and the latter are equal in the degree of grace has a spiritual insight. When going to colleges, the applicants submit also data on community service activities. How much more will the data of our good deeds be considered into the reward we will receive when we stand before God to be judged concerning our life on this earth? And don't poor people bless you when they receive big grace from you? Isn't the blessing spoken by them to you a greater blessing? In fact, not just once or twice, God promised Israelites that he would bless them if they took good care of strangers and the poor. Think that the poor and the sick can favor you with blessings. He who lives with such a thought receives the blessing of Abraham. There is no such thing as a free lunch (a free blessing).

 

Abraham's family was full of love. The servants absolutely obeyed Abraham's command and acted promptly, and his wife Sarah obeyed him and made it well, lest her husband's honor should be hurt when she made a mistake. The strangers satisfactorily enjoyed the meal she cooked. My brethren, the Holy Spirit dwells in your house when there are love and peace in your house. The Holy Spirit comes upon your house and blesses your family if you as a husband loves your wife indeed and your wife respects and obeys you indeed. If you were a visitor, would you like to be invited to a house full of struggle and fight and to eat with the family? As for me, of course, no! '가화만사성(ga.hwa.man.sa.sung, 家和萬事成, If the family is peaceful, everything goes well with the family)' is very important also in the religious life. If the family are all stingy and like fighting one another, thorn rugs are spread in the house. Neither man nor God can stay in such a house even for one minute. If joyous laughter comes out from a house, God visits the house to see how good the place is. Abraham's house was full of peace, joy, love, and respect although there was no child to the couple yet. God in the appearance of a man stood in front of the gate of the tent (the house) of the couple, because he wanted to take a look at Abraham's house. Just as expected, Abraham, living a happy life with his wife, immediately received the strangers in order to boast of his good wife to them.

 

Job was no less blessed than Abraham. Job did not neglect to serve strangers, like Abraham. "The sojourner has not lodged in the street; I have opened my doors to the wayfarer. (Job 31:32)" The book of Hebrews has a passage, "Let brotherly love continue. Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for thereby some have entertained angels unawares. (Heb 13:1-2)" Of course, it told about Abraham. Jesus also said, "As you did it to one of the least of these my brethren, you did it to me. (Mt 25:40)" Like this, God calls on one who loves brothers and blesses him while he does not notice it.

 

God finally promised to give Abraham and Sarah a son they had so wanted to have. >The Lord said, "I will surely return to you in the spring, and Sarah your wife shall have a son. (v. 10)"< But Sarah was already over the years of menstruation (v. 11). But God called on Sarah and wanted to bless her. So how can the ceasing of menstruation be a problem? Don't you think so? All things are possible with your household if God visits you and your house. All problems are solved at once then. God ate the meal at Abraham's house and went to Sodom, where Lot lived, in order to destroy a lot of wicked people there. But God thought, 'I was served so well by Abraham. Should I kill his nephew Lot? I must spare Lot for the sake of Abraham.' "So it was that, when God destroyed the cities of the valley, God remembered Abraham, and sent Lot out of the midst of the overthrow, when he overthrew the cities in which Lot welt. (Gen 19:29)" My brethren, if you are loved and blessed by God, the blessing and the love naturally overflow to your neighbors.

 

My beloved brethren, fear God and love people like Abraham. And the Holy Spirit, whenever a problem arises in your house, will visit your house and see and solve the problem. I pray that the consolation and care of the Holy Spirit may be with you all.

 

Chong Tack Kim

                                                - Dongtoma Sunshine Church -