The depiction in this chapter of God just cruisin' on up to Abraham's tent with a couple of his "entourage", his "posse" of angels, strikes me as so personal, such a testament to how Abraham lived his life. Through the entire Bible before this, there have been people who "walked with God", like Adam and Noah, and many who called on His name but there have been none whose personal experience with God showing up at their door was described in such intimate detail. There is a question posed to each other all the time by Christians: What would you do if Jesus came here right now? As a Catholic Christian I understand the amazing reality of Jesus indeed being here right now, body, blood, soul, and divinity, in the Eucharist. This chapter with Abraham's response to God walking up to his tent illustrates how all of us think we would act in such a situation, because we know we should, and how we ought to approach the Blessed Sacrament in reality.
First, Abraham greets God and the Posse properly, with reverence and respect, bowing low, because he recognizes them. Abraham didn't have to be told, didn't have to have some kind of sign before his eyes were opened that God was there. We don't need miracles or change in accidents/appearance to know that God is in the consecrated bread and wine. So often we fail to acknowledge Him properly when we realize the tabernacle is around. I too am guilty of dipping a little genuflection on the way in to choir rehearsal before Mass in my haste to be about my business. Abraham demands that they not go anywhere until he has had a chance to treat them properly, as though God and his Angels were the busy ones with many important matters to deal with and no time to sit and be cared for, which only makes sense. I should be overjoyed that the God of the Heavens and the Earth, the Sustainer and Creator of all things, takes not just a moment to stop and grace me with His presence in the Eucharist, but stays with me eternally. He who has so little time (if He were subject to time) or attention (if he could be said to have limited attention) to spare for me, spends it all on me. He will never "go on about his business," but stays in every cell, in every particle of me.
Abraham hastens to make God and the Posse comfortable, offering food in almost every major variety (dairy, bread, meat), and in amazing abundance. My sources (in this case Agape Bible Study) indicate that a seah of flour was a good couple of gallons of flour. Six gallons of flour made into pita-ish bread would be an insane amount of bread for three normal human visitors. Abraham's desire to give and give to the Lord whatever He might want and whatever might serve Him just floors me. I'm so often lacking in generosity with God, giving him my extra, my odds and ends. I give of my time, but not necessarily my attention, and I give of my money if I have any on me. I give of my material goods, but only what I don't care about. Approaching him even with these lowliest of gifts makes me feel better, but His Word totally challenges me to rise above that. What more can I give the God of the Blessed Sacrament? I was more generous with my time for prayer during Lent, but now I've got new responsibilities. I was generous with my material goods during Lent, but now I need to actually mail those mittens I knitted for Afghans for Afghans. I'm nominated for parish council, but now if elected I need to see it through and really give of my opinions, talents, and attention.
Abraham laughing at God's plan had such a different flavor than Sarah's laughter. As I mentioned before, Abraham laughing had an overtone of joy at the absurdly wonderful plans of God. Sarah, on the other hand, laughs in disbelief, so convinced is she that it is not her who will bear Abraham the promised son. The Almighty points out to Abraham what is in Sarah's heart of hearts, that she believes Abraham to be the source of her problem bearing a child. "My husband is so old, am I still to have sexual pleasure?" I might be able to bear a child, says she, if that old man could get it up once in a while! *giggle giggle snort*. This covering up of her own failings is compounded by her attempt, like a six year old, to hide her snide, under-her-breath comment and lie to the Lord's face. Like an exasperated parent, God corrects her. "I didn't laugh!" "Yes, you did." Don't you realize who I AM by now? The promised child, like the later Promised One, is heralded by the phrase "For nothing is impossible for God."
It surprises me that God seemingly reflects here on how He plans to involve Abraham in His great work of saving mankind. The Bible often shows God asking rhetorical questions, perhaps seeming as if He has not yet made His mind up about something, yet also explaining in a more elegant fashion God's plans. He reiterates the covenant He made with Abraham and considers that this covenant places man in a unique position of involvement with the work of God. He does not wish to hide his plans from Abraham, but instead wants to involve him intimately in them. Despite Sarah's occasional imperfection in righteousness, she will still be the mother of a great nation. She and nobody else, and no earthly circumstance will stand in the way of that. The same is true of Abraham.
In His discussion with Abraham about the fate of Sodom, God seems to be purposely involving Abraham in the plan. He wants Abraham to know who He is and what His nature is, and sometimes for human beings that involves questioning Him. He had planned earlier to never again destroy the innocent for the guilty after the Flood, and God's interactions with Abraham about Sodom make this ever clearer to him. He wants Abraham to understand what it really means when He says that he will never again destroy the innocent for the guilt of the wicked. Fifty out of thousands? Ten out of thousands? Yes, says God, even that little drop of righteousness in a bucket of evil is enough to stay My hand. Abraham walks away from this lesson with a real glimpse of what God would do through His Son Jesus.
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