The Divine Stranger
Reflective Reading: 1 Kings 17:7-16
“Faith is a venture into the unknown, into the realms of mystery, away from the safe and comfortable and secure.”
The quote comes from Darrell L. Guder, author of Missional Church, as he describes the “divine strangers” of life.
As Guder writes, too often we linger in our comfort zones, but “strangers not only challenge and subvert our familiar worlds, they can enhance and even transform our way of life. By honoring others precisely in their otherness, we embrace the new, the mysterious, and the unexpected.”
Strangers give us opportunities to contemplate different perspectives about life and even a new understanding of God. Perhaps that’s why the gift of hospitality is highlighted in Hebrews 13:2,
“Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by doing so, some have entertained angels without knowing it.”
Abraham witnessed one such event in Genesis 18. With the arrival of strangers, he immediately asked Sarah to make bread while he had a calf prepared for them:
And Abraham went quickly into the tent to Sarah and said,
“Quick! Three seahs of fine flour! Knead it, and make cakes.”
And Abraham ran to the herd and took a calf, tender and good, and gave it to a young man, who prepared it quickly. 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.
A “seah” is approximately seven dry quarts of flour (Some theologians suggest that it is sixteen pounds of dry measure)! Regardless of which is correct, the amount of flour Abraham requested would make at least twenty-five loaves of bread! Abraham’s reception of the strangers was extravagant. Can you imagine what people would think of Christians and their message if they saw such graceful extravagance extended toward them?
Guder notes that Christians must not only welcome strangers but also be willing to become strangers to others for the sake of the gospel. “The religious quest, the spiritual pilgrimage, is always taking us into new lands where we are strange to others and they are strange to us.”
Believers must resist the temptation to remain safe and secure within our “Christian huddle,” for we have a responsibility to extravagantly introduce a dying world to the divine stranger – Jesus Christ.
Recommended Reading:
Nobody Loves Me (Ages 6+)
Winter’s Folly (Ages 9+)
The Least of These (Ages 12+)
