Introduction. 
What does the average person think about God? What do they know about Jesus Christ? On Friday night I watched an ABC comedy show called the Glasshouse. I watch it because it keeps me in touch with the way that many younger people in our culture are thinking. The compere, Will Anderson, juked about a recent newspaper article from the US, about a man who changed his name to Jesus Christ and then had trouble getting a driver’s licence. Anderson’s comment was, “no wonder – would you want to give a licence to someone who knows that if they’re involved in a fatal accident they’ll be back in three days?” And I thought, hey, despite the fact that we are not a Christian culture, at least he knows that Christians believe in the Resurrection of Jesus after he was dead three days. But even if some people still know the basic facts of the bible story, I bet if you asked your average Aussie what Christians believe about how you get to heaven, most wouldn’t have a clue. Most would think that Christians think they are better than others, that they are working their way to heaven by keeping the ten commandments or other church laws and rules, by being baptized, going to church, and leading a good life. But they would be totally wrong. As we have seen, the story of Abraham, and how the New Testament interprets that story for us, shows very clearly that neither Abraham nor we are made right with God by anything that we ourselves do.

It’s important to keep that in mind as our context when we read of Abraham’s actions in chapter 18 of Genesis. The statement, “Abraham believed God and it was credited to him as righteousness,” has already been made back in chapter fifteen. What Abraham does in this chapter is not the cause of his rightness, his justification before God, but flows from it. Nevertheless, he and his wife Sarah are examples to us, both of saving faith and also of the works that proceed from that faith.

1. Abraham’s Fanatical Hospitality! (1-8)
The first thing about Abraham we see in this chapter that the New Testament commends him for, is his hospitality – his kindness to strangers. Abraham knows nothing about these men who just rock up on his doorstep, or rather his tent-flap. He didn’t interrogate them as to where they’d come from or what their motives were before showing them kindness and hospitality. Incidentally, I’m glad that the Government has listened to its rebel backbenchers this last week and softened their stance on those who are held in our detention centres. By all means we should deport those who are not in genuine need of our help, or who have overstayed visas illegally. But when someone comes to us in need of hospitality, as an asylum seeker, surely it is not right to treat families and children as though they had fewer rights than common criminals, and lock them up for years behind bars and razor wire? The bible is quite clear both in this passage and more explicitly elsewhere in Scripture that our first response to strangers and aliens who come to us must be one of compassion and hospitality. The book of Hebrews, probably referring to Abraham, says “Do not forget to entertain strangers, for by so doing some people have entertained angels without knowing it.”

Incidentally, if that is speaking of Abraham, it answers one question we might have about this passage. Did Abraham know who it was when these three men suddenly appeared? After all, it must have seemed strange that he looked up and saw them standing there. Abraham’s family was like a traveling tent city – he had many servants and their families, and the desert is a dangerous place. No doubt there were lookouts posted. These men turn up without any warning. But although eventually Abraham realised that these were no ordinary men, his initial reaction is not based on anything other than sheer hospitality to strangers. Now even today, the desert nomads of these areas are renowned for their almost fanatical code of hospitality to strangers. The sanctity of the lives of those who are invited into your tent is absolute, even to those who may turn out to be enemies. So perhaps Abraham is doing no more than was required by the rules of his culture. But the comments of the New Testament, and the way that this narrative naturally flows from his previous profession of faith, make it more likely that this is more than just blind following of custom, but is something that Abraham does because he knows that as one who is under God’s covenant, he should act this way. God has shown him grace. God first appeared to him in Ur, where he and his family worshiped other gods. God came to him and revealed himself to him and gave him his great promise of salvation. He treated Abraham with grace. And Abraham does the same to others.

And notice the deferential way he treats these strangers. His polite introduction, his insistence that to serve them would be an honour. “‘‘If I have found favor in your eyes, my lord, do not pass your servant by.  Let a little water be brought, and then you may all wash your feet and rest under this tree.  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.”

He almost makes it sounds as though they would be doing him a great favour by putting him to all this trouble and expense. He is almost fanatical in his desire to show kindness to these strangers. It is the middle of the day, and he is sitting in the entrance to his tent, probably because there’s a bit of a breeze there. It’s the time of day in the desert for having a siesta. But the minute he sees someone he can show kindness to, he immediately goes into action. It says “When he saw them, he hurried from the entrance of his tent to meet them…” And his following actions are no less extravagant and urgent. He quickly commands everyone to make his guests welcome. He tell Sarah to bake some bread as quick as she can; and in verse 7 it says that he personally RAN to the herd, and selected the best goat he could find, and gave it to a servant who HURRIED to prepare it. The bible says in three places, in Proverbs, Jeremiah and Romans chapter 3, that the feet of the ungodly run to evil, and they are swift to shed blood. Abraham is the exact opposite – his feet run to do good.

As a follower of the Lord Jesus Christ, is that the attitude you have to unlooked for surprise appearances of strangers? Have you cultivated, with the help of God’s Spirit working in you, the attitude of actively looking for opportunities to serve others? Both Abraham and Sarah in this passage have hearts of humble submission and servanthood. And the New Testament writers commend them for it and tell us to act the same way. The Apostle Peter says, “offer hospitality to one another without grumbling.” The apostle Paul says, “Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers.” And of course the ultimate good you can do someone is to introduce them to Jesus, for Paul also tells us to have our feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace.

2. Sarah’s Submissive Service (6-12)
Now in verses 6 to 12 the spotlight moves from Abraham to Sarah, with an unexpected and surprising question. Out of the blue the strangers suddenly ask “Where is your wife Sarah?” Now this would be surprising enough if they had called her Sarai, but not only did they know that Abraham had a wife, they also knew the special name that the Lord himself had just given to her. In last week’s passage we saw how God changed both their names as one of the signs and seals of the covenant he had made with Abraham. He had said, no longer are you to call her Sarai, but her name will be Sarah.” When these strange men who have come from nowhere mention Sarah’s covenant name, Abraham must have known that this was no ordinary visit. And this is confirmed by the next words he hears: Then the LORD said, ‘‘I will surely return to you about this time next year, and Sarah your wife will have a son.”

Now we see here in Sarah’s actions both a negative example to avoid, and a positive example to follow. The negative example is obvious, the positive one only becomes so when we see what the New Testament has to say about Sarah. Much has been made of Sarah’s lapse of faith here, and it is true that, unlike Abraham’s laughter in the last chapter, hers was a laugh of doubt, not of wonder and joy. The Lord’s reaction to her laughter shows that. However, he is very gentle in his correction of her, even though she tries to hide the fact that she laughed at God’s words. It is a laughable situation of course, that Sarah should try to lie to the Lord, and yet isn’t that a very human reaction? We do it often, but of course we are the only one fooled by our lies.

However, I don’t want to talk about Sarah’s failure in this passage, apart from pointing out that it simply serves to highlight the goodness and patience of God, and his ability to bring about his loving purposes for his people despite our lack of faith, because he is faithful to his promises.

What I do want to mention is Sarah’s success in this passage. It is something that is hidden away in verse 12, and also in her earlier actions in preparing the meal for the strangers. The apostle Peter commends Sarah as one of the women of the Old Covenant who are example of submissiveness. He says, in 1 Peter 3 verse 6, “they were submissive to their husbands, like Sarah, who obeyed Abraham and called him her master.” And he says to the wives he is writing to, “You are her daughters is you do what is right and do not give way to fear.” Now what does that mean? It’s not a popular thought in our culture, and one that is prone to much misunderstanding and malignment. Let’s unpack what the bible teaches about the idea of submissiveness, and not just react against this teaching of scripture because we have been indoctrinated by the feminism of the second half of last century.

The first thing to note is that Christian submissiveness is not the blind obedience required of women in some other religions. It is something that it is freely and voluntarily given. You see Sarah did not have to obey Abraham. Peter uses her as an example of submission precisely because although she was a wife, and not a slave like Hagar, she chose to act like a slave, of her own free will. As we have seen, the New Testament teaches that Sarah is an illustration of the freedom we have in Christ. She is the free woman, the true wife, and Hagar is the slave woman. If we are free in Christ through accepting the gospel message, then we are children of Sarah by grace, not children of Hagar, who represents those who are in slavery to the Law.

So Sarah, as a wife, not a slave, did not have to call Abraham her master. He was not her master, he was her husband. And yet, out of love for him, and godly submission, she freely chooses to act as though he were her master.

Now this is not some Judeao-Christian trick to subjugate women and put them down. We have been taught by the world to think that submission equals weakness, whereas the bible teaches the exact opposite. We think, poor downtrodden Sarah, making herself Abraham’s slave. But we forget that she is an illustration of the one who was the greatest of all and yet who became the slave of all. The bible says of Jesus that he made himself our slave by giving himself up for us. Listen to what it says in Philippians chapter 3: “Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves.  4 Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others. 
5 Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: 
6 Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, 
7 but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness.”

And that word translated servant there, is the word for slave, a bond-servant, one who considered the needs of others before their own and who had no rights. It goes on to say of Jesus:
8 And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death— 
even death on a cross!”

So you see, Sarah’s example of submission to Abraham is not weak at all. She is teaching us something about Jesus, who said that we should take his yoke upon us and learn from him because he is gentle and humble. Our attitude to one another should be like that of Sarah’s attitude to Abraham, like that of Abraham’s attitude to his guests – one of humble service, not of arrogantly wanting others to serve us.
3. When God comes Calling, Be Ready!
Now I want to finish today by focusing our thoughts not on Abraham or Sarah, but on their heavenly visitors. Who are these men? It’s a very strange thing, and one that points out that there is much we don’t understand about God and his messengers, the angels. Now some have seen in this a reference to the Trinity. Well, it is apparent that this is what the theologians call a Theophany – that is, an appearance of God in human form. However, whilst it is certainly true that God is One God in three persons. Father, Son and Holy Spirit, there is no indication that it is those three persons that appear here. In fact later in this chapter and at the beginning of chapter 19, we are plainly told that this is the Lord himself plus two angels. And after this incident the Lord stays with Abraham and the angels make for Sodom to rescue Lot and his family. But we cannot say much more than that about it. It is true that the Lord moves in mysterious ways. What we have here is a pre-incarnate appearance of the Lord Jesus. We simply cannot understand the mechanics of that, and our only recourse is to the truth that the Lord himself gives in verse 14. Is anything too hard for the Lord? We may not understand exactly how the pre-incarnate Word of God and two angelic spirits ate and drank with Abraham. But however it happened, it did happen, and it confirmed once again the promise of God to them that they would have a miracle child. However, this time, at long last, God gives them a time frame – by this time next year, I will return and Sarah will have a son. How that news must have brought joy and relief to Abram’s heart. And to Sarah’s, as soon as she got over her momentary unbelief and began to experience morning sickness!

Well, I have mentioned many lessons for us already in this amazing part of God’s Word. Let me mention two more in closing. First, let us dwell on and think about often, those words of encouragement, that antidote to all fear. Is ANYTHING too hard for the Lord? No it isn’t, nothing is impossible for him, and almost two thousand years after the angels appeared to announce the birth of Sarah’s child Isaac, God sent his messenger with the same message as the one he gave that day. The true child of the promise, the one that Isaac was but a pale shadow of, was to come into the world. And a young woman named Mary bowed in fear and wonder and asked, “how can this be, since I am a virgin.” And the angel answered her with these words: “‘‘The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God.  Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be barren is in her sixth month.  For nothing is impossible with God.”” 

The Child of the Promise has come, and he is the one we worship. And we await his return from heaven with judgement and salvation. Abraham was ready when the Lord appeared to him unexpectedly. The Lord found him waiting in faith for the child he had promised, and while he was waiting, he was living a life of faith by serving others in humility and hospitality.

The Lord will also come to us. He will come to us first of all in this life. He will come to us every day through His Word, by which he speaks to us. We must be ready to hear and obey it. And in another sense he will come to us in those he sends for us to serve, just like those strangers who appeared at Abraham’s tent. Jesus said that on Judgement Day he will say, “inasmuch as you did these things to the least of these my little ones, you did it to me.” The bible says we should work as though serving the Lord, not men.”

But ultimately of course, the Lord will come to us in his glorious return. In many places we are told to be ready for the day of the Lord’s visitation, and to be about his work when he appears. How do we do that? Be like Jesus as you wait for him to appear. Follow the example of Abraham, who by faith treated others with the grace that God had shown him. When God calls on you, will you be ready for him?

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