I was a stranger and you welcomed me

Hidden in Christ with God

GREG NICHOLS

“Abraham went early in the morning to the place where he had stood before the LORD; and he looked down toward Sodom and Gomorrah and toward all the land of the Plain and saw the smoke of the land going up like the smoke of a furnace.” So ends the story so well-known from the nineteenth chapter of Genesis. What happened to Sodom and Gomorrah that the destruction of those cities was remembered two thousand years later, and their fate remains a byword even today?

A hint is found in the Gospels. Jesus himself is under the impression that Sodom was destroyed because it was a place lacking hospitality; we find him saying as much in Matthew 10: “If anyone will not welcome you or listen to your words, shake off the dust from your feet as you leave that house or town. Truly I tell you, it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah on the day of judgment than for that town.”

Enter tainment of a stranger as a guest was recognized as a sacred duty throughout the Mediterranean world, and more heartily kept than many a written law. In the story, three men (unbeknownst to Abraham, they were God and his angels) approach Abraham’s tent in the heat of the day. Abraham runs and bows before them, begs them to stay awhile, washes their feet, serves them bread, cheese, veal and milk, and waits on them while they eat. Similarly, when the men enter the gateway of Sodom, Lot bows and invites the men to stay at his house where he can wash their feet before they rest.

The judgment on Sodom and Gomorrah was less about lascivious behavior and more about failing to be a gracious host. In fact, far from the ideal of being a good host, the people of the town were beyond rude; they screamed at the strangers. They used foul language toward the strangers. They spit toward the strangers. They threatened the strangers’ lives. And it wasn’t just one-by-one: their inexcusable behavior toward the strangers was made even more jaw-dropping because they were inhospitable as a crowd—a crowd perhaps being something between a gathering and a mob.

For those who cannot recall the story, this is how it ends: “The LORD rained on Sodom and Gomorrah sulfur and fire from the LORD out of heaven; and he overthrew those cities, and all the Plain, and all the inhabitants of the cities, and what grew on the ground.”

At the end of the Gospel of Matthew is found what is known as the Judgment of the Nations. In that judgment the Son of Man will everlastingly bless: “I was a stranger and you welcomed me.” And the Son of Man will eternally curse: “I was a stranger and you did not welcome me.”

A word to everyone: one need not be a Christian to be blessed by God. The Gospel makes clear that those who were hospitable or not were unaware that they were welcoming Christ: “Lord, when was it that we saw you?” In the guise of a stranger, God visits everyone.

“ Welcome to Rockdale.” That is the greeting expressed on the large rock in front of Rockdale City Hall. They are good words. And they are challenging words. Whether that greeting truly reflects who we are as a community depends not on our words but on our behavior, our hospitality. I myself am not that fond of sulfur and fire. One stinks and the other is too hot.

I was a stranger and you welcomed me.