IF JESUS CAME TO OUR
HOUSE
When Dwight
Eisenhower was president, on one occasion he vacationed in Denver, Colorado.
There was in Denver a six-year old boy who had incurable cancer. The boy had
expressed the wish that he might see the President. President Eisenhower heard
the little boy's wish and on a Sunday morning he visited him. The Presidential
limousine pulled up in front of the house. He walked up to the front door and
knocked. The father, in blue jeans and an old shirt with a day's growth of
beard, opened the
door. When he saw the
president he was speechless. The president took the six-year old boy out to see
the limousine and talked with him for a while. Then he shook his hand and left.
Afterward, when the father would tell the story, he would say, "And just
to think, there I stood with my blue jeans,
my old shirt, and a
day's growth of beard. What a way to meet the president!'
Imagine one day you
are sitting on your front porch and a car pulled up in your driveway. Three men
get out, and immediately you realize that one of them is the Lord, and the
other two are angels. How would you act? What would you do? What would you say?
If you can imagine
such a thing happening then you begin to understand the scene before us in
Genesis 18. Notice Genesis 18:1-2, "The Lord appeared again to Abraham near the oak
grove belonging to Mamre. One day Abraham was sitting at the entrance to his
tent during the hottest part of the day. 2 He looked up and noticed three men standing nearby. When he
saw them, he ran to meet them and welcomed them, bowing low to the ground.”
Abraham had a visit
from God. God came to his house and spent the afternoon with him. Three times
the Bible speaks of Abraham as being a friend of God, and here is a good
indication of how good a friend he was with God.
Note: The Bible says
that no one has seen God. “No
one has ever seen God, but the one and only Son, who is himself God and
is in closest relationship with the Father, has made him known.” (John 1:18) We could discuss this for the entire class
time but for now let’s put this discussion on hold.
What if God, the Lord
Jesus came to our house for a visit? Would we have to do some rearranging of
things? Would we have to put up some things or put out some things? Would there
be some magazines lying around we would not want him to see? Would you need to
change the channel of the TV or change stations on the radio? Maybe delete some
Facebook comments?
This is one of
several Old Testament appearances of the Lord. This is what we call a
pre-incarnate appearing of the Lord Jesus. As we know from the Bible the Trinity.
The Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit has always been. So this is referring
to times the “Son” appearing before He came into the world as the Savior. In other words it is a visible appearance of God in the Old Testament
period often, but not always, in human form.
Let’s notice this
story and notice how this friend of God responded and reacted to this surprise
visit to his home from God.
HE RIGHTLY WELCOMED
HIS GUEST!
Notice Genesis 18:3, how
Abraham greeting the Lord: “My lord,” he said, “if it pleases you,
stop here for a while. 4 Rest in the shade of this tree while water is brought to wash
your feet.”
Abraham is taking a nap
in the hot afternoon. He looks down the road and saw 3 men coming. We can
imagine him saying to himself, "I wonder who that might be?" He
looks, and suddenly he realizes that one of them is God. Notice how he
re-acted.
HE EAGERLY WELCOMED
THE LORD TO HIS HOME.
Imagine this scenario. There's a knock at your door and when you open a door, there stands
a dear friend of many years. You haven't seen this friend in years. You would be
glad to see them and maybe embrace them.
When Abraham looked
up and saw 3 men coming, he saw them as friends to embrace.
Notice in verse 2,
that Abraham "ran to meet them and
welcomed them." As soon as he realized who this was, this
99-year-old man jumped up out of his seat and took off running toward them.
Abraham knew this was
the Lord. He didn't say, "Oh, no, it's the Lord," but "It's the
Lord!" This was someone he loved. This was his dear friend. He eagerly
welcomed his guest.
There is a song,
"Holy Spirit, Thou Art Welcome In This Place." The Lord is welcome to
visit here anytime He so desires. He should be welcome in our heart and in our home.
He is welcome to visit us on Monday and welcome to visit us on Sunday.
We fuss about people
who just drop in unannounced. The Lord is One that is welcome to drop by
anytime He wants to. He can show up anytime, anywhere, any day, and any hour.
He is a welcome guest.
HE EARNESTLY WANTED
THE LORD IN HIS HOME.
Notice again Genesis
18:3, "My
lord,” he said, “if it pleases you, stop here for a while."
Have you ever had
company that you wished would leave? There is an old story about one fellow who
had company and they stayed and stayed and stayed, until it was getting late.
Finally he said to his wife,
"Honey, we'd better go to bed so these folks can go home."
In Abraham's case,
this was not company that he wanted to leave. His desire was for the Lord to
stay for a while. He was not only glad to see Him, but he wanted The Lord to
stay."
There is no way of
knowing how we all feel but when the Lord shows up, we should not be anxious
for Him to leave. Some folks on Sunday morning act like they can't wait until
12:00 so they can get out. Around 12:00 they start looking at their watches and
about 10 after they are squirming. If it goes to 12:20, they are really getting
into a frenzy. Lord help them, if it goes to 12:30.
If the Lord pays us a
visit, we shouldn’t care if it's 1:00 o'clock. Wouldn’t we want to say, "Lord,
please stay with us." There is nothing like being in his presence and being
around Him.
He Rightly Welcomed
His Guest!
HE REVERENTLY
WORSHIPED HIS GUEST!
Notice in verse 2,
that he not only ran to meet them, but was "bowing low to the ground." The word 'bowed" is
the most common word in the Old Testament for worship. It means to bow down, to
do homage, to show reverence, to worship.
if Jesus Christ
entered the room would we all fall on our faces?
Abraham worshiped
the Lord. What was he doing and why was he doing it? What is worship and why do
we worship?
WORSHIP IS A
REVERENCE OF GOD.
Abraham recognized
that his visitor was God. This was no ordinary guest or just another person
passing by. This was God. His actions were an expression of reverence.
Notice in verse 1,
that it was the "LORD" (capital letters). This was Jehovah. Because
of Who He Was, Abraham showed reverence and paid Him homage. That is worship: a
reverence of God.
Have you ever noticed
that some people refer to God as the man upstairs or some other name that
really is disrespectful of God. Because He is LORD and because of Who He is, He
should always be spoken of in terms that are reverent and respectful.
Abraham did not walk
up and give God a high five and say, "Put it on me big guy." No he
fell before Him in worship. This was God and the only response deserving of Him
was an expression of reverence. God is always deserving of our respect and
reverence.
WORSHIP IS A RESPONSE
TO GOD.
Far too many
Christians are only concerned about what they get from God, not what they give
to God. Abraham was not getting something from God; he was giving something to
God.
Worship is something
you give to God. Someone has given us this definition of worship: "Worship
is the giving to God the glory, praise, honor, and thanks due Him, both for Who
he is and for what he has done."
What if Jesus came to
our house? As a Christian He is a guest at our house. The issue is, how are we
treating him.
Our House
The Strength of our house does not lay within its foundation.
It has been built through the hands of man but is held together by
the love and word of God.
With our security in Christ, each brick has been blessed by His
touch.
The lock found at our front door is always open in His eyes.
Each friend’s visit blesses our lives, deepening the roots we have
planted in our walk with Christ.
Our home is one in the neighborhood of many, but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.
Joshua 24:15
