A Lesson in Hospitality

Have any of you watched the Amazing Race? I know it’s one of those so-called reality TV Shows, but this one is pretty neat. Teams of two have to travel around the world, utilizing various clues and dealing with cultural obstacles as they race to be the first to reach several checkpoints. Of course one of the most fascinating aspects of the show is the many different cultures that they highlight. Each culture is different, and the travelers have to be careful not to do something that might offend the people in that culture. Most of the time the teams are successful at not offending the natives, but usually the teams that are the most successful are those that engage the natives. The successful teams are those who take the little bit of time required to show forth kindness and concern for the natives. Usually they are successful, because the natives then show kindness in return and help the teams to finish the course quicker. In most cultures, kindness is considered a virtue and kindness to strangers is considered doubly so.

Being kind is a virtue in American culture to, but the kindness to strangers is becoming a lost dog. It was something that used to be here but has wandered away. And not without some good reason. We are beginning in many ways to become a culture of distrust, a culture of fear. We know that there are bad people all over the place who are ready to take advantage of us at the first opportunity. So we make sure there is no opportunity. But this culture of distrust has allowed us to lose one of our greatest evangelistic tools, hospitality. It has convinced us that the risk is too great and so we keep our doors shut to keep the devil out, meanwhile we keep the angels and the blessing out as well. However, this too is not something new. People who are filled with distrust are all over the world and were even in Biblical times. As we continue the story of David, we come to a story in chapter 25 of 1 Samuel that reveals the danger of being inhospitable. And it is not the danger it would first appear to be, as we will see.

So David and his men heard about a very rich man who is shearing his sheep nearby to where they were staying. The man’s name is Nabal, which just happens to means Fool in Hebrew, and he was a mean, surly man. His wife was named Abigail and she was smart and beautiful. Now the time of sheep shearing was usually a bit of a party and there was much food to be had, so David sent 10 of his men up to the party to give proper greetings from David who is camped nearby. The greeting was one of Peace and it mentioned the fact that David and his men have been protecting Nabal’s men and sheep for sometime. He then requests a portion of the feast that would seem appropriate for him and his men. Of course hospitality was a part of Jewish custom going back to the time of Abraham and people traditionally would share their feast with whoever asked.. Plus, God’s laws commanded kindness to strangers. Yet how did this fool respond?

Look at verse 10 But Nabal answered David's servants, "Who is David? Who is the son of Jesse? There are many servants today who are breaking away from their masters. [11] Shall I take my bread and my water and the meat that I have butchered for my shearers, and give it to men who come from I do not know where?"
What do we see in Nabal’s response? First we see distrust. He asks who is David, yet he knew he was the Son of Jesse. What he may have been asking is why should I trust David? He doesn’t work for me. I don’t really know him from Adam, and I am certainly not giving him any of my food.

So we also see rudeness as he basically call’s David a runaway slave, implying that David had simply deserted Saul. Which again underscores that he DID know who David was. After all, the song had been going around.

Thirdly we see selfishness. David and his men are in need as they are camping in the wilderness, trying to evade Saul, and although this man has great wealth, he chooses to keep it all to himself instead of help out a stranger who asks for a meal. This is not a good lesson on Hospitality. This is what not to do. Did he have the right to respond this way, sure. But was it the right thing to do? Probably not, as we shall see.

David responded in anger and told all of his men to get prepared for battle and he took four hundred with him as he began to approach Nabal. You see people don’t respond very well to rudeness. And in this case it was actually a little more then simple rudeness, for David and his men had already showed kindness to Nabal by watching over his hirelings and his flocks. Therefore, Nabal was ignoring the good deed that David had done, or worse, thanking him for the good deed by being mean to him. As David says, repaying Good with Evil.

But One of the young men told Abigail what had happened and How David was prepared to take matters into his own hands. Abigail knew she needed to do something to try to reconcile this situation so in verse 18 it says she hurried and took two hundred loaves, two skins of wine, five sheep ready dressed, five measures of parched grain, one hundred clusters of raisins, and two hundred cakes of figs. She loaded them on donkeys [19] and said to her young men, "Go on ahead of me; I am coming after you."
Then she went and met up with David who was still fuming over the insults Now David had said, "Surely it was in vain that I protected all that this fellow has in the wilderness, so that nothing was missed of all that belonged to him; but he has returned me evil for good. When she heard of the plans to destroy Nabal she acted quickly and humbly.

[24] She fell at his feet and said, "Upon me alone, my lord, be the guilt; please let your servant speak in your ears, and hear the words of your servant. [25] My lord, do not take seriously this ill-natured fellow, Nabal; for as his name is, so is he; Nabal is his name, and folly is with him; but I, your servant, did not see the young men of my lord, whom you sent. It is interesting that she asks that the guilt be placed on her even though she admits that she did not know anything about the visit. She also tries to excuse Nabal’s rudeness as simply being a character flaw. What is she trying to do? She is trying to be a Peacemaker. A Mediator, going between the two parties to try to prevent this from escalating. She is trying to reconcile the situation. Jesus Said Blessed are the Peacemakers, and here is an example of one. Listen to what else she says.

[26] Now then, my lord, as the Lord lives, and as you yourself live, since the Lord has restrained you from bloodguilt and from taking vengeance with your own hand, now let your enemies and those who seek to do evil to my lord be like Nabal.
She gives God credit for keeping David from becoming the enemy, yet the truth be known, he had intended too. Yet it was God who kept him and God happened to use a clever and beautiful woman named Abigail, for her intercession is what saved Nabal that Day, and what Saved David from doing something he would have regretted by acting out of anger.

[27] And now let this present that your servant has brought to my lord be given to the young men who follow my lord.
She then tries to reconcile by fulfilling David’s initial wish, by extending the hospitality that he expected in the first place. She gives him all the food that he probably expected the first time, perhaps more as an act of hospitality and as a way to restore trust. She completes the peacemaking process by asking forgiveness for the wrongdoing and calling forth a blessing upon David. Of course she reminds David that he will be blessed by God because he did not take vengeance, or shed innocent blood, again trying to ensure that Nabal would be spared.

David responded by recognizing that this woman with her act of hospitality and kindness was being used by God. He conceded that she was right to intercede and he was grateful that he had not done something he would only regret So he sent her off in Peace.

Abigail was able to secure peace by her hospitality and her willingness to trust David. Surely he could have killed her, it may have been his intention as he was riding toward Nabal’s place. But her boldness, her kindness, her humility, and her cleverness allowed her to bring Peace to what could have a terrible situation.
But the Story doesn’t end there. Although God spared David from doing such a horrendous deed through using Abigail’s hospitality, God was the one to give justice.
When Abigail got back after saving Nabal’s life, he was busy having a party and getting drunk. She didn’t even tell him until the next day how much danger he had been in because of his haughty, selfish, insolence. And when he heard of how his wife interceded and showed humility in his name, his his heart died within him; he became like a stone.

Clearly this was unacceptable behavior for him, and he couldn’t take the fact that his wife had done the right thing.
[38] About ten days later the Lord struck Nabal, and he died.
David never had to lift a finger, he never had to sin and become the enemy. He just let God take care of it.

[39] When David heard that Nabal was dead, he said, "Blessed be the Lord who has judged the case of Nabal's insult to me, and has kept back his servant from evil; the Lord has returned the evildoing of Nabal upon his own head." God will take vengeance. There is no need in us stepping up to try to do his job! Meanwhile, David recognized good character and someone who listens to God, so he wooed Abigail and married her.

What does this teach us? Should we be quick to invite strangers in? Well this doesn’t really address that issue, and God gave us common sense for a reason. But the real issue here is how do we treat other people. Do we repay someone evil for doing good things for us? Do we hoard things we have when others are in need of them? Do we take vengeance when we get angry or do we let God take care of it? These are some of the questions that this story helps us address and it is clear that God’s ways are not the same as ours. But I think it is also clear that God’s ways are always better. We constantly need reminded that our actions have consequences, for good or for bad. So let’s do the right thing and treat other people as we would have them treat us. It’s a rule that proves itself to be golden.