These things matter: Genesis 18:1-15

Historically, I have been the kind of Christian who is ready to set aside or dispense with the Old Testament entirely. The faith in which I grew up was very focused on the literal resurrection and Second Coming, and on the Good News -- which, as I understood it, was always: you get to live forever. The relationship with God was basically a means to an end, I think -- and, moreover, the details of life didn't matter. All that matter was this one thing, this Kingdom of God, but it was a signifier. No one ever fleshed it out, like, what is God like, besides the part where He gives you stuff?

The thing I love about Genesis right now is the fact that God's not promising an alternative or an extension: He promises Himself. He will be Abraham's God. Abraham will have a role, here, on Earth, in His plan. As a promise, even though it's a long time coming in one sense, in another, it happens here, on Earth, using things we understand: land, babies, blessings. The world around Abraham 1. is full of God and 2. is significant because of that presence. God's not waiting around up in Heaven; He is here, and His work is happening here, with the people and things that already make up our lives.

The three visitors are a great example of this. The story is vivid and specific: the day is hot, Abraham is outside the tent, with God; there are three visitors. And Abraham understands that things matter, down to their details: not just meat, bu a fatted calf. Not just bread, but bread from the finest flour. Not just a place to rest, but the seat he was just in.

For me, who really struggles with this here/There kind of dichotomy -- who struggles to attend to the world around me, and to feel okay about it when I do -- this is so important. These things matter: if you give someone a quarter or a dirty look on the street, if you go to your husband's show or not, if you grab a beer with friends or go off alone on a Friday. When visitors show up, what do you do with them?

I ask God for meaning, for direction, and I feel like if I could listen, when I do listen, He's saying: open your eyes. There is meaning and direction all around you. You are living a life that has meaning; it's only a matter of if you can see it, of if you are willing to truly participate in it. Stop trying to figure out eternity and feed your guests, sit in your tent (stoop?) in the afternoon. Stop wondering what I'm going to give you next, when I am going to make the things I have promised come about, and what it will look like when they do. Pay attention to what I have given you already. It's when Abraham does this -- when he can sit with God and stop asking about That Thing and stop trying to take over -- that God says, it's time.