When the Tables Are Turned

Yesterday we reflected on that wonderful story in the book of Genesis (chapter 18) about Abraham and Sarah. In this story, at first, Abraham and Sarah are the hosts—the ones doing the giving. But they end up being the ones who receive the gift.

I wonder if you’ve ever experienced that.

I’ve had the tables turned on me often in ministry. There was a member of a church I once served—a younger man who was dying of cancer. The doctors gave him six weeks to live, but he ended up living five more years. I’ll never forget going to visit him shortly before his death. We were talking, and he was telling me how his diagnosis had not changed his life so much as it actually had given him more life. He said, all of a sudden he appreciated and savored every moment he had—with his wife, each hug from his daughter. Each sunset; each sunrise took on new meaning.

While we were talking it hit me—I wasn’t the one ministering to him—he was ministering to me.

I wonder if Abraham and Sarah felt that.

It is indeed the witness of people of faith across the generations, that more often than not, when we care for someone in need, we end up receiving way more than we ever give.

Let us pray: Holy God, across the ages you have sent us more witnesses than we could recognize, more help than we could seek, and more of yourself than we have been able to recognize or love. Thank you for your hospitality to us. Empower us to share that same love, acceptance, and grace with a world desperately in need. Amen.