阅读经文 

读到亚伯拉罕十万火急地吩咐说：“速速……做饼”时，我禁不住笑起来。做饼从来就不是一件能够速速完成的事！做饼是需要细心和足够时间才行的啊。

然而，按照待客之礼，亚伯拉罕和撒拉的访客应该得到美味的饼、上好的肉、奶油和鲜奶的款待。所以，为了要为客人提供一个好客和款待的环境，无论要用多少时间来预备，付出工夫和耐性等候总是值得的。

那时的文化背景着重好客，好客显明神对人际关系的旨意。当同席的人一起擘饼时，重要的事情便发生了。一起吃饭的人能够增进彼此之间的认识。

可悲的是，在今天北美洲的社会，我们总是匆匆忙忙的，以致我们不会花时间去真正彼此款待。然而，圣经时常以招待周到，甚至盛大的筵席，来形容神的国度。

今天，在我们的生活中，我们可否从来自其他文化背景的邻居身上学习待客之道呢？我们能否耐心、乐意地彼此拨出时间——甚至使用上好的食材——好叫我们的相聚能体现出圣经中好客的样式呢？

Part of me has to laugh when I read Abraham's urgent instructions: "Quick . . . bake some bread." Baking bread from scratch is not something you can do quickly! It requires careful work and time.

But hospitality required that Abraham and Sarah's visitors should have bread and choice meat and curds and milk prepared. So, whatever time it took to prepare all that, it was worth the work and the wait to provide a hospitable, generous environment for their guests.

Hospitality was central to the culture of that time, and it demonstrated God's purpose for relationships. When people break bread together, something important happens. People who eat together develop a deeper understanding of each other.

Sadly, in our North American culture today, we're often in such a hurry that we don't take the time to really extend hospitality to each other. Yet the Bible often depicts the kingdom of God as a hospitable, even extravagant feast.

In our lives today, could we learn from our neighbors in other cultures about what it means to be hospitable? Could we make room for each other in a patient, generous way—even using the finest ingredients—so that our gatherings echo a biblical vision of hospitality?