This week we continue our August sermon series on the biblical virtue of hospitality. As a virtue, hospitality is the fruit of discipline, a discipline formed by a set of habits until those habits become second nature. It takes effort and courage to exercise biblical hospitality. In contrast to our domesticated, sentimental associations, biblical hospitality belongs to those who risk opening up their lives to the presence of those unlike them. Abraham, as we saw last week, the first model of biblical hospitality, took the risk of opening his home to three unexpected visitors right after establishing the Jewish covenant. The first act of the new covenant was an act of radical hospitality, and it was through Abraham's willingness to open himself up to the presence of strangers that he and Sarah received the promise of a firstborn son. This Sunday we will reflect on one of the most peculiar commandments in the Old Testament: "Love the stranger...for you were once strangers in the land of Egypt." It's a commandment with profound implications for the people of God. Let's think about why.