Embracing Love and Hospitality Amid Rejection

And what did Jesus say when they said, we're going to rain down fire on them? Jesus said, no, Jesus rebuked them. Jesus didn't want to rain down fire on them, right? That was not something that Jesus wanted to do. Jesus had shown them a completely different aspect of who God was, a God of love and grace and forgiveness, a God who will be with them time after time after time, a God who will seek us even before we know who God is. [00:56:37] (32 seconds)  #GodOfLoveAndGrace

And yet, notice that Jesus continued to offer the invitation to people. He didn't let those no's stop him from saying to people, come on, follow me. [00:58:03] (15 seconds)  #PersistentInvitation

But that's not what Jesus did. Jesus continued to invite people over and over and over again, because Jesus knows that hospitality, this thing we've been studying all year long that's an aspect of following Jesus, means that sometimes we'll be rejected. And that's okay. Because you know that it's not about you. [00:58:28] (29 seconds)  #HospitalityBeyondRejection

And so rejection changes nothing for us either, for who we are, for who God has called us to be. And so the scripture invites us to continue to invite others, to continue to offer hospitality, even when we get rejected. [00:59:24] (18 seconds)  #UnchangedByRejection

And Daryl said, I don't respect his views, but I respect that he's a human being, and all human beings need to be loved, need to know that they belong, need to be respected, need to be listened to, need to be treated fairly. And he said, I don't care what his beliefs are, every human being deserves those five things. And so I offer him those five things. And in response, he offers me those five things. [01:06:45] (33 seconds)  #KeepInviting

``He has helped convert over 200 people who were in the KKK to what he called, and I love this, he called it, I helped them return to the land of the loving. I helped them return to the land of the loving. [01:08:05] (21 seconds)  #RespectAndBelonging

And how did he do that? It took time. It took rejection. It took sitting with people who thought you didn't have a right to exist. It took courage. But most of all, it took love. [01:08:25] (16 seconds)  #ReturnToLove

It took him knowing that he indeed was a beloved child of God, right? And so that he could treat others as beloved children, even if they disagreed with him, and if their beliefs harmed him. And you know what? We're called to do the same thing. [01:08:42] (22 seconds)  #LoveTakesTime

He was one man, and he converted over 200 KKK. Think if every single one of us treated the people in our lives in that way, and invited them to the land of the loving. [01:09:04] (16 seconds)  #BelovedChildrenOfGod

Because we have a secret weapon, and that secret weapon is Jesus. Because Jesus has told every single one of us that we are beloved children of God, and there is nothing we can do to take that love away. Nothing we can do to earn more. Nothing we can do to take it away. That's what grace is all about. [01:09:48] (24 seconds)  #TransformThroughLove