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August 9/10, 2014
Jason Meyer | 2 Corinthians 7:2-4
Make room in your hearts for us. We have wronged no one, we have corrupted no one, we have taken advantage of no one. I do not say this to condemn you, for I said before that you are in our hearts, to die together and to live together. I am acting with great boldness toward you; I have great pride in you; I am filled with comfort. In all our affliction, I am overflowing with joy.—2 Corinthians 7:2–4
Introduction
While others have preached for eight weeks, and I was out of the pulpit, I was not truly away from Bethlehem. I don’t step out of the pulpit because I want to get away, but because I don’t want to give you the impression that I am the only pastor here at Bethlehem. We have a treasure trove of pastors here. I wanted campus-specific preaching so that you would have opportunities to hear the hearts of your pastors. I wanted to give them a chance to cast further vision for their areas of ministry, especially before the fall kickoff. This campus-specific series was a natural next step of drilling down deeper into different ministry areas after the ten-part DNA sermon series.
When I am not in the pulpit, I work hard to stay engaged here. I try to make sure that I do not miss any elder meetings or congregational meetings. I did about four weeks worth of traveling in which I was outside of Minnesota. We took some personal vacation to see my family and Cara’s family in South Dakota. I also took a ministry trip to Myanmar and a half-ministry, half-marriage retreat trip to Hawaii.
Let me tell you a little about Myanmar. Bethlehem Baptist Church sent out Ola & Minnie Hanson in 1890. They labored among the Kachin people of Northern Burma. Many people regarded it as a hopeless endeavor at the time, even the King of Burma. Here is what he said to the missionaries about to work among the Kachin people: "So you are to teach the Kachins! Do you see my dogs over there? I tell you, it will be easier to convert and teach these dogs. You are wasting your life." I love how wrong he was!
This time around we did not come as Ola Hanson; we came in the hope that the Lord would raise up many more Ola Hansons – not for the Kachin, but from the Kachin. The Kachin people did not realize that they live in the 10-40 Window. Our team leader, Darren Carlson, surveyed the history of modern missions from William Carey to the present as the capstone of our training. He explained how much easier it is for the Kachin to cross the border into China than it is for any of us or any westerner. We believe that some of the Kachin caught a vision for missions that they did not have before. Please pray that God would cause the growth of the seeds that were planted.
We also saw King Jesus encourage his persecuted church. Many homes, villages, and churches have been destroyed. Many Kachin people now reside in internally displaced peoples camps (often called IDP camps). I preached at one IDP camp that contained over 400 families. Many of them had been there for three years. I preached on Jesus stilling the storm. One of my teammates observed the way that Jesus encouraged his church:
“As he preached, I saw people start to lean more and more on the edge of their seat, and when he finally made the point that while they were in the IDP camp, they were in the boat like the disciples, I saw all sorts of light bulbs going off, and they realized that, even in the midst of being in the IDP camp, their hope was Christ. I think one of the most powerful moments was when Jason said that it is better to be in an IDP camp with Christ than anywhere else without Him.”
In Hawaii, I spoke on the gospel and conversion at a 9 Marks Ministry conference there. Hawaii is an extremely difficult place to minister. Before you are tempted to reply with snide remarks like, “Yes pastor, so sorry you had to go there and suffer for Jesus,” hear me out. I was grieved during much of my time in Hawaii by the lukewarm, half-hearted approach people took to Jesus there. It is a beautiful place if you want to make the beach your god, but a difficult place to take up your cross and follow Christ. The pastors we spoke to were almost all running on fumes and fighting burn-out because it is so hard to get people to commit fully to Jesus when there are so many options for distraction. It was a beautiful thing to encourage the pastors and have people at the conference be confronted with the superior beauty of Christ. Christ is better than the beach. One day in your courts is better than a thousand on the beach. If one has to compare the beach to Christ, there is no comparison. I will take Christ every time. What a joy to help people know what they have and who they are in Christ. One little old lady at the conference came up and put a vice grip on my arm, (I slightly embarrassed to say it actually kind of hurt) and she said, “young man, I finally understand who I am in Christ.”
The beauty of the beach is a great place to see the beauty of Christ when you don’t vertically compare them by asking which one is greater (vertical). The beauty of Christ shines at the beach when you see Christ as the source of all beauty and the beach as a reflection of him. If the beach is beautiful, imagine how beautiful he, the source of all beauty, is! Cara and I celebrated our 15-year wedding anniversary in Hawaii. There really were too many highlights to mention in those four days we had together.
One life together snapshot: I do believe in enjoying God’s creation. I can just say “root beer float” and many of you can remember the sermon where I called you to enjoy the things God gave you to richly enjoy. In my time of enjoying what God gave me to enjoy, I discovered that I really enjoy surfing. If I pastored in Hawaii, instead of being pastor for preaching and vision, it would hard to not want to be the pastor for preaching and surfing. I had kind of an iconic moment out on the waves. A pastor swam out to us on his surfboard and was talking to his surfing buddy (the one who was graciously teaching us to surf) when all of a sudden the pastor said to his friend: “Oh, gotta go, gotta catch a wave.” I was like, “That is really where that phrase came from; people really say that.” Here is the great part: One of my first thoughts was, “I gotta tell Bethlehem!” I really am a pastor, your pastor, and you really are never far from my thoughts and my heart.
Our text this week has a phrase in which Paul celebrates his love for the church and I think it is the best explanation for the experience I had in Hawaii. He says, “you are in our hearts, to die together and to live together.” (2 Corinthians 7:3) We live together.
Look at today’s text with me.
Make room in your hearts for us. We have wronged no one, we have corrupted no one, we have taken advantage of no one. I do not say this to condemn you, for I said before that you are in our hearts, to die together and to live together. I am acting with great boldness toward you; I have great pride in you; I am filled with comfort. In all our affliction, I am overflowing with joy.—2 Corinthians 7:2-4
Let me give you an outline of what is being said in this verse. First, you’ll see a command, “make room for us” (7:2a). Second, Paul gives several reasons for why they should “make room”. Paul is not holding back his heart in sharing these reasons. He names four reasons why he has issued this command: no corruption (7:2b), no condemnation (7:3), great confidence (7:4), and great comfort (7:4).
He says, “make room in your hearts for us.” I think this is connected to what he says in 2 Corinthians 6:12. He says, “we are not withholding our affection from you, but you are withholding yours from us.” Look at those verses with me.
We have spoken freely to you, Corinthians; our heart is wide open. You are not restricted by us, but you are restricted in your own affections. In return (I speak as to children) widen your hearts also.—2 Corinthians 6:11–13
This command is really two-fold. First, Paul wanted them to open their hearts further so that Paul can occupy more room there. Second, he wanted them to open their hearts further so that other people and influences that worked to keep Paul out would be evicted.
Paul names four reasons why the Corinthians should make room in their hearts for him: no corruption (7:2b), no condemnation (7:3), great confidence (7:4) and great comfort (7:4).
No Corruption
“We have wronged no one, we have corrupted no one, we have taken advantage of no one.” (7:2b) Paul’s point here is that he was being clear with the Corinthians; he was not sending them mixed messages. He did not manipulate them into thinking that he cared for them when all that he really cared about was their ability to serve him and make him wealthy. His love was genuine. He wants them, not their stuff.
This is a thinly veiled counter offensive on the false teachers. They are the corrupt ones because they are peddling the word of God for profit. They are making the Corinthians serve them.
For we are not, like so many, peddlers of God’s word, but as men of sincerity, as commissioned by God, in the sight of God we speak in Christ.—2 Corinthians 2:17
Paul says three things he has not done. The first word “wronged” is used only one other time in the letter, in 2 Corinthians 7:12 where he says this:
So although I wrote to you, it was not for the sake of the one who did the wrong, nor for the sake of the one who suffered the wrong, but in order that your earnestness for us might be revealed to you in the sight of God.—2 Corinthians 7:12
The second word, “corruption” is used only one other time in the letter. Paul says that he did not deceive them or corrupt them by leading them astray. That is Satan’s tactic. He says in 2 Corinthians 11:3, “But I am afraid that as the serpent deceived Eve by his cunning, your thoughts will be led astray from a sincere and pure devotion to Christ.”
The third phrase, “taken advantage of” is used two other times in 2 Corinthians 12:17–18 and 2:11. Read these verses with me.
Did I take advantage of you through any of those whom I sent to you? I urged Titus to go, and sent the brother with him. Did Titus take advantage of you? Did we not act in the same spirit? Did we not take the same steps? —2 Corinthians 12:17–18
Here Paul is responding to the suspicion that, although he declines financial support (12:13–15), he has received it indirectly through Titus and other delegates (12:16–19). The other time he uses the phrase “taken advantage of” it is with reference to Satan in 2 Corinthians 2:11 where he says, “[…]so that we would not be outwitted by Satan; for we are not ignorant of his designs.”
No Condemnation
“I do not say this to condemn you, for I said before that you are in our hearts, to die together and to live together.” (7:3) This is one of the most tender parts of the verse to me. You can almost see the gears in Paul’s heart turning for the Corinthians. It is almost as if he is saying, “Wait a minute; don’t get the wrong idea. It may sound like I just want to win an argument. No, I want to win you. No, I am not building a case against you for the purpose of beating you. I want you.”
He is not like a prosecuting attorney in a courtroom. He is not presenting his case against them and awaiting the judge to sound the gavel and take them away to jail. He is like a good parent who corrects his children only to restore them. Discipline should lead to hugs not distance. He does not want to crush them and beat them into submission with his words.
He has the heart of God for the Corinthians that says, “There is no condemnation.” God’s heart is always “yes” towards those in Christ and so Paul’s heart is also “yes” towards the Corinthians as an apostle of Christ. Paul says that he cannot cast them away because they are carried in his heart. “It will rip my heart apart if you are torn from me!” He says that he is saying this “again”. Where did he say it before?
For I made up my mind not to make another painful visit to you. For if I cause you pain, who is there to make me glad but the one whom I have pained? And I wrote as I did, so that when I came I might not suffer pain from those who should have made me rejoice, for I felt sure of all of you, that my joy would be the joy of you all. For I wrote to you out of much affliction and anguish of heart and with many tears, not to cause you pain but to let you know the abundant love that I have for you Now if anyone has caused pain, he has caused it not to me, but in some measure—not to put it too severely—to all of you.—2 Corinthians 2:1–5
And again in the next chapter:
You yourselves are our letter of recommendation, written on our hearts, to be known and read by all.—2 Corinthians 3:2
Don’t miss the stupendous order of the words here. We normally say things like, “I am with you to live and to die”. But Paul reverses the order here and says “to die and live” together. This is such rich, Christ-centered theology. The order for a Christian is reversed. For the Christian, there is a dying with Christ and then a living with Christ. Paul’s theology seeps out into everything, even semantics. Let’s reverse the order we normally use for words, for the glory of Christ! Following Christ means dying to ourselves. We give up control (dying to ourselves) and entrust our lives to Christ (living to Him). Only then do we find the only life that is worth having.
Great Confidence
“I am acting with great boldness toward you; I have great pride in you.” —2 Corinthians 7:4
He says that he has great boldness and great pride. What is Paul talking about? Let me try to lay out the situation so you can understand the context of Paul’s statement of his boldness and pride for the Corinthians.
Paul was among the Corinthians and there was a man, the ringleader of a rebellion against his authority, who stood against him in a public meeting. No one stood up for Paul in this meeting, but rather than using his authority to tear them down, he withdrew from them for a time. He was contemplating making a visit to see them. However, he knew that, as things stood, his coming would have to involve some severe discipline and he simply did not want to punish them. He wanted to give them time to repent. He sent them a tearful letter urging them to repent. He sent Titus as the letter carrier and then waited to hear their response.
And in his waiting, Paul was not without hope. He boasted in the Corinthians; he was very hopeful for them. He told Titus that they were going to repent. He believed that they were a genuine work of the Spirit, that God, who began the good work in them, would complete it.
Great Comfort
Now you are in a position to understand Paul’s comfort. He has been in the affliction of emotional turmoil over the Corinthians. Yet he says, “I am filled with comfort. In all our affliction, I am overflowing with joy.” (7:4)
Comfort is not some mystical thing that Christians always have or that makes them impervious to emotional trials. Paul was downcast. He was flat-out depressed.
Then the news came. The Corinthians responded! They repented. Titus joined in the rejoicing. “You were right, Paul. You should have seen the way that they received me.” Oh, the restoration was so sweet! Paul could barely contain himself. He overflowed with joy like receiving his children back from the brink of death.
There are two categories of relational aspects that are on display. First, there are the aspects that initiate the pursuit of the relationship. Second, there are those that respond to the pursuit. I am going to focus on those who do the pursuing. A very similar application applies to the person invited to respond to the pursuing. Keep your heart open. Keep it ready to respond.
Let me ask you to reflect upon the relationships that God has sovereignly put in your own life. Some of them may be life-giving and enjoyable, and some may be anguish-causing and energy- depleting. I want to urge you to refresh your relationships. Do not take them for granted. Do not throw away what God says to keep working on. Let me explain the “who” and “how” of refreshing your relationships.
Who
Leaders are pursuers. They are constantly initiating. They believe in the value of relationships. I was greatly refreshed by this picture of ministry. I looked at all the conflict that Paul had shared with the Corinthians. The Corinthian church was such a troubled church, and there was such a rocky relationship with Paul. Yet, there he is. Heart wide open. Confidence that God is at work. I want to ask God to keep my heart that way. May it never close to anyone. “Keep my heart open. Don’t let me ever look sideways at the sheep, the family of God.” That is my prayer.
I called our elders to this same vision. Under-shepherds have to pursue wandering sheep. We have to urge people to repent and it can be so emotionally taxing. I called our elders and pastors not to be cynical shepherds and under-shepherds. I don’t want a situation in which we have reluctant leaders who assume hard conversations will always lead to bigger blow-ups. I want eager, open-hearted, hopeful shepherds who say “Let me pursue. I will talk to them. I will initiate. I believe this could be a restoration story waiting to happen! I am hopeful that they will repent!”
There is a word here for parents as well. Parents, you are leaders and shepherds of your families. Parents, do not give up on your children. Don’t become cynical and sarcastic towards them. Love bears all things, believes all things, and hopes all things. I call you to believe again that God can reach your wandering children. Don’t stop sharing the gospel and your own heart with them. Keep your heart open.
Spouse, I urge you too. Do not be cynical about the problems in your marriage. I have heard of enough marriages be raised from the dead that I want you to believe again!
How
As I’m calling you to pursue relationships, I want you to hear that we are to do this in a God-centered way, not a man-centered, high bar type of way.
What is a man-centered (High bar) approach to conflict and repentance? It asks this question, “Did I say it well enough to cause you to respond?” We mistakenly think our words have the power to cause response or change.
But a God-centered approach to repentance and conflict asks this, “Is the Spirit powerful enough to produce a response, even repentance?” This question shows that we believe that the Spirit has the power.
The man-centered approach is deceptive, manipulative, and depressing. “I could ruin someone’s life if I don’t say it well enough.” Or “I have to keep on them and push and press and not let up.”
The God-centered approach, on the other hand, is both devastating and liberating. It produces an admission and a hope: “I can’t produce the response I want, but God may speak through my speaking. My pursuit could be the means God uses to seek and save the lost.”
When we have a God-centered approach to relationships, the precise placement of confidence is not in the people and it is not in your ability to pursue; your confidence is in the power of God. You go forward every step saying, “I believe in the Holy Spirit. God is able to bring them back. I don’t have to say it just right. He has life-altering, heart-changing power.”
I would add one thing. Trust should be earned. You don’t give your heart to untrustworthy people. I am not calling for young people to just give their heart away to just anyone. I’m not calling for parents to let a child molester babysit your child and leave saying, “I believe in the Holy Spirit.” That is irresponsibly testing God. Don’t give your money to someone that is not trustworthy in handling money saying, “I believe in the Holy Spirit.” I’m not calling you to be naïve. I am calling you to keep your heart open when God calls you to do so. Persevere in marriage. Persevere in parenting. Persevere in relationships in church that are hard.
Conclusion
The application focused on “who” and “how.” Let me close by talking about “why.” If the command is, “make room in your heart”, then disobedience would be doing the opposite, namely closing your hearts. Why would someone be tempted to close his or her heart? One reason might be something like this: “Look, I give up. Love is too difficult. If you open your heart to someone, you just give them a chance to hurt you. I am done trying.”
There are reactive closings and preemptive closings. Some close their hearts in response or in reaction to hurt they have experienced in the past. Others see the hurt around them and close their heart to protect themselves, as a preemptive measure. The thought is, “If I shut off my heart and hide it, then no one can hurt me. Better to just play it safe. Opening my heart is too risky.” I disagree. Playing it safe and keeping your heart closed is more deadly by far.
I plead with you. Don’t do it. If you do, you will get far less than you want. To keep your heart safe, you have to agree to let it die. When you stop loving, your heart stops living. A coffin is not a safe place to keep your heart. Listen to C. S. Lewis:
To love at all is to be vulnerable. Love anything and your heart will be wrung and possibly broken. If you want to make sure of keeping it intact you must give it to no one, not even an animal. Wrap it carefully round with hobbies and little luxuries; avoid all entanglements. Lock it up safe in the casket or coffin of your selfishness. But in that casket, safe, dark, motionless, airless, it will change. It will not be broken; it will become unbreakable, impenetrable, irredeemable. To love is to be vulnerable. The alternative to tragedy, or at least to the risk of tragedy, is damnation. The only place outside Heaven where you can be perfectly safe from all the dangers and perturbations of love is Hell. I believe that the most lawless and inordinate loves are less contrary to God’s will than a self-invited and self-protective lovelessness ... We shall draw nearer to God, not by trying to avoid the sufferings inherent in all loves, but by accepting them and offering them to Him; throwing away all defensive armour. If our hearts need to be broken, and if He chooses this as a way in which they should break, so be it. What I know about love and believe about love and giving ones heart began in this.—C.S. Lewis, The Four Loves, (p. 121)
I love what Lewis says here because he connects all relationships back to our most important relationship. Heaven or hell is hanging in the balance for some today. I don’t know what has happened in your life that has made you close your heart to God. Some of your hurt has probably been so painful that you are angry with God and have hardened your heart towards Him. Maybe you do not believe in God because your heart is closed due to fear, “I can’t give my heart to God. I can’t give up control. God may call me to give up something that I don’t want to give up. He may call me to go somewhere that I don’t want to go.”
But let me be very straightforward. Without God, the alternative to tragedy is damnation. The only place outside Heaven where you can be perfectly safe from love and all its dangers is Hell. The path to heaven is open to the open-hearted and invisible to the close-hearted. To avoid love is to find Hell. Closing your heart can be a highway to Hell.
But God’s perfect love casts out fear. You can entrust your heart to him. He is the only One who is faithful and perfectly trustworthy. If you come to Him, he will not cast you out. His death on the cross means that by faith, your sins are fully pardoned and fully paid for. He will not fail you if you give Him your heart. In fact, he himself, with his own peace, will guard your heart. “And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:7). As we sing, “Open the Eyes of My Heart Lord,” I want us to ask God for an outpouring of power and love. May forgiving, heart-opening power be poured out upon our church, each and every one of us. And may non-believers see Christ and be washed in his lavish love.