Jump Start # 414 

2 Corinthians 7:2 “Make room for us in your hearts; we wronged no one, we corrupted no one, we took advantage of no one.”

  Paul in this section of second Corinthians is having to defend himself and his role as an apostle against some false charges and accusations. His credibility was at stake. If they questioned his role, they were certainly not going to listen to his message.

  I like the opening expression of this passage, “Make room for us in your hearts.” Sometimes a person can act as if there is just no more love that they can give—there is no more room. New members of a church can feel isolated, not accepted and as if there isn’t any more room for them in the hearts of the people.

  God made our hearts expandable. Ask any mother. How is it that she can love all her children and love them equally—that’s just the way our hearts our. God made our hearts to be modeled after His—and He has room to love the whole world.

  It may be that the Corinthians didn’t want to love Paul because they felt he wasn’t deserving. This is why we find the expressions, “we wronged no one, we corrupted no one, we took advantage of no one.” They didn’t have a reason not to love.

  Sometimes we can act like girls in middle school (my apologies to middle school girls) – they seem to be into cliques, and who likes who, and who is my best friend this week and those who aren’t included in the inner circle are ignored, made to eat at another lunch table and so forth. Some of you remember that. Some of you are dealing with middle school girls now and you know what it is like. The same can happen among adults, in the church. It’s ugly. Feelings get hurt and often a family leaves over such things.

  Make room for us in your heart. That’s the answer. Make room for us as you invite people over. Make room for us as you talk with others after services. Make room for us. And the reason is because we are related through Jesus, we belong to the same spiritual family, we are after the same thing and believe it or not, we need each other.

  Making room for each other will keep us from talking about each other—that kills gossip. Making room for each other will help us realize that everyone is needed—that kills the superiority image and an arrogant attitude. Making room for everyone is the way of Christ. Jesus was with the Pharisees, but He was also with tax collectors, and lepers and the “unclean.” The Pharisees didn’t have room for “those kinds of people” in their hearts. Jesus did. When we start remembering these things, it will occur to you that Jesus made room in His heart for US. Look at us! We’re not varsity material. We not the best—He makes us the best, but that’s because He made room for US in His heart.

  One of our kids moved back home the other day—he has one year of college left and it made the best sense to do that. He’s been living in apartments for nearly 4 years. He has a lot of stuff. We had to make room. I’m glad he’s here. I like having him around. And that’s what happens when you make room in your heart for someone else—it may take some work at first to find a way to fit the person in, but once you’ve made the room, it’s great.

  Look about your world—is there someone at work no one talks to unless they have to? Can you make room for that person in your heart? How about someone in the neighborhood. Maybe there’s that one neighbor no one really likes—got any room for him in your heart? And especially, in the church. Everyone has room for the preacher, but how about the teenager? How about the person who is lacking social skills? Or the person that seems a bit odd to everyone else? Got any room for that person?

  There was slogan a while back that said, “Got Milk?” That’s been used for many things and it even works here—Got ROOM? Give it a try. You’ll find you have more room than you think and it will make all the world to the person you’ve invited into your heart.

Roger