Did You Shine This Past Week

"Did You Shine This Past Week?"

11:00 2/5/93 Psalm 27:1-6 Matt 5:13-16 Text Philipp. 2:12-18

.ls2

Most of us like to look good. We like for our shoes to

shine, our cars to shine, our words to be polished and we want

our hair in place. We want others to give us that nod of approval

that that brother or sister has got it together. At age 16 we

think everybody is looking at us. At age 30, we hope the right

kind of people are looking at us. At age 60, we realize that

most of the people didn’t even know we were there.

My friends, there is nothing wrong with looking good, and you

ought to want to look good because your looks say something about

your faith in God. The problem comes in that we often spend the

most time trying to look our best, in areas that ultimately don’t

really matter. You see its possible to be of great beauty in

appearance and yet be very ugly in one’s soul or attitude. We

have all met very beautiful people who shine on the outside, yet

we want nothing to do with them because of the ugliness that the

beauty covers over.

Jesus said in our New Testament reading, to let our lights

shine. How well did your light shine for Jesus this past week?

Were you like the brightness of the sun in the noon day sky, were

you like the moon illuminating the night, were you like candle

glowing in the darkness? Or were you more like a flashlight with

a battery so weak, at best it flickered before going blank, Did

you spend more time shining up your outward or inward appearance?

Our text this morning continues in our study of the book of

Philippians starting at chapter 2:14. Please turn there with me

in your bibles. Philippians 2:14 "Do everything without complain

ing or arguing," This one verse alone, determines what type of

shine we carry in our homes, our church, our job, and our commu

nity. Everything means everything. Is God serious, does he

really expect us to go through life without complaining and

arguing? Yes? This is a totally new gospel.

Do you realize that if we obey this one verse, some of us

are going to have to wipe out 90% of our conversation. We have

made complaining and arguing a way of life. Do you realize that

one of the easiest things in the world to find is fault? We can

find fault with our children, our spouses, our relatives, our

pastors, our bosses, our employees and even folks we do not know.

Anybody can find fault to complain. But saints fault finding

without suggesting for improvement is a waste of your time, and

whoever’s time you’re complaining to about something.

A Missouri woman complained that she was married fifteen

years ago by a Justice of the Peace, and since that time she has

had neither justice nor peace. Some people complain because God

put thorns on roses, while others praise God for putting roses

among the thorns. Happiness may turn up in our lives when we

stop complaining about the troubles we have, and offer thanks for

all the troubles we don’t have.

This is a bible verse that we can all memorize and carry it

around in our hearts. We will get the opportunity to practice it

before we leave the church today. I confess that I need a lot of

help with this little verse when one of my kids give me a test

paper that’s a lot closer to an F and than it is an A. I need to

remember it when we vote to do something, and then only a few

people show up to do the work. I need to remember it when I tell

my wife something and she forgets that I told her. Especially

when she is 100% certain I never told her, but I know that I did.

God is telling us to live our lives for Him, without com

plaining about the hardships that come about as a result. You

see when Jesus said come follow me, he did not say it was going

to be easy. It’s not easy living with folks who just constantly

stir up trouble, get on our nerves, or just aggravate to aggra

vate. Then we discover that that’s what others are saying about

us.

As Christians, we must constantly be aware of why we do what

we do. We are called to be single minded in our motivations in

life. There is but one single purpose. It’s found in Colossians

3:17 "And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in

the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father