SHINING AS STARS
Philippians 2:12-16
READING THE STARS
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Long before our culture had such things as a map, an atlas, or GPS, people used to look to the sky for directions. Not because they were praying to God to help them find their way after they got lost, but to look at the stars. For many centuries the stars in the sky have been used for navigation.
Sailors out at sea would look up at the stars, find a constellation, a group of stars, and by knowing what day it was, they could look at a chart and see what part of the sky that particular constellation should be in. By using this information sailors would know which direction they needed to point the ship.
Even farmers had a use for reading the stars. In some parts of the world there is not much difference between the seasons, and long before calendars became so prevalent, farmers needed a way to tell which season was which, so they knew when to plant their crops.
There is a danger in putting too much importance on the stars, though. Many of the constellations were named after the mythical Greek gods or the signs of the zodiac calendar. This is a problem for some people today, and it has been a problem for centuries.
DEUTERONOMY 4:19
19) And take heed, lest you lift your eyes to heaven, and when you see the sun, the moon, and the stars, all the host of heaven, you feel driven to worship them and serve them, which the LORD your God has given to all the peoples under the whole heaven as a heritage.
When Moses wrote this book people were having a problem putting too much importance on the stars. People were beginning to worship the stars as if they were gods.
But, even though some of the images these constellations represent are not scriptural, God did put the stars in the sky. He did create them. And after doing so, He said that they were good. They were good for man. They were good for our use.
GENESIS 1:14-19
14) Then God said, "Let there be lights in the firmament of the heavens to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs and seasons, and for days and years;
15) and let them be for lights in the firmament of the heavens to give light on the earth"; and it was so.
16) Then God made two great lights: the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night. He made the stars also.
17) God set them in the firmament of the heavens to give light on the earth,
18) and to rule over the day and over the night, and to divide the light from the darkness. And God saw that it was good.
19) So the evening and the morning were the fourth day.
We need to put stars in their proper place, as a creation of God, and a tool that could be used, but not worshipped.
SHINE AS STARS
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This morning I’ll be reading from Philippians chapter two. I’ll be reading verses twelve through sixteen. Here, Paul is writing to the church at Philippi, who he calls “saints” in chapter one. Paul is writing to the whole congregation in this letter, but I think what he has to say can also refer to each individual, and us as well.
To start, I’m actually going to begin with verses fourteen and fifteen, and I’ll be reading from the New International version.
PHILIPPIANS 2:14-15
14) Do all things without complaining and disputing,
15) that you may become blameless and harmless, children of God without fault in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world,
Paul is telling the people of the church at Philippi how they could shine like stars. When I saw this verse, on the first Sunday of the Two-Week Meeting, I really liked the wording. and I was intrigued by it and I wanted to find out what it meant to “shine like a star.”
The verses on either side of verse fifteen tell us what Paul told the Philippians how they could do it, and also how we can do it.
WHEN IS A STAR NOT A STAR?
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Sometimes we may look into the sky and see a really bright shining object. Our first thought is that it is a star, an extra bright star. But then the star flickers off, and then comes back on, then flickers off again. And then we realize that we were not really looking a star, but an airplane.
Or, from time to time we can actually see some of the other planets in our solar system, without the use of a telescope. When this happens usually the newspaper or the TV news will be sure to tell people that Mars will be visible on certain night. Or it could be Venus, or Saturn, or one of the other planets.
Just because there is something bright in the sky and it looks like a star, it doesn’t mean that it’s a star. Sometimes even if we seem to be shining as stars, we may not actually be stars. Occasionally we may be seeing a planet that is really bright, so bright that it seems like a star.
As Christians we may be mistaken for stars when we’re really planets. We may try to look like a Christian, when we are really just putting on a show, acting the way we are supposed to when people are around, but not really believing in what we are doing.
PHILIPPIANS 2:12(a)
12) Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence,
Most likely all of us from time to time have tried to get away with something when our parents were away.
Whenever the authority figures in our lives in gone, we feel that we are free to do things that we normally wouldn’t do if they were there.
As Christians we make bad decisions. Why? Do we think we’ll get away with it? Do we think that God will just laugh? No, He wouldn’t. We know He will be angry, disappointed, with our behavior, but we make these bad decisions anyway.
These saints at the church at Philippi that God was talking to obeyed when Paul was with them. They obeyed when the authority figure was with them. But this group of Christians also obeyed when Paul was absent, when he was away, when they were alone.
Paul says, “but now much more in my absence.”
These people obeyed even more when Paul was away. Why? Paul couldn’t see them. Paul wouldn’t know what they were doing.
Because Paul wasn’t their authority figure. Paul wasn’t the one who would punish them. Paul was an apostle of the authority figure.
God is the authority figure. And God is always watching. God knows what we do, what say and even what we think.
The church at Philippi understood that, and obeyed God. We understand that, too, but still, from time to time, we don’t obey.
GENESIS 3:8-10
8) And they heard the sound of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God among the trees of the garden.
9) Then the LORD God called to Adam and said to him, "Where are you?"
10) So he said, "I heard Your voice in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; and I hid myself."
We cannot hide from God. He sees everything we do.
If we want to shine like stars, we first need to obey. Obviously we are not going to be able to obey all the time, we will fall, we will give in to temptation.
But I think how we fail is important. When we have a definite choice to make, and when we know that God is watching, but we choose to do the sin, instead of what is right.
Instead we should pray to Him. If He’s watching, then He’s listening. And He will help us. He will give us strength.
EXERCISE IS HEALTHY
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One thing that is important for us to do to remain healthy physically is to exercise. It is important to build up our muscles to make them stronger so that they are in better shape, less prone to injury.
If we want to be healthy spiritually, if we want to shine as a star, we also need to exercise, we need work out.
PHILIPPIANS 2:12(b)
12) work out your own salvation with fear and trembling;
Paul says here that we need to “work out.” Paul is telling us to “work out” our own salvation. This doesn’t mean “working for” our salvation. That would be salvation by means of our own efforts. Which we cannot do.
EPHESIANS 2:8-9
8) For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God,
9) not of works, lest anyone should boast.
So what does Paul mean when he commands us to “continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling?”
The key that unlocks the door to this question can be found in the words “work out.” In the original, the word means, “working something to completion.” To work out our salvation with fear and trembling is to complete that which was already begun by the person and work of Christ on the cross. Since salvation is a gift, we must be good stewards of the gift of salvation that Christ already has given us purchased by His own blood.
CHANGE THE LAMPSHADE
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Consider this, you come home from church one evening, flip on the light switch as we enter our house and the light briefly comes on and then flashes off real quick. Do we think to ourselves, “oh no, now I need to change the light cover?” Or, “Great, now I’m going to get a new lampshade?”
No, why not? With most of the lights in our house it looks like the light is coming from the lampshade or the glass dome or ball hanging down from the ceiling. So, that must be where the light is coming from, right?
No, obviously the light comes from the light bulb that is inside the light cover or the lampshade. Even though it looks like the light is coming from them, the source of the light is actually within them.
PHILIPPIANS 2:13
13) for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure.
If we want to shine like a star, we need to have light inside us. We need to have The Light inside us. And that light comes from Jesus, because Jesus is the true Light.
JOHN 8:12
12) Then Jesus spoke to them again, saying, "I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life."
2 CORINTHIANS 4:5-6
5) For we do not preach ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord, and ourselves your bondservants for Jesus' sake.
6) For it is the God who commanded light to shine out of darkness, who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.
It is God who gives us the light to shine. We can only shine when He is inside us.
In fact, the light cover or lampshade only makes the light a little dimmer. They diminish the brightness of the light.
We can never shine as bright as God, even with Him in our lives, we are still sinners, and will always dim His light.
GALATIANS 2:20
20) I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.
DARKNESS ALL AROUND US
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When we look up at the stars, what do we see all around the stars? Darkness
The stars shine brightest when the sky around it is the darkest.
We live in a world that is very dark.
COLOSSIANS 1:13-14
13) He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love,
14) in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins.
1 THESSALONIANS 5:5
5) You are all sons of light and sons of the day. We are not of the night nor of darkness.
We live in a dark world, and if we want to stand out as Christians we need to shine. Like the members of the Philippi church.
PHILIPPIANS 2:14-15
14) Do all things without complaining and disputing,
15) that you may become blameless and harmless, children of God without fault in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world,
According to this, another step that we need to take if we want to shine is that we need to become blameless and pure, children of God in a crooked and depraved, or perverse, world.
The darker the world is around us, the brighter we will shine. We will draw attention to ourselves. Like the stars in the sky, people will look at us.
Sometimes it may not be comfortable attention, and we may feel like an outcast.
But in order for us to shine, we must stand out.
Sometimes we see stars in the sky that just don’t seem as bright. We have to struggle a little bit to see them. And even still, they aren’t very clear.
We shouldn’t want to have people struggle to see that we’re Christians, least of all God. We want God to see us shining as bright as we possibly can.
HANG IN THERE
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Have you seen that picture, or in some cases a poster, of the little kitten hanging onto a tree branch by only its front legs and paws? There is a saying on this picture that says, “Hang In There.”
In order to shine like a star, we need to hang in there. We need to hang on to our faith. We need to hang on to the light within us.
In the book of Joshua, the twenty-second chapter, Joshua is talking to the some of the tribes as they are done fighting for the Promised Land, tells them in verse five.
JOSHUA 22:5
5) But take careful heed to do the commandment and the law which Moses the servant of the LORD commanded you, to love the LORD your God, to walk in all His ways, to keep His commandments, to hold fast to Him, and to serve Him with all your heart and with all your soul."
One of the last things that Joshua told God’s people as they were about to leave and go out on their own was to keep God’s commandments, walk in His ways and HOLD FAST to Him. And one way to do that is to serve Him with all of our heart and all of our soul.
As we go out on our own, as we live our lives in that dark world, we need to HOLD FAST to God, and serve Him with all our heart and all our soul.
Paul tells the congregation at Philippi that they need to hold forth to the word of life.
PHILIPPIANS 2:16
16) holding fast the word of life, so that I may rejoice in the day of Christ that I have not run in vain or labored in vain.
We are to hang on to the Word of Life. Why? Why do we need to hang on to it? Because it may be taken away.
We are in a battle with the devil, and he would love to take away the light that we have inside us. He wants us to live in darkness with him.
Like the verse in the song “This Little Light of Mine,” don’t let Satan blow your light out. Don’t let him take it away from us. We need to hang onto it.
HEBREWS 10:19-25
19) Therefore, brethren, having boldness to enter the Holiest by the blood of Jesus,
20) by a new and living way which He consecrated for us, through the veil, that is, His flesh,
21) and having a High Priest over the house of God,
22) let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.
23) Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful.
24) And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works,
25) not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching.
We can read here that we are to hold unswervingly, without wavering, with no hesitation, to the hope that we have in God’s promise. Why, because He is faithful. But, before we do that, we need to draw near to Him.
And then Paul talks about encouraging one another. It is important that we do not just focus on ourselves. We need to help our brothers and sisters shine as well. By helping others, and by meeting together, we will get a better hold on the word of God, and then we will have a better opportunity to shine.
A DEAD STAR CAN STILL SHINE
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From what I understand, some of those stars we see in the sky are actually dead. They have burnt out many, many years ago.
But because they are so far away, the light we are still seeing is still traveling towards us.
There are many brothers and sisters in our lives who have passed on before us. And while they were living they shined like a star. And even though they are gone, we can still see their light, and we can still be guided by that light. The influence they had on our lives and the lives of the people we fellowship will still guide us today, even though they are no longer with us.
Do you want to be a light that shines on not only in your life, but also after your life, so that your example will shine on for years and years, guiding others so that they can shine as well.
One of the first steps that we must take to bring Jesus into our lives so that we can have that shine is to accept Him as our Savior. This morning I would like to invite anyone who feels that they need Jesus in their life to come forward as we stand and sing.
