shine like lights

Phil. 2:14  “Do all things without grumbling or disputing;  15 so that you will prove yourselves to be blameless and innocent, children of God above reproach in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you appear as lights in the world,   16  holding fast the word of life, so that in the day of Christ I will have reason to glory because I did not run in vain nor toil in vain.”

As we consider today’s passage in our ongoing study of Philippians, it is a good idea to review the previous doctrine that Paul has presented thus far, in order to understand correctly what we are looking at today and be sure to keep it in the proper context. 

This section of scripture really begins when Paul tells us that Christ’s example of a servant’s attitude is to be our attitude as well.   He said in vs. 5, have this same mind,  have this same attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus.  So as Jesus humbled himself to be our servant and serve God, not seeking his own glory, so our attitude should be one of humility and service, as we present our bodies as a living sacrifice to God, which Romans 12 tells us is our reasonable service.

And furthermore, Paul says, not only did Christ have this attitude of humility and servitude, he says Christ was obedient to the will of God.  Again, Christ is our example.  We need to be obedient to the things God shows us in His Word.  That should indicate the necessity of knowing God’s Word.  How can we know the true God and know what He requires of us if we don’t know His Word?  Without that absolute truth, we end up fashioning a god in our own image, making an idol of our own creation, as we determine what we think God should be like, rather than learning what God actually is like.  The Word is the only authority for absolute truth.

In regards to this obedience, Paul reminds us in vs. 10 that one day every knee will bow, and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord.  And we discussed in great detail last time what the word Lord signified, not only to the Gentile, but also to the Jew.  In both cases, it meant that to confess Jesus as Lord meant being exiled in most cases from either the Jewish or Gentile communities.  It quite possibly meant the loss of one’s property, the loss of one’s job, the loss of one’s family, and even at times the loss of one’s life.  That’s why Paul makes the correlation in vs. 8  that Jesus was obedient  unto death, even the shame of a cross.  And again, Jesus is our example for us that would claim to be His disciples.  We go where He goes.  We pattern our lives after His life.  And as we confess Him as Lord, we bow our knees to His will and His purpose, not just in lip service, but in life service.

This life service is what vs. 12 is talking about, to work out, or live out our salvation, to live out the righteousness that God has put in us, and he adds the phrase, with fear and trembling.  Once again this idea of fearing God is a foreign concept to the modern day Christian.  After all, no one is afraid of Santa Claus. You may remember that during the Iraq War they had a phrase we heard on the news every night which was “shock and awe.”  And in some ways, this phrase fear and trembling makes me think of shock and awe.   During the Iraq War it meant that the army of Iraq trembled in fear of the overwhelming power and might of the United States military.  And I think to some degree that is what Paul is getting at here.  As we consider our salvation, as we consider the extent of Christ’s suffering and shame, as we consider the depths that Christ lowered himself to in order to serve as our substitute and sacrifice, then we should live out our salvation with an awe and reverence for the grace and mercy that has been bestowed on us.  We should consider our responsibility and stewardship that God has entrusted us with, with a healthy measure of fear and trembling. 

An illustration might be of a young man who had been given an apprenticeship with a well respected jeweler in NYC.  And this apprentice considered himself very fortunate to have obtained this job, for many people sought his employer’s expertise and craftsmanship, and his reputation was well known.  One day his employer called him into the office and showed him a special diamond, a gem of the greatest rarity which was worth a great fortune.  His employer had been called upon to cut and polish this very expensive diamond for a wealthy client and now that it was finished, he wanted the apprentice to carry it across town to a gold smith’s shop where it was to be mounted.  And so very carefully they wrapped up the stone, put it in a satchel and with a severe warning to be extremely careful, to not turn to the right or to the left but go straight and quickly to the destination, the young apprentice was sent out into the busy NYC streets.  And as he carefully yet quickly walked through the bustling streets and sidewalks of NYC, the young apprentice trembled in fear knowing the great value of what he carried, and the responsibility of what had been placed in his care. His journey took him past street vendors hawking all kinds of wares, but he wouldn’t turn aside to look at their merchandise.  He passed by restaurants emitting the appetizing aroma of tantalizing cuisine, but he kept pressing ahead.  He pushed through oppressive traffic and crowds and walked swiftly through the seedier areas of town where all sorts of temptations lurked on every street corner, calling out to him seductively, some even reaching out to him trying to pull him aside.  But the young man shrugged them off and hurried resolutely ahead. When he finally reached his destination and was able to safely deposit it in the waiting hands of the goldsmith, he felt a great sense of relief to have successfully carried out his duty.

Like the young apprentice, we too are given a treasure of great value, which was purchased at an incalculable price.  And the responsibility that we have been tasked with is a stewardship of this salvation, to take it out into the streets of this world, and live it out, to be the emissary of Jesus Christ himself.  We should fear lest we fail in this great commission, that somehow we become distracted by the amusements and the vendors on the streets.  We should fear we might not fulfill our sacred duty which  has been entrusted to us.  We tremble at the thought of failing in our mission.

The other night after everyone left our house at Bible study, I was talking to my wife and somehow we got on the topic of people who once were a part of our fellowship and now have fallen away.  They once were faithful.  They once were eager to hear the Word.  They once were learning and growing in their faith.  And yet today they are no longer with us.  Many of them no longer have anything to do with the Lord.  They became distracted by the enticements of the world.  They became distracted perhaps by a girlfriend or a boyfriend.  They became enticed by the desire for a career.  They were turned away by drugs or alcohol.  And they strayed away from the fellowship, strayed from God’s word, and eventually rejected the preaching of the truth and turned to an amusement, an enticement.  They turned away from the priceless treasure of salvation for a cheap bauble offered by a street vendor.  Jesus said in Mark 8:36  "For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world, and forfeit his soul?” 

This great stewardship of salvation should fill us with fear and trembling as we recognize that God has chosen us to be the vessels of His mercy, that He has entrusted us with the message of the gospel, that He has filled these jars of clay with nothing less than the treasure of the Spirit of God Himself, which now lives in us, working in us, conforming us to the image of Jesus Christ, as it says in vs. 13, His Spirit is now working in us to do HIS will, and to perform what pleases HIM.  That God would choose to do this in us is an amazing thing, and it should be a humbling thing, and it should fill us with fear and trembling at the awesome responsibility that we have been given to live out this great salvation.

Now having that understanding of the preceding verses, we now come to our text which follows logically upon the prior verses.  Having then this great responsibility, this awesome stewardship, having been entrusted with such a great salvation, Paul says in verse 14, “do all things without grumbling or disputing...”  Which begs the question, do what things?  And it simply refers back to those righteous responsibilities that are part of living out your salvation, of working your salvation out to the world.  It says, all the things that God has entrusted you with, as you work them out, do them without grumbling or disputing. 

And those are a couple of interesting words.   Grumbling can also be interpreted as murmuring.  Whispering.  Muttering under your breath.  It was a word that was often used in reference to the tribe of Israel when Moses brought them out of the land of Egypt.  They hadn’t  even crossed the Red Sea when they started complaining sarcastically to Moses that maybe there hadn’t been any graves in Egypt, so he had taken them into the wilderness to die.  Then once God had opened up the Red Sea for them and destroyed the following Egyptian army, they quickly forgot that and started complaining and murmuring and grumbling again against God and Moses.  It was the pattern of their life.  They grumbled about the food God provided, they murmured they were thirsty, they complained about Moses leadership, and even whined to Aaron that Moses was spending too much time on the mountain with God.  And Numbers 21:5 tells us that God called this murmuring sin and eventually punished them for it by sending fiery serpents among them. So then murmuring is a sinful, emotional, gut level complaint about the circumstances God has chosen for your life and the requirements He has for your conduct.

We need to remember that sometimes God allows difficulties to come into our lives for His purposes.  Verse 13 just finished telling us that God is working in you for His will and His purposes, and now when He does so, who are we to complain that everything is not working out like we would like? 1Peter 4:12 tells us;            “Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal among you, which comes upon you for your testing, as though some strange thing were happening to you; but to the degree that you share the sufferings of Christ, keep on rejoicing, so that also at the revelation of His glory you may rejoice with exultation.”

 We need to remember that Romans 8:28 tells us that God uses all things, good and bad, for His purposes, and ultimately for our good.  It may not always be fun or enjoyable at the moment, but we need to remember that God is working  out His will in our life.  He is in control and we shouldn’t grumble against that.

And the second word is disputing which comes from the Greek word dialogismos.  It is the root of our word dialogue.  It means to argue, debate, discuss with God the reasoning behind His will.  Arguing with God over what He has given us to do.  Trying to debate with Him to get Him to change His mind or His will.  It means a questioning of God’s will and purposes in your life.  Why do I have to be single?  Why do I have to endure this hardship?  Why have you allowed me to go through this difficulty?  It’s an attitude of discontentment.  Hardly the attitude that Christ had as He considered the cross, is it?  Jesus prayed, “not my will, but your will be done.”

So whatever circumstances I find myself in, as a Christian I need to recognize that God has in His sovereign will put me in this place of duty, in this position of service and I must bear up under the burden of hardship or difficulty or trial and trust God to work it out and work in me that which is pleasing to Him.  For instance, perhaps God has chosen you to be single.  It’s not something that is easy, especially in this modern culture.  It is a difficult place where God has put you.  It’s lonely, it’s painful.  And yet God has placed you there for His purpose.  For His pleasure.  And as a consequence you are perhaps more devoted to Him than you would be if you were married.  You provide a special service to Him that others cannot provide.  So what a shame to spend your life murmuring or complaining against God’s will for you to be single.  What a shame to waste your life in disputing God’s will and try to get Him to change His mind.  And you can substitute any number of other circumstances in place of the word single.  Like sick, like cancer, like poor, like jobless, or wherever God has placed you, don’t complain.  God has His purpose, and thank God that He has considered you worthy to suffer if necessary for His name sake.

I am ashamed to confess that I am guilty of the sin of grumbling and disputing with God about this place that He has put me in to serve.  I complain about everything, from the snail’s pace traffic on 26, to the climate, to the way the wind changes on a whim, to the lack of consistent surf, to the lack of commitment to the fellowship, to the lack of appreciation for the preaching of the  Word of God.  I grumble and complain all the time.  And lately I have found that it has affected my attitude, and I am often disgruntled.  I realize that I am grateful that God has even chosen me for service in any measure.  I don’t deserve to be chosen for service for God.  But He has given me a very great honor in giving me the opportunity to serve him, no matter how small the congregation, no matter what the cost of service.  I should be honored to serve Him.  God has convicted me to stop complaining and start conforming to the attitude of Jesus Christ and follow the pattern of His service.

As hard as it might be for us to see at the moment, many times God allows us to suffer so that we might be a greater testimony for Christ.  Vs. 15 tells us that this is “so that you will prove yourselves to be blameless and innocent, children of God above reproach in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you appear as lights in the world.”  Even though our circumstances may be difficult, we endure them without sinning in murmuring or disputing God, but submitting to His will, so that we might be a testimony to the world.  I said last Wednesday that as Christians we are either being an example or an excuse.  An example of Christ that others can follow or  an excuse, an excuse not to take Christianity so seriously.  An excuse that we’re all just a bunch of hypocrites.  You’re either an example or excuse.

And just look quickly at how Paul uses three different words to describe basically the same thing.  He says in our example we are to be “blameless, innocent, and above reproach.”  I think the idea is that of the sacrificial lamb in the OT.  It was to be spotless, without blemish.  Now the lamb was a picture of Jesus Christ; the sinless, blameless, above reproach, sacrificial lamb that takes away the sins of the world.  But as Christ was, so are we to be.  “Have the same mind in you that was in Christ Jesus.”  He is our example and we are to follow his pattern.

Now concerning this testimony to the world.  Paul describes the world as “a crooked and perverse generation.”  And I don’t think that there was ever a time when this statement was more true than it is today.  Even an unbeliever must see that the world is a perverse place, a place where right is called wrong, and light is called darkness.  It seems the world is completely upside down lately.  I can’t help but believe that Christ is coming back soon. Isaiah 5:20 “Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; Who substitute darkness for light and light for darkness; Who substitute bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter!”

And that is the state of the world.  The world is in darkness.  2 Tim.2:26  says the world is in the snare of the devil, and they are enslaved by him to do his will.   But for those that are Christians, Paul says we are to shine like lights in the darkness.  This is our testimony to the lost world.  As Christ was the light of the world, so we are to reflect that light to the world as well.  You know, the most effective witness to the world is our changed lives.  Our testimony, how we live and how we act, speaks much more loudly than our words do. 

Jesus said in Mat 5:14  "You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden;  nor does anyone light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house.  Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.”  Listen, it’s a whole lot easier to make converts than it is to make disciples.  Making disciples means that someone has to follow you around at work, or follow you around on the weekend, or whatever.  A disciple watches you, and sees what you’re doing and how you do it.  And folks, that is what we are commissioned to do.  Not just have great big altar calls and see a bunch of people come forward swept along on an emotional tide, but to individually disciple people to become followers of us, and in the process become followers of Christ.  Now that’s a tall order, but that’s our orders.

Then finally the last verse,  vs. 16 tells us in this process of being a shining light to the world by living out our salvation to the world, Paul says in that process to “hold fast the word of life, so that in the day of Christ I will have reason to glory because I did not run in vain nor toil in vain.”  Now why does Paul throw that in there?  I believe it is because we need to keep a strong grip on the Word of God.  It is the absolute truth in a world without absolutes.  It is the key to being obedient to God’s will.  It is the power of God unto salvation for the world.  And more and more, as it has always been, it is the thing most under attack by the enemy.  

In our Wednesday evening study of 1 Timothy, Paul warned Timothy in chapter one of false teachers who would stray from the truth and end up suffering shipwreck in their lives.  And this is a constant concern of the Apostle Paul for the Christian.  If Satan can get you to stray away from God’s word, then he can get you to stray away from the truth, and the omission of that small, seemingly insignificant detail of our busy Christian lives has the effect of a ship’s captain that sets a course just one degree of his course.  At first, he may not see a big change of direction, but eventually it leads to destruction.  They soon find their lives on the rocks, shipwrecked in regards to their faith, and especially in regards to their testimony. 

Satan would love to see you suffer shipwreck in your faith, ladies and gentlemen.  And his first strategy is always to get you to abandon the Word of God.  Paul says “Hold fast the Word of God.”  Hold fast is a term that means tie your ship securely, to set your anchor in a way that it will not move.  Hold fast.  Stand firm in your commitment to keep the Word of God the main thing in your Christian walk.  So that in the day that Jesus Christ returns, the day when Christ will judge the living and the dead, the righteous and the unrighteous, in that day, we will be found not to have run in vain or toil in vain.

Yes, the place where God has placed you to serve may be tough. You may not see a lot of earthly rewards now.  But Jesus is coming back.  And one day, whether we are alive or dead, we will be raised incorruptible.  And we will all stand before the judgment seat of Christ.  In that day, I hope that I will find that I have not run in vain or toiled in vain.  That Jesus might say to me on that day, “'Well done, good and faithful slave. You were faithful with a few things, I will put you in charge of many things; enter into the joy of your master.”  I pray that you will find Him saying that to you as well.  That you were faithful to perform your service to him in a way that brought glory and honor to Jesus Christ. 

One of the things I’ve always liked most about the Christmas season is around Christmas Eve we go for a drive in the car and look at Christmas lights.  Something about the lights on a dark sky look beautiful.  And I think it’s cool how even the humblest little house or trailer can look really beautiful when they decorate it all up with lights.   This world is a dark place, but God has given us the job of being a light to the world, shining as an example of Jesus Christ.  This season, let your light so shine before men in such a way as to bring honor and glory to Jesus Christ.  Live in such a way so that others will be drawn by your light to Christ.