Shining Lights

Philippians 2:12–18

What does it look like to follow Jesus in a world that often feels dark, divided, and confused? In Philippians 2, Paul reminds us that the Christian life is meant to be seen. God is at work in us so that His work can shine through us. We are called to live it out, stand out, and pour it out—living differently, holding fast to God’s Word, and giving our lives for what matters eternally. Wherever God has placed us, He has called us to shine.

Transcript

Copy Transcript Copied

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Thank you, praise team. Amen. We're going to dismiss the kids, the kids' connection here at this time. Wanted to say thank you so much, my brother Pastor Mark, who preached in my place while I was gone and did a great job. I heard he brought the fear of God in all of you last week. So that is great. Thanks for doing it, Pastor Mark. And thanks for letting our family get away and take a vacation up north. It was a great time exploring up north and trying all these different things. We saw waterfalls, a lot of biking on islands and waterfalls and all kinds of trails for mountain biking. And it was a great time. And uh we definitely tried our fair share of pasties. And I have to say, Phil and Roxanne, they still got the best pasti in Michigan, in our opinion. So praise God for those pasties. Yes. Amen. Well, hey, we're continuing the series in the book of Philippians. If you have your Bibles, we're going to be in Philippians chapter 2. And before we get started, I want us to pray that today's title, today's message is Shining Lights. Father, we thank you that you sent your one only Son. We thank you. You gave us the gift of the Holy Spirit for those who receive Him as Lord and Savior. And Father, I pray today that we would be shining lights. Every aspect of our lives and every situation you put us through, may we look at those as opportunities to shine our lights for you. Holy Spirit, we invite you to move through this space and convict us of sin and draw us near to you. And Father, I pray that you would be glorified in what we say today. And may your word speak to us and help us change. And all God's people said. Amen. So looking at growing up, I had six sisters and one brother. So we are definitely outnumbered. And being a middle child, I always thought it was my life mission to help my siblings overcome their fears. So my brother had come to me who was younger than me, and he said, Matt, I want you to know my biggest fear is darkness. I was like, oh, interesting. And I knew we had this interesting Michigan basement, like many of you are familiar with. And so I thought to myself, I'm going to help this one overcome his fear. And so he followed me downstairs, and we went down to our Michigan basement, and he said, Why is there chair ropes here? Because I'm going to tie you up, young brother. I'm going to tie you up. So I tied him up on that chair. I ran up the stairs, turned the light off, and I left him down in the basement. And I come back in the look of fear on his face. He no longer feared the dark, he feared me. You don't overcome darkness by simply learning to become comfortable with it. You overcome the darkness by turning on the lights. And I wonder if sometimes Christians make the same mistake. We live in a world that Paul describes as a crooked and twisted generation. And temptation can be slowly adjusting our eyes to the darkness, and we start thinking a little bit of darkness is normal. Our eyes start to get accustomed to it. They accommodate to it. We get used to seeing darkness. And eventually things that once bothered us, they don't bother us anymore. But Paul doesn't tell Christians to get comfortable in darkness. He says, Amone you, you shall shine like lights in this world. The answer to darkness isn't more darkness, the answer is light. And Jesus has placed you exactly where you are. Not to blend in, not to just look like nothing in the darkness, but to shine in every aspect of your life, to shine out for Him. And darker the environment becomes, the more noticeable the light becomes. And so if you're taking notes, we're going to be looking at Philippians chapter 2. We're continuing that series. And the first point is this: live it up. Live it out. Live it out. In Philippians 2 and verse 12. Therefore, my beloved, as you've always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence, but much more in my absence, work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure. So Paul begins with this important word. He says, Therefore, that connects directly what we saw. Before Pastor Mark spoke, we we talked about what Jesus chose to do. The way up was the way down, and we saw how Jesus went further and further down as he served, as he became obedient to the Father, as he became obedient even to the point of death and death on a cross. And so Paul says, because this is who Jesus is, because this is what Jesus has done, now live like someone who belongs to him. Paul says, work out your salvation. Work out your salvation. Notice he doesn't say, he doesn't work for your salvation. He says, work out your salvation. There's this huge difference. We're not saved because we work. We are saved because Jesus did the work for us. Praise God this morning. Ephesians 2, verses 8 through 9 says, For by grace you have been saved through faith. And it's not of your own doing, it is a gift of God, not a result of work, so that no one may boast. So it's saying salvation, it's this gift. You can't earn it, you can't achieve it, and you cannot have your way in just doing good things to get to heaven. Jesus did for us what we could never do ourselves. I love what Martin Luther said about this back in the Reformation days. He says, faith is a work of God in us, which changes us. That's exactly what Paul's talking about. God saved us by grace. His grace doesn't leave us unchanged. So when Paul says work out your salvation, he's saying, let what God has done in you begin to show through you. Let what God has done in you begin to show through you. And so Jesus has forgiven you, therefore you forgive other people. Jesus was gracious with you, therefore you're gracious to other people. Jesus loved you first, and therefore you can now love others. Jesus chose humility, and we now choose to serve just as he did in serving others. Martin Luther also said this genuine faith cannot be separated from works any more than a burning and shining from a fire. They go hand in hand. And eventually you see light, you're gonna see the fire. And Jesus is really changing our hearts. Eventually, you should begin to see something different in our lives. Not perfection, but growth. Salvation should become this thing that is visible. And notice something else that Paul says, not only in my presence, but much more in my absence. Paul says, You obeyed when I was there. Now keep obeying when I'm gone, because anybody can behave differently when somebody is watching. It's pretty funny when you're on the road and you're driving and you see a police officer on the road. You know exactly where I'm going. All of a sudden you find yourself, your posture in your seat has gotten better, and driving one hand, now you're driving with two hands, and you're driving down the road, your blinkers on three miles before you even take a turn, and you're going exactly the speed limit, you're doing exactly everything you could do because you know the police officer is watching you, you become one of the safest drivers in Michigan. It's true, because somebody is watching, and Paul says, don't let your faith look like that. Don't be that person on Sunday and be something different on Monday. He says, the real question is, who am I when only God is watching? What are you doing? And that's where faith becomes real. Young people in the room, that's when faith becomes your own. What do you do when nobody else is watching but God? Is your faith truly your own? Then Paul says, work out your salvation with fear and trembling. That doesn't mean that we're terrified that God might throw you away. It means that God works a work in your life seriously. When God convicts you, you don't ignore him. You respond to him. When God corrects you, you listen to God. When God tells you to forgive, you forgive. When God exposes something, you don't just keep saying, Well, that's just the way that I am. Because God is in the business of changing who we are. And verse 13 gives us the encouragement, for it is God who works in you. This is not try harder, become a better Christian. Paul says God Himself is the one that is working in you. God changes your desires, he changes priorities. And Paul says he works both to will and to work. In other words, God changes the want to and gives us the power to. Maybe you're feeling convicted about the way you've been speaking. And maybe you become hungry for God's word all of a sudden. Maybe you're noticing people you could actually serve because God changes the want to and gives us the power to do. So here's the question: What is God working in me that I need to start living out? I have to live out my faith. What is God working in me that I need to start living out? What are we ignoring Him with that the Spirit's trying to tell us to do? Maybe it's our temper, maybe it's the words that we say. Don't leave saying, I just need to be a better Christian. It's too vague. Ask God, Lord, what is one thing that you're changing in me you want me to obey you this week with? Because he wants you to do something. Because Christianity isn't me trying harder for God, it's God working in me as I surrender more of myself to him. We work out because God is working in. And when God is doing in us, starts showing through us, people notice. And that's where Paul goes next. He says we need to live it out. Number two, we need to stand out. We need to live it out, and we need to stand out. We're not to blend in, we are to stand out in Philippians 2 and verse 14. It says, Do all things without grumbling or questioning, that you may be blameless and innocent children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation among whom you shine as lights in the world, holding fast to the word of life, so that in the day of Christ I may be proud, I did not run in vain or labor in vain. So Paul has just told us he live it out. And now he's telling us you gotta stand out. Stand out. Not because we're trying to draw attention to ourselves, not because Christians are supposed to walk around and say, hey, look at me, I'm better than everybody else. That's not what he's saying. We stand out because Jesus begins changing our life. D. L. Moody says, we are told to let our light shine. And if it does, we won't need to tell anybody it does. Simple but true. You know, when we were up north, we saw all kinds of lighthouses, and I didn't see any of them having a cannon next to them, shooting out cannons, saying, Look at me, I'm shining a light. They simply stand there and they shine a light to help sailors avoid danger. And Paul starts with something incredible here in verse 14. He says, do all things without grumbling or disputing. Anyone want to skip that section? Because Paul doesn't say do some things. He says, do all things. And we really get at complaining. We complain about the weather. Oh, it's too cold. Oh, it's too hot. Oh, I wish it wasn't raining. I wish it was raining. We come in, we uh complain about our jobs, traffic, oh, I wish I had a parking spot in Pentwater, but there's no more parking spots, right? Politic, politics, uh, politics, prices on different things in the grocery store, restaurants, schedules, the list goes on and on. Families, church, music. Oh, the temperature in the sanctuary. It's too cold. Oh, it's too hot. And somehow it's always the pastor's responsibility for both, right? It's just how it goes. But Paul says, do all things without grumbling or disputing. Why does Paul care so much about complaining? Because complaining isn't just an attitude problem, it becomes a witness problem. And I think in our culture, it's one of the most accepted things. We hear complaining on the news, we hear complaining all around us. And so, as Christians, oftentimes we can catch ourselves falling in that camp and we're blending in instead of shining out. What would happen if instead of complaining, we showed gratitude? I tell you right now, that's very different than what everyone else does in our culture. We would shine. Our witness isn't only what we say about Jesus, our witness is what people see Jesus doing in us. Are we grateful people? Are we the first one to go to doom and gloom? And Paul says we're living in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation. You know, I think that's interesting. Paul wrote these words 2,000 years ago. Apparently, they thought what they were going through was messed up. We look at our world and we think, wow, is this messed up? And they looked at the same thing and thought, crooked and twisted generation. Crooked gives us this picture of something that's bent, something that's moved from what was straight. I mean, you think about a builder putting a wall up. How does he know that that wall is straight? He needs some sort of standard to measure it against. I mean, I don't see any builders out there sitting back and saying, hey, Bill, yeah, you think that's straight? Yeah, straight enough. Except for the houses here in Pentwater, they're all kind of leaning a little bit, you know? I'm sure that's how they their standard is. Is that good? Yeah, it's good enough. Yep, next generation will deal with that one. You know? But they don't do that. There's a standard, there's a plumb line. They see what's straight, they determine whether the wall is crooked. And culture, I'll tell you this morning, is not the standard. My feelings is not the standard. Popular opinion is not the standard. Neither is social media or what everybody else is doing. God's word is the standard. And that's why Paul says in verse 16, holding fast to the word of life. Culture changes. Opinions, they change, values, they change, but God's word remains. And when the world around us becomes increasingly confused, which you've seen, you know what I'm talking about. The answer is not for Christians to become increasingly confused, too. We hold fast to the word of life. And here's where the picture of light becomes so powerful. Paul says, Among you, you shall shine as lights. Shine as lights in the world. You think about what light does. Light stands out different from its surroundings. A flashlight is not as noticeable in the afternoon, but when all the lights are gone, wow, you can see that flashlight. You can see it shining through the darkness. And the darker the environment, the more noticeable the light becomes. Maybe we're we're spending too much time discouraged by how dark the world is. And maybe we need to recognize that this is our moment to shine. Because the darker the world is, the more we get to shine. And the more we get to stand out. When everybody else is angry, we could be gracious. When everybody else gossips, we can speak life into other people. When everybody complains, we could be a church who gives thanks. That's what it means to stand out. You know, you don't have to walk in the workplace tomorrow with this giant Bible and say, hey, look at me, I'm shining my light. That's not what it's about. You just gotta live different. Live differently. Don't retaliate when someone wrongs you. Have joy when circumstances aren't ideal in your life. Be the person who brings peace into a room instead of more chaos. People will notice. That's what Jesus said in Matthew 5, 16 in the same way. Let your light shine before others. So they may see your good works and give glory to God who is in heaven. They'll see your good works, they'll give glory to God. That's important. We're not trying to make people impressed with us. We want people to see Jesus through us. And maybe one of the biggest dangers for Christians is that we can become known more about what we're against than what we actually hope in and profess. I mean, there's things we should stand up against, there's things we should defend, we should hold. But Paul says, while we're holding fast the truth, we should also be shining, shining our light, standing out. You know, we're a coast town, we're right on Lake Michigan. And I know that I've talked to other churches on the coast of Lake Michigan, and I've seen in this lighthouse, I'm sure you guys can tell me what coast this is. Grand Haven, right? And I know you know where I'm going with this. A family of six, ages five to fifteen. Tragic event. Where the father takes his kids and his spouse's life and takes his own and tries to burn the house to cover it all up. And you look at this family from the outside looking at you think everything's just fine. Everything's going great for this family. They look like they got it all of their lives put together. They live in a great subdivision. Nothing bad's gonna happen to this family. But darkness creeped in. And there's times where I've watched a story, just troubled by this horrific story, and thinking, what would have happened if the neighbors in that subdivision who knew Jesus decided to shine their light? What would have happened? How could that story have been different if they weren't so scared and standing out in front of other people in the culture and said, you know what? We're gonna shine bright, we're gonna live it out, and we're gonna stand out, we're gonna shine the light of Jesus. How different could that story have looked? They point people to Jesus. Where am I just starting to blend in because it's more convenient to blend in? Where have I gotten guilty and shining out my light? That's a harder question when what's wrong with the world? Because we're really good at answering that one. But Paul turns the spotlight towards us. Where have I started uh blending in? Maybe it's our attitude. I think complaining is one of the most accepted sins in the church and in this world. I complain right along with the other people. Oh, yeah, I'll complain with you about politics, I'll complain with you about the weather. It's an accepted sin in our culture. And what would it look like if we chose gratitude? How different would it look in those situations? Everybody gossips, so I'm just gonna join right in. I'm gonna blend. I'm gonna blend right in. How different would it look if instead of we gossiped, we spoke kindly of others? What would it look like? Where has God placed you in your life to shine? God's placed us in all different situations. Where does God placed you today to shine? Maybe it's that one difficult person. Instead of praying, God get me out of here, maybe it's praying, Jesus, shine through me here right now. Shine through me into this situation. We don't shine by telling people we're different, we shine by actually living differently. So we gotta live it out. We gotta stand out. So the apostle Paul's showing us in number three, and lastly, we gotta pour it out. Live it out, stand out, pour it out. Continuing the passage in Philippians 17, uh 2, verse 17. Even if I am to be poured out as a drink offering upon the sacrificial offering of your faith, I am glad and rejoice with you all. Likewise, you also be glad and rejoice with me. The book of joy. Joy in the journey. Right there, two verses. You see, rejoice, rejoice. Paul ends his section with this powerful picture. He says, Even if I am to be poured out. That phrase comes with this Old Testament sacrificial system, a drink offering that was poured out before God as an act of worship. And Paul looks at his own life and says, That's how I want to live. Poured out for Jesus. Paul isn't asking, How much can I get out of life? He's asking, how much of my life can I give to Jesus? How much of my life can I continually pour back out to him? And that's the completely opposite of our culture. Protect yourself. Get insurance for this and this and this and that. Protect everything that you have, all your possessions, preserve yourself, build your life, protect your comfort. And C.S. Lewis wrote this: nothing that you have not given away will ever truly be yours. Nothing that you have never not given away will truly be yours. I can't tell you how many families I've seen where their stuff owns them. All the mechanics of things that need to be poured into this because it just is on it's overwhelming. We have to give it away. Instead of holding on, like the world says, Lewis also said in his book, Mere Christianity, give up yourself and you will find your real self, lose your life, and you will save it. It's exactly the words of Jesus in Matthew 16, 25. For whoever will save his life will lose it. But whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. The Christian life isn't about preserving lives, it's about giving them to Jesus. And notice Paul's attitude isn't saying I'm being poured out and I'm miserable. He says, I'm glad and I rejoice. I rejoice as I'm being poured out. I'm glad about this. That's Philippians. Joy in the journey. This man, when he decides, To live it out, stand out, and pour it out. There was joy in the journey. We need to make his life about himself. He followed the example of Jesus and how he humbled himself earlier in the passage. He followed his example and he was a shining light as Christ was. He had joy. He was able to rejoice in the journey. He had chains, he had opposition. But he could say, I rejoice. Because Paul's joy wasn't found in protecting his comfort. His joy was found in knowing his life was being used for something eternal. That's a huge shift. How can I make my life easier? He said, No. How can my life count for Jesus? Jesus, he gave himself for us. And Paul says, then I want to give myself to him. I want to follow his example. We don't pour ourselves out so Jesus will love us. We pour ourselves out because Jesus already loved us enough to pour himself out for us. And you think of a candle. You see a candle burning in a room. You think about a candle fulfills a purpose of giving itself away. It's flaming so it can bring light to a room and it constantly burns and burns. And you get to see how the candle is getting smaller and smaller and smaller. It gives its life away. But the room gets brighter and brighter. And that's a powerful picture of life given to Jesus. You can spend your entire life protecting yourself. Or you can spend your life making an eternal difference. And here's the tension: the world says success in full life is a life where you accumulate more, but Jesus keeps on turning everything upside down. Jesus says greatness is found in serving and giving and surrender. And Paul says, if my life gets poured out in the process of helping others follow Jesus, I rejoice. It's incredible. It's pouring out a self. It doesn't always mean doing something dramatic, going overseas, becoming a missionary to the unreached people group or becoming a martyr for the gospel, or if you're a preacher preaching to thousands, it doesn't mean that. Maybe it's just listening to someone when you're tired. Maybe it means it looks like caring for an aging parent or showing up to someone who's actually hurting. Or maybe it's teaching in kids' church. That future generation is so important. It's so important. But there's times where you're not on the stage, you're not seen, and you're constantly pouring in that next generation to encourage them. Maybe it's making a meal for someone or picking up your phone and having a conversation, pouring it out. It doesn't have to look like something dramatic. It can be the simple thing. So here's the question: what am I pouring my life into right now? What is my life consumed with? What am I pouring out? Because whether we realize it or not, we're all pouring something. We're pouring out something. What is it pouring out? Every day, our time, our energy, our attention, they're going somewhere. Where is it going? What am I pouring into? Paul gave that out. Pour it out. Pour it out, just like the Old Testament. Pour it out as an offering before the Lord. He tells us to live it out, to stand out and pour it out. For a life application. Here's some things I want you to think about this week. Think about it. We're going to be having a song here soon to show this, and you can have some more time to think about what it is God's had you to do. But Lord, what do I need to live out? What have I blended into this world so much so that I'm not willing to live this out any longer? Lord, where do I need to stand out? Where do I need to stand out in my community where you know what? I've just been blending in and I need to stand out and I need to take a stand and help steer the conversation where it's been. And Lord, who do you want me to pour into? How do you want me to pour my life out? Or is it that simple phone call, is a simple text? What is it that God is calling you to do? And I would encourage you to do it. To do something. To do something. Don't just hear it and not do it. Hear it and do something. There's a many times in our lives where we look up to God and think, why is our world this way, God? Why is this happening? Why is this happening and this happening? And He's saying, I create you. I create you to go do something. We're gonna have this song as it plays. I want you to think and reflect on that.

SPEAKER_01 26:53

I woke up this morning, saw a world full of trouble. Now I thought, how do we ever get so far down? And how's it ever gonna turn around? So I turned my eyes to heaven. I thought, God, why don't you do something? Well I just couldn't bear the thought of people living in poverty, children sold into slavery. The thought disgusted me, so I shook my fist at heaven. He said I did I created you.

SPEAKER_00 30:45

So, Father, help us to do something. With the gifts, the time, the talent, and the treasures you've given each and every one of us, Father. May we do something. May we not sit oddly by and try to blend in, but Father, may we shine our light. May we live it out, pour it out, stand out, and not be ashamed. Give us the faith and give us the courage to do that. Father, I think of any families here in Pentwater and Hart and Shelby, Pentwater and beyond, Father. There are families who look like they got it all together and they don't. They've been listening to the lies of the enemy. And Father, I pray that this church would be bold and shine our light to our community, to our neighbors, so they can hear the powerful gospel of Jesus Christ. It may not be something when people are watching, Father. It may be something that we do in secret. We live our faith out for you. And we shine it to those in our community, Father. Be with us as we do this and help us, Father, as we listen to what your Holy Spirit told us to do, may we obey and commit to that, Father. And may we continue to live lives surrender to you. We thank you for your word. And all God people said. And you are dismissed.