Shining as Lights in the World: A Meditation on Philippians 2

If there be therefore any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love, 

if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any bowels and mercies,

Fulfill ye my joy, that ye be likeminded, having the same love, 

being of one accord, of one mind.

Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; 

but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves.

Look not every man on his own things, 

but every man also on the things of others.

Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus:

Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God:

But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, 

and was made in the likeness of men:

And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, 

and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.

Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, 

and given him a name which is above every name:

That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, 

and things in earth, and things under the earth;

And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, 

to the glory of God the Father.

Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, 

not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, 

work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.

For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.

Do all things without murmurings and disputings:

That ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, 

without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, 

among whom ye shine as lights in the world;

Holding forth the word of life; that I may rejoice in the day of Christ, 

that I have not run in vain, neither laboured in vain.

Images of light and darkness appear throughout the Scriptures, and this is true also of St. Paul’s letter to the Church at Philippi.  Light is indicative of God— His presence, will, Word, wisdom, love, compassion, mercy, justice, and life— while darkness indicates an absence of God and His attributes, or a corruption of those things which God originally made good and wholesome.  A community which abides in God reflects His compassion and His fellowship, being likeminded in their pursuit of the good, setting aside their own needs and concerns for the sake of their neighbors’ needs and concerns.  Such a community takes on a likeness of Jesus Himself, who though being fully God and the Creator of all things, condescended in humility to become fully human, to set aside His glory and suffer for the sins of the world, that the world might be reconciled through His life, death, and resurrection.  Rather than demanding justice for Himself, Jesus took the abuses and the sentence of a fallen world, that He might satisfy in Himself the just demands of the Law on our behalf, and extend to us the unmerited grace of forgiveness, life, and salvation which we so desperately need.  A community which abides in the light of Christ shows forth His Holy Spirit by thinking and living like Him, conformed to His image, and keeping His Eternal Word of life.  They are a community which shines forth like light in the darkness of a fallen world, calling to everyone to join them in the light of Christ, while pushing back the hordes of wickedness which dwell in the shadows.

St. Paul’s call to the Church in Philippi is an impassioned plea to the churches everywhere and at all times, that they abide in the Spirit, mind, and likeness of Christ their Savior, holding fast to His Word, and living together in a fellowship which reflects the perfect harmony of the Most Holy Trinity, indivisible in their essence and yet unique in their persons.  Such harmony and unity brings forth life and love, nourishing and sustaining all who find their lives in Christ by losing their own attachments to corrupted passions, and in faith and repentance dwell in humility and righteousness before the God of all creation.  This is the high calling which Paul gives to the Christians in His day, as he recalls for them the high calling of Christ to all who would take up their cross and follow Him.  It is a calling not to be conformed to the darkness of the world around them, but rather by the power of Christ and His Spirit in the loving fellowship of the Father, to transform the darkness of the world by His marvelous light.  Just as light does not retreat from darkness but rather penetrates and disperses it, so the people of God are called not to retreat from the world, but to transform it by the light of Christ’s Eternal Word.

It would be easy in our day to look around us, and to despair of ever changing the world.  Our lives, our families, our communities, our nations, and our world as a whole are convulsed by the injustice, insanity, and evil all around us.  Nations rage, imagining vain and awful things against their fellow men, and the God of the universe.  The oceans, the air, and the earth are befouled by the captains of industry seeking their ill gotten gains, while the people who fund them and buy their wares contribute to the slavery, poverty, and fleecing of people on distant shores.  Communities riot and destroy themselves over injustices or slights both real and perceived, reflecting the radical individualism of people who cannot be bothered with the needs of their neighbors while they feverishly pursue their own twisted passions.  Fathers and mothers use each other to gratify themselves at the expense of their children, abandoning their obligations to their families when the sacrifices of duty become too cumbersome for their selfishness or vanity to bear.  Children demand and seize their own satisfactions, while following their parent’s lead in surrendering their intellects to the insanity of the age.  Pompously primped and pampered celebrities of wealth and charm use their public platforms to foment discontent and slander against all things decent, manipulated in their stupidity by media empires which use them to coax mobs into action and dominate their 24-hour news cycles, selling advertising to their benefactors, and delivering profit to their shareholders.  The smoke of civilization rises from the fires set by the careless and the malevolent, while the indifferent and imbecilic prance about in their fiddling like millions of Nero’s watching the world of Rome burn.

But in the end, light is still light, and darkness is still pierced and dispersed by it.  As bearers of the light of God, we are not called to sit terrified or apathetic in shrouded homes or cloistered cells, but rather to rise up and shine light in the darkness which it cannot overcome.  And of course, before the people of God can shine such concerted light into the darkness of our fallen and dying world, that light must shine anew in our own darkened hearts and souls.  We need to hear the love of God poured out to us in His Word of Law and Gospel, calling us to faith and repentance, that we might live in the light of His grace.  Having received such saving grace by faith in Jesus, we are then empowered by His Holy Spirit to offer that same selfless love, compassion, and forgiveness to our husbands and wives, children and grand children, our brothers and our sisters, our families and our friends both near and far.  So reconciled with our neighbors in our families and our churches, we can begin to reconcile the wounded and hurting communities in which we live, offering them the gifts of God in humility and love, that they might be reconciled with their Creator and with each other.  Such healed communities can reach out to their nations that they might live in love and justice both within and outside their borders, and work together to heal a broken and suffering world.

It is in the very nature of light to dispel darkness, and it begins today as the Word of Christ comes to enlighten and enliven your own soul.  Hear the Living Word which seeks and saves you, which pierces and dispels the gloom of your sin, death, hell, and the power of the evil one.  Feel the light of Jesus pour over you in grace, filling every corner of your being with His love and compassion.  Empowered by His Holy Spirit, rise up in the darkness around you and shine into the pain of every wounded soul given to your care, that your neighbors might also be set free from the chains which bind them in their darkness.  Reconciled to God through the Atonement of His Son for you, be reconciled to your family and neighbors, that your homes, communities, nations, and world might also be blessed in the same saving, reconciling light.  Hear the Word of the Lord which comes to you this day.  Repent, believe, and live.  Amen.