“You are the light of the world.” Jesus says so. He would compare you to a city on a hill or a lamp that has been set up on a stand and placed as high as possible to give light to the house so that everyone inside can see. You are to shine bright and true with the light of faith that Christ has put inside you. This is your God given Christian duty – you are to shine like a star in the night sky, like a candle in the darkness that shows the way and that reveals the truth.
Sometimes it feels like you light is burning a bit dim. Like you are not quite as bright as you once were. The brightness of a lamp is measured in candle power – at times it feels like you are a few candles short. I know there are times that I feel that way.
But God has called us lights. Lights is a world that need the Light because the world is dark. The world is pitch dark in fact, dark as night, dark as death. The world of sin is so dark that it can’t see its nose in front of its face. It can’t see to find its way. It is like blindness. Eyes that don’t work, eyes that can’t see even when the light is shined on them.
God has given that light to you. This summer we were treated to the spectacle of the Summer Olympics. A traditional part of the Olympic ceremony is the running of the Olympic torch. Different athletes are given the opportunity to carry that torch through the cities and towns of the host country. In a similar way God has made his Christians to be his torch bearers who are to run through their own cities and towns, into the country side with the light of his truth. We are to share that light and show that light that he has given inside of us.
In our text, Paul tells us how to do that.
“So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, [2] complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. [3] Do nothing from rivalry or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. [4] Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others.”
He outlines the things that we are to be doing.
Christians are to be of the same mind. Like minded. Together. One. Unified. Sometimes we mistake that unity to mean that everyone gets along. We talk about the things we agree on and never discuss the things we don’t agree on. That doesn’t cut it. As believers in Christ we need to know what we believe, we believe Christ but also what we do not believe. Christ calls us to obey all things that he has commanded. If we set aside some of those things in the interest of unity, we have not obeyed Christ. Christ calls us to be one, to be single minded – not to have everyone one of us make up our own minds, but to have every one of us conform to the mind of Christ – to hear His Word, to Cling to His Word, to believe His word.
We are to have the same love. In the way that Christ has loved us we are to love one another. He loved with compassion, with care for the needs of others. Jesus was always and continually motivated by compassion. Deep, heartfelt compassion. He saw the extreme human need of those he came to serve.
We can have that same love and compassion for each other in our own day and time. In fact, there are countless opportunities for such compassion. This summer we have seen devastation in the world from natural disasters – floods and hurricanes – that put a stress and a strain on families. We have seen cultural trends that stem from the sinfulness of our generation – sexual sins, teen pregnancy, divorce. We have seen personal tragedies within our own congregation. Often these things are out of sight out of mind. We feel badly when we first hear about it, but then soon forget. We ought to reach out in love, understanding the great hardship that these things cause in the lives of people whom Christ has called us to love.
Paul says in humility we are to see others as better than ourselves. Consider how quick we are to judge others for their situations and their difficulties. How often do we pretend that we are immune from such misfortune because we have had the insight to make better plans. We tell ourselves we wouldn’t have the same problems because we are not as foolish. This is pride. This is not the humility that Paul calls us to. Perhaps the pregnant teenager has sinned. We are called upon to forgive the sin, reach out and help. Perhaps the aids victim has sinned. We are called to forgive the sin and help. Perhaps the divorcée has sinned. We are called to forgive the sin and help.
All of this is aimed at blamelessness and innocence. All of this is aimed as sinlessness. All sin is born from self regard. All sin is motivated by a consideration of myself, what I want, what I need, what will preserve my own skin. Christ would not have us to live our lives with regard to ourselves. We are to live our lives in obedience to God and with regard to each other, we are to be servants.
While this is our call from God and while this is our aim and our goal, the fact remains that we live in a dark world. We live in a sin-filled world. We are called to be lights. We are called to be a torch, a shining star, a lamp on a stand, a city on a hill. But we live in a dark world.
And so often what happens as we live in this world of darkness and sin is that the darkness has a way of getting on us, staining us and tainting us.
There is a condition of the eyes known as macular degeneration. With this condition, the field of vision slowly becomes interrupted. Distortions and dark spots begin to occur in the field of vision and eventually you can barely see, and perhaps you even become totally blind.
In the life of a Christian, sin interrupts our “field of vision” known as faith. Through faith we see God and we know God. Sin creates dark spots or distortions so that we don’t see God clearly, and if the sin continues to grow, so that we don’t see God at all. We return to darkness, we return to unbelief. The clarity of faith becomes stained with sin.
But God has given to us an antidote for that blindness. He has given to us a cure for that sin.
All of these things that Paul calls us to be doing, here in our text – Jesus has done them all. Jesus knew and understood the word of God. His entire life was centered on and cirled around God’s Holy Word and therefore God’s holy Will. Jesus never compromised from that word.
Jesus counted us as better than himself. Jesus never overlooked sin, when he saw it he identified it but not because he wanted to condemn the sinner. He wanted to forgive the sinner. He wanted to restore the sinner. Therefore he didn’t simply make judgments, instead He counted himself as lower than the low, as the servant of the servants. And Jesus was God!
If ever there was one who could judge, who could condemn, it was Jesus. He after all was perfect, he was without sin and he was God. He was almighty and all powerful. He was the prince of heaven, yet it was not in his mind to hold on to this power at all costs. He set that aside and he became one of us. He set aside his power and his glory. He set aside his immunity to sin and temptation. He set aside his power over sin and Satan. He set aside his immunity to pain and to death so that he could come for us.
Not only did Jesus make himself nothing, not only did he set aside his power and consider himself to be lower than you and me. Jesus made himself our servant and our slave. He made himself lower than us so that he could die for our sin. He was obedient even to the point of his obedience costing him his life.
But now he has been raised from death. The one who made himself the servant of servants and the lowest of the low has been raised from death to life and He has been given all power in heaven and on earth. He has been given life so that his name is above every name and so that every knee will bow down to him and every mouth will confess that He is Lord of Heaven and Earth.
Each one of us has been living our lives out in that world that is sick with sin, that is filled with darkness, that is blindly careening toward hell. It is evil and twisted and it is crooked and perverse. And that evil has stained us and strained us and stressed us and we are suffering under its weight.
Jesus has brought us here to remove that weight. He has brought us here to give us relief from that stress and strain. He has brought us here to forgive that sin and to wash away that stain. He has called us here to absorb the darkness and to restore the light.
The call that we have receive from God is a wonderful call. We do our best to answer that call and fulfill that vocation. But we fail. We break down and give out. But He restores us. He refreshes us. He remakes us and strengthens us sends us out to do it all over again.
May you be refreshed this day by the light of Christ.
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