Son of the King

“Do everything without complaining or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and depraved generation, in which you shine like stars in the universe.” (Philippians 2:14,15)

That is definitely one of the coolest verses in Paul’s letters. How many of us are guilty of what Paul was telling the Philippians? Do we spend a lot of time arguing about things on which are faith doesn’t depend, for instance, arguing with a christian friend who thinks that the days must have been longer when God created the world or something like that. It’s irrelevant to what Jesus has in store for us. We can’t change the past and definitely a past that long ago.

As Paul writes, let’s concentrate on being God’s children in a crooked and depraved generation. It is impossible for you, me or any other human on the planet to be blameless and pure, no matter how hard we try. Jesus did it though. He was like a sheep in a pigsty and stayed clean, it’s amazing and wonderful, a miracle in itself. His spirit is here, everywhere and he is working in or on your heart, depending on whether you’ve opened the door of your innermost self or not…

Jesus doesn’t want a bunch of puppets that hide behind a wall of religion or/and tradition to keep themselves “blameless and pure“. The sad thing is they actually believe it does keep them clean. Jesus was a “dirty” saviour, in a manner of speaking, he spent time and loved the people that we “blameless and pure” reject because they might dirty us. He didn’t mind getting “dirty”, he didn’t approve or accept the negative lifestyles that a lot of people led, but he still loved them and wanted them to follow him. Most of them did, in fact, there were more “dirty” people that accepted him as Lord and Saviour than “clean ones. Ain’t it sad?

Now about shining like stars in the universe, that’s the real awesome part about this verse. The thing about most stars is that you can basically see the same star in almost all parts of the earth, they don’t move as far as I know, although the earth does. Stars are fixed and anchored in one spot, their a pillar, a fixed point of reference. The Bible is this. Jesus is this. Are we this? No. Not by ourselves, no no no, we’re missing one little (OK, BIG) thing. Jesus! Jesus is our star, our light, salt, path, lamp and other things that get mentioned in the Bible. But together, oh wow, we are right there with him, shining, giving flavour, being a guide! Ever heard of “Me+Jesus=1″? That’s what this is, except, you and I are the “reflectors”. Jesus’ light and shining bounces off us and hopefully we absorb some of it too. Jesus is the big star, the fire that burns in the lighthouse that gets reflected off the reflectors, the sun that gets it’s light reflected in the moon. Following along? It’s a great, awesome and wonderful, for lack of better word in the English language, concept. You can’t just grasp it just like that. You have to learn it. Learn to reflect. Learn to love and get “dirty” to help and get close to the people who are “spiritually sick”, the ones who need the doctor. The people in your church have the doctor, not that you shouldn’t love them or anything, but it’s the sick ones that need more attention. God will use you and me to reach those he has made and loves, no matter how much sin they are carrying.

Let’s be Jesus!