Shining
You shine as lights in the world (Philippians 2:15).
When we were children, our parents used to take the family to Withernsea on the Yorkshire coast for a summer holiday. It was only a short 18-mile train journey, but we were so excited and thought we were going to the other side of the world. It was the longest journey I took before going to the Lake District when I was 10 years old. You always knew you were coming to your destination when you saw the Withernsea lighthouse through the train window in the distance. We stayed in a small guest house with a very kindly host whose speciality dish was fishcakes. And the sun always shone in Withernsea. But its lighthouse is unusual. Instead of being offshore or even on the shoreline, it is right inside the town. That is because sea defences were built after its construction, and land formed in front of it. When I went to bed, I always remember the light shining brightly out to sea and, as it went round, it also shone straight through my bedroom window.
In Philippians 2, Paul writes about the mind of Christ and His lowliness as He took “the form of a bondservant” and “humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross” (vv. 6-8). In this way, the glory of the love and grace of God shone out from a crucified Saviour. The Lord was the “light of the world” (John 8:12), exposing its darkness and flooding His light into people’s hearts. John tells us, “God is light” and “God is love” (1 John 1:5, 4:8). The darkness of Calvary did not dispel the light of God’s love; it formed the background against which it shone in all its glory. God the Father responded to the Saviour’s sacrifice: He has “highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” (vv. 9-11).
And God intends there to be a response in our lives. Paul writes, “Therefore, my beloved … work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure” (vv. 12-13). As individual disciples of the Saviour and in fellowship together as members of the Body of Christ, our lives have a purpose. That purpose is to shine: “You shine as lights in the world.” God’s light has shone into our hearts. Now it shines through us in this world: “For it is the God who commanded light to shine out of darkness, who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ” (2 Corinthians 4:6). The love of God “poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us” (Romans 5:5) is to be enjoyed and expressed. Moses and Stephen didn’t make themselves shine. They simply stepped into the presence of the Lord of glory.
Today the Withernsea lighthouse still looks special, but it no longer shines. It is a museum and has lost its purpose. Instead of shining, the light has gone out. It has become part of the world where it once shone so brightly. May our lives never follow such a path.
