Shine as stars!

The All Star Game, the annual Major League Baseball summer classic, features the best of the best players representing their respective leagues. Last night’s contest featured the Phillies pitchers, Halladay and Lee, who lived up to expectations. But, it was a mammoth first baseman from Milwaukee, Prince Fielder, who took Most Valuable Player honors by hitting the game-winning home run. I found it interesting that a pitcher who earns over $17 million per season, and a near all-star this year, was traded for cash and two players to be named later while the game was being played. The ways of professional sports must wear away on the players’ psyches.

Saint Paul wrote to the church at Philippi, “Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed—not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence—continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose.
“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 as you hold out the word of life—in order that I may boast on the day of Christ that I did not run or labor for nothing.” (2:12-16)
The simple word picture will serve us well, if we apply the lessons.

Lesson One: Stars are suns. Suns are balls of gas and other matter still be being analyzed by scientists. A reaction within the sun’s matter generates heat and light continuously. The action is on-going, often increasing in intensity. On the other hand, moons are like mirrors, reflecting light from another source. When the Apostle calls God’s people suns, he is affirming that the life and light of God is within, continuously increasing, burning, emitting light. Some posing as Jesus’ disciples find satisfaction with standing near another saint and reflecting another’s light, but true saints have their own light within. Didn’t the Baptist say, “I baptize you with water for repentance. But after me will come one who is more powerful than I, whose sandals I am not fit to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire?” (Matthew 3:11) Stars have a fire in the depths of their being.

Lesson Two: Stars do their best work at night. We sometimes speak about how the “stars come out at night.” Stars are not in hiding in daylight hours, their lights are simply dwarfed by a larger star, our sun. Growing up in a large industrial city, I thought that there were only a handful of stars because only the brightest stars were able to penetrate the urban haze and artificial lights of the city. But, a visit to a family farm introduced me to the marvel of thousands of stars lighting the night. The application is obvious, Christians ought to seek dark places to live, work, play and build friendships because stars do their best work in the dark. If we want to make our lives count, we must confront our inclination to find warmly lit places of comfort and convenience, and aggressively seek out places to let our light shine. (Matthew 5:14-16)

Lesson Three: Stars must stay in their own orbit. Most of us know someone who shined bright for a season and then, like a meteor or “shooting star,” flamed out as they left their proper orbit. Many are familiar with the term for short-lived stars is “flash in the pan” or “weekend wonder.” Some acquire the reputation because of compromised values and corrupted virtues which drew a perfectly good star off course. Others allowed the cares of life change their trajectory and the once bright light within was snuffed out by winds of adversity. And, some attempt to be someone they were not designed to be. But, I think that most often, we seek out a place of minimal stress and nurture our own desires, reducing a potentially powerful light to a smoldering “what could have been” curiosity. Saint Paul calls out to us, “ ... continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose.” Sure it is rigorous! Maintaining orbit requires vigilance and expends energy. But, those who “continue to work” will enjoy their orbit of influence and be around for effective living for a long, long time!

Tomorrow Major League All Stars will suit up and face the rigors of the second half of the season. The stretching, sprinting, weight lifting, film viewing ... all that it takes to stay in the lofty orbit of the major leagues will be resumed today. True sports stars will do it without complaining, or they will soon fall out of the orbit enjoyed by very few. The lessons are simple. It is our responsibility to obey what the Holy Spirit brings to us light-increasing, orbit-refining truth.