Lights in the World

On each month’s first Sunday morning in 2018, we’ve emphasized our theme: Love God. Love People. Change the World. As we near the end of the year I’m using a couple of these Sunday morning sermons to emphasize the last part of that theme: Change the World.

God put us here to make a difference, not for us just to meet weekly and talk about how bad the world is, but for us to worship so that we might be present in the world as people who reflect Christ’s light to those who need it so badly. In the text above Paul challenges the Christians at Philippi to recognize their role as “lights in the world” (v. 15). In the “midst of a crooked and twisted generation,” Christians are to be “blameless and innocent.” In a world of darkness, we are to be light.

No one would argue with the darkness of our world: hatred, division, violence, immorality. But what are we doing about it? How are we challenging the prevailing norms of our society? How are churches–small communities of Jesus-followers–functioning as darkness-dispelling beams of light?

How are we salt? How are we light?

In this text Paul helps us think about this, and he challenges us to live so that the world takes notice and wants to know more about the Source of this light.