God’s Word for You

Philippians 2:14-16 Shine like stars

by Pastor Timothy Smith on Thursday, March 19, 2026

14 Do everything without complaining or arguing 15 so that you may be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish among a crooked and perverted generation in which you shine like stars in the cosmos 16 holding on to the word of life, so that I can boast on the day of Christ that I did not run in vain or labor in vain.

A world where murder, lying, cheating, stealing, bullying, and adultery of every kind are all so common that no one bats an eye at them. Is this the world Paul lived in, or is it the world you and I live in? It’s both, because the sinfulness of the world has not changed. The world is out of step with God. The world is stunned to hear about God’s commandments. The world turns its face from the very mention of God’s holy will like a crowd turning away from the searing heat of a house fire. A hesitant, uncomfortable joke might be the only reply to such a mention. This is how dark the world is, “a crooked and perverted generation,” nothing but the darkness of sin and guilt all the way to the horizon, like the open countryside on an overcast night with no light at all, anywhere.

Except for you! Paul reminds us that we are blameless and innocent children of God—yes, this is true only in Christ. Under the umbrella of his forgiveness and wearing the robe of Christ’s righteousness, then and only then do we measure up to God’s standard, because God has counted our faith as righteousness (Genesis 15:6), because “to the one who trusts God who justified the wicked, his faith is credited as righteousness” (Romans 4:5). In the dark and dismal mire of the sinful world, you “shine like stars in the cosmos.”

“Cosmos” (Greek κόσμος) means the world and the heavens above, but not the sky (what we often call outer space) as opposed to the earth. It is both, but especially the physical realm in general: “The gospel is preached throughout the world” (κόσμος, Mark 14:9), “God made the world (κόσμος) and everything in it” (Acts 17:24). “It was for her sake (the church) that the world (κόσμος) was established.” And again, “Even the whole world (κόσμος) would not have room for the books that would be written” (John 21:25).

Since Paul uses the stars as his example, it seems natural and reasonable to take “cosmos” in the sense of the night sky, where Christians shine like stars, some bright, some less so, but always all on account of faith in Christ.

But what is it that makes Christians shine like stars in the world of sin? Here we want to remember what we already know to be true. There is nothing in any one of us that makes us shine or glow or be dazzling to anybody’s eyes. We are at the same time saints and sinners, and we are not shiny. But Christ is. And he has given us faith, so it is that faith that shines. This is what Paul means when he says that we shine like stars “holding on to the word of life.”

I have a long-running and complicated relationship with technology. Oftentimes when I am writing, I want a radio playing in the background to help drown out other sounds or conversations. I tend to use an FM radio on my desk, but when the computer is on, there is interference with the radio signal. It works just fine, however, when I hold on to the antenna. Of course, then there is the dilemma of letting go so I can type, or the bizarre solution of moving the antenna so that it can touch my neck or shoulder as I type. So while I am in contact with the source, things are just fine. So it is with Christ and our faith. We shine while we are holding on to Christ, since Christ is the one who gives us true life.

As we do this, Paul says something else. It’s the beginning of this passage, but it’s so foreign to so many people, even sanctified Christian people, that it deserves special attention. We want to do everything “without complaining or arguing.” That pair (complaining and arguing) seem to tag along with almost everyone almost all of the time. How can you have a conversation without arguing? How can you accomplish any task without complaining? We like to complain and grumble about absolutely everything. We complain about the world, but we also complain about each other. What does the world think when Christians complain about each other? The world rolls back on its heels with glee and says, “You see? There’s nothing special or different about Christians.” But when we complain, we’re really complaining about God. Moses and Aaron had to warn the Children of Israel, “You are not grumbling against us, but against the Lord” (Exodus 16:7).

We grumble when we end up in some tough corner and ask God why he lets this happen to us. “Why, God, do you work this way? Why does life have to be so hard!?” This is the Old Adam speaking, not the new man that holds on to the word of life. Luther writes: “We must obey God’s will, and if anything in his actions offends us, we must pray.” Paul says that our grumbling and arguing is nothing else than doubt. That doubt has to be removed completely from our prayer, since doubt spoils, vitiates, and impairs our prayers.

Martin Luther explained the Eighth Commandment by saying that we should take our neighbor’s “words and actions in the kindest possible way.” Shouldn’t what’s true for our neighbor be all the more true for the way we take God’s own words and actions? Allow what God does in the world to stand as the divine act of God, not to be questioned, argued against or complained about, but to stand and even be defended by us. Even when such an act is a cross we must pick up and carry. Then we will be holding on to the word of life even when it is the hardest for us. And we will, even then, shine like stars.

In Christ,
Pastor Timothy Smith

 

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