It has become a more complex problem, selecting light bulbs for the light fixtures around home. The choices have become multiplied! There are different kinds of light (some more “natural” others “warmer”), they draw different amounts of electricity while still insisting they give similar amounts of light, some are supposedly more ecologically friendly . . . it’s hard to just go in and get a “sixty-watt bulb” these days. But what that reminds me is that there are a variety of components that go into making light what it is.

Paul tells the Philippians that they are “light.” Specifically, they “appear as lights in the world” (Philippians 2:15). He states this after inviting them to embrace a life fully given over to Jesus’ way of life.

It seems that Paul is saying that because they belong to Jesus, because they have come to share his life, they are, in fact, lights in the world. But he in calling them to give themselves more intentionally to this life. Why? Perhaps to cultivate their “light-ness.”

As I listen to Paul’s words, it seems to me he touches on a number of things that hinder might hinder my “light-ness.” He writes:

Do all things without grumbling or disputing; so that you will prove yourselves to be blameless and innocent, children of God above reproach in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you appear as lights in the world, holding fast the word of life . . . (Philippians 2:14-16)

So, when in the midst of the challenges of life, as I am growing into this life Jesus shares with me, when I grumble and complain, my “light-ness” is diminished. When the way I handle living in relationship with others is more about me than about Jesus, I can appear to be little more than a dim bulb . . . the light is not shining very brightly. It isn’t evident that I am a child of God and that Jesus is working his life out in and through me when all that is coming out of mouth is the kind of bickering and complaining that those who don’t know Jesus are all too familiar with.

But it is not just my demeanor that might get in the way of my “light-ness.” Paul refers to ”holding fast the word of life.” The expression “word of life” in Paul’s writings is a reference to the Gospel–the message of truth about who Jesus is and what he came to do in rescuing people from their sin and bringing them in to life with God. And when I do not hold on to the message of the Gospel tightly–holding fast the word of life–than my “lightness” diminishes. I might be relatively free from grumbling, but if the message being broadcast from my lips and my life isn’t focused clearly on Jesus and who he is and what he has done and what he is doing, than I can appear to be little more than a dim bulb . . . the light is not shining very clearly.

This world in which we live is a dark place. Jesus intends to draw people out of the darkness and into his life. And those who already know him are privileged to be lamps, lights, that help others move from darkness into that light. And we share in that by being–by his grace and through his Spirit–”light.”

When I spend my days grumbling, it’s hard for others to see what I live for. The light is dim. When I am bitter about how Jesus is shaping me to love and care for others, it’s hard for others to see that there is a different kind of life available. The light is dim. When I “buck up” and live without real complaint but without any real message of life, no one sees in and through my life a witness to the light they so desperately need. The light is dim.

I don’t want to be a dim bulb. I want to live in a way that enlightens the world around me. So . . .

Enough of the grumbling. Enough with the pushing against what Jesus is doing. And more of making much of Jesus who is doing this incredible thing in me of making me like him!