Back in 1958, the city of Flagstaff passed the nation’s first lighting ordinance to preserve the visibility of the night sky for Lowell Observatory. Decades later, in 2001, Flagstaff became the world’s first International Dark Sky City, setting the pattern for others to follow. Since then, places like Sedona, Fountain Hills, Camp Verde, and Tucson have all earned Dark Sky Community recognition, each one intentionally dimming its artificial glow so that we can still look up and see the stars. They understood a simple principle. The darker the sky, the brighter the stars seem.
That same image is alive in Philippians 2, where Paul tells the church to “shine like stars in the world, holding out the word of life.” He isn’t writing to people living in easy times, he’s writing to a small kingdom outpost in a dark and difficult empire. Yet Paul doesn’t tell them to curse the darkness; he calls them to shine within it.
Just as our dark sky cities limit excess light so the heavens can be seen, followers of Jesus limit our self-promotion and pride so that the light of Christ can be seen through us. We become living constellations of grace, ordinary people, saved by God’s grace and filled with his Spirit whose humility, unity, and love make Jesus visible.
The darker the sky, the brighter the stars.
The deeper the humility, the clearer the reflection of Christ.
The work of participating in God’s unfolding story, of responding to his grace as a community in a specific place and time, it’s going to take some purposeful activity- but it’s entirely worth it.
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 in order to fulfill his good purpose.
Do everything without grumbling or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure, “children of God without fault in a warped and crooked generation.”[c]Then you will shine among them like stars in the sky as you hold firmly to the word of life. Philippians 2.12-16
As God’s new humanity Paul was calling this kingdom outpost in Phillip to participate in something that God’s people have always been called to be- a light in the darkness. Whether it’s in Deuteronomy, Daniel, Isaiah or the words of Matthew- the people of God are called to respond to the work God is doing in them with lives that are lived to the glory of God and the good of their neighbors AND that is full and flourishing…
As we often see in Paul’s writings, Paul sees the church as people of a new Exodus. God had rescued Israel out of the Egypt of sin and death through the Passover action of God in Jesus, and now on the way home to the true and greater promised land, a restored creation. The good news of Jesus and his kingdom are words of life that guide the way this new community is to orient themselves in their cities, networks of friends, and families.
May we continue following Jesus with Joy this week- and may we faithfully follow the Spirit to take up our role in God’s unfolding story wherever he has us placed for his flory, our joy, and the good of those around us!