Word for the day: Shining stars

In the class a year ahead of me in high school there was a very gifted runner. Sonny Jones was an outstanding distance runner.

On the track team, Sonny ran the 800m and the 1600m races. He also ran on the cross country team.

He set the OHSAA state record for the 800m, beating a time set by the great Jesse Owens.

He seemed to run effortlessly and he rarely finished below first place.

After crossing the finish line, aside from being a little winded, it seemed more like Sonny had just gone for a nice walk in the park.

When his competitors finished, they often would bend over with painful looks on their faces while trying to catch their breath. Sonny was a star.

Our national church body follows a set of readings for each day.

The lesson for today is from Paul’s letter to the Philippians.

I thought about Sonny when I read the lesson.

14 Do all things without murmuring and arguing, 15 so that you may be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, in which you shine like stars in the world. 16 It is by your holding fast to the word of life that I can boast on the day of Christ that I did not run in vain or labor in vain. 17 But even if I am being poured out as a libation over the sacrifice and the offering of your faith, I am glad and rejoice with all of you— 18 and in the same way you also must be glad and rejoice with me.

— Philippians 2:12-18

Paul used “crooked and perverse” to describe the world in which the church at Philippi lived.

The world’s value system had nothing to do with the words of Jesus.

Since the church’s value system is shaped by the life and the teachings of Jesus, it seems only natural that they might complain, grumble, or even argue about how things are in their world.

Paul rebuked that idea and encouraged them to “shine like stars in the world.” Of course stars reflect light.

And Jesus was called the light of the world. So it would be easy for the Philippians to know that they were called to reflect the life and teachings of Jesus.

Paul has used the running of a race as a way to describe his own work to establish Jesus-centered communities of faith.

And because the Philippians have held fast to all that Paul brought to them, he can know that he “did not run or labor in vain.”

If we know, really know the Jesus of the four gospels, it becomes plain as to how much off the mark the ways of the world are.

Sure, there could be grumbling and arguing. But we are called to be shinning stars in the world, reflecting the light of Jesus.

That’s where the memory of Sonny’s running came to me this week. He ran 6 miles to school every day. He trained and worked at it every day.

In every race he reflected his training, work ethic, and determination. I can still see him gliding along seemingly without effort, ahead of the pack.

When people of Christ make the life and teachings part of our being, and when we make the same kind of effort that we often give to other things, we will reflect Him.

And it feels like it’s effortless to reflect his light to a crooked and perverse world.

And after all, We are now the ones who are called to be shining stars.

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Rev. John Dyer is pastor at Our Savior’s Lutheran Church, Kenton.