you can make it shine!

There is an old saying that you can't polish, well, doo-doo. Yep, it's crass and all but so was the original language of the bible. Paul talked about doo-doo so it's okay.

"The very credentials these people are waving around as something special, I'm tearing up and throwing out with the trash—along with everything else I used to take credit for. And why? Because of Christ. Yes, all the things I once thought were so important are gone from my life. Compared to the high privilege of knowing Christ Jesus as my Master, firsthand, everything I once thought I had going for me is insignificant—dog dung."

Philippians 3:1ff

This is close, but Petersen stepped around the issue (he, he, that was funny!). What Paul really meant was more like the stuff that parents of little kids are really familiar with. Yep, sounds rather offensive, right? Well that is what our good deeds and prideful thinking are to the mind of God apart from the blood-sacrifice of Jesus.

 In one particularly odd episode of Mythbusters Adam and Jamie tackled the myth that you can't shine poo. Well after trial and error they found that indeed you can shine lion poop to a very high sheen!

And this is the odd thing, even though our best efforts are like dog-dung in the mind of God he can make us shine far brighter that Adam and Jamie can polish the left-overs from a lion.

"You will notice that the variety of bodies is stunning. Just as there are different kinds of seeds, there are different kinds of bodies—humans, animals, birds, fish—each unprecedented in its form. You get a hint at the diversity of resurrection glory by looking at the diversity of bodies not only on earth but in the skies—sun, moon, stars—all these varieties of beauty and brightness. And we're only looking at pre-resurrection "seeds"—who can imagine what the resurrection "plants" will be like!" 

I Corinthians 15:41

Now we may do good things on earth, and me may even be very good looking but the reality is that our best efforts and the most stunning display of creation pales in comparison to what we should and will be! God can indeed grow good fruit from bad trees! 

This is the message Jesus told the disciples to spread throughout all of world; he has polished the dirty and and them radiant! He has made our perishable flesh imperishable! He had made dead people alive! Go and tell folks to follow Jesus and stay near him!(Matthew 28:16-20)

 Then we will shine like the stars.

"'Men and women who have lived wisely and well will shine brilliantly, like the cloudless, star-strewn night skies. And those who put others on the right path to life will glow like stars forever. "

Daniel 12:3

We don't polish ourselves first. Jesus has to do that. After he's polished, then it's time to shine