Lighthouses

People in Maine love their lighthouses. If you ever get a chance to spend some time there you’ll find people wearing lighthouse sweatshirts in the fall and lighthouse tee shirts in the summer. A major tourist attraction is the “Lighthouse Tour” which runs almost the entire coast of Maine. Today many of the lighthouses are no longer in operation. They are historical sites to which people go to recreate in their minds a time of the past. But for hundreds of years those Maine lighthouses saved the lives of thousands of sailors, serving as the reference point for ships sailing through stormy seas. No matter how brutal the weather was, if the ship captain could see even the faintest light from the lighthouse, he knew where to go. He just had to follow the light.

Everyone needs a “lighthouse”. Each day we make hundreds of decisions which determine the course of our lives. But what is the basis of those decisions? What is the reference we use to determine if a choice is good or bad? A more important question might be, “Is there such a reference or must each person determine for themself what is best?”

Even though there is a very strong emphasis today on individualism and personal independence, we still sense that we ourselves don’t have enough information to always know what is best. Many years ago a Christian preacher named Paul went into the cultural center of the world at that time – Athens, Greece. As he walked through the downtown of Athens he saw statues to the many gods who the Greek people worshiped, such as Zeus and Hermes and Apollos. But then he saw a statue which was different from the rest. Instead of giving the name of the god to whom the statue was dedicated, there was an inscription, “To the unknown god.” Despite all their learning, culture and spirituality, the people of Athens were still looking for “The Lighthouse” of life, the unchanging reference point to serve as the guide for their lives. Paul didn’t leave those people in the dark. Join us either Saturday evening (6:00 pm) or Sunday morning (10:00 am) and bask with us in the same life changing light of Jesus Christ which Paul shared with those Athenians some 2000 years ago.