Finding the Way Back

What is the point of witnessing?

A lonely light house sits on the rocky shore. Sprayed by ocean blasts, the soggy building stands alone. It is kept for a vital purpose but is seen as an anomaly. Why build a structure in such a deserted place? We drive to them and take pictures their cute silhouette appears on paintings. But to sit there day after day? Its not exciting. Malls are full of people. Parks and monuments receive tours and visitors. A small crew of workers keep the light house shinning. When no one even cares if it really works or not.

The purpose of the light house

• To keep sailors aware of the shore line at night

This single simple purpose is what a lighthouse is for. The basic design is to create a beam of light that sailors and ship captains can track at night. At first impression you would conclude its purpose to be about helping the lost. This is a correct idea. Without sight and imprecise measurements and systems sailors of years past would have a hard time pinpointing the edge of say Puerta Rico or Maine at 3:00AM. A compass, maps, and stars can only do so much when kilometers and miles turn to meters and feet. Rocks of the shores can tear into your hull before Orion’s belt can assure your location. Lighthouses do provide guidance primarily; secondly they provide safety. The shore you can’t see can not only hurt you it can kill you, your crew, and your business arrangement. It is better to get to the shore, before the shore gets to you. (more on that later)

You are the light house

John speaks of Jesus as the light the world needs to see. John 1:4 “In Him was life, and that life was the light of men.” Jesus stood and stands in the darkness of our world and shines. He brings light to us. The world is so dark we can easily see and feel it. I can feel the mistakes of others than cause me pain. I can feel everything that was done to me in spite and that was not done for me. I can look and see murder, and lust, and wickedness. In all of this Jesus’s light shines but we cannot see it. We start out as babes to the spirit realm only seeing what is right before us. We cannot even tell light from dark until we are taught to tell the difference. And often this process is messed up. We are spewed out from evil people and taught an evil way. Jesus yet shines and we cannot at first see him. Then how do we even begin to learn to recognize the light? Through people. People show us the light as God shines through them.

Matthew 5:14-16

14You are the light of the world. A city on a hillb cannot be hidden. 15Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a basket. Instead, they set it on a stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. 16In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.

This is what we are called to do. We have the power to make this world what we want. This power comes from God. If you bind it

As children of Jesus (God) we have access to his divine power to share the light. So that more people can see God and recognize that he is good.

Where the Lighthouse Burden Stops

Everything in this world must be balanced. God gives us limits and boundaries. Times and seasons. We as the children of God should show the light. Before this metaphor in John Jesus talks about Christians who chose not to witness. Those who have been hurt by the world and lawlessness of men who now choose not to show their light. (Matt. 24:12 And because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold.) He calls them the salt without flavor. This is what we do with things that do not serve there purpose. The lukewarm warning is for us to understand that God is not looking for us to be anything but useful. I can clean with warm water, I can even cook with it. I can drink cold water. But this plain, room temperature water accomplishes nothing. God wasn’t trying to give us another rejection he was actually offering instruction and purpose. Now that you are saved in Jesus and you owe no man nothing, be a blessing to the lord and show forth your light.

So you are to be the light of the world but it is not your job to see everyone get saved. Nor is it to your credit if everyone gets saved. We feel guilty at times because we have Jesus and his blessings and we would love to see our brothers and sisters receive this blessing too. But these are things we don’t have control over. People get saved because 1. God allows it. 2. Someone shares the light from Jesus. 3. They choose to.

Let’s focus on number 3.
John 3:19
And this is the verdict: The Light has come into the world, but men loved the darkness rather than the Light because their deeds were evil.

Acts 26:18
to open their eyes, so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those sanctified by faith in Me.’

It was a cold March night. William had made sure to keep oil in the light house so his light would shine bright. Rain poured in through old roof holes he’d sworn to patch up whenever he had time. Keeping the place cozy would have to be a problem for another day. What mattered now was could he keep his light on for the ocean travelers. He watched his beam as it turned to and fro. The light always shot out 360 degrees. Like a white propeller from a distance the beam swilled from shore to shore of the rocky jutting isle.

William bit his lip in half fear half excitement a ship was coming in from the south. He fumbled his map in his wet hands. And began counting. As the beams swung he counted how long it was taking for the boat to pass the buoys in the water. Often used by summer beach goers to tell how far out their children to swim he now used them to mark something different altogether. As the 20 foot long boat passed each marking he counted seconds to determine an important feature…speed. If the boat came in to fast it would smash itself against the rock. He wiped his hands on his pants so he could get a dry palm on the maps bottom.

“She’s going to fast.” He stated with concern feeling his mind. “She’ll dash against the rocks if she is not careful.”

Light check. Lighthouse check. Then the burden falls on the person to act accordingly to the stimuli provided. We have a someone who cares enough to warn us about the impending shore. God loves us however, our decisions are determining our eternal destiny. We can choose to love God back or not. HE’s kind and gentle. He waits for us. Shinning his light so we can find our way back. And we must choose to avoid the calamity of death without him. The reality is that without heading the light we ignore safety and reason and really on luck. Maybe I won’t need to. Maybe I can do what I want. Maybe this light means nothing. We the sailors and captains and first mates decide what we are going to do in the face of the mounting evidence that there is a safe shore for us to rest and a dangerous shore we could crash into.

I remember an old action movie long ago. In the movie one of the good guys gets captured and beaten by the evil soldier. HIs teammates plan a daring rescue. The hero is trapped in a sky rise building overlooking the city. HE is chained to a chair and barely conscience. In order to save him a helicopter is brought around to his side of the building. The rescue team breaks the glass and stops. He now has to make it to them.

Freedom is right before him. He has been tortured and told he was worthless. He has to make it to the helicopter himself. Bloody from the world our brothers and sisters are in bondage too. We defy the nature of this world and bring light right to them at our own peril. Full of darkness and loss they must be like this hero and stand up out of his chains. They must find it in the m to believe in the light themselves. I remember feeling cast down. I remember having all things in life to tell me I meant nothing. I remember seeing the light. When the light first hits you you feel ugly. You see the reality of how you are living/existing beneath your means. Its like you know you should be better than this but you cannot even remember how you got into this bondage int he first place. So you stand up. You realize the fear you have of this moment is not enough to stop you. You recognize that this helicopter, this light beam, this post…is for you. and your react to it. You run for the altar, the light, the escape. You fall to your knees and you accept the gift. You react to the light.

Keep witnessing because its your expected service. It doesn’t mean that everyday you fall down and worship God speaking in tongues all the time. It means you are good to people and when the time is right you share your faith and aren’t afraid. Go on show people the way back.