Most of my life, I’ve been interested in nautical things. I’m not exactly sure why. Maybe it’s because I grew up on the beautiful Lake Michigan shoreline. Maybe it’s because I received a gift from my Aunt Shay of a carved captain figure that I always liked. Maybe it’s because my mom used to read me the classic story of Scuppers the Sailor Dog.
Some of the nautical stuff I’ve collected includes ships, sailors, and lighthouses. And of all the lighthouses, one of the most spectacular is the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse in North Carolina.
First constructed in 1802, Cape Hatteras now stands 198 feet tall with its distinctive black and white spiral design. It is the tallest brick lighthouse in the United States.
Dawson Carr in his book on the Cape Hatteras lighthouse poetically describes why this building was necessary. He says the Diamond Shoals of the Atlantic seaboard “waited there like a spider whose web ensnares the unwary who dare to pass too closely.” Only a lighthouse could help ships “stay safely away from this ship cemetery” (p. 32).
There’s no telling how many lives have been saved by the Cape Hatteras lighthouse over the last two hundred years.
I think of that lighthouse when I hear Jesus’ words in Matthew 5. “You are the light of the world…A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others.”
Just as a lighthouse prevents ships from coming too close to shore and running aground on dangerous shoals, so we are called to be salt and light, living distinctively from the world around us. That’s what Paul has in mind as he comes to the final chapter of his letter to the Colossians.
Several months ago, I preached on this passage at Calvary Church. Together, we learned…
- How to develop the habit and mindset of prayer
- How we can pray for one another
- Trusting God when he closes a door
- What to do when you’re surrounded by darkness
- A challenge not to waste the precious time God has given us
The message has now been uploaded to my podcast and you can listen using this link:
Thanks for listening. For a complete list of sermons, please visit my sermon hub page.
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Pinch Of Clay 