Leasowe Lighthouse

Graduation/Teacher Appreciation/Sunday School Sunday
Readings: Psalm 43:1-5, Genesis 1:1-5, Matthew 5:13-16, Revelation 21:22-27.
Preached at First Presbyterian Church, Baldwin, NY on June 17th, 2012

A printable PDF file can be found here

Have any of you visited the lighthouse at Fire Island or at Montauk or anywhere else?
I used to live in a place called Moreton, in England, which had as it’s most prominent feature – guess what? A chocolate factory – but it also had a lighthouse called Leasowe Lighthouse

When I was growing up the Leasowe lighthouse stood disused and neglected because a new sea wall had been built to stop the land eroding away – and actually reclaiming some land – so much so that the lighthouse stood about 2200 yards away from the sea—behind a wall – and was abandoned. A lonely little lighthouse, with no light to shine.

It was not always so. Originally the river I used to live by, the River Mersey, was one of the busiest in the world. Ships from all over the world would make their way through a narrow channel on their way to the great port of Liverpool. Very dangerous waters with dangerous rocks just below the surface.

One day a ship came through full of cotton bales, hit the rocks, and its cargo washed up on the shore of Moreton. This was about the same time as they were thinking about building a lighthouse. So they used, as a base, cotton bales mixed with sand, hard and solid as the toughest concrete, and they built a lighthouse.

That shone its light. Bleep. Bleep.

And all the ships were safe.  UNTIL. ..Da Da Da Da DAH..
Some naughty people in Moreton had a really bad idea.

“The Wreckers of Moreton’ came into being. ‘The Wreckers of Moreton’ were on-land pirates (they didn’t have parrots, eye-patches ships or wooden legs) a dangerous gang of villains, as there had ever been in those parts. It was not a good time in history to be a lighthouse keeper.

What the wreckers used to do was build a fire out near the rocks, break into the lighthouse, knock the keeper on the head, and put out the lighthouse light. Then Captain Smith aboard the Good Ship Pennsylvania, navigating his ship, would be coming into the deep channel, watching for the lights. He didn’t know that the light he was looking at was a bogus light. His ship would be guided onto the rocks, whereupon the “Wreckers of Moreton” would attack the crew, seize whatever goods they could and sometimes murder the poor ships crew.

That didn’t last for long. Eventually the militia were sent from Liverpool to guard the lighthouse and the lighthouse was able to get back to doing what it was meant to do. Shine the light Bleep. Bleep.

That was until they built a great big sea wall. And a new lighthouse that didn’t need a lighthouse keeper that was miles away on the other side of the channel. But the old one just stayed where it was.

Poor little lighthouse.  What was it to do now? No Bleep. Bleep. Nobody looking after it. No ships to guide.

Then, way back in the year 1930 or so Moreton had become, not a place of Wreckers, but a place for a vacation. The sea wall had created a lovely beach. A railway station had opened making it a place holiday makers from the city of Liverpool could easily reach. And they came in their hundreds.

Somebody had a bright idea. What about “The Lighthouse Café” What a novelty! All the holiday makers came and got a cup of tea and an ice cream and suddenly the lighthouse was back in business.

The years went by. Good years of fun and laughter. Till a great war broke out. And the holiday makers stopped coming. And the wall became fortified with concrete and bunkers where they placed guns to shoot down the bombers that were raiding Liverpool. And barbed wire to stop any enemy landings. And anti-tank barricades. (When I was growing up some of them still there and it was an exciting place to play). But the little lighthouse once again stood empty.

After the war Moreton no longer was so attractive for a holiday. The river had become so polluted and muddy that no-one dared swim in the sea. And air travel had arrived taking people to nicer warmer beaches in Spain rather than old Moreton in the Mud. So for many years the lighthouse stood tall and looking sad.  It’s only visitors were people who broke in and smashed its windows and wrecked its staircase and sprayed it with graffiti and left behind their trash. “It’s not much fun being me” thought the little light house.

Then, around fifteen years ago, the area around the lighthouse started to take on a new life as what today is known as the ‘Wirral Coastal Park’ started to be developed. Some said they should knock that old lighthouse down as it had become a liability. But more enlightened souls recognized its potential as a visitor center for those who came to walk the coastline and observe the wildlife, plants and birds and breathe the sea air.

So it was given a smart white coat of paint. New windows. New stairs. And these days thousands of school children visit every year to learn about its history. And you can once again get a cool drink on a hot summer’s day! You can even climb to the top and see the view.

In fact if you go to www.leasowelighthouse.co.uk you can find a “Friends of Leasowe Lighthouse” website that features a webcam that shows you a minute by minute panoramic view from the top of the lighthouse. These days the little lighthouse provides pictures to the whole wide world of the views from its heights. Once more it is a happy proud little lighthouse!

Jesus tells us to shine our light for Him. He is the Light of the World.

There are other tempting lights in the world, but some if we follow them will lead to trouble and ruin like the “’Wreckers of Moreton”.

As we go though life Jesus may ask us to serve Him in different ways.

Sometimes to be a light and a guide for others. Like the Leasowe Lighthouse when it guided ships through the dangerous rocks.

Sometimes to serve and help others. Like the Leasowe Lighthouse Tea-Rooms and Restaurant.

Sometimes to inform and teach people. Like the Leasowe Lighthouse as it serves as a center for the Wirral Coastal Park.

Sometimes maybe we can offer something to the whole world. Like the Friends of Leasowe Lighthouse Webcam.

We may have days or seasons when we don’t feel like we are much use. When we hardly shine at all. Just like the lighthouse. Just like Good Friday became Easter Sunday; God loves us and has a plan for us and will help us through!

Rev Adrian J. Pratt B.D.

“Confronting God”

Readings: Psalm 138, Exodus 3:1-15, 2 Corinthians 4:13-5:1, Mark 4:35-41

Preached at First Presbyterian Church, Baldwin, NY on June 10^th, 2012

A printable PDF file can be found here

God said to Moses, "Don't come any closer. Take off your sandals because you are standing on Holy Ground." (Exodus 3:5)

A man went from the USA on a pilgrimage to Europe to visit some of the Holy places associated with the Reformed faith. He went to Aldersgate in England, where John Wesley had an experience of the Spirit that left his heart 'strangely warmed'. He went to Wittenberg in Germany and to Rome in Italy, to where Martin Luther's incisive turnings took place. He went to Geneva to walk where John Calvin walked.

All he found were plain buildings and ordinary towns. It took a lot of money and time to bring him to the conclusion that places weren't that important. What ever had happened there was long gone and could not be distilled or captured.

If we were to go to the area of Horeb that our Old Testament lesson spoke of, and by some chance discover the very bush where God spoke to Moses, I'm sure it would look just like any other desert bush. The bush only had significance because God spoke and a person responded.

Often we look for a special place or dramatic circumstance in which we can be confronted by God. But in reality any place can be our special place. The problem is that because we so easily dismiss the common place and the ordinary, we often miss out on what God is trying to say to us or do for us. To counteract this:-

• We need an awareness of God
• We need an openness to God
• We need obedience to God

1. Confronting God requires awareness of God.

We can glibly say, "God is always with me". Our actions often betray our words. We don't act like God is always with us. We don't expect to meet God everywhere and anytime.

Back in Horeb, had it been someone other than Moses, they might not have taken much notice of the burning bush, nor heard God speak. "Oh.. look.. there is a bush on fire. That's strange, it isn't burning up. Oh well. Whatever. I'll be on my way."

The theologian J.S. Whale observes that if most of us saw a bush on fire not burning up, we wouldn't take off our shoes in reverence, we'd pull out a camera and take a snapshot to show the folks back home.

Sometimes things happen in our lives that other people call coincidences or accidents. The eye of faith interprets them differently and sees the working of God's Holy Spirit. As one lady said, "I've noticed that when I pray coincidences start to happen!"

Carrying with us an awareness, that God can confront us through the ordinary and the every day, transforms our every day lives. When faith is active in our hearts, any place becomes a Christian shrine, a place of meeting with God. A school canteen, a kitchen sink, a chance encounter with a stranger, behind the desk at work... God can and will meet with us, if only we can keep alive an awareness of His presence.

2. Confronting God requires openness to God.

You can come to church and sit down in the pew and be aware that someone is sitting next to you. They may have sat next to you last week and may even be there next week. You are aware of their presence. That doesn't mean any communication takes place between you.

In order to establish a relationship you have to talk, communicate, open up. That's why we often have times for fellowship after services. We don't want to be just a bunch of observers at worship services. God calls us to be a fellowship. Openness takes communication. It has at least two benefits.

a) Openness to God allows us to recognize Him when He does confront us.

I used to have a friend in Wales who used to call me up, put on a deep voice and say things like, "I know where you are!" Tried to scare me. I always figured out it was him, because I knew His voice and knew he was the sort of person who played such pranks .

By the time he encountered the burning bush in the desert, Moses had learned enough of God to recognize when something significant was taking place. He identified God's voice. He realized he was standing on holy ground. He took off his sandals as a sign of devotion. It was more than an awareness of God's presence. He opened up to hear what God had to say.

In a service of worship, we need to be aware that God is present. But more than just awareness, there needs to be in us a reaching out, an opening up, a heartfelt desire to hear what God wishes us to hear. A divine initiative has taken place. In Christ God calls to us. It is for us to respond.

b) Openness to God allows us to truly be ourselves.

Moses was a man with an identity crisis. His questioning of God at the burning bush was also a questioning of himself. "Who am I? A child of Israel or a child of Egypt? A fugitive? An outlaw? An adopted son of Pharaoh? A priests son-in law? A shepherd of Midian?" Who was he?

In his book "The Cost of Discipleship", Dietrich Bonhoeffer writes from his prison cell in Nazi Germany;

"Who am I?

Am I one person today and tomorrow another?

Am I both at once?

A hypocrite before others and before myself a contemptible, woebegone weakling?

Or is something within me still like a beaten army ,

Fleeing in disorder from victory already achieved?

Who am I? They mock me, these lonely questions of mine.

Whoever I am, Thou knowest O God

I am thine!"

Who am I?

We know we are products of our background, our families, our environment.... so many complex factors. We know our lives are a strange mixture of darkness and light, of victories and defeats, that like Bonhoeffer there is something in us "like a beaten army fleeing in disorder from a victory already achieved".

An encounter with God cuts through all of that self questioning and brings freedom. To God we are someone special. Someone God wants to confront, wants to talk with. To God we matter enough for God to send God's son Jesus Christ to die on a cross for. To God we are a child of potential with a capacity for grace and who will find fulfillment in the seeking and doing of God's will.

Be aware of God. Be open to God. And be mindful...

3. Confronting God requires obedience to God.

Imagine how the whole thing would have turned out if Moses had said, "God, I hear you, but I'm not doing what you suggest. Me? Become the spokesperson to lead the Israelites out of Eygpt? You know me God... I can hardly put a sentence together... let alone lead a nation!"

Jamie McDougal was a forester in Scotland. He was the size of a house. Legs like tree trunks, shoulders more like a grizzly bear than a human being. He was once asked if there was anything he was afraid of."Och, I'm not afraid of any man that walks on this earth". Then he paused and through his beard there traced a slow grin, "But I am afraid of one wee lassie"

"And who might that be" he was asked.

"Why, the wife!" he replied.

Jamie McDougal was over 250 pounds, a punch like a sledgehammer, his wife less than half his size and didn't look like she could punch a hole through a wet paper bag. An explanation was required.

"Oh, I'm nae afraid that she can hurt me. I'm afraid of doo-een something she would na like. I'm afraid of her feelings - that I might do something stoopid - and hurt them".

If you know somebody loves you, you don't trample on their feelings. On the contrary, love is the greatest possible incentive towards obedience.

The love of God can confront us anytime and anywhere. Let us be aware of God's presence. Let us be open to God. Above all, by the grace of God, may we respond with an obedient heart of faith, not because we are fearful , but because we know of God's great love for us in Jesus Christ, because we know that to love God is to keep God's commandments.

(Exodus 3:5) God said to Moses, "Don't come any closer.

Take off your sandals because you are standing on Holy Ground."

It is the presence of God that turns the commonplace into the holy.

May God teach us how to honor and worship Him with our whole lives.

To God's name be all honor, power and glory.

AMEN.

Rev Adrian J Pratt B.D.