Set Your Reflectors Forward

Saturday 2-20-15 (Home) 

Scripture reading:        Num 8-9          Acts 28

S.  Num 8:1-4 The LORD said to Moses, "Tell Aaron that when he sets up the seven lamps in the lampstand, he is to place them so their light shines forward." So Aaron did this. He set up the seven lamps so they reflected their light forward, just as the LORD had commanded Moses. The entire lampstand, from its base to its decorative blossoms, was made of beaten gold. It was built according to the exact design the LORD had shown Moses. NLT

O.  Many of the artifacts placed within the portable tent-temple that the Lord directed Moses to build had both practical purposes and symbolic meanings.  The golden lampstand and its seven flames form a good example.  They illuminated the area in front of the great curtain where the priests would burn their incense and perform their daily duties.  But now we see that Moses instructs Aaron to position the pure gold polished reflectors so that their light shines forward. 

A.  1600 years later John the Beloved has a vision of 7 golden lampstands which he is told represent 7 churches in 7 cities.  If a beautifully decorated golden lampstand were to represent our church, which way are the reflectors directed to shine?  Inward or outward?  Facing back to focus attention on the actors on the stage?  Or outward to illuminate the path of someone stumbling in the darkness of sin? 

Puerto Deseado is a small city on the southern coast of Argentina.  It is an important port where ships from several countries and locally based fishing/processing ships meet up to transfer hundreds of huge containers of frozen seafood and dispatch their products to the nations. 

On the hill near the shore is a church with a belfry, but instead of bells, this belfry has a huge light that sends its beam, like a lighthouse out toward the sea.  At night as ships come over the distant horizon the light from the church belfry welcomes and guides them to the safety of the port. 

In February of 1996 Frances and I set up our mobile home here to help young, single Mario Cañizares plant an Assemblies of God church.  Using our binoculars we could watch the colony of penguins just across the bay.  We rented a hall in downtown Puerto Deseado.  Argentine Pastor Segundo Gamin brought us his team from Rio Gallegos, 450 miles further south, to paint it inside and out.  We fixed the place up, put up a sign and held the first crusade to win souls.  Frances and I fell in love with this spot and with Mario.  That church has become a powerful, spiritual light in this community.  Mario is now married and with a family.  Their church has purchased property on a hilltop overlooking hundreds of homes and are in the process of building a very impressive church building three stories high. 

So… Which way is your light directed?

P.  Dear Father, You have shed your light upon our way.  Its warmth and protection have lured us into its safe haven.  Your Son, Jesus, said, “I am the Light of the World!”    And now You tell us that we are the light of the world. (Matt 5:14)  Help us to never forget which way are we should set our reflectors to direct the beam.  Amen.

Ralph