Once a fishing village was forming at the head of a harbor. Little houses popped up here and there. Each one was painted a different bright color. It was a picturesque scene as little, colorful houses dotted the uneven, rocky land by the massive ocean.
As the village grew, they needed many things. Among those things, they needed a lighthouse and they needed a chapel. They definitely could not afford both, but they started building one structure that would be both. They built the lighthouse first and it became the steeple of their chapel. Then, they built a place to gather to pray and the lighthouse towered above them pointing them to God. It was the first ever lighthouse chapel.
The pastor was also a fisherman and since he and his family lived next to the lighthouse chapel, he also became the lighthouse keeper and the coast guard.
Once during a service, someone crawled down from the lighthouse and called out that a ship was in trouble. The pastor and many from the congregation left the service to begin a rescue.
There were many sermons there about Jesus as a beacon of light, Jesus as a rescuer of those in danger, Jesus as a fisher of people, Jesus as a protector like the coast guard. It all made sense to the people.
Many of the funeral services were held at the ocean’s edge because the person was lost at sea and the water served as the casket and the burial ground.
Then, one day the pastor was fishing and a storm quickly came in. The people sent a crew to look for him, but they unsuccessful. Other people stepped up to carry out his funeral at the shore.
The sea provided this village sustenance and livelihood and also it also took some of the people away. The lighthouse chapel continued to point people to God and point out home to those in danger at sea. To visitors, the chapel seemed to have these two confusing roles. But to the people of the fishing village, its different meanings fit together as part of the overall meaning of their lives.
