Have you ever been singing a hymn or, perhaps just thumbing through a song book and noticed a phrase or line of a song that, even though you may have sung it "a jillion" times, you were not quite sure just what it meant? Being a song leader, I am always looking through songbooks, especially if I'm visiting another congregation that uses a book different from ours, and mentally "leading" some of the songs found in them. And, from time to time, I see a phrase or title of a song and suddenly realize that I'm not sure just what is meant by that phrase.
When I run across something in a hymn that I don't quite understand, I feel the necessity of learning its meaning so that, like the Apostle Paul in 1 Cor. 14:15, I can sing with both the "spirit and the understanding." Such was the case the other night as I was looking at an old song and noticed something that I didn't fully understand. And this particular song has been around for many years as it was written by Philip P. Bliss who perished in a train accident in 1876. If you check our book, you'll find quite a few of our songs written by P.P. Bliss.
But, this particular song, "LET THE LOWER LIGHTS BE BURNING" (page 130 in our book) caught my eye and I got to thinking, What are the "lower lights?" When we look at the rest of the words of this song, it certainly appears to have a theme of "lighthouses" and "safe harbors" and correct guidance. All of us know what a lighthouse is and if we haven't actually seen one, we've seen paintings and pictures of them. As far as their purpose for being, they're almost a thing of the past anymore. Modern technology has rendered them pretty much obsolete, but their meaning is still there. A light to guide travelers safely into a harbor by warning of treacherous reefs and rocks to be avoided.
But, the "lower lights?" Just what are the lower lights? I thought about it and then did a little research and found out the following information. I thought you might enjoy learning about them also. Basically, we could look at Matt. 5:14 where it says that Christians are the "light of the world" and apply that scripture to this song. From John 1:9 we see that Christ is "the True Light" and then in John 8:12 Jesus himself said, "I am the light of the world . . ." So, it's easy to understand who the "lighthouse" is, the Son of God, Jesus Christ. Interestingly, He is also the light of Heaven, as we see in Rev. 21:23.
So, Christians are the "lower lights" or I guess you could say that they are reflected lights of Christ. And, there is a great responsibility in being a "lower light." If we don't adequately reflect the proper light, we can cause the spiritual death of a soul by giving them the wrong direction. Probably the best illustration of what I'm saying is a little story used by a preacher once in making his point about the responsibility of Christians to point the way to Christ. Here is that story.
On a dark, stormy night when the waves rolled like mountains and not a star could be seen, a large passenger boat cautiously edged toward the Cleveland harbor. The pilot knew that, in the inky darkness, he could only find the harbor channel by keeping two lower shore lights in line with the main beacon.
"Are you sure this is Cleveland?" asked the captain, seeing only one light from the lighthouse.
"Quite sure, sir," replied the pilot.
"Where are the lower lights?" he asked.
"Gone out, sir," was the reply.
"Can you make the harbor?"
"We must or perish, sir."
With a strong hand and a brave heart, the old pilot turned the wheel. But alas! In the darkness he missed the channel, the boat crashed on the rocks, and many lives were lost.
Yes, people must be able to see our lights. You see, we are the "lower lights" that must be there for people to see the way into the harbor. I like the last verse of the song because it reminds us to keep our own lights in proper order so that we don't lead someone astray. Many of us here today remember the old coal oil lamps that lit our houses back in the "good old days" and when the light began to dim, you had to trim the wick in order to brighten up the lamp light. Maybe our light gets a little feeble at times and we need to "trim our wicks" so to speak.
So there you have it. We, Christians, are the "lower lights." It's our job and responsibility to give off a light that will lead souls to Christ. Otherwise, we are just darkness and cause souls to be lost.
Ron Covey
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