The Beacons Are Lit

In the story of the Tower of Babel in Genesis 11:1-11, the people of the world desired unity and significance and tried to reach God by their own power to achieve their own ends. They started building a tower that ‘reaches to the heavens’ but God confused their language and scattered them over the earth. We see the reversal of Babel in the story of Pentecost, a Jewish harvest festival which happened about 7 weeks after Jesus’ death and resurrection:

When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them. Now there were staying in Jerusalem God-fearing Jews from every nation under heaven. When they heard this sound, a crowd came together in bewilderment, because each one heard their own language being spoken. (Acts 2:1-6)

Tomorrow, churches around the world celebrate the coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. We could never reach God by our own power, so he became human to reach us. Because of Jesus’ death and resurrection, we can be forgiven from our sins and are given unity and significance as sons and daughters of our Father who loves us and empowers us by his Holy Spirit.

On Friday night, a number of people from Bognor Vineyard came together with hundreds more to attend the lighting of the Bognor beacon to celebrate the Platinum Jubilee. This was especially significant for us because our redesigned church logo includes the Bognor beacon (see this video). We believe that the burning beacon is a powerful symbol of the presence and work of the Holy Spirit.

The Holy Spirit unites his people for a common purpose
Beacons gathered people together for a common purpose. When a beacon was lit, the local community would often come together in case French or Spanish ships attempted to land. In Peter’s message to the Jewish crowd on Pentecost, he made it clear that Jesus was their long-awaited king. Jesus reigns as our king, and the Holy Spirit unites us for the common purpose of seeing his kingdom break into our world.

The Holy Spirit empowers us to communicate the good news of Jesus
Beacons were lit to communicate a shared message. As long as all of the beacons were lit, London could have been alerted within an hour or two of seeing an approaching ship (on Friday, we could see the Littlehampton beacon burning all the way from Bognor!). On Pentecost, the Holy Spirit caused the good news of Jesus to be shared with ‘God-fearing Jews from every nation under heaven,’ a message which would have been shared when they returned home. We desire that the good news of Jesus reaches our community and beyond through the power of the Holy Spirit. 

The Holy Spirit helps us walk in obedience and resist sin
Beacons alerted against the common threat of French and Spanish ships. When the crowd asked Peter how they should respond to the coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, he said that they should repent and be saved from this corrupt generation. We desire for the Holy Spirit to help us walk in obedience and remove any obstacles that would prevent us from receiving the fullness of what he wants for us.

The Holy Spirit celebrates Jesus’ reign
The Bognor beacon is one of many that were originally built for Millennium celebrations, and since then they have mostly been used for royal celebrations. About 3,000 people became Christians as a result of Peter’s message to the crowd, and it’s easy to see how their lives became a royal celebration of Jesus’ kingship and the presence of the Holy Spirit with them: 

‘Every day they continued to meet together... They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favour of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved’ (Acts 2:46-47).

When you pass by the Bognor beacon on the seafront, we invite you to pray for the Holy Spirit’s work in our community, who helps us to walk in obedience and resist sin, and unites us for his kingdom purposes so his good news will be shared and celebrated in and beyond Bognor!