Today in our worship services – I'm writing this on Sunday evening – we lit the first candle of the Advent wreath. As that small fire atop a purple candle burned slowly, I felt my own heart warmed with the hope of the coming of Christ.
If you're in a fairly traditional or liturgical church, you may immediately connect with what I'm saying here. But it's quite possible, given the wide varieties of Christian experience in our world today, that you have no idea what I'm talking about or why the lighting of a candle would be so special to me. In the next few days I'll explain more about Advent and why I think it's such an important season of the year. But, today, I'd like to focus instead on the meaning of Advent as represented by the first candle in our Advent wreath. |  | |
An Advent wreath with the first candle lit. | ||
I should explain that there is no one, official set of meanings for the candles of the Advent wreath. I can't even remember where the one we use at Irvine Presbyterian Church originated. Nevertheless, the typical Advent wreath has five candles, one for each Sunday of Advent and one for Christmas Day (or Christmas Eve). The candle colors vary, though most wreaths have purple candles (the standard Advent color, signifying solemnity or royalty) and a central white candle for the birth of Christ. Some wreaths use a pink candle for one of the Sundays of Advent, as a symbol of joy. If you're not used to all of this, it can seem strange to have purple and pink colors prominent in the weeks right before Christmas. But, in time, the colors make sense to both mind and heart. (For more information on the colors of the Christian year, see my posts: "Overview of the Christian Year" and "The Colors of the Christian Year.")
In my church, all of candles of the Advent wreath signify some dimension of our waiting. Advent is, after all, a season of hopeful waiting for the coming of Christ. The first candle reminds us that we are waiting for our Good Shepherd. This morning, those who lit the candle read a portion of Isaiah 40:
Comfort, O comfort my people,
says your God.
Speak tenderly to Jerusalem,
and cry to her
that she has served her term,
that her penalty is paid,
that she has received from the LORD’S hand
double for all her sins.
A voice cries out:
“In the wilderness prepare the way of the LORD,
make straight in the desert a highway for our God.
Every valley shall be lifted up,
and every mountain and hill be made low;
the uneven ground shall become level,
and the rough places a plain.
Then the glory of the LORD shall be revealed,
and all people shall see it together,
for the mouth of the LORD has spoken.”
A voice says, “Cry out!”
And I said, “What shall I cry?”
All people are grass,
their constancy is like the flower of the field.
The grass withers, the flower fades,
when the breath of the LORD blows upon it;
surely the people are grass.
The grass withers, the flower fades;
but the word of our God will stand forever.
Get you up to a high mountain,
O Zion, herald of good tidings;
lift up your voice with strength,
O Jerusalem, herald of good tidings,
lift it up, do not fear;
say to the cities of Judah,
“Here is your God!”
See, the Lord GOD comes with might,
and his arm rules for him;
his reward is with him,
and his recompense before him.
He will feed his flock like a shepherd;
he will gather the lambs in his arms,
and carry them in his bosom,
and gently lead the mother sheep.
If you're familiar with Handel's Messiah, no doubt you can hear the way Handel set these lines to music. They convey God's good news to Judah: He is coming to make all things right! Notice that the Lord is strong, but His strength is not something to be feared by His people. Rather, it enables Him to gather His people as a shepherd picks up his lambs.
The first candle of the Advent wreath helps us to recognize just how much we need God to be our Good Shepherd. We need guidance. We need protection. We need comfort. And this is what God provides. Advent heightens our awareness of our need for a Shepherd, and it points us to the only One who can meet this need. His is not power to be feared, but to be desired.
(Note: If you'd like to use an Advent wreath for your personal, family, or church's recognition of Advent, I've prepared an Advent wreath guide that you might find helpful.)
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