There are many traditions around Christmas. Large traditions, cultural traditions, church traditions, and family traditions. These are the things that make Christmas what it is—a reminder of things past and hope for tomorrow. One of the church’s traditions is lighting the Advent candles. Each candle is a reminder of a particular theme of the Christmas season. There are five candles, with the last one to be lit on Christmas Day. But the importance isn’t their lighting, but what they stand for. The traditional order is hope, peace, joy, love, and Christ. Those will also be the themes for Lambchow’s Advent season this year.
We begin with hope. The one thing about hope is that it always looks forward. Paul observed, “For in hope we have been saved, but hope that is seen is not hope; for who hopes for what he already sees?” (Romans 8:24, NASB 2020) In the time before Christ’s incarnation, the hope was for the Messiah to come and restore.
Before the first candle is lit, all is dark. It is not an accident that Christmas comes at a time(for those in the Northern Hemisphere) when the nights are the longest. The first candle reminds us of the hope that light is coming. John writes, “The Word gave life to everything that was created, and his life brought light to everyone. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness can never extinguish it.” (John 1:4–5, NLT) No matter how dark it gets, one small candle of hope in Christ can light our path.
As we begin this Advent season, consider where your life is the darkest. What impossible situation, condition, or circumstance is casting a shadow over your life? We all have them at times. For the Jewish folks in Jesus’ time awaiting a Messiah, the shadow was the oppressive Roman rule. For us, it could be anything. The loss of a loved one, impossible-to-solve economic situations, poor health, broken desires, feelings of loneliness or depression. Whether literally or figuratively, light a candle of hope in Christ. A candle that hopes in something rather than an escape from something. Watch how the darkness flees as your hope in Christ is ignited.
Consider this from Hebrews, “Therefore, we who have fled to him for refuge can have great confidence as we hold to the hope that lies before us. This hope is a strong and trustworthy anchor for our souls. It leads us through the curtain into God’s inner sanctuary.” (Hebrews 6:18b–19, NLT) I can’t promise that all situations will change. Sometimes, the light of hope drives back the darkness around us, but hope in Christ always quenches the darkness within us.
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