Giving up something for Lent

 

Lent is a season that -- for some -- includes fasting as a way of observing this time.   Jesus fasted for forty days following his baptism.  During this time, he was in the wilderness being tempted by the Devil.  This fast and the Lenten season are connected by this number of days and by this fasting practice.

I don’t know that many people literally fast for this entire period.  Even with the fact that Sundays don’t make up a part of this self-denying season, I don’t hear people reflecting on their season-long denial of food.

Some folks participate in a partial fast.  They will refrain from eating until three in the afternoon, or until sunset (they hate to see Daylight Saving Time come).  Others follow a long-standing church tradition of abstaining from “pleasant food.”  I suppose that is a bit of a subjective evaluation.  One person’s “pleasant” is another one’s “rejection.”

So, observing this time with an exercise of self-denial takes on many forms.  “Giving up something for Lent” leaves the realm of food behind for a lot of people.  They instead abandon practices or diversions for these days.

It is not up to me to judge another person’s spiritual discipline.  But I would ask anyone to evaluate their choices with this question: Is that which you are setting aside good enough to give up for Lent?   What I mean by that is does a person set aside something that is bad for them and then claim it as a spiritual discipline?  I have heard people talk of giving up excessive consumption of alcohol, smoking, driving over the speed limit, cursing, overeating and a host of other behaviors in the name of observing the season.

As difficult as it may be for some individuals to set aside addictive behavior, I question the labeling of these things as a sacrificial gift that one places before the Throne of Grace.  If I “give up” overindulging of food, do I set my practice down at the feet of Christ and say, “Lord, I have given up gluttony in my devotion to you?”  I mean, isn’t gluttony one of the Seven Deadly Sins?  Isn’t it a practice that I should have avoided from the get-go?  Do I give myself permission to be a glutton again once Lent is over and Easter commences?  That just doesn’t seem right.

So, what is appropriate if we observe this practice?  I have known people who have given up seemingly small things, but they required real effort on the part of the practitioner.  One of the positives that grows out of a decision to deny something is that some believers leave behind a practice and in its place, they substitute times of prayer, meditation or reflection.  When Lent passes, they may re-order their lives for the long haul.  Or, they may resume their former ways with a new appreciation of the part that the thing they have done without plays in their lives.

So, if we have set something aside (or start today, as there is no need to be legalistic – it’s not too late), we might want to make sure that it’s good enough.

The Confession of St. Peter

The Christian calendar observes the Confession of St. Peter on January 18.  Matthew, Mark and Luke each report (with varying degrees of detail) the time in which Jesus asks his disciples what the crowds are saying about him.  He then asks the disciples themselves about their opinion.  At that point Peter makes his Confession – his affirmation – of the Messiahship of Jesus.  The synoptics variously report Peter’s words as:

Matthew 16:13-20 -- “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.”
Mark 8:27–30 -- “You are the Messiah.”
Luke 9:18–20 -- “The Messiah of God.”

It is Matthew alone who reports Jesus’ response, both in terms of revelation and in passing Kingdom responsibility along to Peter.  But for all of the synoptic writers this is clearly a watershed moment not only for Peter, but for the church as well.

In modern times The Confession of Peter has been related to The Week of Prayer for Christian Unity.  The Faith and Order Movement of the World Council of Churches and the Anglican Friars of the Atonement have each advocated a time of uniting prayer since the early 20th century.  The week has moved around the calendar a bit, but the church now designates the week as taking place January 18 – 25.

 Peter’s profession is that of all Christians.  No matter what their views on other ideas and doctrines great and small, it is the affirmation, “(Jesus is) the Christ,” that gathers Christian believers together.

Ordinary Time

Today is the first day following the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord.  As such (by most reckonings) it was the first day of Ordinary Time.  This is the liturgical season that begins immediately following the Baptism feast and it runs through Shrove Tuesday, or the day before Ash Wednesday (March 6 in 2019).

The church calls this time after The Epiphany Ordinary Time.  (I addressed those unusual days between Epiphany and The Baptism in a post dated January 11.)  This period gets its name from the way that we number the days during this time.  We do not designate this stretch ordinary because we label this time as somehow common or dull.  Rather, the church employs this designation because of the nature of the numbering of these days.  Instead of using cardinal numbers (one, two, three) it utilizes ordinal numbers (first, second, third).  So, we call this coming Sunday, February 20, The Second Sunday After The Epiphany.

Because Ash Wednesday is a moveable feast (an observance that does not occur on the same date each year), ordinary time will be of varying duration from year to year.  Ash Wednesday can fall anywhere between February 4 and March 10, though the two extremes of the range are very rare.  The last time Ash Wednesday was on February 4 was 1818 and will next occur in 2285.  The most recent time Ash Wednesday fell on March 10 was in 1943 and will next occur in 2038.  So, the duration of ordinary time is between four and nine weeks.  In the modern liturgical usage, the first Sunday in Ordinary Time is The Feast of the Baptism of the Lord and the last Sunday is The Feast of the Transfiguration.  Obviously, there are two more days in the season before Lent begins on Ash Wednesday.

Ordinary time carries with it emphases on mission (begun with the narrative of the Wise Men visiting the infant Jesus) and spiritual growth.  The liturgical colors of the season are white (for the feast days) and green (signifying new, eternal and abundant life) for the rest of the season.  The New Revised Common Lectionary (NRCL) offers gospel texts that reveal the nature of Jesus Christ (in keeping with the Epiphany theme).  The epistle readings address the topics of spiritual gifts and the character of the church (in an examination of spiritual growth).

We can be deceived by looking over our shoulders at Christmas and ahead to Easter so that we think that ordinary time is a “down time,” a respite between major occurrences where nothing of significance takes place.  But it can be an extraordinary time, where the church addresses some of its most formative ideas.

What a great time.

The Feast of The Baptism of the Lord

You would think that this Feast Day would be straightforward.  Jesus goes to the Jordan.  John baptizes him (with or without a lot of dialog, depending on which gospel account you are reading), the heavens open, the Holy Spirit descends in (some sort of) bodily form and a voice speaks.  It is the inauguration of Jesus’ public ministry.  Celebrate!  Give thanks!  End of story.

And yet, almost from the very beginning there were teachers who were proclaiming Christian baptism in the exact same terms as the baptism offered by John.  Their call was to John’s baptism, not that of Jesus and the church.  There are people within the larger church who do this same thing today.  They use John language to talk about what they call Christian baptism.

But what was John’s proclamation?  “Repent!  Renounce your sins!  Make way for the coming of the Lord.  Prepare yourselves for the Messiah, the Christ, the one who will save you from your sins.”  Let’s be clear: “get ready” is not the same thing as “Have faith.”  There are those who claim that their belief system can trace its lineage all the way back to John the Baptist.  They say that with pride.  I don’t get it.  What has John done for them lately?  John’s baptism?  You can have it I say.  John didn’t save You.  You are not John’s disciple.  Nowhere in scripture do you hear a call to proclaim, “John the Baptist is Lord!”  Why then would you want to embrace John’s baptism?

It is true that the larger church has muddled the significance of this Sacrament through the years.  To this day there is no uniformity of opinion as to what the Rite means.  Some communions see baptism as a literal washing away of the stain of sin.  Others see it as an act of professing faith in making ready to join the church universal or a particular congregation.  This is what is meant by “believer’s baptism.”  Some congregations won't even recognize  the baptism performed by other congregations within their fellowship.  The idea is, "If we haven't baptized you, then no one has baptized you!" 

The United Methodist Church (and others) define baptism as an initiation into the Body of Christ and a claiming of the individual into the family of God.  Again, like many other groups the United Methodist Church practices the baptism of infants, with parents or sponsors taking the vows on behalf of the candidate until such time as the individual can affirm those promises for themselves.

I have a book in my library with the provocative title Baptism: The Water that Divides by Donald Bridge.  The work itself is a bit murky, but what a great title!  That which designs to unite believers is in fact one of the great points of contention within the church.  For something that Christ commanded, and that the church has normatively required from its beginnings, there is no consensus among the major faith groups as to what this means at all.

I won’t enter the discussion about the amount of water that constitutes baptism.  I leave that issue grieving that people will split families and even congregations over what amounts to a measuring cup.

So, owning that this action of the church has no foreseeable resolution, I simply commend the day as an extraordinary one in the life and ministry of The Lord Jesus. It is worthy of our notice and our commemoration.  There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to the one hope of your calling, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is above all and through all and in all. –Ephesians 4:4-6

Lord, haste the day…

The Feast of St. Stephen

December 26 is the Feast of St. Stephen, Martyr, the “Feast of Stephen” of the carol “Good King Wenceslaus.”  The song nowhere mentions Christmas or any of its accouterments

.  The first line marks the events of the music in time, but there are no other seasonal references (unless  you count “Ye who now will bless the poor Shall yourselves find blessing…” and that may be a stretch).

It might seem a bit of a downer after al the hoopla of Christmas to come to the next day and be reminded of the first Christian martyr.  Acts 7:54-60 tells of his death.  It is a sobering story.

The Christian calendar reminds us that Jesus does not come into the world in a vacuum.  He does not remain in the cradle.  Nor is his advent without consequences.  Christian history is filled with the tales of martyrs, both famous and anonymous.  Their story is part of the Christmas story, too.

The Nativity of The Lord Jesus Christ

 It is Christmas!  What a great day.  It can’t really be caught up in one word.  Even though Christmas – the Christ-Mass – is a wondrous expression, the day’s proper title is The Nativity of the Lord Jesus Christ.  That label is a virtual confession of faith in itself.  The Announcement that there is “good news of a great joy which shall be to all people,” and the response of the Heavenly Host, the wonder of the shepherds, the amazement of the onlookers and the pondering of Mary only begin to tel the story.

It is the First Day of Christmas.  The season will extend through January 5.  Then comes The Epiphany of the Lord.  But, just as we didn’t hurry to Christmas, we shall not be impatient about The Manifestation of Jesus Christ to the Gentiles.

The faith significance of the day cannot be overstated.  Even in the part of our society that is not  particularly religious, there is still a sense of the unique about these days.

There are many things from which I might have derived good, by which I have not profited, I dare say,' returned the nephew. `Christmas among the rest. But I am sure I have always thought of Christmas time, when it has come round -- apart from the veneration due to its sacred name and origin, if anything belonging to it can be apart from that -- as a good time; a kind, forgiving, charitable, pleasant time: the only time I know of, in the long calendar of the year, when men and women seem by one consent to open their shut-up hearts freely, and to think of people below them as if they really were fellow-passengers to the grave, and not another race of creatures bound on other journeys. And therefore, uncle, though it has never put a scrap of gold or silver in my pocket, I believe that it has done me good, and will do me good; and I say, God bless it!

-- Ebenezer Scrooge’s nephew, Fred

A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens

A merry Christmas to All!

Today's Lectionary Daily Reading

The Revised Common Lectionary (RCL) Daily Reading for the day is Matthew 24:23-35, which reads in part:

Then if anyone says to you, “Look! Here is the Messiah!” or “There he is!”—do not believe it. For false messiahs and false prophets will appear and produce great signs and omens, to lead astray, if possible, even the elect. Take note, I have told you beforehand. So, if they say to you, “Look! He is in the wilderness”, do not go out. If they say, “Look! He is in the inner rooms”, do not believe it. For as the lightning comes from the east and flashes as far as the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. Wherever the corpse is, there the vultures will gather.

 ‘Immediately after the suffering of those days

the sun will be darkened,

   and the moon will not give its light;

the stars will fall from heaven,

   and the powers of heaven will be shaken.

Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see “the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven” with power and great glory. And he will send out his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.

The reading is a reminder first, that no matter what the season, no matter what the observance, life goes on.  There are tasks to be done and responsibilities to be fulfilled and responsibilities to be discharged.  These do not go away merely because we are now well into December.

It is also an alert that the hope of Advent – the coming of Christ into the world – has its joys but also its caution.  Impostors and deceivers are ever a menace.  Throughout Christian history there have been “false messiahs,” those who claimed to be anointed of god and who caused significant numbers of people to stray.  Today we would call some of them cultists, and we don’t have to look back very to see what tragedy such figures can cause.

Be faithful.  Be vigilant.  Trust God.

The Fourth O Antiphon

O ROOT OF JESSE, who stands for an ensign of the people, before whom kings shall keep silence and to whom the Gentiles shall make their supplication:

Come, and deliver us and tarry not.

      Rejoice!  Rejoice!  Emmanuel shall come to thee, O Israel.

  

The Israelites looked forward to the coming of a Messiah who would restore them to a time of peace and prosperity.  Their thoughts naturally drifted to the nations's glory days: the time of the rule of King David.  The Book of First Samuel chronicles the emergence of David as a national figure and then king, first of Judah for seven years, then of all Israel for a total of forty.  David ruled wisely (for the most part) slew the Philistine giant Goliath, fought the battles of Yahweh, and kept the nation together in the face of tremendous outside threats.  A people that had later lived under the crushing heel of the Syrians, the Assyrians, the Babylonians, Greece and Rome longed for independence, peace and prosperity.  That was the understanding of most of the people who anticipated the coming of God's Messiah.

So intense was this desire that Israel even came to believe that the Messiah would be a part of David's family tree.  As David was a sprig off the root of his father Jesse, so must the Messiah have David's blood in his own veins.

Isaiah, Chapter 11, Verses 1–3 read:

And there shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse, and a branch shall grow out of his roots. And the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord. And his delight shall be in the fear of the Lord. He shall not judge by what his eyes see, or decide by what his ears hear;

In this season, we remember that the Infancy Narratives of Matthew and Luke have Jesus being born not simply in the “town of Bethlehem,” but in a population center known as “The city of David.”

It is not about wishful thinking; it is about hope.

The peace of the Lord be with you.

Root of Jesse

Our Advent Wreath Lighting for the Fourth Sunday of Advent

Leader: 

As our nights grow longer and our days grow short,

we look on these earthly signs--light and green branches--

and remember God's promise to our world:

Christ, our Light and our Hope, will come.

Listen to the words of Isaiah the prophet:

“A shoot shall come out from the stump of Jesse, and a branch shall grow out of

his roots. The spirit of the Lord shall rest on him, the spirit of counsel and might,

the spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord. His delight shall be in the fear of

the Lord. He shall not judge by what his eyes see, or decide by what his ears

hear; but with righteousness he shall judge the poor, and decide with equity for

the meek of the earth…. The wolf shall live with the lamb, the leopard shall lie

down with the kid, the calf and the lion and the fatling together, and a little child

shall lead them…. They will not hurt or destroy on all my holy mountain; for the

earth will be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea. On

that day the root of Jesse shall stand as a signal to the peoples; the nations shall

inquire of him, and his dwelling shall be glorious.”

(Isaiah 11:1-4a, 6, 9-10)

Leader: Let us pray.

All: 

Almighty God,

you brought forth a royal branch

from the ancient stock of Jesse’s line:

Grant that we who have been grafted into this heritage

may bear fruit worthy of Jesus Christ;

who with you and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns,

one God, now and forever. Amen.

Thanksgiving Day in The Advent Season

In a couple of days, Americans will celebrate Thanksgiving Day.  It is important to say that this is a national holiday in the US, because other countries have thanksgiving traditions calendared on other dates, some of them far removed from the American observance.

On the other hand, Advent is a season that Christians all around the world embrace.  Not all Christian groups have Advent customs.  And, Advent moves around the calendar a bit depending on denominational traditions.  The length of the season is one that we are examining ourselves this year.

And Advent and thanksgiving are not at odds with one another.  They can easily coexist in our lives and in our festal calendar.  But, BUT, Advent is the church’s festival.  Thanksgiving is a part of the secular calendar. Some folks are bothered that there is an Advent wreath on the church’s worship center rather than an ear of corn and a cornucopia.  I might feel a little differently if Thanksgiving started in the church.  But I can’t remember the last time I attended (or heard of) a worship service in a church on Thanksgiving Day.  When I was a young child several of the congregations in our neighborhood – including my church -- held a joint worship service at about 10:30 a.m. on Thanksgiving, but that has long ceased being the practice.  I have pastored congregations that held services on Wednesday evening, but those, too, have slipped away.  Let’s be honest, the day is a day for parades, football games, family reunions and feasting to the point of gluttony.  I like parades.  I like football. I like getting together with family.  I love to eat the traditional fare of the day.  But let’s don’t deceive ourselves into thinking that a slightly longer table grace makes the day a Day of thanksgiving.

Meanwhile, we are desperately trying to rehabilitate this time of year in the name of the Advent of the Christ.  I’m sticking with the Advent Wreath.

The O Antiphon for the Third Week of Advent

The O antiphon for the week is:

O ADONAI, and Leader of the house of Israel, who appeared to Moses in the flames of the bush and gave him the Law on Sinai:

Come, and with your outstretched arm redeem us.

Rejoice!  Rejoice!  Emmanuel shall come to thee, O Israel.

Adonai is an odd word for liturgical use, at least for Christians.  A form of it appears sparingly in the Hebrew Bible, but it is rare.  More common is the title for God’s use in Jewish liturgy.  As pronouncing the name YHWH (Yahweh?) came to be forbidden, substitutes were offered when the readings called for the word to be said aloud.  Adonai or less frequently HaShem ("The Name") were employed as replacements.

In modern Christian hymnody, the term Adonai is used along with a long list of Hebrew names and titles in the song El Shaddai, written by Michael J. Card & John W Thompson and popularized in the 1982 release by Amy Grant.

As the antiphon indicates, the title Adonai is associated with the stories of God’s liberation of the Hebrews from slavery in Egypt and issuing the Covenant Law at Sinai.

Ruler of Nations

The reading for the Lighting of the Advent Wreath for the third Sunday of Advent is:

Leader: As our nights grow longer and our days grow short,

we look on these earthly signs--light and green branches--

and remember God's promise to our world:

Christ, our Light and our Hope, will come.

Listen to these words from the Revelation to John:

“And I saw what appeared to be a sea of glass mixed with fire, and those who had

conquered the beast and its image and the number of its name, standing beside the

sea of glass with harps of God in their hands. And they sing the song of

Moses, the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb:

‘Great and amazing are your deeds,

Lord God the Almighty!

Just and true are your ways,

King of the nations!

Lord, who will not fear and glorify your name?

For you alone are holy.

all nations will come and worship before you,

for your judgments have been revealed.’”

(Revelation 15:2-4)

Leader: Let us pray.

All: God of power and love,

you raised Jesus from death to life,

resplendent in glory to rule over all creation.

Free the world to rejoice in his peace,

to glory in his justice,

and to live in his love.

Unite all humankind in Jesus Christ your Son,

Who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,

One God, forever and ever. Amen.

Extended Advent becomes Advent

Today concludes our second week of the Extended Advent observance.  You will notice round about you that others are catching up with us.  I don’t mean the retailers and other commercial enterprises.  As we have observed, they have been in the candy cane and reindeer business since before the weather got cold. 

But we see that other congregations are sort of “getting ready to get ready.”  While their sanctuary appointments may not be in place yet, we begin to see them publicize worship services and social gatherings related to the season.  Don’t hear this as a criticism at all.  But I hope, for those of us who have already been in the Advent business for a fortnight that the novelty of this time of year has worn off and instead that the deep significance of this time has begun to sink in.  We still have plenty of time.  But we find ourselves not preparing, but immersed.

The Second O Antiphon

The O Antiphon for the Second Week of Advent reads:

O WISDOM, who came forth from the mouth of the Most High, reaching from end to end, and ordering all things mightily and sweetly

Come and teach us the way of prudence.

      Rejoice!  Rejoice!  Emmanuel shall come to thee, O Israel.

Wisdom is not related to book-learning.  It is, biblically, an understanding of the way things work together, a comprehension of simple truths related to the way things are.  In Hebrew lore, Wisdom was personified before coming to dwell in the tents of the children of Abraham in the form of The Law.  Of all the requests that Solomon could have made when he ascended the throne of Israel, that for which he asked, and which pleased God the most, was the gift of wisdom.  That the Messiah is cast as wisdom fulfills the ancient hope of God’s people that this ancient, guiding force which has been withdrawn from  humankind for a season, might return as  an assurance of God’s re-establishment of Creation Order and the perfect will of God.

Lighting the Second Candle in the Advent Wreath

The reading for the lighting of the Advent wreath for this Sunday is:

Advent 2 – Lord

Leader: As our nights grow longer and our days grow short,

we look on these earthly signs--light and green branches--

and remember God's promise to our world:

Christ, our Light and our Hope, will come.

Listen to the words of Ezekiel the prophet:

“A new heart I will give you, and a new spirit I will put within you;

and I will remove from your body the heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.

I will put my spirit within you, and make you follow my statutes and be careful

 to observe my ordinances. Then you shall live in the land that I gave to your

ancestors; and you shall be my people, and I will be your God.”

(Ezekiel 36:26-28)

The connection here is found throughout scripture.  Those who love justice are the people whom God embraces and upon whom God bestows the greatest of mercies.  A new heard, a new spirit, following God's statutes and ordinances -- these are the signs of true covenant people.  These are folks who embrace The Lord as their singular God, and who are in turn the people entitled to the designation "the people of God."

A little Advent perspective

In Calendar: Christ’s Time for the Church Laurence Hull Stookey writes:

If you were taught (that) Advent is primarily about the past expectation of the coming of the Messiah, consider instead this -- Advent is primarily about the future, with implications for the present.

It is one of the most difficult undertakings in the church: to break the stranglehold that our recent approach to Advent has on Christmas and to bring about the realization that Advent is a kettle that can stand on its own bottom.

Not only is it a free-standing observance, but it is a dedicated time of embracing that toward which the entirety of our faith points.  A lot of people treat the “holiday” of Christmas much the same as they approach New Year’s or Independence Day or Groundhog Day.  It is a time of some season-specific merrymaking and then it is past.  For the church it is a portion of the calendar in which we embrace a future in which Christ reigns in fullness.  The Return of Christ is the last chapter in the life of every Christian believer.  It is not directly related to anything that happens on December 25 of any given year.  And, when you look at the various customs and traditions of churches all over the world related to Christmas, you find that often they bear little resemblance to what is simultaneously taking place in other portions of the globe.  So, our trees and lights and carols do not directly relate to our end-time hope at all.

Don’t get me wrong: I’m going to sing the carols and eat the baked goods and all the rest.  When it is time.

  

Laurence Hull Stookey, Calendar: Christ’s Time for the Church.  Nashville: Abingdon, 196, p. 158.

Daily Lectionary Reading for The First Friday of Advent

The Revised Common Lectionary has a daily reading component that is not as well known as the weekly listing.  The Old Testament reading for today is Isaiah 12:

You will say on that day:
I will give thanks to you, O Lord,
   for though you were angry with me,
your anger turned away,
   and you comforted me.

Surely God is my salvation;
   I will trust, and will not be afraid,
for the Lord God is my strength and my might;
   he has become my salvation.

With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation. And you will say on that day:
Give thanks to the Lord,
   call on his name;
make known his deeds among the nations;
   proclaim that his name is exalted.

Sing praises to the Lord, for he has done gloriously;
   let this be known in all the earth.
Shout aloud and sing for joy, O royal Zion,
   for great in your midst is the Holy One of Israel.

It is also the basis for the beautiful First Song of Isaiah:

The O Antiphons

The O Antiphons were originally used by the church during the daily vesper services in the last seven days of Advent.  An antiphon is a short chorus or refrain the text of which comes from the Psalter.  These seven antiphons have come to be used in Advent services, particularly worship times other than the primary worship gatherings in Advent.  They are frequently part of Hanging of the Greens, Lessons and Carols and Candlelight services.  Each of the antiphons employs a different title for Christ.  The hymn/carol O Come, O Come Emmanuel is a paraphrase of the Antiphons.

Modern churches of many denominations employ the O Antiphons in a variety of ways in their worship services.  We are using them in our Calls to Worship.  This week’s O Antiphon is:

                                                                                                                                                          

O EMMANUEL, our King and Lawgiver, the Expected of the nations and their Savior:

Come and save us, O Lord our God.

      Rejoice!  Rejoice!  Emmanuel shall come to thee, O Israel.

Candles in the Advent Wreath

As was noted on the post for November 11, there is a variety of devotional material that the church (and households) use in centering its devotional thoughts around the Advent wreath.  But there is no historical uniformity or “proper” designation for the candles.  Individual authors of seasonal devotional material frequently give their own names to the various candles.  Schemes include One United Methodist resource that name the candles Hope, Joy, Love and Peace.  There are designations that attach titles to the Shepherds’ Candle, the Angels’ Candle¸ the Prophets’ Candle and the Candle of the Star.  Faith, Hope, Love and Peace or The Prophets' Candle, the Bethlehem Candle, the Shepherds' Candle, and the Angel's Candle.  Still other schemes include:

Hope–Peace–Joy–Love.

Faithfulness–Hope–Joy–Love.

Prophets–Angels–Shepherds–Magi.

And, as I say, there is no one “truly traditional” or “historically prevailing” position.  Indeed, the room for variation provides the church with room for flexibility and creativity (within reason) with the use of the wreath.

Now, as we move away from four candles and toward seven¸ re-interpretation becomes necessary. 

This past Sunday, this was the reading for the Lighting of the Advent Wreath. 

Advent 1 – Wisdom

Leader: As our nights grow longer and our days grow short,

we look on these earthly signs--light and green branches--

and remember God's promise to our world:

Christ, our Light and our Hope, will come.

Listen to the words of Solomon:

“O God of my ancestors and Lord of mercy,

who have made all things by your word,

and by your wisdom have formed humankind to have dominion

over the creatures you have made,

and rule the world in holiness and righteousness,

and pronounce judgment in uprightness of soul,

give me the wisdom that sits by your throne,

and do not reject me from among your servants….

With you is wisdom, she who knows your works

and was present when you made the world;

she understands what is pleasing in your sight

and what is right according to your commandments.

Send her forth from the holy heavens,

and from the throne of your glory send her,

that she may labor at my side,

and that I may learn what is pleasing to you.”

(Wisdom of Solomon 9:1-4, 9-10)

The colors of Advent

The liturgical colors that churches employ in the observance of Advent have become a point of contention in recent times.  Through the history of the church violet (or purple) has been a traditional color for the season.  In times when the church emphasized self-denial, fasting or penitence (as Advent was seen as a reflection of Lent, preparing for Christmas as Lent prepares for Easter in the theologies of the day) black was employed.  There is a long history of the use of blue in Advent, although the widespread display of this color waxed and waned through the centuries.  Blue is a color associated with Mary the Mother of Jesus in church iconography.  It is a representation of hope in the color palate of Christian symbolism.  The use of blue is enjoying a resurgence in recent years.  This is due in part to the re-defining of some Advent theologies by the Second Vatican Council in 1963.  Communions outside the Catholic community have adapted the Roman position and have embraced much of the current Advent thinking of Catholicism.  So, the fabric hangings that adorn our communion tables, lecterns and pulpits are blue in more and more churches.  Likewise, the stoles and other vestments that clergy wear during worship are more frequently blue in contemporary settings.

The color of candles in Advent wreathes is far from consistent.  Different geographical settings have (as might be expected) their own practices.  Northern European influence often results in candles that are all red on the outer ring of the wreath.  Many congregations that have recently established traditions use three violet (purple) candles and one rose candle (that is frequently misidentified as “pink.”)  Those not familiar with traditional church practices will often light the three violet candles on the first three Sundays of the season, and then light the fourth – rose – candle as a kind of “transitional” color between the solemn hues of violet and the joyful colors that we associate with Christmas.

In fact, the tradition of the rose candle is that it is lighted on the third Sunday of Advent.  You have to stay with me here: the lighting of the rose color on that day goes back to the time when Advent was thought to mirror Lent.  The third Sunday in Lent is Gaudete Sunday (GAW-di-tay).  It is a Latin term that we translate “rejoice.”  It is the initial word in the Catholic liturgy for that day.  On this occasion in medieval Catholicism, the Pope would give a golden rose to the favorites in his court.  So, on the third Sunday of Lent, the gift of a rose gave rise to the use of rose-colored fabrics in worship on that day as a kind of break in the solemnity of Lent.  As Lent influenced the observance of Advent, the rose color came to be associated with the third Sunday   of Advent.  Thus, the contemporary appearance of a rose candle in our Advent wreathes.   As this rationale has come to be rejected, a fourth violet candle frequently replaces the rose candle. 

Other wreathes use four blue candles, employing the imagery of that color that is also used in paraments and vestments.  The use of three blue and one rose candle has nothing historically or theologically to recommend it.  An extended Advent necessitates additional candles.  We will be using seven blue candles.