Lighting The Advent Candle

The custom of lighting Advent candles in expectation of the coming of Christ is perhaps the most prevalent symbol in Advent worship. An Advent wreath containing five candles is hung at the front of the church. The four corner candles correspond to the four Sundays of Advent; the center candle represents Christ. Each Sunday one of the candles is lit until the Christmas Eve service when the Christ candle is lit. Normally the candles are lit during the opening acts of worship. The following are two sample texts that can appropriately accompany the lighting of the Advent candles. (Another text is included in the traditional service for Advent that is found in the next chapter.)

Traditional Example The minister and choir may gather at the back of the church. As a family lights the Advent candle the following words acclaiming the Advent hanging may be said. Then follows the opening hymn. Leader: Come and save us, O Lord God of Hosts. [read from the back by the minister or some other reader] People: Come and save us, O Lord God of Hosts. Leader: Show the light of your countenance, and we shall be saved. People: Come and save us, O Lord God of Hosts. Leader: Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit. People: Come and save us, O Lord God of Hosts. Contemporary Example Congregations may develop their own ceremony for the lighting of the candle drawn from themes of Advent such as hope, peace, joy, and love. The following litany is an example of a call to worship with the lighting of the candle developed from "a common account of Hope" written by the Faith and Order Commission of the World Council of Churches. Leader 1: Advent is a time of hope as we await the birth of Jesus and the coming of the risen Christ. But the risen one is also the one who was crucified. This reminds us that our life of hope is not a guarantee of safety, but an invitation to risk. To live in hope is never to have reached our goal, but always to be on a risk-laden journey. People: To live in hope is to risk affirming the new and reaffirming the old. Leader 2: Hope sends us on untried paths. When we lock ourselves to the past, we may grow deaf to the promptings of the Spirit. Yet the Spirit will ever reaffirm the truth of Christ, who is the same yesterday, today, and forever. Hope embraces the risk of new departures and of faithfulness to the past. People: To live in hope is to risk self-criticism as the channel of renewal. Leader 1: Renewal arises as we are judged by God and led to a repentance that bears worthy fruit. Only those who can smile at themselves and their faults can be ultimately serious about their selves. Hope embraces the risk of self-criticism as the way to renewal. People: To live in hope is to risk dialogue. Leader 2: Genuine encounter with others demands vulnerability. It requires a willingness to explore new ways of stating God's truth. Because in dialogue we can receive a fuller understanding of our own faith and a deeper understanding of our neighbor, hope embraces the risk of dialogue. People: To live in hope is to risk struggle. Leader 1: Christians are denied the privilege of being "neither hot nor cold." We are called to confess our faith boldly, even when this means saying no to parts of the society in which we live. Hope embraces the risk of struggle. People: To live in hope is to risk scorn. Leader 2: To many of our contemporaries, our hope appears vain. To live in hope is nevertheless to continue to give witness to the saving power of Jesus—"to give account of the hope that is in us"—whether we are ignored or attacked. Hope embraces the risk of ridicule. People: To live in hope is to risk death for the sake of that hope. Leader 1: Today Christians seldom face death for the sake of their faith, but genuine witness should still be costly. The Christian hope is not that death can be avoided, but that it can be overcome. Those who truly live in hope have come to terms with death and can risk dying with their Lord.