Sermon for Sunday October 25th, 2009

Christmas Advent 2009 by Bobby Scobey

Isaiah 9:1-9:7

SYMBOLISM IN THE ADVENT WREATH

How many of you use an Advent wreath in your Christmas decorations? Did your family use one when you were a child? I first heard about an advent wreath 40 years ago when Bill Rawlins was pastor of Highland Heights Cumberland Presbyterian Church. He was telling about one of those times when preachers slip up in what they say, and there is no way to recover.

His church had made an Advent wreath for each family. During the announcements he was urging every family to be at home that afternoon when the wreaths were delivered. He was describing the wreaths by saying each one had four candles around the circle, and a fifth in the middle.

A couple of his deacons were standing in the foyer in his view and they broke up laughing, having taking the “fifth” to refer to a bottle of liquor. They were smiling and nodding vigorously to say, “You can bet we will be at home eagerly awaiting the delivery!”

We never used an Advent wreath in our home or in my churches. Since Advent wreaths were originally used in the home, most of the ones you find for sale are small. They didn’t become popular in churches until the middle of the twentieth century. Now they are nearly universal, so I want to talk about them today.

In liturgical churches that follow a formal order of service, today is the beginning of Advent – the season beginning the fourth Sunday before Christmas through Christmas Day.

Advent - coming into place, coming into view, arrival.

We use it at this season to refer to the arrival of Christ into the world. We are turning the corner and moving from an emphasis on Thanksgiving to an emphasis on Christmas.

There is evidence of pre-Christian peoples in Germany using wreathes with lit candles during the cold and dark December days as a sign of hope in the future warm and extended-sunlight days of Spring. Martin Luther, the great Protestant reformer, may have sanctified the Advent wreath and used it as a Christian education device. Thus he popularized it. At least, the Advent wreath in its present form started in Germany as a Lutheran family custom. What is the meaning, the symbolism?

I. THE ADVENT WREATH REPRESENTS ETERNITY.

A. The Wreath is a Circle.

This is always the form. Since a circle has no beginning and no end, it is a symbol for God, Who is eternal - without beginning or end. It also represents for us the immortality of the soul, and the everlasting life found in Christ.

If ever anything had symbolism attached to it, the Advent wreath certainly does. The shape of the wreath is round, reminding us also of the fellowship of believers around the world who share with us the celebration of His coming.

The wreath was also a symbol of victory, for a garland wreath was often placed on victors in athletic contests or military conquests. So naturally, a Christian can think of the crown of life that Jesus has won for us.

B. The Evergreens.

The Advent wreath is always made from various evergreens. These branches, as the name indicates, are "ever green" -- ever alive. They are symbolic of Christ, Who died, but Who is alive, never to die again.

The evergreen branches also symbolize our soul’s immortality. Christ came into the world to give us never-ending life. These evergreens have a traditional meaning which can be adapted to our faith.

The laurel signifies victory over persecution and suffering.

Cedar symbolizes strength and healing.

Pine, holly, and yew represent immortality.

I don’t know who assigned all those meanings, but holly also has a special Christian symbolism: The prickly leaves remind us of the crown of thorns, and one English legend tells of how the cross was made of holly.

C. The Red Holly Berries.

These look like large red drops of blood, and symbolize the blood, the life shed by Christ. They remind us that Christ came into this world to die for us and redeem us. It is through the shedding of His blood that we have eternal life. He died as a ransom for our sin.

D. The Candles.

Candles symbolize the light of God coming into the world. The four outer candles represent the period of waiting during the four Sundays of Advent, which themselves symbolize the four centuries of waiting between the prophet Malachi (the last book in the OT) and the birth of Christ.

Another tradition is that each week represents one thousand years, to sum the 4,000 years from Adam and Eve until the Birth of the Savior.

If you want to symbolize something with the Advent wreath, just pile it on. All of these associations are good.

E. The Light Of The Candles.

The light itself becomes an important symbol of the season. The light reminds us that Jesus is the light of the world that comes into the darkness of our lives to bring newness, life, and hope.

It also reminds us that we are called to be a light to the world as we reflect the light of God’s grace to others (Isa 42:6).

The progression in the lighting of the candles symbolizes the various aspects of our waiting, which we will explain shortly. As the candles are lighted over the four week period, it also symbolizes the darkness of fear and hopelessness fading receding and the shadows of sin falling away as more and more light is shed into the world.

The flame of a new candle each week reminds the worshippers that something is happening, and that more is yet to come. Finally, the light that has come into the world is plainly visible as the Christ candle is lighted at Christmas, and worshippers rejoice over the fact that the promise of long ago has been realized. Let’s look at the build-up.

I. FIRST CANDLE - PURPLE REPRESENTS ROYALTY.

A. An Earthly King Makes an Earthly Kingdom.

In antiquity, purple dye was very expensive and it was the color of royalty. We use purple for Advent because it is the season of the coming of the King.

“[The soldiers] dressed [Jesus] in a purple robe, and they wove thorn branches into a crown and put it on his head. Then they saluted him and taunted, ‘Hail! King of the Jews!’” (Mark 15:17-18 NLT). They made a mockery of what was a reality – kings of the earth dressed in purple.

And they unwittingly demonstrated a spiritual truth – the King was in their midst.

Jesus said, “There was a certain rich man who was splendidly clothed in purple and fine linen and who lived each day in luxury” (Luke 16:19 NLT). Purple represented position, influence, and privilege.

Luke said that, when Paul and his company reached Philippi, they joined a group by the river for prayer. Then he added, “One of them was Lydia from Thyatira, a merchant of expensive purple cloth” (Acts 10:14 NLT). He noted that she was more than a merchant; she was a special kind of merchant.

The Bible says of the diligent, virtuous woman in Proverbs that “She dresses in fine linen and purple gowns” (Prov. 31:22 NLT).

B. Christ the King Makes a Spiritual Kingdom.

“I have come as a light to shine in this dark world, so that all who put their trust in me will no longer remain in the dark” (John 12:46 NLT).

Everyone wants the kingdom of God, but few want it first. In the sermon on covenants, we spoke of two kinds: a covenant between equals and a covenant between one who is greater and those who are lesser. The king makes an offer and invites people to respond, but not to discuss and debate. The answer is yes or no.

Everyone wants high achievement, but few want to pay the price. Everyone wants God, but few want to put him first. Yet being first is the nature of a king.

The kingdom of God does not exist because of your effort or mine. It exists because God reigns. Our part is to enter this kingdom and bring our life under his sovereign will.

Mortal kingdoms are not lasting, and, while they last, are not uniform. They have their climacteric years, and terminate within certain periods. But the kingdom of heaven shall have no end. The gates of hell shall not prevail against it.

II. PURPLE ALSO REPRESENTS PENITENCE AND FASTING.

A. The Principle of Penitence.

Penitence – remorse, regret, sorrow, repentance, atonement.

The purple of Advent is also the color of suffering used during Lent and Holy Week. This points to an important connection between Jesus’ birth and death. Jesus’ birth cannot be separated from His crucifixion. The purpose of Jesus’ coming into the world, of the "Word made flesh" and dwelling among us, is to reveal God and His grace to the world through Jesus’ life and teaching, but also through his suffering, death, and resurrection.

With the focus on the Advent or Coming of Jesus, especially in anticipating His Second Coming, there remains a need for preparation for that coming. Most liturgical churches incorporate confessional prayers into the service that relate to a sense of unworthiness as we anticipate His Coming.

It is appropriate even in more traditional services of worship to incorporate confessional prayers as part of the anticipation and preparation of the Season.

B. The Practice of Penitence.

Pollster George Gallup said: There’s little difference in ethical behavior between the churched and the unchurched. There’s as much pilferage and dishonesty among the churched as the unchurched.

“And I’m afraid that applies pretty much across the board: religion, per se, is not really life changing. People cite it as important, for instance, in overcoming depression--but it doesn’t have primacy in determining behavior.”

In his book I Surrender, Patrick Morley writes that the church’s integrity problem is in the misconception "that we can add Christ to our lives, but not subtract sin. It is a change in belief without a change in behavior." He goes on to say, "It is revival without reformation, without repentance."

The sure test of the quality of any supposed change of heart will be found in its permanent effects. ’By their fruits you shall know them’ is as applicable to the right method of judging ourselves as of judging others. Whatever, therefore, may have been our inward experience, whatever joy or sorrow we may have felt, unless we bring forth fruits meet for repentance, our experience will profit us nothing.

Repentance is incomplete unless it leads to confession and restitution in cases of injury; unless it causes us to forsake not merely outward sins, which others notice, but those which lie concealed in the heart; unless it makes us choose the service of God and live not for ourselves but for Him.

There is no duty which is either more obvious in itself, or more frequently asserted in the Word of God, than that of repentance.
This next story may be extreme or drastic for you, but note the principle in whatever areas it applies to your life.

Not too many years ago newspapers carried the story of Al Johnson, a Kansas man who came to faith in Jesus Christ. What made his story remarkable was not his conversion, but the fact that as a result of his newfound faith in Christ, he confessed to a bank robbery he had participated in when he was nineteen years old.

Because the statute of limitations on the case had run out, Johnson could not be prosecuted for the offense. Still, he believed his relationship with Christ demanded a confession. And he even voluntarily repaid his share of the stolen money!

III. ROSE REPRESENTS REJOICING.

A. The Expectation of Joy.

In the four weeks of Advent the third Sunday came to be a time of rejoicing that the fasting was almost over. The shift from the purple of the season to pink or rose for the third Sunday Advent candle reflected this lessening emphasis on penitence as attention turned more to celebration of the season.

After all, Christ is “the Light that came into the world” to dispel the darkness of sin and to radiate the truth and love of God. He is our hope.

B. The Experience of Joy.

Men have pursued joy in every avenue imaginable. Some have successfully found it while others have not. Perhaps it would be easier to describe where joy cannot be found:

Not in Unbelief -- Voltaire was an infidel of the most pronounced type. He wrote: "I wish I had never been born."

Not in Pleasure -- Lord Byron lived a life of pleasure if anyone did. He wrote: "The worm, the canker, and grief are mine alone."

Not in Money -- Jay Gould, the American millionaire, had plenty of that. When dying, he said: "I suppose I am the most miserable man on earth."

Not in Position and Fame -- Lord Beaconsfield enjoyed more than his share of both. He wrote: "Youth is a mistake; manhood a struggle; old age a regret."

Not in Military Glory -- Alexander the Great conquered the known world in his day. Having done so, he wept in his tent, before he said, "There are no more worlds to conquer."

Where then is real joy found? The answer is simple - in Christ alone.

George Bernard Shaw, in one of his better statements, said: This is the true joy in life, the being used for a purpose recognized by yourself as a mighty one: the being thoroughly worn out before you are thrown on the scrap heap, and being a force of nature instead of a feverish selfish little clod of ailments and grievances, complaining that the world will not devote itself to making you happy.

IV. PURPLE ALSO REPRESENTS EXPECTATION.

A. The King is Coming!

The purple of the first candle symbolized royalty. In the words of Bill Gaither’s great song, “The King is coming.”

One of the Messianic passages in Isaiah is in ch. 9: “That time of darkness and despair will not go on forever…There will be a time in the future when Galilee of the Gentiles, which lies along the road that runs between the Jordan and the sea, will be filled with glory” (Isa. 7:1 NLT). Jesus did much of his ministry in Galilee.

“The people who walk in darkness will see a great light. For those who live in a land of deep darkness, a light will shine. You will enlarge the nation of Israel, and its people will rejoice” (Isa. 9:2 NLT).

“For a child is born to us, a son is given to us. The government will rest on his shoulders. And he will be called: Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. His government and its peace will never end” (Isa. 9:6-7a NLT).

“He will rule with fairness and justice from the throne of his ancestor David for all eternity. The passionate commitment of the LORD of Heaven’s Armies will make this happen!” (Isa. 9:7b NLT).

B. The Kingdom is Coming!

We live in a world in which bigger and better define our expectations for much of life. We have become enamored by super size, super stars, and high definition. We tend to view life through a lens that so magnifies what we expect out of the world that we tend not to see potential in small things.

But as the prophet Zechariah reminds us, “Do not despise these small beginnings, for the LORD rejoices to see the work begin” (Zech 4:10 NLT). We should not "despise the day of small things," because God does some of his best work with small beginnings and impossible situations.

It is truly a humbling experience to read back through the Old Testament and see how frail and imperfect all the "heroes" actually are. Abraham, the coward who cannot believe the promise. Jacob, the cheat who struggles with everybody. Joseph, the immature and arrogant teen. Moses, the impatient murderer who cannot wait for God.

Samson, the womanizing drunk. David, the power-abusing adulterer. Solomon, the unwise wise man. Hezekiah, the reforming king who could not quite go far enough.

And finally, a very young Jewish girl from a small village in a remote corner of a great empire.

It never ceases to amaze me that God often begins with small things and inadequate people. It certainly seems that God could have chosen "bigger" things and "better" people to do His work in the world.
Yet if God can use them, and reveal Himself through them in such marvelous ways, it means that He might be able to use me – and you - inadequate, and unwise, and too often lacking in faith that we are.

And it means that I need to be careful that I do not in my own self-righteousness put limits on what God can do with the smallest things, the most unlikely of people, in the most hopeless of circumstances. I think that is part of the wonder of the Advent Season.

C. Living in the Kingdom of Christ.

“Remember, dear brothers and sisters, that few of you were wise in the world’s eyes or powerful or wealthy when God called you. Instead, God chose things the world considers foolish in order to shame those who think they are wise. And he chose things that are powerless to shame those who are powerful” (1 Cor. 1:26-27 NLT).

“God chose things despised by the world, things counted as nothing at all, and used them to bring to nothing what the world considers important. As a result, no one can ever boast in the presence of God” (1 Cor. 1:28-29 NLT).

We have a choice of either humbling ourselves or being humiliated. There was an elderly man who was once a famous, award-winning athlete in track and field. He had a room full of plaques and statues and framed certificates.

Years after retiring from competition, he was invited to deliver the keynote address for an awards banquet for young athletes. After finishing his presentation, the audience jumped to their feet and chanted his name over and over! He walked out feeling like a kid again, heady with memories of the bygone days when he was king of the hundred-yard dash.

As he shook hands with admirers at the end of the evening, he told them of his plan to spend his last years visiting the elderly at various health care and retirement facilities. Because of his age, he knew the children in hospital wards wouldn’t know him as a celebrity, but he was sure people in his age bracket would. He was convinced he could encourage them with his stories of success and even show off some of his trophies. He could hardly wait for his first visit.

The following week he arrived at a nursing home and noticed immediately the halls were empty except for one elderly lady in a wheelchair. He got her attention with a cheery “Good morning!” Then he asked, “Ma’am, do you know who I am?”

She looked at him with pale blue eyes and smiled. In a quavering voice she replied, “No, but if you go to the front desk, someone there will tell you.”

At one point “John’s disciples came to him and said, ‘Rabbi, the man you met on the other side of the Jordan River, the one you identified as the Messiah, is also baptizing people. And everybody is going to him instead of coming to us’” (John 3:26 NLT).

“John replied, ‘No one can receive anything unless God gives it from heaven. You yourselves know how plainly I told you, ‘I am not the Messiah. I am only here to prepare the way for him.’ It is the bridegroom who marries the bride, and the best man is simply glad to stand with him and hear his vows. Therefore, I am filled with joy at his success. He must become greater and greater, and I must become less and less’” (John 3:27-30 NLT).

“Because of the privilege and authority God has given me, I give each of you this warning: Don’t think you are better than you really are. Be honest in your evaluation of yourselves, measuring yourselves by the faith God has given us. Just as our bodies have many parts and each part has a special function, so it is with Christ’s body. We are many parts of one body, and we all belong to each other” (Rom. 12:3-5 NLT).

“In his grace, God has given us different gifts for doing certain things well. So if God has given you the ability to prophesy, speak out with as much faith as God has given you. If your gift is serving others, serve them well. If you are a teacher, teach well. If your gift is to encourage others, be encouraging. If it is giving, give generously. If God has given you leadership ability, take the responsibility seriously. And if you have a gift for showing kindness to others, do it gladly” (Rom. 12:6-8 NLT).

V. WHITE REPRESENTS CHRIST.

A. Christ’s First Coming.

On Christmas after dark (beginning of the new day in the Jewish calendar) the final candle is lighted. The central location of the Christ Candle reminds us that the incarnation – Christ living in a human body - is the heart of the season, giving light to the world.

This draws attention to the anticipation of the coming of a Messiah that weaves its way like a golden thread through Old Testament history. As God’s people were abused by power hungry kings, led astray by self-centered prophets, and lulled into apathy by half-hearted religious leaders, there arose a longing among some for God to raise up a new king who could show them how to be God’s people.

They yearned for a return of God’s dynamic presence in their midst. And so, God revealed to some of the prophets that indeed He would not leave His people without a true Shepherd.

“Who has believed our message? To whom has the LORD revealed his powerful arm? My servant grew up in the LORD’s presence like a tender green shoot, like a root in dry ground. There was nothing beautiful or majestic about his appearance, nothing to attract us to him” (Isa. 53:1-2 NLT).

“He was despised and rejected—a man of sorrows, acquainted with deepest grief. We turned our backs on him and looked the other way. He was despised, and we did not care. Yet it was our weaknesses he carried; it was our sorrows that weighed him down. And we thought his troubles were a punishment from God, a punishment for his own sins!” (Isa. 53:3-4 NLT).
“But he was pierced for our rebellion, crushed for our sins. He was beaten so we could be whole.

He was whipped so we could be healed. All of us, like sheep, have strayed away. We have left God’s paths to follow our own. Yet the LORD laid on him the sins of us all” (Isa. 53:5-6 NLT).

B. Christ’s Second Coming.

The Advent wreath is to direct the thoughts of Christians to the first coming of Jesus Christ as Savior, but also to his second coming as Judge.

Biblical prophecy provides some of the greatest encouragement and hope available to us today. Just as the Old Testament is saturated with prophecies concerning Christ’s first advent, so both testaments are filled with references to the second coming of Christ.

One scholar has estimated that there are 1,845 references to Christ’s second coming in the Old Testament, where 17 books give it prominence.
In the 260 chapters of the New Testament, there are 318 references to the second advent of Christ--an amazing 1 out of every 30 verses.

Twenty-three of the 27 New Testament books refer to this great event. For every prophecy in the Bible concerning Christ’s first advent, there are 8 which look forward to His second! Are you ready?

CONC.: Christmas is more than sentiment, parties, commercialism, gifts, food and drink. “Judgment is based on this fact: God’s light came into the world, but people loved the darkness more than the light, for their actions were evil” (John 3:19 NLT).

So, the next time you see or display an Advent wreath, don’t just think of it as a nice decoration. Remember all the symbolism it has for us as it reminds us of the need for spiritual preparation to share fully in the great joy of the birth of Christ, the Son of God Who gave His life for us so that we might have eternal life.

As the light from the wreath increases each week as more candles are lit, the wreath reminds us that the birth of the Light of the World is coming closer. So may our souls grow brighter in their love for, and anticipation of, the Christ Child as this season of grace continues.