It is Friday…
And it is Pink Candle lighting time…
Well… soon…
Huh?
Yeah, I know… I have to remember why we have a pink (rose, actually) candle in our Advent wreath.
We need to step back for a bit and remember that Advent is a penitential season. Did you know this? Or did you just nod your head and go with the flow and pretend that it is just part of Christmas as it always has been… ?
Well, not really. Only in the West… and maybe only in America… and only most likely only after 1945… or there abouts.
But anyway, it might be, but pastors and those theological geeks… those nerds who love to be into such things can have these notions and practices…
And we will just do what we always have been doing…
Celebrating Christmas like everyone else…
And then just STOP on December 25th like you have hit a brick wall… right?
Painful! After all that work. After all that preparation… after having spent all that money…
And it’s over? Just like that? Crazy, man….
Just think… we could have had 12 days of Christmas … if we only listened!
Anyway, back to the Advent wreath…
The Pink (rose) Candle…
Did you know each one has a name?
The 1st one is called the Prophecy Candle. This has been the hope and anticipation of the coming of the Christ… the Messiah… for those in the Old Testament, and for us for His second coming.
The 2nd one is the Bethlehem Candle. This is for the hush and time of preparation… the journey… both of the Holy Family and of the church—us as we await Jesus coming.
Then there is that 3rd one. This Rose (pink) colored candle is called the Shepherd’s Candle.
This is a mini break in this penitential time. Kind of like each Sunday in the midst of Lent is a mini Easter—actually this is the case every Sunday throughout the year, but we feel it most during those dark days of Lent, the closer we get to the darkest of days, Good Friday.
So, this Shepherd’s Candle is the joy we experience knowing that Jesus has been born already—has come on Christmas past, and knowing also that the joy will be even greater at His second coming.
The 4th candle is the Angel’s Candle. This is all about the message and who gets to bring it first to people’s ears. The announcement went to the lowest of people. Is shepherding sheep considered the worst job? Not since the first Christmas became a celebration in the church…
But before that, I think it was down there on the social ladder as latrine cleaners and tax collectors.
“How beautiful are those who bring good news,” says Scripture! [Romans 10:17, Isaiah 52:7]. So, these guys went from smelly graveyard shift working nobodies to famous Pages of Heaven!
They even get their own candle! The Rose One, and participate in the last one big time!
And then it is Christmas! And then we have…
The middle white candle, of course. If you have one, this one is lit late Christmas Eve or Christmas Day itself. This represents Jesus Himself, arriving in the flesh to dwell (tabernacle… or tent) among us– YES US.
So hear… and here at last…
Peace on Earth… and Good Will toward men.
Yes, it’s Friday…
And yes, it’s Advent…
But Sunday is almost here…
It is Advent, but Christmas is almost here.
This coming Sunday – Third Sunday in Advent – December 14th 2025
Readings:
Old Testament – Malachi 3:1-6
Epistle – 1 Corinthians 4:1-5
Gospel – Matthew 11:2-10
Psalm 85
Sermon Theme – LOOK AND SEE RIGHTLY – Based on the Gospel reading
Prayers: For a lasting peace that would be established and would remain between the people of Israel and Gaza as well as for the People of Russia and the Ukraine. For our congregation that it would please our Lord that we would increase in numbers and there remain in this place a congregation that calls upon Him rightly, practicing the faith according to the Scriptures. For those who are being persecuted and murdered because they call upon the name of Jesus—especially in Africa. For the end of violence in our cities and that our schools and congregations would be protected from those who wish them harm. For our families that parents would courageously discipline their children and raise them in the fear of the Lord, teaching them about salvation in Jesus alone.
Reflections about Advent from Luther:
“See, such great things are contained in these seemingly unimportant words, ‘Behold, thy king.’ Such boundless gifts are brought by this poor and despised king. All this reason does not understand, nor nature comprehend, but faith alone does. Therefore, he is called your king; yours, who are vexed and harassed by sin, Satan, death and hell, the flesh, and the world, so that you may be governed and directed in the grace, in the spirit, in life, in heaven, in God”
“This is what is meant by ‘Thy king cometh.’ You do not seek him, but he seeks you. You do not find him, he finds you”.
“When they [Mary and Joseph] arrived at Bethlehem, they were the most insignificant and despised…. No one noticed or was conscious of what God was doing in that stable. He lets the large houses and costly apartments remain empty, lets their inhabitants eat, drink, and be merry; but this comfort and treasure are hidden from them. O what a dark night this was for Bethlehem, that was not conscious of that glorious light! See how God shows that he utterly disregards what the world is, has, or desires; and furthermore, that the world shows how little it knows or notices what God is, has, and does.”
“That there were shepherds, means that no one is to hear the Gospel for himself alone, but everyone is to tell it to others who are not acquainted with it. For he who believes for himself has enough and should endeavor to bring others to such faith and knowledge, so that one may be a shepherd of the other, to wait upon and lead him into the pasture of the Gospel in this world, during the nighttime of this earthly life.”
“Thus Christ has always been the Life and Light, even before his birth, from the beginning, and will ever remain so to the end. He shines at all times in all creatures, in the holy Scriptures, through his saints, prophets, and ministers, in his word and works; and he has never ceased to shine. But in whatever place he has shone, there was great darkness, and the darkness apprehended him not.”