Church bestows message of hope, peace, joy and love. Photo / Getty Images
Hope, peace, joy and love are words we hear often at this time of year. They are the stuff of Christmas cards, written in elegant writing on wrapping paper, or emblazoned on Christmas advertising.
In a world gripped by terrorism, the international refugee crisis, the chaos of war and the despair of many here in Auckland who struggle to pay the rent and feed their families, people may question whether there is any real hope.
Tomorrow, the Sunday before Christmas, in churches and homes the world over, people will be lighting the fourth candle in the Advent wreath. In this centuries-old tradition, over the four Sundays before Christmas, the lighting of the candles of the Advent (from the Latin 'to come') wreath symbolises the waiting and expectation as we look to the celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ.
In the delightful muddling of chocolate, Santa and shopping days until Christmas, that same anticipation is held in the much-loved Advent calendar too.
There are five candles in the Advent wreath.
The central white candle is lit at midnight as Christmas day dawns. The four surrounding candles, three purple and one rose, are lit progressively as each week of Advent goes by, proclaiming the transforming hope, peace, joy and love which Christ offered, and continues to offer, to individuals, families, communities, nations and to all the world.
The lights of the Advent wreath encourage us that in Jesus Christ we see what hope, peace, joy and love, which are God's gifts to the world, look like in action. So too, they remind us that the truth of Christmas is as real today as it was over 2000 years ago, and that we are challenged to be bearers of these gifts to a world so desperately in need of them.
The first candle lit is the light of hope. Hope is a word we often use. "I hope that the weather is fine on Christmas Day", "I hope that I win the lottery" or a common sentence in many homes this week "I hope that Santa brings ... "!
Christian hope is more than wishful thinking. It is the confident faith that God is in control, that God is merciful.
In Christian faith the expression of hope is a belief that in Jesus Christ we know the gift of life and a way of living that is hope-giving for each of us and for the world.
There will be thousands of people this Christmas who will be hope-bringers to people and communities all over the world, offering food, shelter, companionship and a helping hand.
Jesus empowered the poor and the most marginalised. He treated women and men with equal respect. He challenged unjust leaders and cared for children. Jesus demonstrated a better way of life and wants to impart that way of life into our hearts and to our world.
Hope is not, therefore, a punt or a risk but rather, as Jesus showed us, it is our choice to be hope-bringers and agents of change for those in our families and communities, our workplaces and city, and those we may never meet who need our help.
There will be thousands of people this Christmas who will be hope-bringers to people and communities all over the world, offering food, shelter, companionship and a helping hand.
The invitation of the first light of the Advent wreath is for each of us to be hope-bringers this Christmas.
The second candle is the light of peace. As this year draws to a close, we are conscious of so many people who need peace in the nations of the world, in our communities, among our colleagues and friends, and perhaps even in our own hearts and minds.
This light of peace is not a pipe dream, nor a feigned peace which pretends that everything is okay when really it is not.
The peace that the light of the Advent wreath symbolises is not dependent on the absence of conflict. Rather, it expresses the truth that the God who is love, and who is not the author of conflict but the creator of peace, is with us in the chaos offering us peace of heart and mind, enabling us also to be peacemakers for others.
As we prepare to celebrate this Christmas, let us be open to receive the gift of peace and let us each consider how we can bring it to others. Starting with reaching out in friendship across the diversity of our communities, the opportunities are endless.
The third candle in the Advent wreath is the rose-coloured light of joy. For many, Christmas is a season of joy, with the blessings of family and friends, of giving and receiving, and of rest and recreation. A friend recently suggested that perhaps this is the season of the year where we feel pressured to be a little nicer and more joyful than we really are!
For many, however, joy is far from real. The joy of Christmas, which the Advent light speaks of, is a deep-seated belief that through the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, evil and death have been defeated.
We rejoice in God, faithful and compassionate, who both smiles and weeps with us. We have joy that death is not the end of the human story.
The light of joy is also the invitation to be joy-givers to others. When thousands gather at the Auckland City Mission lunch this Christmas Day, joy will be gifted between strangers, guests and hosts alike.
May we each have eyes to notice those near to us, and far away, to whom we could gift joy this Christmas.
The final Advent candle lit before Christmas is the light of love. Christians believe that in Jesus Christ the world is given the offer of salvation, and the chance to see what divine love really means; divine love found in the experiences of caring for friend and stranger, seeking justice, feeding the hungry, healing the broken-hearted, caring for the earth and working for peace. That is the kind of love that this light calls us to share this Christmas.
As the clock strikes midnight on Christmas morning, the central candle of the Advent wreath is lit, celebrating that the light of Christ has come into the world and will come again. As it shines into the darkness it invites all those who see it to let the gifts of which the wreath speaks inform how they live their lives, for when we each bring hope, make peace, gift joy and live love, then the world is transformed.
Our world needs that transformation, a transformation we are all invited to be part of bringing.
As church leaders of Auckland, we wish you and your families all the hope, peace, joy and love of this sacred season.
Together as the communities of Auckland, and of Aotearoa New Zealand, may we be committed to let the lights of Christmas shine.
Church leaders
• Rev Paul Allen-Baines, Auckland District Chairman, Congregational Union of New Zealand
• Rev Dr Neville Bartle, National Superintendent, Church of the Nazarene
• Rt Rev Ross Bay, Anglican Bishop of Auckland
• Pastor Tak Bhana, Senior Pastor, Church Unlimited
• Pastor Luke Brough, National Leader, Elim Churches of New Zealand
• Mr Glyn Carpenter, National Director, New Zealand Christian Network
• Pastor Paul de Jong, Senior Pastor, LIFE
• Pastor Jonathan Dove, Senior Pastor, Greenlane Christian Centre
• Rev Patrick Dunn, Catholic Bishop of Auckland
• Mr David Goold, on behalf of the Open Brethren Churches
• Pastor Ken Harrison, Senior Pastor, Harvest Christian Church , Papakura AOGNZ
• Pastor Dr Brian Hughes, Senior Pastor, Calvary Chapel
• Major Stephen Jarvis, Divisional Commander, The Salvation Army
• Very Rev Jo Kelly-Moore, Dean, Auckland Cathedral of the Holy Trinity
• Pastor Joe Kummerow, Auckland Leader, Lutheran Church of New Zealand
• Rev Kok Soon Lee, Auckland Chinese Churches Association
• Rev Margaret Anne Low, Moderator, Northern Presbytery, Presbyterian Church.
• Rev Andrew Marshall, National Director, Alliance Churches of New Zealand
• Pastor Bruce Monk, National Leader, Acts Churches of New Zealand
• Pastor Sam Monk, Senior Pastor, Equippers Church
• Pastor Peter Mortlock, Senior Pastor, City Impact Church
• Pastor Lloyd Rankin, National Director, Vineyard Churches Aotearoa New Zealand
• Pastor Dean Rush, C3 Churches
• Pastor Jim Shaw, National Executive Team, New Life Churches International
• Bishop Brian Tamaki, Destiny Churches International
• Pastor Allan Taylor, Northern Association, Baptist Churches of New Zealand
• Pastor Eddie Tupa'i, President, North New Zealand Conference, Seventh-Day Adventist Church
• Rev Dr Richard Waugh, National Superintendent, Wesleyan Methodist Church of New Zealand
• Rev Marilyn Welch, Auckland Manukau Northland Superintendent, Methodist Church of New Zealand
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