Seeing a Great Light (Candlelight Service)
based on Isaiah 9:2-7
Rev. Randy Quinn

After Lighting the First Advent Candle, I will begin.

Before I read the first scripture lesson tonight, I want to ask that all of the lights in the sanctuary be turned off. Not just turned down, I want them turned off – even the organ lamps.

(I will wait until all of the lights have been extinguished except the altar candles and the one Advent Candle. Then I will move toward what little light the candles offer before continuing.)

It’s dark in here. But it doesn’t matter how dark it is, we can still see the candles, can’t we? They aren’t very big, but we can see them anyway.

There’s a mathematical formula to describe the way the light from this candle is dispersed throughout the room. It explains how my face reflects just a small amount of that light and yours reflects even less. Without the scientific explanation, however, we all know you can see this candle from further away than I can use it to see you. So I always wonder about the television shows that have the police officers holding a flashlight near their face and pointing it in the direction they are looking.

(I will hold up my flashlight and shine it at the congregation.)

The truth is you can see me much better than I can see you – at least you can see where I am because I am holding a light and you are not. Later in our service, you will also be holding a light. And we will be able to see you better than you will see us because the glow of the candle will surround your face, not ours.

When we do that, I want you to remember the darkness that currently fills this room. (I will shut off the flashlight.) And I want you to ponder what it must have been like before the days of electricity when people sat up late at night and pondered the things of God.

What was it like for the people of Israel when Isaiah spoke to them? What did they think about when they gathered together by candle light? When they heard about the events of the world and the possibility that their nation was going to become extinct because of poor leadership, what were their biggest fears? What things did they hope for? And what did Isaiah have to say to them?

Read (quote from memory if I can) the text.

The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light;

those who lived in a land of deep darkness – on them light has shined.

You have multiplied the nation, you have increased its joy;

they rejoice before you as with joy at the harvest,

as people exult when dividing plunder.

For the yoke of their burden, and the bar across their shoulders,

the rod of their oppressor, you have broken as on the day of Midian.

For all the boots of the tramping warriors

and all the garments rolled in blood shall be burned as fuel for the fire.

For a child has been born for us, a son given to us;

authority rests upon his shoulders;

and he is named Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,

Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

His authority shall grow continually,

and there shall be endless peace for the throne of David and his kingdom.

He will establish and uphold it with justice

and with righteousness from this time onward and forevermore.

The zeal of the LORD of hosts will do this.

“The people who walked in darkness,” Isaiah says, “have [already] seen a great light” (Is. 9:2). They have already experienced the joy of God’s salvation. They know what it means to be have been without hope. They had been there before.

(You may turn the lights back on if you’d like.)

The people of Israel could look back on their history and know that God was able to provide for them. Every year they told the story of the Exodus, the Passover story. Every year they rehearsed the history of how God had taken them from slavery, across the waters and into a Promised Land.

If God could do that, Isaiah says, surely God will come again.

And how will they know that God is present? “A child has been born” (Is. 9:6).

Centuries later, another child would be born. And at his birth, the people around him would remember Isaiah’s words to the people. This time, they were captives in their own land. This time the Romans ruled over them and they longed to be free. It was a different form of darkness, but it was no less foreboding.

To Mary and Joseph, to the shepherds and the townspeople of Bethlehem, God’s message was being told again. A child is born. God is present.

And many centuries later still, we are here tonight to celebrate the fulfillment of the promise God made to be present in the darkness. And so we use candles to proclaim our faith tonight, a faith in the living God who is still with us.

We light a candle for others to see our joy, a joy that keeps the darkness at bay. A joy that comes from within us and shines out into the world. That’s why all through the season of Advent we’ve been singing:

♫ Let your light shine before others so they may know

Our God of love’s in the land, and

Let your light shine before others so they may know

The kingdom of God is at hand! ♫

I will light the Second Advent Candle

Then we will Sing What Child Is This?

Then I will read Luke 2:1-7

For the Children:

I will read the children’s story, Christmas Moccasins by Ray Buckley (Abingdon, 2003).

We will Sing Away in a Manger

I will light the third Advent Candle

I will read Luke 2:8-20

Michael Johnson will sing O Holy Night

I will light the fourth Advent Candle

I will sing One Night A Year

We will read Psalm 98 responsively

We will Sing Joy to the World

We will Pass the Peace, distribute candles, and then form a circle.

I will light the Christ Candle.

Others will help in lighting all of the candles.

We will sing Silent Night, Holy Night.