“The Advent Wreath isn’t a circle, it’s a zigzag.”
“What are you talking about? Of course it’s a circle! It’s a wreath!”
As the conversation continued I began to understand the statement. The “Peace, Hope, Joy, and Love” candles were not in the correct order. Therefore, we would need to light them in “zigzag” order instead of the flow of a circle.
Simple fix! First thing this morning I changed the order of the candles.
Is faith really that simple? When the flow of peace, hope, joy, and love become “zigzagged,” how are we to respond?
Isaiah 40:3
“The voice of one crying out in the wilderness:
‘Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.’”
The African Bible Commentary reminds us that this quotation from Isaiah refers to a renewal movement when the nation was returning from exile and that Jesus offers an even greater renewal — a renewal that “will not be an escape from Egypt, a return from exile in Babylon, or even a deliverance from Roman political domination. It will be a release from even greater bondage: the bondage of sin.”
Once we allow that kind of renewal into our lives, we not only receive an altogether hope, we are able to share an altogether hope. It’s a hope that sounds a lot like:
"You are not alone.”
“I can help you with that.”
“Let’s work on this together.”
It’s the kind of hope that helps us make sense of the zigzags of life.
Pastor Jo
December 6, 2022
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