Category: Advent

Lighting of the Christ Candle 2023

by Steve Harsh, posted in Advent, Christmas

December nights are the longest and darkest of the year in our part of the world.  It is a good night to light candles.  Tonight the waiting and hoping of Advent gives way to the celebration of a miracle birth.  It happened over 2000 years ago, but we still marvel at the simplicity and mystery it has held for believers throughout the ages. 

Christmas is more than just a miracle birth story. 

It is about the birth of hope, [light one candle]

And Peace [light 2nd candle],

And Joy [light 3rd candle],

And Love  [light 4th candle].

These four candles stand in a circle that, like God’s love, has no beginning and no end.  Now on this Holy night we light the tallest and brightest candle, the Christ candle, to celebrate the wonderful birth of our Savior and Messiah.  

[Light the Christ Candle]

The Christ Candle is not like those we put on our birthday cakes.  We do not blow this candle out.  Instead from it we will light our own candles to symbolize the light of the world that glows in the hearts of all who follow Jesus.  

Some may ask why we light candles when the darkness is so deep.  Can our tiny flames really make a difference?  Hear this response from theologian Howard Thurman:

“I will light Candles this Christmas,

Candles of Joy despite all the sadness. 

Candles of hope where despair keeps watch. 

Candles of courage for fears ever present,

Candles of peace for tempest-tossed days,

Candles of grace to ease heavy burdens,

Candles of love to inspire all my living,

Candles that will burn all year long.”

Please pray with me:  O Holy One, rekindle that kind of flame in each of us, the kind that burns all year long. We light candles because we can and we must.  Christ came to teach us we are the light of the world, and to honor this Holy infant, our savior, we hold our candles high to witness to the world that the forces of darkness will not prevail.  For this very night in 2023 a Savior is born again wherever meek souls will receive him.  Come, Lord Jesus, come; we pray in your Holy name, Amen

Northwest UMC, Columbus, OH; December 24, 2023

Advent 4, 2023: Love

by Steve Harsh, posted in Advent

We have made our way this Advent from prophesy and promise to stand now on the cusp of fulfillment.  This very night we will celebrate again the birth of love incarnate in the form of a helpless infant.  Like that baby, love is vulnerable.  Both require careful nurture and handling.  Love is a gift entrusted to common people like Mary and Joseph, like you and me.  Of all the gifts we may give or receive this week, none is more precious than the simple gift of love.  That is what inspired St. Paul to write: “And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.”

God’s love is a spirit that requires embodiment to become real.  God’s love must become flesh to dwell among us.  At Bethlehem that love came to life in the infant Jesus.  Today, if we are open to the mystery, it can come to life in you and me as the church, the body of Christ.  We can be the light of the world because of Christmas. So today we live between the warm feeling of God’s love and the choice to put that sentiment into concrete action.   We humbly receive God’s most precious gift as we light the 4th candle of Advent, the Candle of Love. 

[Light the 4th Candle]

Please pray with me as I share this Advent prayer from Kate Bowler and Jessica Richie from their book, “The Lives We Actually Have:”

God, we are waiting for love,

not the simple kind or the sweep-you-off-your-feet kind,

but the absurd kind.

The kind wrapped in rags, resting in a bucket of animal feed.

Love enough to save us all.

Blessed are we who look for Love,

deeper, fuller, truer—than we have ever known,

than we could have ever hoped for.

Blessed are we who seek you,

the light that dawned so long ago in that dark stable.

Love given.                                                    

Love received.

Dear God, Hold us in that love these last few hours of Advent till that love is born again in our hearts this very night. Amen

Northwest UMC, Columbus, OH; December 24, 2023

2nd Sunday of Advent 2023

by Steve Harsh, posted in Advent
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Ever since the angels proclaimed their message of “peace on earth” to the shepherds of Bethlehem our weary world has lived between that promise of peace and humankind’s warring madness.  It seems we have waited so very long for peace. Our patience wears thin and our hope is challenged, but we are reminded by Scripture that “our time is not God’s time.”  Our perspective is limited and brief, but God’s is infinite and eternal. 

Being patient while we wait is so hard for us finite humans.  2000 years since Jesus’ birth we are still longing for fulfillment of God’s promise, even as we prepare our hearts again for the miracle of Christmas.   We give thanks for God’s grace and patience with all of His fallible children.  We humans still live caught between peace on one hand and fear on the other because of our own love of power and our human weaknesses. 

But even if it seems foolish by the world’s standards, here and now today we still dare to light this candle of peace, the second candle of Advent.  This candle is far more than wax and a wick; it is a witness to the world that God’s promise of a peace that surpasses all understanding is still trustworthy and true. 

[Light candle]

Please pray with me as I share this prayer from Kate Bowler and Jessica Ritchie, from their book, “The Lives We Actually Have:”

Come, Lord, that we might see you, move with you, keep pace with you.

Blessed are we who ask that this Advent          

we might dwell together quietly in our homes.

Come, Lord, that we might be for others the peace they cannot find.

Blessed are we who look to you and say, God, truly, we are troubled and afraid.

Come govern our hearts and calm our fears.

Oh Prince of Peace, still our restless selves, calm our anxious hearts,

quiet our busy minds.

Hear our prayers O Holy One, which we offer in the name of Jesus Christ, the Prince of Peace.  Amen

Northwest UMC, Columbus, OH, December 10, 2023

Advent I 2023: Hope

by Steve Harsh, posted in Advent, hope

Today is the first Sunday in the season of Advent.  It is a time of preparing our hearts to receive once more God’s promise of healing for our broken world.  Advent is a season of waiting and hoping for what is already but not yet.  It is a time of living in between – between promise and fulfillment, between hope for and receiving.  

This Advent it is harder than usual to be people of hope. The skies over the Holy Land are full of rockets and bombs instead of an angel chorus. We live between Christmas carols on the airways and horrific images of war on our news feeds.

But here, even in this time between hope and despair, we gather to reaffirm our faith in the eternal light that cannot be extinguished by any amount of human sin and suffering. As people of faith have done for hundreds of years we claim the gift of hope once more by lighting the first candle of Advent.

[Light Candle]

Please pray with me as I share this Advent prayer from Kate Bowler and Jessica Ritchie, from their book, “The Lives We Actually Have:”

“God, these are darkening days, with little hope in sight.

Help us in our fear and exhaustion. Anchor us in hope.  Bless us who cry out: ‘Oh God, why does the bad always seem to win?

When will good prevail?

We know you are good, but we see so little goodness.’

God, show us your heart, how you seek out the broken.

Lift us on your shoulders and carry us home—no matter how strong we think we are.

God, seek us out, and find us, we your tired people, and lead us out to where hope lies. where your kingdom will come and your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.

Fill us with your courage. Calm us with your love. Fortify us with your hope.”

We pray in the name of the One we Hope for who already walks with us every day. Amen

Northwest UMC, Columbus, Ohio, December 3, 2023

Lighting the Christ candle, 2022

by Steve Harsh, posted in Advent, Christmas

On this holy, silent night we pause from all the other activities of this busy season to give thanks that the waiting and hoping for God’s joy and love will this night be fulfilled. We have marked each of the four weeks of Advent by lighting a candle to bring a little more light to the darkness of our broken world.

But this night is special. Tonight, when December days are the shortest of the year, we gather to celebrate the light of the world that will never be overcome by darkness. We know that the sun will shine longer tomorrow and each day to come, and we know that God’s Son will shine brighter because we will carry the light of his glory in our hearts as we return to our daily lives.

The candles of Hope, Peace, Joy, and Love have lighted our Advent journey. They stand in a circular wreath that, like God’s love, has no beginning and no end. But on this Holy night we light the tallest and brightest candle, the Christ candle, to celebrate the wonderful birth of our Savior and Messiah.

[Light the Christ Candle]

The Christ Candle is not like those we put on our birthday cakes. We do not blow this candle out. Instead from it we will light our own candles to symbolize the light of the world that glows in the hearts of all who follow Jesus.

Pray with me please: O most High and Holy One, on this night come once more to your lowliest birth in a barn. Come again to a world where there is too often no room for you in our busy lives. We know the Christmas story so well it is hard to hear it with fresh ears. Break through our traditions this time, Lord. Scare us out of our routine expectations for this night, just as you startled those poor shepherds outside Bethlehem so long ago. Blow us away with visions of angels that inspire us to run to Bethlehem to see what’s going on. Open our hearts to believe that this is not just any other night. Give us eyes to see that this is not just another Christmas like all the others. For this very night in 2022 a Savior is born again wherever meek souls will receive him. Come, Lord Jesus, come; we pray in your Holy name, Amen

Fourth Advent Candle 2022: Love

by Steve Harsh, posted in Advent

During this Advent season of waiting, we have reflected on the gifts of Hope, Peace, and Joy.  Today we can sum things up by paraphrasing the words of St. Paul in I Corinthians:  Hope, Peace, Joy, and Love, abide these four, but the greatest of these is Love.  

Without the radical love of Jesus for the least lovable among us and yes, even for our enemies, there is no hope for peace and joy in our hearts or in our world.  Without love for God and God’s way of being in the world we are doomed to keep waiting for the blessed community to appear out of thin air.  Love is a verb, it is a call to action to treat everyone else as we want to be treated; but it is also a call to love ourselves as God’s redeemed and beloved children.  Without love for ourselves we have no love to share with our neighbors.  

Love for ourselves and for others is the whole point of Christmas.  God so loved the world, all of it and all of us, that God came to show us that love in the form of a helpless infant. Without the loving care of his young mother, of a kind innkeeper, and the trust Joseph had in God’s messengers baby Jesus would not have survived infancy.

Today we celebrate the greatest gift of Love ever given–the perfect love that alone can cast out fear.  And with grateful hearts we light the candle of Love.

[Light 4th Candle]

Pray with me please: O Holy and loving God, with grateful hearts we give you thanks that faithful and patient waiting for you is always rewarded.  Your promises are trustworthy and true.  In these final busy days of Advent help us keep our eye on the prize and the only reason for this season.  We are always amazed and challenged by the depth of your unconditional love for us.  Prepare our hearts and minds this week to humbly receive the amazing love you have for us.  Let us not take that gift for granted, but may we reflect your love for the world in all we say and do in this special week leading up Jesus’ holy birth.  In his Holy name we pray.  Amen

Northwest United Methodist Church, December 18, 2022

2022 Advent Peace Candle

by Steve Harsh, posted in Advent, prayer

3000 years ago the prophet Isaiah shared his vision of lions lying down with lambs, and humans beating their swords into plowshares and not learning war any more.

And we’re still waiting.

2000 years ago John the Baptist was a voice crying in the wilderness, and the angels over Bethlehem delivered the birth announcement of a baby who would bring peace on earth.

And we’re still waiting.

Sometimes it feels so foolish to light a peace candle every Advent. Bombs are still dropping on Ukraine and young Americans are still dying from senseless gun violence.

And we are still waiting.

But we who know Jesus continue to believe. We know Jesus can calm a raging sea by simply saying, “Peace be still.” We know he can calm our fearful hearts when we think we can’t go on. We know Jesus showed us how to conquer fear by the way he died non-violently and rose again victoriously. Because we have known his peace in our hearts we are able to wait as long as it takes. And while we wait we light the candle of peace to renew our allegiance to Jesus, the Prince of Peace

[Light 2nd Candle]

Let us pray: Holy God of all people and all of creation, touch our troubled hearts with your Spirit of holy peace. Remind us again that we are not called to passively wait for peace to miraculously appear. Human nature is too flawed for that to happen. We are not called to be peacekeepers who want only a lack of conflict and preservation of the status quo. Instead you call us to be peacemakers, co-creators of a just and loving world order. Show us the way, heavenly parent, to make peace wherever you have planted us. Whether we are refereeing a squabble between our children or solving a complicated situation at school or work, let the peaceful ways of Jesus be our guide. Help us let go of things we cannot change so we can be your agents of peace in places where we can make a difference. May we act as we pray, in the name of Jesus. Amen

Advent Candle Liturgy, Hope, 2022

by Steve Harsh, posted in Advent, hope

As we begin this season of Advent with the candle of hope we affirm our trust in these Beatitudes for the hopeful:

Blessed are those who wait silently with the hopeless.

Blessed are the patient who model peace for all around them.

Blessed are those who are ridiculed for their unrealistic optimism.

Blessed are those who simply light up the space they inhabit.

Blessed are those surrounded by the deep darkness of grief.  They will be comforted.  

Blessed are those who shine through a faith undimmed by human tears.

Blessed are those who face the truth of human evil but will not give up the dream of God’s peaceable kingdom.

Blessed are those who can sit peacefully in the darkness and wait for the dawn.

Blessed are the wise ones who have walked in deep darkness but also know the joy of emerging into the light.  

Blessed are the hopeful, for they are brave enough to be light for a world drowning in darkness.

Please pray with me as we again light the candle of hope.

O Holy One, we pray today that we may not be distracted by the personal and cultural chaos around us.  Help us pay attention to what is true and just.  Even as one way of being in the world is ending, help us to cling to our hope, not for a return to the way things were pre-Covid or pre-Ukraine, but to a new world emerging from the ashes of the old.  Speak to us again the truth that endurance through dark times produces character and hope that allows us to never be weary in doing what is right.  Send your Holy Spirit upon us today that we can be a community of faith that disrupts the broken world with hopefulness.  Make us a community of  hope where we resuscitate each other when our faith is running low.  Remind us that we are called to be a movement of hope, even as institutions, denominations, and individual leaders come and go.  Give us hope to wait upon you when we are weary, to rest but not give up.  Please, Holy God, renew our strength and raise us up on eagles’ wings to be a resurrected and dynamic movement that draws us and others ever closer to the way, truth, and life as followers of Jesus.  Amen

Northwest UMC, Columbus, OH, November 27, 2022

Thanksgiving/Advent Prayer

by Steve Harsh, posted in Advent, prayer

O merciful God, as we worship on this pivotal day between Thanksgiving and Advent give us faith to wrestle with the hard truth that so much of our American pursuit of happiness is based on one of the seven deadly sins, namely greed.  Nowhere is that tension between Jesus’ values and our culture’s more obvious than this time of year where we devote just one day to celebrating gratitude for what we have in the midst of the biggest season of consumerism that begins earlier every year. .

Jesus said it as plainly and clearly as possible in the Sermon on the Mount. “You can’t serve God and money.” It’s a simple either/or, and yet we are still trying our best to prove Jesus wrong.

Choices about our basic human and cultural values are hard because they are so important, and in this case Jesus is a prohibitive underdog. He is up against a multibillion dollar advertising industry telling us 24/7 that we are what we wear, drive, live in, and how we look. Our consumer goods are made to be obsolete sooner rather than later so we will fill the landfills with last year’s gadgets. 

The choice between your way, Holy God, and humanity’s foolish pursuits is what Joshua addressed the Hebrew people about centuries ago on their long journey to the Promised Land. When they were tempted to worship other gods Joshua said, “If  serving the Lord seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve. But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.” 

Gracious Lord, I confess, I love my Apple gadgets and the new car I bought a year ago as much as anyone else. And yes, I know my iPhone and Apple Watch were made by abused Chinese workers. And yes, I also know I am called to be the keeper of those very sisters and brothers who made these devices I take for granted every day. It pains me to be reminded of that injustice, but so far not enough to do anything about it.

Ever-loving One, we do know that greed has been the root cause of most of the injustices in human history. Every economic, government, or religious system that perpetuates the power of the haves over the have nots has greed for wealth, power, or control at its core.

O God, with heavy hearts we confess our own complicity in systemic greed because we know the first step to addressing any injustice is to admit we are part of the problem.

And so as we move from this Thanksgiving holiday into the season of Advent, our hope and prayer today is that the gratitude of Thanksgiving will inform everything we do this Advent season. And as we light each Advent candle may we remember to not let the true light of the world be hidden under a bushel. It’s time for love and hope to stand up to the forces of greed, to make this the year we don’t ask for everything we want, but give thanks for everything we have.  And so we humbly pray in Jesus’ name, saying together the words he taught us to pray…

Northwest UMC, Columbus, OH, November 27, 2022

Advent 3rd Sunday: Joy

by Steve Harsh, posted in Advent, Faith and Values, prayer

As we get closer and closer to Christmas we can feel joy spreading like a wildfire from the candles of hope and peace.  This joy is not the fleeting satisfaction we call happiness.  Joy is not a pious catch phrase, but an eternal flame that cannot be snuffed out by the cares of a weary world.

These candles here will not burn forever, but true joy that lives in our souls endures eternally. It survives flood, famine, pandemic, and unbearable sorrow.  When our bodies are too tired to carry on, the songs of joy still ring in our hearts.  

Today we light this candle of joy because the Christmas story reminds us that Emmanuel means God is with us always and everywhere.  [Light candle]

And so we pray: O come Emmanuel and ransom our weary world held captive by fear. When we are calm in the midst of chaos it is because your eternal joy is in us. We dare to be joyful because the tiny babe of Bethlehem has shown us victory over all the things that frighten us. No matter how many variants the forces of evil change themselves into; we know that you, almighty God, can transform our suffering into joyful praise. You have taught us that no matter how long our mourning in darkness may last, joy will come with the dawning of a fresh new day filled with hope, peace and love. And so today we offer you our songs of praise for the one who is Joy to the World. Amen