The Methodist Church in Britain, in conjunction with the World Methodist Council, and the Global Ministries of the United Methodist Church, have invited churches to not light the second candle of the Advent wreath due to the current conflict in the middle east. You can read the invitation here: https://umcmission.org/news-statements/an-invitation-to-stand-with-palestinian-christians-this-advent-and-christmas/ This is not something that I would personally endorse, but I did not think much of it to be honest until I started reading the invitation.

The title itself is problematic. “An Invitation to Stand with Palestinian Christians…” In this climate, there is simply no way that this will be seen as anything other than a political statement. I can not believe that this is accidental frankly. A more neutral approach would have been something like “An invitation to stand with Christians in the region” or something similar. In thinking on it though, the entire idea of standing in solidarity with those who are mourning is fairly poor imagery. If anything, we should offer to kneel with them. The entire thing just feels tone deaf at worst, and virtue signaling at best. How many conflicts have erupted across the years where there has been no offer of doing this? While what is occurring the in the middle east currently is a tragedy to be sure, there have been many others in recent memory, some of them still ongoing.

Advent is the beginning of the church liturgical year. The name ‘Advent’ is adapted from the Latin word adventus meaning coming or arrival. Advent is of course the time in which we prepare for the coming of Christ. While it is most often associated with the virgin birth and the Christmas story, it is also a time of preparation and anticipation for the coming of Christ into the lives of believers as well as the eschatological coming of Christ which will usher in the new heaven and earth. Which of these three anticipated comings is served best by darkness instead of light?

Over all, we light the Advent candles to signify Jesus coming as the light into the darkness of the world. Specifically, the second candle, often called the Bethlehem candle, is lit to remind us of the journey that Mary and Joseph made from Nazareth to Bethlehem. The story is familiar of course, the journey is made, there is no room, and Jesus is born into the most meager of settings. They would be forced to flee and and themselves in a form of exile in Egypt, to return to their homeland after many years in an echo of the Exodus. This is the candle that we light in anticipation and remembrance.

We should, and do, stand along side those who mourn, those who are hurting, the hungry, the poor, the widow and the orphan. We light the candles because there is hope, indeed The Blessed Hope, who has come into the world, will come into believers, and will come again. That is the peace we long for and anticipate. We light the candles because we stand in solidarity, and our solidarity is with the light and not with darkness.