Thoughts on the Divine Service
35. Candles - Part 2
Dear friends,
I didn’t expect to write two weeks’ worth of emails about what candles teach; but in totaling them up, we make use of a quite a few throughout the year. Last time, we looked at what I’d call the “standard candles” of a Lutheran sanctuary—the seven-branch candlestands, the altar candles and the Paschal Candle at the baptismal font. As a brief review, candles are not necessary for worship; but, since fire is an indication of God’s presence in Scripture, candles serve as a reminder that the Lord is present with His people, most notably in His means of grace.
Now that we’ve covered the standard candles of a sanctuary last week, we have few more to explore.
First comes the “sanctuary lamp” or the “eternal light,” which burns in a red glass/globe just behind the lectern. It has a long, perhaps surprising history. The Roman Catholic doctrine of transubstantiation asserts that in Holy Communion the bread and wine turn into Christ’s body and blood, and are no longer bread and wine; thus when the sacrament has ended, any leftover elements remain the body and blood of Christ. These remaining elements are sometimes placed in a box called a tabernacle; and when elements are in the tabernacle, the sanctuary lamp is lit. When the lamp is lit because Christ’s body and blood are present, parishioners might spend time in prayer before the tabernacle because of His presence there. Thus in Roman Catholic theology, the sanctuary lamp serves two functions: it serves as a vigil to recognize that Christ is present, and it assures parishioners that they are not directing their prayers to an empty box.
Lutheran theology differs on several points. First, we reject the doctrine of transubstantiation and instead teach the Real Presence (that Christ’s body and blood are present in, with and under the bread and wine, which also remain). The reason for our position is that transubstantiation says more than the Bible says, while Scripture instead affirms that bread and wine remain (1 Cor. 10:16). We also do not teach that Christ’s body and blood remain the bread and wine after the sacrament is concluded because, once again, that is more than Scripture says. Truthfully, we’re not sure, so our practice is to store the remaining elements, apart from unconsecrated elements, until the next Supper. Finally, even if we could be sure that Christ’s body and blood remain, we wouldn’t present them as a focal point for prayer: Jesus gives us His body and blood to eat and to drink, not to pray to.
Add all these together, and there’s no need for a sanctuary light. Many Lutherans, however, kept a sanctuary light after the Reformation as a reminder of the omnipresence of God, that the Lord never sleeps nor slumbers, but continually watches over His people (Ps. 121:4). This use has spread to other Christian church bodies over time. I’m told they gained popularity in non-sacramental churches after the burial of President Kennedy (whose grave features a perpetual flame), but I haven’t been able to verify that past the word of a trusted professor long ago.
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During the season of Advent, we feature an Advent wreath with candles. Advent wreaths have a distinctly Lutheran origin, created by Pastor Johann Wichern to help pupils count down days until Christmas. His original version had a candle for each day, but most advent wreaths feature one for each week. Traditionally, an additional candle is lit for each of the four Sundays of Advent, three of which are violet or blue and one is pink or rose.
Advent candles have been assigned various meanings over time. For some, they stand for hope, peace, joy and love; for others, they are the Prophet’s candle, the Bethlehem candle, the Shepherd’s candle and the Angel’s candle, respectively. The various meanings can serve as fine teaching tools. A constant, however, is that the rose/pink candle is lit on the 3rd Sunday of Advent as a hat-tip to the traditional antiphon of the day, Philippians 4:4: “Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice!”
Most of all, the Advent wreath still serves as a countdown to Christmas and the arrival of Immanuel, “God with us.” On Christmas Eve, a white candle—the Christ candle—in the center of the wreath is lit to commemorate that Christ, the Light of the world, has come into the world. It remains lit for the duration of the Christmas season.
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More candles appear on Christmas Eve: each worshiper has a small candle that is lit for the final hymn, traditionally “Silent Night.” (The view from the altar is pretty spectacular!) This practice goes back to the Moravian Church of the 18th century: as the congregation sings that “Christ, the Savior is born,” the individual’s candle serve as an acknowledgment that “Christ, the Light of the world, was born for me!” The flame for these candles comes from the Christ candle, as His light (John 8:12) enlightens His people (Matt. 5:14).
Individual candles reappear at the start of the Easter Vigil. “Vigil” means “watch” or “wakefulness,” in this case the anticipation of the Festival of the Resurrection. The Vigil begins at sunset (because days in the Bible begin at sunset (Gen. 1:5)) with a bonfire outside. The Paschal Candle is lit from the bonfire, then worshipers light their candles from the Paschal Candle—Christ, the Lamb of God, has taken away the sins of the world, including their own. They process into a darkened sanctuary, which only grows darker as night falls. For a while during the Vigil, the people dwell in darkness, enlightened by the Word as they wait for the new day—both Easter morning and finally the Last Day. Partway through the service, the “new day” arrives early: all the lights come on, bells ring and vigil participants are the first to shout, “He is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia!”
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One more candle comes to mind, with similar symbolism to the candles of Christmas Eve and the Easter Vigil. When someone is baptized, we usually present a candle with the words, “Receive this burning light to show that you have received Christ who is the light of the world. Live always in the light of Christ, and be ever watchful for His coming, that you may meet Him with joy and enter with Him into the marriage feast of the Lamb in His kingdom.” This is a marvelous bit of teaching as it connects “the now” to “the not-yet” with imagery from the Parable of the Ten Virgins (Matt. 25:1-13). You’ll recall from last week that the tall Paschal Candle is lit by the font when someone is to be baptized, and the candle given to the baptized is lit from it to symbolize that Christ has come to them by water and the Word. He has shared His death and resurrection with them so that they might dwell with Him in heaven forever. Those who continue to live as those baptized, holding to God’s Word and repentant of their sins, keep their lamps lit (Matt. 25:10), so to speak; and the kingdom of heaven is theirs. What joy!