30th November 2025
Advent 1: Hope
"In the beginning, when God created the heavens and the earth, the earth was formless and desolate, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God hovered over the face of the waters..." (Genesis 1 v 1)
All life begins in darkness: the darkness of primeval chaos, the darkness beneath the soil, the darkness of the womb... At creation, God's first act is to call light out of darkness. And so it is fitting that God's promise of new creation also comes to a people "walking in darkness" (Isaiah 9:2) - a people living through political turmoil, threats of invasion followed by siege and open war, exile and uncertainty.
Advent, in the northern hemisphere, begins in darkness, the time of year when it is dark when we wake up, dark by 4pm, sometimes, on a grey day, rarely seems to get light at all. It's a time for those who struggle with the winter darkness, for those who long for the new light of spring. Advent is not a time for the comfortable and the complacent; it's a time for those who are looking for something more, something better, a time for those who mourn, who despair at the world as it is, who are praying and working for light to dawn.
And on the first Sunday of Advent, we light the candle of hope. Hope too begins in darkness, for "hope that is seen is no hope" (Romans 8:24). Biblical hope is not clinging to a vague sense of optimism that things will turn out all right, hoping for the best. Biblical hope faces the darkness head on and puts its trust in the One who calls out light from darkness, the One who promises that the darkness will never overcome this light.
Cathedrals and churches with more formal traditions than ours will be holding Advent Carol Services this Sunday evening. The Advent Carol service traditionally begins with one single voice singing from the East end in a darkened building, and with one single candle lit at the West end. During the opening hymn, candles are lit from one person to another in the congregation, until the light has conquered the darkness. It's a beautiful service, full of poignant symbolism.
At first sight, our Messy Christingle might seem to be the polar opposite of an Advent Carol Service. We will be enacting joyful, holy chaos, with biscuit icing, finger painting, an obstacle course, Christingle making... before gathering to worship. And yet, we too will enact that turning from darkness to light. We too will begin with one candle and share the flame, one to another, filling a darkened space with light. And, in the moment of stillness as those candles are lit, we will sing: "Hope of heaven, in our darkness".
May the God of hope bring light in all our darkness this Advent.
