The Mystery of Missing Advent Wreath (with pictures)

Two days ago.

It was a dark and wintry Saturday evening.

I walked into the church building.

It could  have been any church building, anywhere. But I walked into this one. Because it’s close to home. In fact, I live right door. Because I’m a pastor there.

That’s when it happened.

Many of us now think of it as…[cue spooky mysterious music]…The Mystery of The Missing Advent Wreath.

“Where is it, Joe?” they asked.

What followed were words I’d heard before. But never in winter. Not on The First Weekend of Advent.

“They’ve taken it away, and we don’t know where to find it.” Usually I hear words like those on Easter. During the Gospel Reading. About the dead body of Christ not being in the empty tomb. But this wasn’t Easter. This was the First Weekend of Advent. Time to get ready for Christmas.

Then I heard it again. “They’ve taken it away, and we don’t know where to find it.”

I was confused. Taking off my coat, I said the only thing anybody would say. I asked, “What’s missing?”

The two youth answered by pointed to the front of the sanctuary.

Remembering that Kat and Jack were our Advent Candle Reader and Lighter at this evening’s worship service, I slowly turned my head, following their extended arms and fingers.

That’s when I saw it.

That’s when I saw an empty space where it should have been. But it was missing.

And thus began…[cue the same spooky mysterious music]…The Mystery of The Missing Advent Wreath.

Immediately I knew what had happened.

“Nobody has set it up yet,” I brilliantly surmised.

Coat off, I quickly tossed it onto a nearby chair.

Tried to assure Kat and Jack and their parents. But my next words fell short.

“I wonder where it is,” I said.

It was soon time for worship to begin. Like very soon. As in right now.

Among my words of welcome and greeting to the congregation, I alerted everyone to the aforementioned empty space.

My confident words that this was an easy fix still rang in the rafters as the organ Prelude began.

I went to the storage area where seasonal things like The Advent Wreath stand are stored.

That’s when I saw it. And knew.

I saw the top part of The Advent Wreath. Knew that I had solved…[cue the same spooky mysterious music again]…The Mystery of The Missing Advent Wreath.

I brought out the top part of The Advent Wreath. It was circular with four candle holders. I placed it on the floor in the front area of the sanctuary. I gestured to it with all the flourish of a magician’s assistant.

The crowd smiled and nodded. I saw one person start to applaud.

The Prelude continued. So did my efforts. But I would soon find I wasn’t alone.

When I got back to the storage area, she was there.

People call her Patty. Because that’s her name. She’s my wife.

“I think this is part of the stand,” she said. She was holding what looked like the middle section of what we pastors like to call “part of the stand.”

Grabbing all that remained of The Advent Wreath’s stand, I carried its base while she carried the middle section.

We completed the construction of The Advent Wreath just as the Prelude was ending.

Stepping to the lectern, I addressed the now grinning, smiling crowd.

“We’re still missing the four candles,” I announced to chuckles and nods.

Libby and Scott jumped up and went to other storage areas to search. I saw Scott get out his phone. I knew why, too: he was going to text or call someone. Someone who might know where the four candles were being held.

I continued to calm the crowd. “We’ll go on to the next part of worship and come back to light the candles once we find them.”

And that’s exactly what we did. Maddie sang an Advent solo while Bob played drums and Ann played piano.

It was time for all of us to sing an Advent Carol. We did.

During that song, I sensed movement and excitement in the back of the sanctuary.

Patty and Libby were pointing at what was in Libby’s hand.

It looked like the world’s smallest Advent Wreath. But it had four candles.

As we were singing an Advent Hymn, Libby brought it forward and handed it to me.

I thanked her and placed it in the center of The Advent Wreath. Where the large white Christ Candle would be. Once we found it. It was probably with the other four missing candles, I thought to myself.

For now, this miniature Advent Wreath, quickly borrowed from a children’s Sunday School room, fit perfectly in the center of the Advent Wreath —

 

 

— and it worked.

Kat and Jack were able to Read and Light.

But the best part?

See that tiny candle? It did its job. Like in the first picture. The entire service.

It was small. But its light was bright. And seen by all.

And that’s how several of us, working together, solved…[yup, cue that same spooky mysterious music one last time]…The Mystery of The Missing Advent Wreath.

Oh. You want to know about the bigger candles that go in The Advent Wreath?

Yeah. Thought you might.

Did we ever find them, you ask? Meet me back here tomorrow for that story.

But today, be like that first candle.

That first little candle in our Saturday Evening Advent Wreath.

The one that Kat and Jack worked with.

That Libby found.

That Scott contacted a friend about.

The candle that sat on the stand that Patty helped put together.

“Here’s another way to put it: You’re here to be light, bringing out the God-colors in the world.  I’m putting you on a light stand.” — Jesus, Matthew 5.