The Essence Of A Candle

Sunday morning worship is more than a sermon, more than the hymns, more than the choir. There is a symphony of symbolism that speaks to the heart that is willing to listen and observe.

Lighting the candles seems like such an insignificant thing, but what it suggests is anything but insignificant. Of course, it refers to “light”. Jesus is the “light of the world”. He is the “light” that the darkness has never been able to put out.

But the burning of the candles has a message that goes even beyond this. It is the message of sacrifice. Have you ever stopped to think about the wax that burns for our careless consumption?

Some candle‑wax comes from west China. Two hundred miles past Chungking, insect eggs are gathered every spring. Porters carry these eggs over mountain trails for as long as seven nights journey away. They travel at night mostly because during the day, the heat of the sun would be too much for the eggs. The eggs are placed on specially prepared trees, and fourteen days later, the insects find the best branches to feed on close at hand. Two months go by and the insects have covered the branches to which they are attached with wax a quarter of an inch thick. The wax is then scraped off and boiled to remove all impurities, including the dead bodies of the workers. For 45 centuries, these tiny insects have been giving their lives to provide wax, and light for man.

We may have heard also of the sperm whale, sacrificed for its commercial usage, including the massive head containing a huge reservoir of fifteen to twenty‑five barrels of valuable sperm oil, so high in quality that candle power is measured by the sperm candle.

So also, nearly half the commercial output of beeswax is used in this country for religious purposes. The life span of the worker bee is just forty days. She literally works herself to death. The frayed wings and beaten bodies of the dead workers show how completely they live for their work. If a single bee could produce a pound of honey, her labors would require eight years and require mileage flights equivalent of three times around the world.

Far to the south, in the land of Brazil, there is another wax‑producing worker. In those times when the land is parched and most animals and insects have died or moved out, one tree has put up a battle and wins so complete a victory that it is in a class all its own. It defies the sun's rays to pull out its moisture by covering its leaves with a surface of wax . The more intense the heat, the thicker the wax. The tree becomes a tree of life for beast and man. Cattle eat the green shoots. Its palmetto becomes food for man. Its roots become his medicine, and its sap a drink. Seeds are a substitute for coffee. Leaves are made into rope, mats, hats, brooms, baskets, hammocks, and thatch for the houses. Its high quality fibers become fishing nets, blankets and fillers for cushions. The trunk of the tree withstands insects, salt water, and thus is used for telephone poles, bridges, house building, etc. There is something remarkable about its wax, and no synthetic substitute has been found to take its place. The carnauba wax, and the story that is behind it, gives any candle with which it burns, a new glow of beauty.

Is it any wonder that sometimes the best sermons are simply the message behind our symbols. Sacrifice! It is the essence of the candle, and surely suggests that it play an important part in our lives as well.