A Sweet Reminder of Our Lord
By Jim Day
There’s a tradition at West County Assembly
of God Church in Chesterfield, Missouri, which the congregation and former
senior pastor, John Wilson, use to share each Christmas; Pastor Wilson’s famous
Candy Cane Sermon. With Christmas just
a few days away, I thought I would once again share his sermon with our readers.
It’s one of my favorite messages and well worth sharing with your family,
friends 
and
everyone else you come in contact with during the holidays – or year round
for that matter.
Holding up a candy cane, Pastor Wilson
always started out by telling the audience that there are a lot of “fake candy
canes” on the market today. Fakes come in a wide variety of colors, shapes,
tastes and sizes. The size of the cane, according to Pastor Wilson, doesn’t
make a whole lot of difference. However, the color, shape, flavor and number of
stripes on the cane separate the real thing from impostors.
Authentic candy canes are shaped like a shepherd’s
crook with a white background, have one wide red stripe, two or more thin
red stripes and must have a peppermint flavor. Any other candy cane not having
these exact characteristics is a fake.
As mentioned earlier, authentic candy canes
must be shaped like a shepherd’s crook or staff. Shepherds use their staffs to this day to
nudge straggling sheep, gather strays, ward off predators and separate their
goats from their sheep. Christ Jesus is our Shepherd. He came to earth to save
His lost sheep and one day, when we least expect it, He will return to gather
His flock and separate the goats from the sheep. His sheep will spend eternity with Him while
the goats will be forever separated from His joy and love and spend eternity in
pain and suffering. In addition to being shaped like a shepherd’s crook, if you
turn a candy cane upside down, it becomes a “J” for Jesus.
The dominant color of a true candy cane is
white. White, of course, has always stood for purity. Jesus was the unblemished, pure and perfect
sacrificial Lamb for our sins. The white background of the candy cane
represents His purity.
Spiraling around the full length of an
authentic candy cane are one wide and two or more narrow red stripes. Red is the color of blood. The wide red
stripe on the cane is there to remind us of the blood which Jesus shed on
Calvary’s cross for our sins. Without His precious blood, His sacrifice, we
would have no hope of redemption from our sins.
The thin stripes represent the stripes from
the scourging which Jesus suffered at the hands of the Roman soldiers before He
was crucified (Matthew 27:26). They also serve to remind us that “…by His
scourging (stripes) we are healed” (Isaiah
53:5).
Authentic candy canes are peppermint
flavored. Peppermint is a member of the Hyssop family of plants. Throughout
biblical times, hyssop was used in certain Hebraic purification rites. Hyssop branches
were used to apply the lambs blood to the lintel and door posts on the eve of
Passover (Exodus 12:22), and it was a
hyssop branch that was used to lift the sponge, soaked with sour wine, to Jesus’
lips while He hung on the cross. (John 19:29)
Candy canes are always a great gift to give
or receive. Generally speaking, no one eats a whole candy cane in one bite;
they’re usually broken to share with a friend or loved one. God our Father in
heaven gave us the greatest gift ever, His Son Jesus, whose heart was broken at
Calvary. Our greatest commission is to share Him with others (Matthew 28:19‑20). So, when you share your candy cane with
others, let it be as a reminder that we should be sharing the love of our Lord
with others as well.
The next time you give or receive a candy cane,
remember what it represents. Remember the greatest gift of all, Jesus the
Christ, our Lord and Savior. This Christmas and in the coming New Year remember
to share His love and message of salvation with others. It’s the most important
gift you can give anyone!
