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Feature Film Friday: The Christmas Candle

Based on Max Lucado’s novel of the same title, this film is a charming exploration of the theme of hope.

Sneak Preview

About the Story

Fitting into our week of hope, this story is about hope in a variety of ways.

• Lady Camdon hopes she can get Reverend Richmond to come to serve as pastor in Gladbury.
• Reverend Richmond hopes he can find peace in the wake of his sorrow.
• The villagers of Gladbury each hope they get the “Christmas Candle” so that their wishes might be answered.
• Mr. & Mrs. Haddington hope they can get their son to come home for Christmas.

Everybody is hoping for something, but they believe that they will only have those hopes come to fruition if they receive the “Christmas Candle”.

Upon learning of the legend of the candle, Pastor Richmond immediately sets about trying to put an end to what he perceives to be superstition. Naturally, this puts him at odds with his flock but he simply doubles down and proceeds to make matters entirely worse.

On the face of it, he’s perfectly correct. Putting your hope in a candle rather than the providential grace of God is not something a pastor should encourage. The problem is, the candle is a legitimate phenomenon.

An angel actually comes once each generation and blesses a candle. The blessing on the candle grants the recipient whatever they’re wishing for. For whatever reason, God has tasked this particular angel with the job of blessing a candle every 25 years or so.

Reverend Richmond is right to try to steer the church-goers away from hope in the candle and back toward Biblical תִּקְוָה (tikvah) hope. At the same time, he’s tragically wrong because the miracle is a real blessing from God and because his own grief is causing him to try to drag people into the future as a way of imposing his own broken faith on them.

Sadly, there’s so much that is broken in this idyllic little town. The best part of this sad state of affairs is that there is so much to be gained from God putting things all back together. In spite of themselves, the good people of Gladbury and their heartbroken pastor are actually the answer to each others’ prayers.

As usual, what we wish for and what we actually need are often not the same thing. In the end, the people have to trip on the wrinkle in the rug and realize that they’re better off with what they get than what they thought they wanted.

I’m trying to avoid spoilers while still addressing the most marvelous themes of this charming holiday tale. I hope I haven’t ruined any surprises for you.

I recommend this movie as an annual holiday treat. The tale is charming. The characters are believable and the miracle comes at just the right time to fix everything. It’s everything you’d want in a period piece holiday performance.

About the author

God meets daily needs daily. Not weekly or annually. He will give you what you need when it is needed. ~Max Lucado

Max Lucado is the pastor of Oak Hills Church in San Antonio, Texas and an accomplished author of inspirational Christian stories and guidebooks. Max claims he “writes books for people who don’t like to read books“. He makes simple faith accessible and profound insights understandable.