December 21 is the winter solstice, the darkest day of the year. There are different traditions around the world where the god of darkness and the god of light are in a battle together. It is at this point of the year that some cultures in the northern hemisphere would light town bonfires and place candles in their windows to encourage the light god in his battle over darkness. As the villages lit their candles, they anticipated the celebration of the winter solstice where the tides of battle change and light begins to overcome darkness. When the early Christians encountered these traditions, they embraced the celebrations and shared the good news of the light that came into the world to overcome darkness (John 1). This is where the idea behind Christmas lights comes from. “The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it” (John 1:5).
The light shining into the world came to expose the world for what it is and reveal what God intended for the world to be. When we read the birth narratives in Luke’s Gospel, he follows a theme of “great reversals.” These reversals turn worldly greatness on its head and lifts up the lowly. The priest is faithless and silenced. The young woman is faithful and given a voice. The women, rather than the men, are called upon to name their sons. The women are the exemplars of faithfulness. Those who are expected to be great are lowered. Those who are lowly, are lifted up. The ways of the Kingdom of Light look different than they ways of the world. When light shines in the darkness, the darkness does not understand it.
Jesus came into the world to redeem it back to what God intended for it to be in the first place. The church is supposed to be the place where redemption is lived out: light shines in darkness. When Paul looks at the identity of people in the church of Galatia, he focuses on their identity in the Spirit rather than their identity in the world. Male or female? Christ. Slave or Free? Christ. Jew or Gentile? Christ. “All who were baptized into Christ have clothed themselves with Christ” (Galatians 3:26-29). These identities are covered in Christ in the church. When light shines in the darkness, the darkness does not understand it.
Go back to Luke 1:46-55 and read Mary’s song. What reversals do you find her celebrating? When she receives the good news of Christ coming into the world, she begins to see the world differently. Mary’s song may hit a strange cord with many of us. Take a moment to place yourself under Roman oppression for generations and oppressions and exile before that. You are part of a people who were regularly under the boot of another. This song rings differently for her. It is hard for me to fully embrace it because I have always been part of a dominate culture in the world and have never felt the underside of the boot. This song often brings humility and imagination to me for viewing the world through the light of Christ.
Take a moment to write a list of reversals you want to see in the world to bring God’s redemption. Talk about them as a family. Whenever you see Christmas lights as your drive around the city, pray for God’s light to shine in the darkness and bring about these reversals.