Jesus came on a mission—a Christmas mission. When Jesus came into the world as a baby a little over 2,000 years ago, he came to change everything. He entered a dark and broken world to redeem and restore it back to the kingdom of light and hope it was meant to be. While still a work in progress, it is a kingdom we can choose to live in today. By seeing life and the world through a lens of hope, we have the opportunity to be a part of Jesus’ Christmas mission. In fact—he invites us to play a role in it. This is where we pick up today.

In my last post, A Christmas Mission, I talked about the anticipation we feel as we move toward Christmas Day. This is what the Christian tradition of Advent is all about: waiting and preparing for the birth of Christ. In waiting and preparing, it is a reminder of the significance of the moment when God came to dwell among us. As I said in the previous post, that event itself is worth celebrating, but it wasn’t the end of the story. Jesus didn’t come to make an appearance, he came to make right what was broken. This wasn’t a one day project, but rather a long-term mission.

So, why do we sometimes live as if Christmas was an event rather than a launching off point?

We celebrate Jesus’ birth on Christmas Day, and then we put the nativity scene back in the box and move on to thinking about the new year to come. Don’t misunderstand what I am saying. I am not saying we should only focus on the birth of Christ, or that Christians forget about Jesus after Christmas Day. Neither of those things are generally true. However, I do think we could benefit from lingering a little longer on what happened that miraculous day, and the invitation that came from it.

John one of Jesus’ closest followers, described the birth of Jesus as a moment in which “light” overcame “darkness”. His exact words were, “The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.” (John 1:5) One of the most compelling pictures of this in the natural world is a sunrise. In the early hours of the morning, the sky is dark, making it difficult to see the world around you. If you were dropped into the world at night, you might imagine that darkness is the normal state. That is until the sun begins to break the horizon. It doesn’t take much. Before the sun is even visible, light begins to overtake the darkness. In this moment it becomes clear that darkness is really just the absence of light. When light arrives, darkness has no chance.

When Jesus arrived, darkness stood no chance. In Jesus’ birth, a light began to shine into the darkness that could never be put back in the box. Different from the sun, this light would never set. Jesus demonstrated this as he brought healing to broken bodies and hearts, revealing what they were truly created to be. Then, in his death of resurrection, he put darkness and brokenness on notice. For a time, they would still be a part of this world, but the advancing kingdom of light would one day be fully restored.

If you look around today, it might be hard to believe. Advancing kingdom of light? It still seems pretty dark. This is where the invitation comes in: each day we are invited to participate in advancing Jesus’ Christmas mission to bring light to dark places and wholeness to that which is broken. How? Well, it starts with living out Jesus’ command to, “love one another”. This is manifested in many different ways, but it all points to an advancing kingdom of light that will one day blot out the darkness for good.

Let me paint a picture for you. On Christmas, Jesus was born, breaking into the darkness like a sunrise begins to break through the night. Like the sun before it is visible on the horizon, the light seemed small because its full power was not yet revealed. As Jesus lived, the light’s power over the darkness became more clear, revealing the beauty of a world ruled by light. In his death and resurrection, like the sun crossing the horizon, Jesus brought real light into the world from its only true source: a God who loves us and created us to live in the light. Then, like the sun sending out it’s rays, Jesus gives us the opportunity to bring the life-producing power of his light into dark places.

Picture the light of a slowly rising sun, moving across the earth, pushing out the darkness as it advances. This is the invitation we have been given. Did God have to do it that way? No, probably not, but he choose to use us as catalysts for his kingdom of light. How cool is that? You get to be a part of the Christmas mission to bring light to the world. It started on that first Christmas Day and it continues even now. One day, darkness will be completely gone. In the meantime, we get to point to and advance this kingdom of light by the way that we live and love.

As you celebrate Christmas this year, I hope you accept the invitation to be a part of the mission. There is darkness, brokenness, and hopelessness, but on Christmas we can be reminded that it doesn’t have to be this way. Jesus came to bring a kingdom of light, wholeness, and hope, and invites us to live in it, bringing its light everywhere we go. On Christmas, light broke through, and everything changed. That was the Christmas mission.

Merry Christmas!

James Belt

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