History

Winter Solstice

Pastor Kent admits he hates how short December days are — until he remembers what's coming. Here's how the winter solstice, and John 3:30, both point to the same quiet promise: the light always returns.

Jeff Reed Thursday, December 18, 2025 3 min read

I don’t like it.

How’s that for a short blog?

Well, actually it’s more of a love-hate relationship. I hate how short the days are; as I mentioned in my “Summer Solstice” blog post, I love long days and overloads of daylight. These days I look out my office window at 5:30 and it’s dark. It’s enough to depress Joel Osteen.

That’s the hate part. What could I possibly love about it?

It is knowing that after Sunday, December 21, 2025 at 10:03 AM the days start getting longer again and continue increasing till next June 21.

I know: another breathtaking insight on my part, right? “Um, Kent, I don’t know if you’re aware of this, but this happens every year ….”

So does Christmas, but we still look forward to that. Don’t we?

Well?

If your response was anything other than, “Yes of course,” I want you to go directly to your nearest mirror, look directly into it and say, “Hello, Mr./Mrs./Ms. GRRRRR-RINCH.”

Knowing that the short days are coming to a head and will soon be getting longer is a reason to smile, something to look forward to. Hope is essential to the human soul. So is sunlight. We cannot live for long without either. Combine them and you have a powerful antidote for pessimism and depression, and who doesn’t need all of that he can get?

That’s one reason to look forward to the solstice. It’s all uphill from there.

Here’s one other aspect about the winter solstice you might not know: according to Marva Dawn (A Royal Waste of Time), Christmas Eve was purposely put on December 24th , the day the ancients realized that sun time was increasing, and John the Baptist’s day on June 24th when they realized the daylight was decreasing. This was in keeping with John’s words about Jesus in John 3:30:

He must increase, but I must decrease.

I have preached from pulpits where those words were engraved, facing the preacher … just to remind whoever was speaking that worship is not about him. He’s not the main focus, the leading actor in the worship event. It’s about Christ, and him alone: conceived by the Holy Spirit; born of the virgin Mary; crucified, dead, buried and risen from the dead.

And that’s not just true in the sanctuary. That’s a great message for anywhere, anytime, the short days, the long days and every day in between. That’s a great message for life.

It’s also a helpful metaphor: We live in a time when darkness appears to be ascendant on all sides. As the darkness increases, seemingly overwhelming and even obliterating the light, it’s good to remember – especially as we approach the birth of Christ:

In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.

John 1:4-5 (NIV)

Happy solstice to all, and to all a blessed Christmas.

Kent

Frequently asked questions

Why is Christmas Eve on December 24th and John the Baptist's day on June 24th?

According to Marva Dawn in A Royal Waste of Time, cited by Pastor Kent Keller, the dates were chosen deliberately to track the solstices. Christmas Eve was placed on December 24th — the day the ancients realized that sun time was beginning to increase — and John the Baptist's day was placed on June 24th, when they realized daylight was beginning to decrease. Both dates were chosen to echo John the Baptist's words about Jesus in John 3:30: 'He must increase, but I must decrease.' As Jesus' arrival is celebrated, the light begins to grow; as John the Baptist's birth is remembered, the light begins to wane. It's a beautiful piece of liturgical symbolism baked into the church calendar — creation itself preaching the gospel of John's humility and Christ's ascendancy. So when you notice the days getting longer after Christmas, you're watching a sermon written in sunlight.

What is the spiritual meaning of the winter solstice for Christians?

For Christians, the winter solstice is a quiet picture of hope. Pastor Kent admits he hates how short the December days are — looking out his office window at 5:30 to see darkness, 'enough to depress Joel Osteen.' But the love part is knowing that after the solstice, the days start getting longer again and keep increasing until June. 'Hope is essential to the human soul,' he writes. 'So is sunlight. We cannot live for long without either. Combine them and you have a powerful antidote for pessimism and depression.' That's the natural lesson. The deeper one is in John 3:30 — 'He must increase, but I must decrease.' The Light of the world has come, and from the moment of His arrival the light grows. The solstice reminds the believer that darkness is never the final word; God has built the upward turn into creation itself, and into the gospel.

When does the winter solstice happen and why does it matter?

Pastor Kent notes the precise moment of the 2025 winter solstice — Sunday, December 21, 2025 at 10:03 AM — as the turning point when the days start getting longer again and continue increasing until the following June 21. It matters because it's both a natural and a spiritual reset. Naturally, our bodies and moods respond to sunlight; the shortest day of the year marks the end of the steady slide into darkness and the beginning of the climb back toward light. Spiritually, the church has long anchored Christmas Eve to this turning point. John 3:30 — 'He must increase, but I must decrease' — is being preached by the planet itself: as Jesus is celebrated, the light grows. Kent's gentle pastoral nudge is that knowing the short days are coming to a head should be a reason to smile and look forward, the same way we look forward to Christmas. If your response is anything else, he jokes, 'go directly to your nearest mirror, look directly into it and say, Hello, Mr./Mrs./Ms. GRRRRR-RINCH.'

Jeff Reed

Pastoral writing from the team at Christchurch Miami — a faith family on mission in Kendall, Miami.

From the Message