New star, old star
Are you a new star or an old star?
For any old stars who have listened and watched the story of the nativity year in, year out, it’s difficult to hear the joy and good news of Christmas anew. The story can become a bit stale, and the best we can do is find a new drama to enact the story just to try and make it interesting.
Are you a new star or an old star?
If Christmas is merely temporary relief from life’s challenges and troubles, or just a nice story for the kids to enjoy, it will become stale after a while. Eventually, Christmas will become something to sit through rather than eagerly await.
Are you a new star or an old star?
Christmas happens every year. The story is the same every year. What you have for lunch on Christmas Day might be the same every year. The worship service you attend at Christmas might be the same one every year. You might deal with the same old family problems every year. It might be hard to buy gifts for your children every year. And here we are again.
Can Christmas be new? Does this Christmas mean anything different than any other year?
Are you a new star or an old star?
In our drama tonight, the new star was witnessing the birth of Jesus for the very first time. She was excited, even if it was partly for those promised cookies at the end… The old star was experiencing the nativity for at least the thousandth time. She knew the story back-to-front with all its parts and characters, but did that mean it didn’t mean anything new to that old star?
Both the new and the old stars had a new experience and were given a new sense of joy and hope, despite their age or how many times they’d seen it before.
Whether you are a new star who has never heard of frankincense, or an old star that can’t remember ever not knowing the story of Christmas, there is still something new for you tonight.
What could possibly be new in a two-thousand-year-old story? It’s a gift. It’s the same gift as every year, just like dad gets a pair of socks every year. That gift is Jesus.
What makes Jesus new again tonight is where you find yourself right now. Since last Christmas, plenty has changed. You’re a year older. You’ve had another year of work or school or family life. You might’ve come through intense challenges in 2022 or maybe wonderful joys.
Your life is different, and you are different. Receive Jesus again tonight in whatever is new and whatever is old. Regardless of how you celebrate Christmas this year, his presence, his peace, his hope, and his joy comes to you right here and right now.
