This article first appeared on Stand Up For Christ‘s blog last Christmas. I’m sharing it here in the spirit of Advent (and in the hope that you’ll learn a humbling lesson.)
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Although it was instrumental in drawing kings and shepherds to the stable where the God-child was born, somehow, the star of Bethlehem is rarely spoken about in sermons and rarely sung about in Christmas hymns.
The star of Bethlehem is the side chick in our relationship with Christmas and the Advent.
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Every December, I have to balance reading for harmattan semester exams with Christmas shopping and being a good friend. Right now, I’m swamped with emails from friends who have no idea what to get their parents for Christmas.
Without meaning to, I get carried away in the whirlwind of activity.
I’ve been singing in the choir since I was eight. I know no other way of honouring Christ during Christmas than singing so in December I spend endless hours trying to get my ‘King Herod’ costume and aria straight so the Opera Society doesn’t kick me out. (They’ve kicked me out now.)
I find myself struggling to keep my eyes open during choir practice as the backup singers go over ‘Silent Night’ while trying to remember that Jesus is the reason for the season and the song we’re singing.
Like everyone else, I endure the festive chatter and spam mails and sermons encouraging me to find hope in the Manger Babe. (Who am I kidding, I love those sermons!)
Religiously, Every December, I get carried away in the whirlwind of Advent and the tornado of Christmas.
I’m constantly caught up in a cycle that requires me to do more, be more, stretch more and remember that Jesus is the reason a little more. (They call it the Christmas spirit, I call it the propensity for people to just be foolish.)
Despite the madness and the absence of breathing space, I find escape in the star of Bethlehem.
While most of us are awed by the piety of Mary, the generosity of the Magi and the kindness of Joseph, I find myself awed by the little star at the top of the Christmas tree.
The star of Bethlehem stands at the apex of the tree, obscured by the twinkling Christmas lights and pine cones and Christmas decor. Although it’s a star, it somehow refuses to shine. Instead, it stands.
It doesn’t beg for attention or more responsibility or breathing space. It doesn’t care about Christmas shopping and Opera societies and deadlines.
It just stands.
Sometimes, you don’t need to gain more ground, you just need to stand your ground.
Having done all, stand…
Every time I see the star, I remember that it’s not always the busy people and shiny things that make it to the top.
The race is not to the swift, the winning side isn’t always the strongest side.
The Christ wasn’t given for only me, the Christmas story isn’t about me. Nothing will ever be about ‘me’.
Just like the goal of the Christmas tree isn’t to glorify the star, the purpose of Christmas is not to make me the best performer in the opera or the most sought after freelance writer alive.
The purpose of Christmas is to make you and I acknowledge the Manger Babe as Messiah even if it’s only for one day.
The Star of David warns me to never lose my wonder; to not lose my frankincense and myrrh in the overcrowded streets of Bethlehem.
The goal is for me to know that I have to stand as what I am and who God has made me. I have to take my place in the Christmas story (or Opera if you like) whether it be as a King Herod or as a horse in the stable.
I have to come to terms with the fact that I’m part of a plan that’s greater than ‘me’. I have to learn that during Christmas, I might be the star at the top of the tree but I will never be as important as the Man on the tree.
I may stand in the spotlight but I and not First (and I am definitely not Last). I am second.
Like the star of Bethlehem, I exist only to point the way to those who seek the Way.
Although I like to make Christmas about me with gift giving and overactivity, the truth is I’m only a side chick in this relationship between those who seek and the One they seek.
I’m like the Star of Bethlehem that is the side chick in our relationship with Christmas and the Advent.
Adeyinka Shittu 