I don’t know about you, but I’ve been watching a lot more TV and movies this year. After all, what else is there to do during a global pandemic when you are stuck at home and have exhausted all other options (have you reached the end of Netflix yet)? Most of us, when out in the real world, would love the chance to meet someone from our favorite TV show or movie (or band). Maybe we’d even be fortunate enough to get a photo with them and raise our “wow” factor among our peers.

Today we have a word in our vocabulary we use called “celebrity.” Celebrity is of middle English origin and meant to celebrate something. Think of the word “celebration” in regard to some achievement (like...we made it through 2020 and get to gather together for Christmas Eve or when someone has a milestone birthday or anniversary). In earlier times, celebrity would refer to someone who was celebrated because of an accomplishment or achievement.

In our culture today celebrity simply means that someone is famous. We have people today who are famous for only being famous and yet we still call them celebrities. Many of these people have no accomplishments that stand out as noteworthy. Who can be a celebrity today? Piano-playing cats, surfboard-riding dogs, people who eat food on YouTube, kids who make up new dances, and little girls who cry about the environment. If you went back just a few centuries, however, before the internet or TV, there were very few celebrities: only monarchs, kings, and certain playwrights and artists. Celebrity tended to be rare, because it was not broadcast with photos or media; it was only broadcast with words.

Amidst the myriad of temptations our culture faces, there is a cult of celebrity. People seek fame by trying to do something that will get them noticed—whether it’s by millions of Instagram likes, Tik-Tok followers, or YouTube views. But, think about this...on Christmas, we celebrate the birth of Jesus—a child born out of wedlock, who became a penniless preacher, who lived a simple life and died a criminal’s death in a backwater Roman colony.

Jesus didn’t seek fame. As a matter of fact, when He performed miracles, He told people not to go about proclaiming it (see Mark 5:43, for example). Now, 2000 years later, Christmas (for all of its faults of consumerism) is the most celebrated holiday in many parts of the world—a celebration of Jesus coming into the world. We sing songs of celebration that almost everyone knows by heart!

Why?

Because Jesus wasn’t just a penniless preacher. He wasn’t just the bastard child of a woman named Mary. He was God’s own son, God in the flesh. For millennia, God’s prophets promised a day they couldn’t even fully comprehend, when the savior of the world would be born. This savior eventually lived the life we should have lived and eventually died the death we deserved to die. By doing so, He exchanges His innocent life for our deserved death—all to bring a rebellious humanity back into relationship with God.

What we celebrate at Christmas is not only the birth of Jesus, but also the work He did to rescue us and restore us to relationship with God and one another. We call this the Good News, and one of the reasons Element loves celebrating Christmas is that we are reminded how the magic and mystery of God’s grace extends beyond this night. As wonderful as Christmas is, it’s not the holiday itself that needs to be celebrated around the globe, but the salvation and life given to us by God. Joy to the world, peace on earth, the reconciliation of humankind; what child is this? He is the only hope we have ever had...Christmas has come for us.

If we are going to give something celebrity status in our lives, something we get giddy and excited for, let it be the Good News of what Christmas represents. Let us make great the name of Jesus.