Luke 2:25, 36 — And, behold, there was a man in Jerusalem, whose name was Simeon; and the same man was just and devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel: and the Holy Ghost was upon him. …
… And there was one Anna, a prophetess, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher: she was of a great age, and had lived with an husband seven years from her virginity;

For our devotion for this last Sunday in Advent, let’s assemble the cast for our Christmas Pageant.
Of course there’s Jesus, Joseph and Mary. There’s Gabriel, the Angel of The Lord, and Herod (our only villain, and we’ll say no more about him!). There are our good friends the shepherds and those mysterious wise men from the East. Then there are those you might call “bit players” — vital to the action, but without many speaking lines. I suppose those would be Zacharias and Elisabeth, and Simeon and Anna. I wonder if there was a little family party after Jesus was presented at the temple and if Elisabeth was there with baby John in her arms?
It’s a funny business though, this idea of bit players. The great Russian actor / directory Constantin Stanislavski is often quoted as saying that “there are no small parts, only small actors” — but I think I prefer what Dabbs Greer, (Reverend Robert Alden in “The Little House on The Prairie”) said — “Every character actor, in their own little sphere, is the lead.” I’m pretty sure that’s how God looks at it.
Isn’t it interesting, this cast of ours … male and female, rich and poor, great and small, holy and (at best) not holy at all. I’m reminded of what Paul said about the church — “For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus. For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus.” (Galatians 3:26-28) … before the manger, before the cross, we are all one.
There’s another aspect to this. We are all one, but we each have our different parts to play. Here’s something else Paul said — “For as the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body: so also is Christ. For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit. For the body is not one member, but many.” (1 Corinthians 12:12-14)
Our Christmas Pageant is a beautiful picture of the church. Every part is essential and each of them — except of course the Bright Shining Star — is equally valuable!