How to Be An Awesome Minor Character, Part 1

It’s all about the hero’s journey.  A call to adventure, discovery, an epic battle, transformation, return to normal life.  We are all warriors, and God is writing our epic story.  We are the heroes, and the center of the universe… oh wait.  Maybe not the center of the universe, but pretty central, anyway.  At least, for me, everything I am involved in, I am there (unless I have fallen asleep or am daydreaming).

            When we read the Bible, we look for ourselves in it, how God has predestined us or chosen us before the foundations of the universe, and how we are to become all that we can be.  It’s typically on an individual level, this looking for ourselves in the Bible.  Our individual promises.  Our individual call to destiny.

            Don’t get me wrong, I am not saying that we don’t have an awesome, amazing identity in Christ.  I am not saying we don’t have an individual relationship with the Creator of the Universe.  A personal relationship and understanding and experience of God’s love are central to the Christian experience.  But not many people take a moment to think that perhaps the story that we are involved in doesn’t center around us.  Perhaps we are not the main characters.  Perhaps we are the supporting characters.  The important minor character in someone else’s story, set there to change the course of their lives.

            I am not undermining each person’s individual life.  I am not saying God isn’t writing a story in each of us and that each person doesn’t have a purpose.  But I am challenging the “all about me” perspective that I have too.  What if it is not about you or I.  What if the main character is supposed to be Jesus?

            I’ve recently read Luke Chapter 2.  The first part is the very familiar Christmas story about the angels appearing to shepherds keeping their flocks in the fields at night, Mary is treasuring things in her heart.  It’s a long chapter, and my Bible at least breaks it up at verse 22 into another story about Jesus being presented in the temple.

            I don’t know about you, but there is not one, but there are two incredible minor characters in this story about Jesus that absolutely blow my mind.

            Luke 2:25- 28 (with 28 abbreviated) says:

25And there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon; and this man was righteous and devout, looking for the consolation of Israel; and the Holy Spirit was upon him. 26And it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord’s Christ. 27And he came in the Spirit into the temple; and when the parents brought in the child Jesus, to carry out for Him the custom of the Law, 28then he took Him into his arms, and blessed God…

           

            All Simeon does in this story is tell Joseph and Mary a few things that amaze them, perhaps to encourage them in the difficult path they are walking.  Joseph, maybe, might have struggled inwardly at the public humiliation of marrying a wife who was pregnant out-of-wedlock, and Mary at this point might have wondered if she really saw an angel of the Lord (at least, I might have started doubting after changing Jesus’s nappies for so long).  Who really knows what was going on in their minds.  All we know is that Luke, a believing physician, thought to record a few words spoken by a man named Simeon, and we never hear about Simeon again (at least not to my knowledge).

            There are a few cool things about Simeon as a minor character that strike me as a writer.  Simeon was known to be righteous and devout—a lifestyle that takes more than just attending a few meetings at the synagogue or local church, or thinking in your head occasionally that you think God is real.  This minor character Simeon lived a life that was purposefully seeking after the Lord, which takes time and commitment and sometimes many years of it.  The other thing that strikes me about Simeon is that he is one of the first people in Jesus’s life to be described as having the Holy Spirit.

              I haven’t really done a study on this, perhaps it’s just merely a way that Luke chose to describe the fact that Simeon had communion with the spirit of God, as I know Jesus says later on in his life that he has to leave so his disciples would receive the Holy Spirit.  All I know is that he “came in the Spirit” to the temple, he was willing to be led by God’s promptings in his comings and goings and then he spoke a prophetic word over God-in-the-flesh that came true! 

Not only that, but he had incredible faith to believe that he would see the Messiah before he died, even before he had any concrete reason to believe so.  This man, who probably took only a few moments of Jesus’s physical time on earth, had such an incredible backstory that were captured in a few sentences in the story of the main man, Jesus.  One could use their imagination to think of how many less-amazing versions of the story we could have had.
              Each one of us can take pointers from Simeon’s example to be the best minor character in God’s story that we can be.

Experiencing the Glory of God... Like A Shepherd

1 Corinthians 1:27

But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong.

Isaiah 55:8

"For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways," declares the LORD.

Luke Chapter 2.  I’ve read it what feels like a thousand times.  Glory to God in the Highest, peace on earth and good will to men.  Heavenly hosts singing to shepherds.  Blah blah blah.  When I get to this part of the Bible, I start to tune the words out.  At Christmas pageants, my mind wanders while cardboard stars shimmer and people dressed in bath robes pretend to herd sheep.  Or they use real sheep, which leave messes behind in the auditorium.

                  My daily Bible reading took me to this passage way before the Christmas season, actually right after Halloween.  I read the passage and started to tune it out, until God gave me fresh eyes to His character, revealed in a message so familiar to Western Christians.

                  The chapter starts off with Mary journeying with Joseph to Bethlehem.  Verse 5 states he was pledged to be married to her, and she was expecting a child.

                  I know it is fairly common knowledge that Mary was probably a young teenager.  I have heard many times, too, that to be pregnant out of wedlock was a great source of shame in their culture, especially since her betrothed was not the father.  God wanted his Son to come to the earth and the first thing he does is chooses a young woman, who has no authority in that culture, to carry Him.

                  Not only did God choose a lowly member of society through which to work, He also orchestrated the birth to come at a time when everyone was going to Bethlehem so that they had to stay in a stable and place their sleeping newborn, the Son of God, in a manger.  There was no room for them in the inn; Joseph, Mary, and Jesus were not wanted nor pre-anticipated, and their lodgings had to be an afterthought-place normally used to house animals.  God not only chose to work in a woman, but he chose for Jesus's first hours a dirty, stinky place when He could have had the palace, if He wanted.

                  This chapter doesn’t stop there, either.  While God could have sent his heavenly hosts and glory to the priests in the temple, to the government officials in their houses, or the rich as they sat reclined on couches after an abundant dinner, God sent his angels in the night to the lowliest members of society—dirty, stinky shepherds living in fields.  Having experienced moments of God’s glory, it is amazing to me that God revealed himself in this way, to these people.  Having experienced sheep first hand, too, I can vouch for their stinkiness.  And yet, these stinking shepherds blessed the heart of God as they, in verse 20, returned to their fields “glorying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen.”

                  While the reading of this passage has long put me to sleep in Christmas services, the reading of this passage at home with the Holy Spirit has given me new eyes again for the incredible God that I serve.  As a Christian who has spent a long time in the church, it is easy to sometimes feel like God will choose you if you’re the most important, most visible person.  Or the most obviously humble.  Yes, He does choose us, proud or humble, but sometimes it is so easy to loose sight of the heart of God in the search for appearance and acceptance and visibility.  God loves the lowly and chooses to work through them—not those perfectly poised, established, reputable people that you would necessarily think of as God-material.  God likes to take the foolish things of the world and use them to shame the wise.  He likes to take the last and make them first.

                  I find this so encouraging in my own personal walk, as I am not the most popular person, nor am I the most devout, nor the most humble, nor the greatest.  Sometimes, I fall and have to repent, and many times, I just don't feel like God-material.  But God can use someone like me for His incredible plan—He has chosen you and I to carry His Son in our hearts and to experience the glory of God like the shepherds.  And that, to me, is incredible, this chance to experience the glory of God like a lowly shepherd.

All Things?

Philippines 4:13

I can do all things through him who gives me strength.

This verse is perhaps one of the more well-known verses in Christian circles.  As a child, it was one of the first verses that I memorized.  I had a test in school?  The Sunday school teacher told me to believe I can do all things through him who gives me strength.  I had to try and catch or throw a ball in gym class without injuring someone or myself?  I needed to believe in the God who gives me strength.  I needed to finish a book report?  I can do it!

As a teenager, the meaning of the verse changed for me.  I needed to be more vocal about my faith and not be concerned about being shunned by my peers?  God would give me strength.  I needed to do ten papers and read fifty pages before the end of the week?  I could do it if I believed.  I needed to do well on the SAT and my college applications?  God would help me.

As an adult, the verse has taken on a whole ’nother meaning in situations like college and living on my own, working a full-time job and paying my own bills.  In college, it was more like ten papers and one hundred and fifty pages before the next class period.  God would, I hope, give me strength.  I need to pay bills I accumulated, sometimes with needless spending?  God would help me do all things.  I need to try to witness to an audience that is hardened, unwilling, and closed to the Gospel or travel around the Philippines non-stop for six months?  God would give me strength.

Throughout the years, this verse has encouraged me in hard situations, but in my older and wiser years, I have come to view this verse in a whole new light.

Something I have learned recently is placing well-known verses in context with their passages and with the particular book, and then with the whole Bible.  When I place this verse into context of the passage, I feel it takes on a whole different meaning than what we’re taught in Sunday school.

If you check out the preceding verse, the author, Paul says (Phillipians 4:12):

I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty.  I have learned the secret of being content in every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or want.

It is directly after this verse that Paul says he can do all things through God who gives him strength.  Directly after, he says (verse 14), “Yet it was good of you to share in my troubles.”  If you read it without the verse breaks we’ve added, it reads like:

I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty.  I have learned the secret of being content in every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or want.  I can do all things through him who gives me strength.  Yet it was good of you to share in my troubles.

Furthermore, if you read the section, you will find that this verse comes in a context of Paul thanking the Philippians for giving him gifts, which I assume to be financial support.  Within this context, then, I feel that there are a few more things to consider when understanding this verse than are necessarily taught in Sunday school.

1) Paul was referring to persevering despite circumstances.  Whether he was poor or financially blessed, Paul found out he could be content in Jesus.  Moreover, whether rich or poor, he found that he could work through all things God asked him to do, whether it was to preach to Jews near home or Gentiles (non-Jews) far away. 

I had a glimpse of perhaps what this might have been like to Paul as I traveled and lived with poor pastors in the Phillippines.  Each week, our team’s living arrangements became less and less what we were used to as Western Christians.  In the last living arrangement, I had to share a bed made for a single person shorter than me with another person taller than me, and neither of us could sleep on the floor because there was a horrendous red ant nest.  That was merely the highlight of the primitive accommodations.  And yet, our team managed to be happy every day in the small things and in our faith.

Now, I feel a particular connection to this notion as I am in a uncomfortable in-between phase which was much like returning to college as an adult and living in the dorms with teenagers and young twenty-somethings, since I received a grant for housing and it was significantly cheaper.  Now I am living in community until I am able to afford a place of my own, and having lived on my own for many years prior, it is definitely not my ideal.  But, like Paul, I can do all things.  And if you are in a less-than-idea living situation or place in your life, so can you!

2) Paul really did mean “all things”. While I feel that Paul was particularly talking about his living circumstances, I feel that there is a contextual basis in this passage and with other stories of the Bible that God can empower us to get through difficult situations or even do things that seem impossible.  I don’t know what life events happened prior to this verse, but I do know Paul was shipwrecked, stoned, imprisoned, to name a few uncomfortable circumstances.  And you know what, he lived through them all, and found his contentment in Jesus!  So yes, I think Paul was talking about more than just living situations in this passage, and a lot of the circumstances were probably a lot more severe than what many of us would face.

3) When he said “all things”, he was referring to all things that God would want him to do.  While I think Paul was referring to more than just his circumstances, I don’t that “all” includes evil things, such as self-serving acts or acts that harm others.  This is, after all, the same passage (Philippians 4) where Paul says in verse 8, “Finally, beloved, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is pleasing, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence and if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.” 

I think that perhaps if you thought God would give you strength to win lots of money gambling at a casino or that God would give you strength to use ministry as a route for personal glorification, or any lesser-obvious act of self-service, you are using this verse out of context and will be disappointed.  Not that God can’t use sinful people or sinful acts for His ultimate glory, God is big enough to use our messes.  But since Paul was living a life of holiness and service before the Lord, all the things that he was trying to do were true, honorable, just, pure, pleasing, and commendable. 

Paul was also doing what he was called to do, and God gave him strength to do all of it.  While we are all called to make disciples, we aren’t all called to take the same route in fulfilling this God-ordained process.  I think, too, in the context of Paul’s life, if we try to use this verse to hope that God will empower us to do something we aren’t called to do, we will be also be disappointed.  

How do we know God’s will and God’s calling?  This is my favorite part: we spend time with God, letting God love on us, getting to know His voice, and we will know our calling since God will tell us, and we will have the strength to do all things.

Prayer for A "Search and Reveal" Operation

Psalm 10:17-18 NASB

O Lord, You have heard the desire of the humble;

You will strengthen their heart, You will incline Your ear

To vindicate the orphan and the oppressed,

So that man who is of the earth will no longer cause terror.

In recent years, I have been made aware of the horrors of the human trafficking industries around the world.  Not being of a legal- or law-enforcement sort-of profession, I sometimes feel powerless to do anything to help those victims and to stop the perpetrators that make the victims.  One day, feeling especially powerless, I started to pray that God would "search and reveal" those perpetrators and that he would move on behalf of the victims, and I kept this up for some time.  I was highly encouraged, then, to read not too many days later of one of the largest busts of sex traffickers in history to take place in the Philippines, assisted by local law enforcement.  Having stayed in some of the heavier areas for these activities in the Philippines, this answer to prayer was very real to me.  

So what does a powerless non-legal, non-law enforcement person do if they want to do something?  Prayer is a good start.  From my experience, prayer for situations like this are effective when:

1) You pray the will/heart of God - God desires mercy for the oppressed and justice for the oppressors, for this is Love- 1 John 4:16 says "God is love".  And there's a whole lot of verses that talk about God having a heart for those oppressed.

2) You pray the Word of God- Hebrews 4:12 says the word is "alive and active".  I don't know if I could fully dissect the notion now (perhaps this will be a future topic), but not only is there power in speaking the words of the Bible, but God likes it when we remind Him of His character and His promises as stated in the Bible.

3) You have a heart that's right before God- James 5:16 says (NKJV), "The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much."  The Old Testament has examples of how people who were unworthy to come into God's presence (such as touching the ark or entering the Holy of Holies) and what happened (they died).  But those who came into God's presence ceremonially clean could experience God's presence.  With the New Covenant under Jesus, we are ceremonially clean by the blood.  But we still need to surrender current transgressions to God and claim that blood-covering just like the ceremony before entering God's presence.  A life-style of righteousness will get God's attention, as can be seen in many of the stories of heroes in the Bible.

4) You are persistent- Galatians 6:9 talks about not growing weary while doing good, as harvests come after a time a toil first.  James 5:16 mentions the "fervent" prayer of a righteous man.  And I always think of the hilarious story Jesus told of the "Persistent Widow" in Luke 18:1-8 which was Jesus's example to "show [his disciples] that they should always pray and not give up" (Luke 18:1 NIV).  After this widow harasses a wicked judge for her justice, he eventually gets so fed up that he grants it.  Jesus says in Luke 18:7-8:

"And will not God bring about justice for his chosen ones, who cry out to him day and night?  Will he keep putting them off?  I tell you, he will see that they get justice, and quickly...."

I praise God for quick justice in the Philippines.  Imagine what more can happen if tens, hundreds, and even thousands cry out to God on behalf of the oppressed?

I Wanted to Eat Beans: A Word on Tithing

Malachi 3:10 (NIV)

Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house.  Test me in this," says the LORD Almighty, "and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that there will not be room enough to store it."

Mark 12:17 (NIV)

Then Jesus said to them, "Give back to Caesar what is Caesar's and to God what is God's."  ...

If you really want to offend Western Christians, you should bring up the matter of their pocketbooks.  Sure we can live "holy" lives, we can take time to read the Bible, we can go to church and even not swear, but when it ultimately comes down to it, you will invest your money into what you really believe in, whether that be entertainment, housing, or other matters of your own comfort.  If you really want to offend me, you should serve me beans.  That is a matter of non-comfort for me-- they are bland, mushy, and while they are supposed to be good for you, I think they are just plain gross.  And yet many people in the world would be happy to eat them.

I cannot say that if you looked at my budget, bank account, or credit card statement, that you would 100% applaud my purchases, though you might applaud my culinary choices.  Being a spender/giver, I tend to like to purchase things for myself and others that we don't necessarily need, especially when food is involved.  I am often times convicted of how many people I could have helped in a foreign currency (for example, feeding them beans) if I had given that money away, though.  

But if you want to get technical, we aren't necessarily required to put all that extra spending money towards purchasing beans for people to eat in foreign countries.  The amount laid out by scripture that we should give to the local church is a mere 10%, leaving a plentiful 90% to live off of.  Yet, I do wonder with all that I've seen going on around me, why more people do not give this small amount to help the local body-- pastors and church congregations and all that they give toward-- survive and thrive.

Obedience is one mark of spiritual maturity that grows in the lives of those touched by the Holy Spirit like bean sprouts.  If you live in such a way that is pleasing to God, and you walk with Him, you will not only want to obey, but you will do so joyfully.  Having been taught at a young age by a godly father to tithe, I have generally always been glad to give to God a small portion when the other 90% has been so bountiful.

In fact, because of that monetary obedience, I believe that God has blessed me financially throughout the years, just as he promises in Malachi 3:10.  I have eaten well and never had to eat beans unless I wanted to.  Those times that I have "cheated" on my tithe, paying off the net instead of the gross (basically paying off what I receive after taxes and instead of what I actually earn), I have struggled financially and considered eating lots of bean chili.  When I have realized my disobedience, and have repented and corrected my actions, I have seen God's blessing upon my life again.

But, you, say, what happens if you are struggling to get by, and you are grateful to even afford beans for dinner?  What do you do then?  I ran into this question recently as I returned to college as an adult and lived off of my income as a dishwasher, having quit a career desk job, the income of which I had gotten quite comfortable on.  My last semester of college was exciting with the  prospect of graduation, but as I searched for a job after graduation and as I headed into spring break, I found that my bank account was rapidly depleting, my income was not enough to cover expenses, and there wasn't even enough money to purchase a week's worth of cheap groceries for me to survive off of in the dorms, since I couldn't afford to travel anywhere the entire time.

I received a $70.14 paycheck from my two weeks of student working and was grateful because I should most certainly be able to squeeze a week's worth of food out of that if that's all I bought.  But that weekend at the spirit-filled church I attended, the pastor spoke about tithing and I remembered, "Oh, yeah.  Not only do I need to tithe my $7.02 from this paycheck, but I also forgot to tithe on my last $100-some dollar paycheck."  $70.14 - $17.02 = $53.12, which doesn't get you very far on groceries.

"God," I said, "You have to understand that I can't tithe now or else I cannot eat."  Since I was not from the area and tend to not have a gift for being as connected as others, I didn't even know anyone from the church I could ask for help or if there might be a food bank where I could get beans.  You have to be pretty desperate to eat beans, as most people don't take them from food banks.  I know because I helped with one at my church, and I hate beans, too.  Nevertheless, I felt a strong conviction to be obedient.  Did I mention I'd been turned down for about 15 jobs at this point?  I was going to starve before college was out, and after...

I had to come to a realization then and there that even if all I had in the bank was a mere $70, that little bit was the Lord's.  I thought of the story of the loaves and fishes that God had multiplied to feed thousands.  While I believed that happened, at that moment in my life, it kind of felt like a story in a book that wasn't real.  My very real reality was the fact that I would be hungry.  But, I realized, if all I have is a little bit, and that is God's, I might as well give God what is his.  So I wrote my check, and tithed.  And you know what?  My tax refund, with which everything had gone wrong (I mean like everything), miraculously came through that week (and it was supposed to be another 10 weeks), I got hired for a job over Spring Break (back at my old office with the comfortable pay!), and the paperwork for some money I had applied for which had kept getting lost and not received was suddenly received and I became eligible and all my financial woes were turned into nothing as God provided in abundance.

So, regardless of how things look, a small act of obedience, such as giving $17.02, is the best way to approach the issue of tithing, because what little (even if it doesn't amount to a hill of beans) or lot (I guess this would be a hill of beans) you have is ultimately the Lord's.