Do yourself a favor and go read God's Extras by Tod Worner in its entirety. Here's a teaser:
Simeon and Anna are what I would call God’s Extras. God’s Extras are the individuals who appear gracefully in the story of Christ for mere moments – a cameo, if you will. And yet, they play an infinitely valuable role. These two, in particular, demonstrate steadfast patience and fidelity in awaiting
the return of God. They exude profound witness in the early stages of Christ’s residence on Earth. And they must have given Mary and Joseph another moment where the young couple could look at each other and nearly weep – weep because, dear God, someone else knows and believes what we know and believe.
God’s Extras fill the Bible and yet we never know their names, their origins or their destination. But we know them because they move us beyond imagination. A bleeding woman defying convention and touching the hem of Christ’s robe. A paralytic lowered by four devoted friends through a dismantled rooftop. A rich man who sadly couldn’t stay and a once-demon-possessed man who never wanted to leave. A boy with a basket of bread and a gratefully returning leper with a new lease on life. A centurion asking for healing of a servant from afar. A thief asking for paradise from a neighboring cross.
These are God’s Extras. And they have defined our understanding of faith, mercy, forgiveness, love, sin and redemption. Christ came to remind us of God’s deep, unfailing love…but he wanted our help to show it. You see, the secret of God’s Extras is just this…God has no Extras.
Hope that's enough to tickle you toward consuming the rest of the story.
Go you bit player you, go.
And carry on.
