Or otero as we used to call him when we were kids. Shows you what side of Nairobi town I grew up in, right? But that is neither here nor there. We were talking about stars, specifically the star of a movie. Not a celebrity, not the famous person but the main actor in a movie, play or even book. Often you will watch a movie and get drawn in by the star (or star-ring), their looks, their physique, their abilities, their genius, emotions and the story that plays out around them building them up to be villain, hero or heroine. At the end of the movie you will remember a whole lot about the escapades that the stars went through but little else about the other people who did not have roles big enough to carry the movie but who if they were not there, the movie or book or play would not hit home as well as it did.
Think about it. What would Batman be like without Arthur? James Bond without Major Boothroyd? (Who? Oh! You might know him better as Q). Jo March without Beth (Little Women)? Elizabeth Bennet without Charlotte Collins (Pride and Prejudice)? Romeo without Tybalt (I hear you going who? Read the play again!!) Or maybe I lost you as soon as I began talking about lesser known characters from books. The point is when you choose to watch the movie The Lord of the Rings, you probably do it to follow Frodo’s journey with his wise friend Sam, marvel at the bravery and mastery of his friend Aragorn, marvel at the wizadry of the magician, Gandalf the Grey or admire the sheer talent of the actor who plays Gollum. I tend to take different view. I tend to watch movies the first time to get the story and over and over again to concentrate on the lesser characters like the Prince of Elves in the Lord of the Rings who is a master archer and has a particularly audacious and impossible fight scene in the Return of the King.
Movies and books to me are representative of real life. Hear me out. There can only be a few people who play the lead role and a larger number of characters or actors are left to play supporting roles. They have lesser lines, they are probably less beautiful or handsome, less wise or knowledgeable, less physically well-defined than the person in the main role. In real life too, most people are not stars in the roles that they play. We have people who we consider to be star writers, poets, actors, doctors, accountants, auditors, lawyers, teachers, mothers, prefects etc. Most of us fall in the non-elite pool. The unrecognized, unacknowledged unseen group.
Most of us are quite happy to be in this pool. We may not want to carry the movie or the book as it were but we would not mind the occasional pat on the back when we played our role excellently. When we managed to plans meals for a whole month in advance for our families and cook them on time, kept the house clean, paid bills on time or passed our exams. A pat on the back from those around us who benefit from all that we do would be welcome. Anything that showed that the people around us notice what we do and are grateful that we do that.
The Bible has many stories of great people who have people playing lesser roles around them too. For example in the story of Abraham and Sarah a couple who are advanced in age and who are promised a child by God. In this story, Sarah gets tired of waiting and offers her servant to her husband. Asking her husband to sleep with the servant so that she might get a child through the servant. The servant’s name is Hagar. In this story, Hagar is not the star but a lesser character. She, by her role of servant, is probably unseen by her mistress. Her position in the household has her reduced to less than a person with no feelings that she is there to fulfill here mistress’ needs. Should her mistress need cleaning to be done, Hagar will do it. Should her mistress need help getting out of her gowns, Hagar will attend. Should her mistress require a child, Hagar will attend to her need.
Hagar was barely a person in her mistress’ eyes. If I was to imagine what it might have felt like, Hagar may have wondered if the value that she brought to her mistress’ home was seen, was recognized. If her value as a human being was appreciated or acknowledged. She might have yearned to be recognized as more than just the servant who cleaned, cooked, did stuff or was available at her mistress’ beck and call. She had feelings too and had probably been in the family long enough to love her mistress and long for her mistress to show her love, laugh with her, speak with her and not just consider her a lesser person just because of the role she played.
Maybe that made her say yes to the mistress’ request. Maybe she said yes because that was a common request from mistresses then. A servant was expected to do what was asked of her. She went ahead and had sex with her mistress’ husband. She became pregnant. Success! However, it is recorded in the story that Hagar began to despise her mistress. Her mistress, Sarah, mistreated her and Hagar ran away. When she ran away, an angel appears to her and tells her to go back, blesses her and her unborn son. It is here that Hagar declares:
She gave this name to the Lord who spoke to her:
“You are the God who sees me,” for she said,
“I have now seen the One who sees me.”
Genesis 16:13
At that moment, Hagar realized that she who had felt unseen before because of her station in life, the role she played, the label she carried and even the child she bore, was seen by God and He had not forgotten neither her nor her child. She may not have been the star in this story, but God saw her all the same. He saw who she was as a person and her value.
To all of us non-elites, all of us who may not hold starring roles in the books being written about us, God sees us beyond the roles that we play, the labels that we carry and the sins we can never undo, erase or hide. He sees us for who we are and the value that we can bring to this world. Believe it.