Have you ever heard the phrase, "There are no small roles, only small actors?"

It’s a reminder that we all have an important "part" to play in one another’s lives this Christmas season, even if our "part" isn’t exactly the one we were hoping for!

A church was putting on a Christmas pageant which included the story of Mary and Joseph coming to the inn. One boy wanted so very much to be Joseph, but when the parts were handed out, a boy he didn’t like was given that role, and he was assigned to be the inn-keeper instead.

He was pretty upset about this, but he didn’t say anything to the director.  During all the rehearsals, he thought about what he might do the night of performance to get even with this rival who got to be Joseph.

Finally, on the night of the play, Mary and Joseph came walking across the stage and knocked on the door of the inn.

The inn-keeper opened the door and asked them gruffly what they wanted.

Joseph answered, "We’d like to have a room for the night."

Suddenly the inn-keeper threw the door open wide and said, "Great, come on in and I’ll give you the best room in the house!"

For a few seconds, poor little Joseph didn’t know what to do. Thinking quickly on his feet, he looked inside the door past the inn-keeper and then said, "No wife of mine is going to stay in dump like this. Come on, Mary, let’s go to the barn!" And once again the play was back on track!

Justin Ford is pastor of Oakdale Baptist Church, which is located in Eastern Oklahoma County.