'By Sylvanus, our faithful brother, as I account him, I have
written unto you briefly.'--1 Peter v. 12 (R.V).
I adopt the Revised Version because, in one or two small points, it
brings out more clearly the Apostle's meaning. This Sylvanus is, beyond
all reasonable doubt, the same man who is known to us in the Acts of the
Apostles by the name of Silas. A double name was very common amongst
Jews, whose avocations brought them into close connection with Gentiles.
You will find other instances of it amongst the Apostles: in _Paul_
himself, whose Hebrew name was _Saul_; _Simon_ and _Peter_; and probably
in _Bartholomew_ and _Nathanael_. And there is no reasonable doubt that
a careful examination of the various places in which Silas and Sylvanus
are mentioned shows that they were borne by one person.
Now let me put together the little that we know about this man, because
it will help us to some lessons. He was one of the chief men in the
church at Jerusalem when the dispute arose about the necessity for
circumcision for the Gentile Christians. He was despatched to Antioch
with the message of peace and good feeling which the church at Jerusalem
wisely sent forth to heal the strife. He remained in Antioch, although
his co-deputy went back to Jerusalem; and the attraction of Paul--the
great mass of that star--drew this lesser light into becoming a
satellite, moving round the greater orb. So, when the unfortunate
quarrel broke out between Paul and Barnabas, and the latter went sulkily
away by himself with his dear John Mark, without his brethren's
blessing, Paul chose Silas and set out upon his first missionary tour.
He was Paul's companion in the prison and stripes at Philippi, and in
the troubles at Thessalonica; and, though they were parted for a little
while, he rejoined the Apostle in the city of Corinth. From thence Paul
wrote the two letters to the Thessalonians, both of which are sent in
the name of himself and Silas or Sylvanus. There is one more reference
to Sylvanus in the Second Epistle to the Corinthians, which mentions him
as having been associated with Paul in the evangelisation of the church
there.
Then he drops out of the book altogether, and we never hear anything
more about him, except this one passing reference, which shows us to him
in an altogether new relation. He is no longer attached to Paul, but to
Peter. Paul was probably either in prison, or, possibly, martyred. At
all events, Sylvanus now stood to Peter in a relationship similar to
that in which he formerly stood to Paul. He was evidently acquainted
with and known to the churches to whom this letter was addressed, and,
therefore, is chosen to carry Peter's message to them.
Now I would suggest, in passing, how Sylvanus' relations to the two
Apostles throws light upon the perfectly cordial alliance between them,
and how it shatters into fragments the theory which was thought to be
such a wonderful discovery some years ago, as to the 'great schism' in
the early church between one section, led by Peter, and the more liberal
party, headed by Paul. Instead of that, we find the two men working
together, and the only division between them was not as to the sort of
gospel they preached, but as to the people to whom they preached. This
little incident helps us to realise how natural it was for a man steeped
in Paul's teaching to attach himself, if circumstances suggested it, to
the person who has been said to have been antagonistic in the whole
drift of his conceptions of Christianity to that Apostle.
But I do not wish to speak about that now. I take this figure of a man
who so contentedly and continually took such a subordinate place--played
second fiddle quite willingly all his days, and who toiled on without
any notice or record, and ask whether it does not teach one or two
things.
I. First, then, I think we may see here a hint as to the worth and
importance of subordinate work.
Not a syllable that Silas ever said is recorded in Scripture. He had
been a chief man among the brethren when he was in Jerusalem, but, like
some other chief men in little spheres, he came to be anything but a
chief man when he got alongside of Paul, and found his proper work. He
did not say: 'I have always pulled the stroke oar, and I am not going to
be second. I do not intend to be absorbed in this man's brilliant
lustre. I would rather have a smaller sphere where my light may not
suffer by comparison than be overshone by him.' By no means! He could
not do Paul's work, but he could endure stripes along with him in the
prison at Philippi, and he took them. He could not write as Peter
could; it was not his work to do that. But he could carry one of
Peter's letters. And so, 'by Sylvanus, a faithful brother, I have
written to you.' Perhaps Sylvanus was amanuensis as well as
letter-carrier, for I daresay Peter was no great hand with a pen; he was
better accustomed to haul nets. At all events, subordinate work was what
God had set him to do, and so he found joy in it.
Well, then, is not that a pattern for us? People in the world or in the
Church who can do prominent work are counted by units; and those who can
do valuable subordinate work are counted by thousands--by millions.
'Those members which seem to be more feeble are the more necessary,'
says Paul. It is a great truth, which it would do us all good to lay
more to heart.
It is hard to tell what is superior and what is subordinate work. I
suppose that in a steam engine the smallest rivet is quite as essential
as the huge piston, and that if the rivet drops out the piston-rod is
very likely to stop rising and falling. So it is a very vulgar way of
talking to speak about A.'s work being large and B.'s work being small,
or to assume that we have eyes to settle which work is principal and
which subordinate.
The Athenians, who deemed themselves wisest in the world, thought there
were few people of less importance than the fanatical Jew who was
preaching a strange story about what they knew so little of that they
took Jesus and Resurrection to be the names of a pair of gods, one male
and one female. But in the eyes that see truly--the eyes of God--the
relative importance of Apostle and Stoic was otherwise appraised.
We cannot tell, as the book of Ecclesiastes has it, 'which shall
prosper--this or that.' And if we begin to settle which is important
work, we shall be sure to make mistakes, both in our judgment about
other people, and in our sense of the obligations laid upon ourselves.
Let us remember that when a thing is to be done by the co-operation of a
great many parts, each part is as important as the other, and each is
indispensable. Although more glory may come to the soldiers who go to
the front and do the fighting, the troops miles in the rear, that are
quietly in camp looking after the stores and keeping open the lines of
communication, are quite as essential to the success of the campaign.
Their names will not get into the gazette; there will probably not be
any honours at the conclusion of the war showered upon them; but, if
they had not been doing their subordinate work, the men at the front
would never have been able to do theirs. Therefore, the old wise law in
Israel was: 'As his part is that goeth down into the battle, so shall
his part be that tarrieth by the stuff; they shall part alike.'
And so it is good for people that have only one talent, and cannot do
much, and must be contented to help somebody else that can do more, to
remember this pretty little picture of Sylvanus, 'the faithful brother,'
contented all his life to be a satellite of somebody; first of all
helping Paul, and then helping Paul's brother Peter. Let us not be too
lazy, or too proud with the pride that apes humility, to do the little
that we can do because it is little.
II. Another lesson which is own sister to that first one, but which may
be taken for a moment separately, is, the importance and obligation of
persistently doing our task, though nobody notices it.
As I remarked, there is not one word of anything that Sylvanus said, or
of anything that he did apart from Paul or Peter, recorded. And for all
the long stretch of years--we do not know how many, but a very large
number--that lie between this text of mine, where we find him in
conjunction with Peter, and that day at Corinth, where we left him with
Paul, the Acts of the Apostles does not think it worth while to mention
his name. Was he sitting with his hands in his pockets all the while, do
you think, doing no Christian work? Did he say, as some good people are
apt to say now, 'Well, I went to teach in Sunday School for a while, and
I took an interest in this, that, or the other thing for a bit, but
nobody took any notice of me; and I supposed I was not wanted, and so I
came away!'
Not he. That is what a great many of us do. Though we sometimes are not
honest enough to say it to ourselves, yet we do let the absence of
'recognition' (save the mark) influence us in the earnestness of our
Christian work to far too great an extent. And I dare say there are good
friends among us who, if they would be quite honest with themselves,
would take the hint, and, if I may use such a word, the rebuke, to
themselves.
Dear brethren, all the work that any of us do has to become unnoticed
after a little while. It will not last. Nobody will know about you or me
thirty years after we are dead. What does it matter whether they know
anything about us, or say anything about us, or pat us on the back for
anything that we do, or recognise our service whilst we live? Surely, if
we are Christian men and women, we have a better reason for working than
that. '_I_ will never forget any of their works.' That ought to be
enough for us, ought it not? Whoever forgets, He remembers; and if He
remembers, He will not remain in our debt for anything that we have
done.
So let us keep on, noticed or unnoticed; it matters very little which it
is. There is a fillip, no doubt--and we should not be men and women if
we did not feel it--in the recognition of what we have tried to do. And
sometimes it comes to us; but the absence of it is no reason for
slackening our work. And this man, so patiently and persistently
'pegging away' at his obscure task during all these years which have
been swallowed up in oblivion, may preach a sermon to us all.
Only let us remember that he also shows us that unnoticed work is
noticed, and that unrecorded services are recorded. Here are you and I,
nineteen centuries after he is dead, talking about him, and his name
will live and last as long as the world, because, though written in no
other history, it has been recorded here. Jesus Christ's record, the
Book of Life, contains the names of 'fellow-labourers' whose names have
dropped out of every other record; and that should be enough for us.
Sylvanus did no work that Christ did not see, and no work that Christ
did not remember, and no work of which he did not, eighteen hundred
years since, enter into the enjoyment of the fruit, and which he enjoys
up there, whilst we are thinking about him down here.
III. The last thing that I would suggest is--here is an example to us of
a character which we can all earn, and which will be the best that any
man can get.
A great genius, a wise philosopher, an eloquent preacher, a statesman, a
warrior, poet, painter? No! 'A faithful brother.' He may have been a
commonplace one. We do not know anything about his intellectual
capacity. He may have had very narrow limitations and very few powers,
or he may have been a man of large faculty and acquirements. But these
things drop out of sight; and this remains--that he was _faithful_. I
suppose the eulogium is meant in both senses of the word. The one of
these is the root of the other; for a man that is full of faith is a man
who may be trusted, is reliable, and will be sure to fulfil all the
obligations of his position, and to do all the duties that are laid upon
him.
You and I, whether we are wise or not, whether we are learned or not,
whether we have large faculties or not, whether we have great
opportunities or very small ones, can all equally earn that name if we
like. If the perfect judgment, the clear eye, of Jesus Christ beholds in
us qualities which will permit Him to call us by that name, what can we
want better? 'A faithful brother.' Trust in Christ; let that be the
animating principle of all that we do, the controlling power that
restrains and limits and stimulates and impels. And then men will know
where to have us, and will be sure, and rightly sure, that we shall not
shirk our obligations, nor scamp our work, nor neglect our duties. And
being thus full of faith, and counted faithful by Him, we need care
little what men's judgments of us may be, and need desire no better
epitaph than this--a faithful brother.