The Farmville herald. (Farmville, Va.) 1957-current, 1961-08-18
Second Fiddle
Lesson for August 20, 1861

grace. In an orchestra it is NJ
disgrace to play with the secone
violins. Every symphony is writ
ten for all instruments, not thu
first violins only. The second vic
Inns, the violas, the cellos, the
bass fiddles. not to mention al
the other kinds of instruments
the composer has them all ir
mind.
If the second violins went or
strike, the orchestra would have
to fold up till they came back
again.
So it is with the people who, So
to speak, play second fiddles all
their lives. They may not sit in
the front row and they may no,
play the principal melody, but
we cannot do without them. The
true music of life must have
them.
and Silas SiIas and
There was a man named Silas,
who is mentioned a number OF
times In the New Testament; but
never mentioned alone. He is al
ways somebody's companion, al
ways member of a team. It is
Paul and Silas." Judas and
Silas." "Silas and Timothy
"Silvanus" in l Thess. Ill is the
same name, like William and
Bill; even when Silas is men,
toned alone. as he is by Saint
Peter, he is helping someone else.
Apparently you never thought OF
Silas without thinking Of some
one else too. Now this is nothing
against him. He was simply a
second-fiddle man. He was nc
soloist, but the music the early
church played. so to speak, would
have missed something of impor.
lance if he had not been playing
Sometimes football or other ath-
letlc teams will vote for the
player most valuable to the
team" This one is very seldom,
the man the puclic watches TO,
and hears most about.
Hero and Leader
Being second fiddle, or support
Ing actor, or teammate or what
ever you call it. does not NEAR
that one leaves great accomplish
ments to others. The second
flddle's work is cut out for him
and the conductor of the orches.
ira expects to hear him. So il
was with this Silas. The early
Christians recognized him as a
leader: indeed that is the way he
is introduced at the first mention
OF his name Furthermore, he
was called a prophet" which
does not mean reader of tea
leaves or crystal balls, it means
an inspired preacher. Other men
learned the will Of God through
listening to him. Besides this, he
could be hero when the time
came. His name will always be
remembered alongside that Of
Paul in the incident at Phillip
when they were both beaten and
thrown into jail; it was no solo
the prisoners heard at midnight
1t was a duet. Paul and sSilas
both. in the midst Of that ugly
place, sang their hymns together
Indispensable Man
In one sense, nobody is indis.
pensable. Everybody dies sooner
or later, therefore those who are
left behind can. if they have
to, get along without him. But
when we speak of indispensable
men we mean men we don't in.
tend to get along without, unless
we have to. When Barnabas and
Pau split up, Paul had to have
someone, he needed a helper. Il
Slias was less impressive thar
barnabas las he was, to be sure
Tor nobody ever mistook Silas for
the king OF the gods, as they mis-.
took Barnabas once, at any rate
Paul needed him. On one &c.
caslon Paul simply would 20 nc
farther on his important journey
until Silas and Timothy could
catch up with him and they could
all go on together. When Saint
Peter set out to write a lette,
ne needed someone to help him
and Silas was the man. Peter did
not have to mention Silas' name
but ne wanted all his readers t.
know it was Silas who helped
him. So the reader Of the Bible
who is helped by this first lette,
OF Peter may be thankful for the
man Silas; the same thing Is
true OF | Thessalonians. For the
obscure who help the great. lei
US give thanks!
Based on outlines copyrishted
BY the Division Of Christian Edu.
cation. National Council Of the
Churches Of Christ in the U. s A
Released by Community PRES,
service.
The Governors Highway Safe.
W Committee asks lis when nc