Everybody knew the name ‘Aeneas’, just as everybody today knows the name ‘Churchill’. He was a national figure, a survivor from Troy, a leader who gathered the fall-out from that great military conflict. If for nothing else he is remembered as the man who inspired the Roman poem ‘The Aeneid’, about the forming of a nation. Leave aside Romulus and Remus. Put Virgil alongside Homer and, as Whitehead said about Plato’s influence on philosophy, all else in philosophy is footnotes.
But let’s not be diverted. The Aeneas that Peter met was not the famous man celebrated by Virgil. This Aeneas had been bedridden by paralysis for eight year/s. ‘Stand up,’ commanded Peter, using the name Jesus as his authority. Aeneas stood. All who called Lydda their home-town, together with Sharon, became followers of the new faith.
That was not the end of the matter in Lydda. We cannot aim to be Peter. He would have been a leader in any organisation. He happened to have been a master-fisherman but now a greater responsibility was his. The witnesses round a bed in Joppa (close to Lydda) heard Peter tell the dead Tabitha to get up. She did. This led to Peter gaining a reputation but more importantly having a great but puzzling vision. That was to demonstrate a decisive aspect of the nature of the Christian Church.
We can aim to offer a helping hand, to do what Aeneas did. Thousands of helping hands helped the Church to grow.
We are all tempted to view ourselves as movers and shakers along with the leaders in the early Church. But we have lesser roles to play. Had all this happened in our day, we should be the inconspicuous Aeneas rather than Barnabas or Paul. That should be enough.
WHERE WE STAND
St John’s church, Fareham, Hants. describes itself plainly on its website. ‘We believe in Jesus, we believe what the Bible says and we believe that God’s love is for everyone who needs it.’ The church worships in an attractive 1963 building. The Vicar is Bruce Deans.
Bricks manufactured in Fareham were used in the construction of the Royal Albert Hall.
If you have a comment on this post please send an email to Revd John King at johnc.king@talktalk.net Edited extracts may be published. To forward this to a friend click on the chain icon below.