Choose Your Own Adventure: A Most Memorable Sermon (MPLS)

Acts 20:7-12

On the first day of the week, when we met to break bread, Paul was holding a discussion with them; since he intended to leave the next day, he continued speaking until midnight. There were many lamps in the room upstairs where we were meeting. A young man named Eutychus, who was sitting in the window, began to sink off into a deep sleep while Paul talked still longer. Overcome by sleep, he fell to the ground three floors below and was picked up dead. But Paul went down, and bending over him took him in his arms, and said, “Do not be alarmed, for his life is in him.” Then Paul went upstairs, and after he had broken bread and eaten, he continued to converse with them until dawn; then he left. Meanwhile they had taken the boy away alive and were not a little comforted.

You just never know what might happen in church.  

Over the course of my 29 years of being a pastor, I’ve often laughed with colleagues about the book we could write filled with the unexpected things that happen in church… like during a Good Friday service when I had written a monologue for the sermon. It was  from the perspective of Mary at the foot of the cross. I memorized it for the service. But not even a couple minutes into the sermon, my oldest and only at the time, 9 months old, called out from the third pew:  “Mama.” Immediately I forgot everything. I stood there… with nothing… for a solid minute. Eventually I pieced together some scraps that made for a disjointed message. Thankfully it was short.

Or the time when I was serving communion with another pastor at a different congregation and his pants slipped down around his ankles — never has anyone ever been more grateful for the robes we wear!

You just never know what might happen in church.

Today’s story predates “The Guinness Book of World Records” by several centuries, but if the book had existed, I suspect Paul and Eutychus may have been included: Paul, for the longest sermon ever preached, and Eutychus, for the first kid (but unfortunately not the last) bored to death by preaching. 

The setting is Troas, on the coast of Asia Minor. The Apostle Paul had moved through multiple cities, encouraging believers, teaching and preaching the good news of God’s love revealed in Jesus. He’s making his way back to Jerusalem. It’s the first day of the week and folks have gathered to hear Paul preach before he moves on. We get few details about the gathering — they meet in an upper room, they celebrate communion, and the sermon is long. 

We don’t know if people were on the edge of their seats or if the whole room was bored out of their minds. We only know that a young man named Eutychus, sitting off to the side, by an open window, was unable to stay awake. He dozes off and falls to his death from a third story window.

It’s not a story that’s gotten much attention in the church — might be because preachers don’t want to give their congregations fodder for why a sermon should be short. This story makes a compelling argument that it’s not just a preference, but a matter of life and death! 

Commentators often make light of this recorded incident and then fast-forward to the resurrection scene in which Paul stops speaking, rushes to the dead boy’s side, and proclaims that the boy is not dead, but alive. Everyone breathes a deep sigh of relief — the story isn’t a tragedy. It’s a miracle in which God reveals God’s power to breathe life into what once was dead.

It’s an unusual story.  Miraculous acts of raising a person from the dead are rare in the Bible, yet there are two included in this book alone: Peter raising Tabitha and Paul raising Eutychus. 

But let’s not rush to the resurrection. There are other details to notice — especially for those of us who gather in Jesus’ name, around Word and sacrament three details for today: one that teaches us about ourselves, one about others and one about God.

First, a lesson about ourselves, about the church:

Eutychus was a young man, most likely between the age of 8–14 years. Why is he sitting on the window sill of a third story building? And why doesn’t anybody do something about it? The child is separated from the group, sitting in a window sill! A tragedy is inevitable. When Eutychus does fall, Paul immediately stops what he’s doing and goes to him.

Sometimes the work of the church is to stop and take a hard look at what’s going on. Sometimes the work of the church is to listen and wonder. There are questions to ask and locations to notice. Who is not here? Who is on the margins? I’m grateful that Bethlehem is engaging in this work. Over the past four years we’ve been intentional about the important work of listening. We are learning, still becoming as God continues calling us to learn, change, and grow — moving us more fully into God’s vision of healing for the world.

This last week I received an email from Bethlehem’s Director of Youth and Young Adults, Ellen Weber. She shared some feedback she’s recently received from our younger demographic. 

They’re grateful for this community. They’re excited about the work they do together. They’re engaged in the life of our congregation — gathering in different spaces to learn and grow in faith, serving in the world and caring for creation in our community garden. 

But sometimes, it seems to them, it feels like they’re sitting on the window sill — off to the side, not always resonating with the worship life of this congregation. What might happen if we stopped, listened and centered their voices in our life together? How might it change them? How might it change us?  

In the book, “You Lost Me,“ author David Kinnaman notes that close to 60 percent of teens drop out of church after high school. Too many of our young people find themselves sitting on the window sill. Kinnaman writes:  “Cultivating intergenerational relationships is one of the most important ways in which effective faith communities are developing flourishing faith in both young and old. In many churches, this means changing the metaphor from simply passing the baton to the next generation to a more functional, biblical picture of a body — that is, the entire community of faith, across the entire lifespan, working together to fulfill God’s purposes.”

When I think about my kids growing up in this congregation, I know without a doubt they felt loved and valued — because of Clayton, Gill, Jody, Robbie, Judy, Dave, Carol, Kathy, Ed, Lois, Clyde… the names could continue for quite some time. Who are these people? They are you. Members of this congregation, all of whom were between the ages of 40 and 90 who took interest in my kids, listened and encouraged them. In your witness you gave a glimpse of God’s abiding love for them.

Centering the voices of young people is a priority for us going forward. You’ll hear more about it in the coming months and you’ll see some changes: kids and parents will be Sunday morning worship leaders starting this fall, and we’re engaging in conversations with our students and young adults about how they imagine being part of our worship life together. 

That’s just one take away from the story — one lesson for us, for the church.  

Lesson 2 teaches us about others. 

Paul goes to Eutychus after he falls and bending over him, takes him in his arms.  Theology/preaching professor Anna Carter Florence notes that in Greek the verb “bending over” means, “he threw himself on him,” and implies a loss of dignity or station. This is one of the few places where this verb appears in the bible. The only other place it appears in the exact same form, is in the parable of the prodigal son, at the moment of the reunion between the father and his younger son. There are multiple parallels between these two stories, including how they end:  with hope and new life because what was lost is found

Paul throws himself at Eutychus just as the father throws himself at the prodigal son. There is no blame for what has happened assigned to anyone in either story. The focus is on the grace of being found. 

How might our lives change if we stopped assigning blame and met each other with the grace God has already shown us? We are quick to make assumptions and jump to conclusions. Grace inspires a certain pace and posture: slow down practice of humility, be vulnerable. Grace elevates the other. Grace prioritizes relationships over being right. 

Lesson 3 teaches us about God.

Paul announces to the congregation:  “Do not be alarmed, for his life is in him,” Eutychus is alive. Before Paul even reaches Eutychus, God has already been at work restoring life. Paul preaches. Jesus saves.

We don’t know how God does it exactly. The miracle of healing and life is God’s work through Jesus Christ. Our work is to bear witness to the hope that is possible in Jesus and, with bold faith, name for others whenever and wherever we encounter the living Christ.   

Keep looking for him here — in the Word proclaimed, in the forgiveness received, in the praises we sing, in the meal we share. And look for Jesus in the world too. For Jesus doesn’t stay here. Jesus goes ahead of you, drawing people back into relationship with God. Jesus invites you to join him:  follow him and you will be part of the holy work God is already doing in and for the world. 

Articles:  

https://biologos.org/articles/six-reasons-young-christians-leave-church/

https://www.workingpreacher.org/theology-and-interpretation/a-prodigal-preaching-story-paul-eutychus-and-bored-to-death-youth-part-i