Easter - 2018

Wednesday, June 30, 2010

Falling Asleep

This is the Communion Meditation Ken Smith offered in service on Sunday. It is well worth repeating.
Is Eutychus here this morning?

Of course we know that Eutychus is a person whose story is told in the
Bible. It appears in the twentieth chapter of Acts. He was a member of
the church in Troas. He is one of those Bible people we will meet in
heaven. I imagine that when we see him, we will ask him one of three
questions: "Eutychus? Aren't you the fellow who fell asleep during a
sermon of the apostle Paul?" "Eutychus? Aren't you the man who fell out a window to his death during a worship service?" "Eutychus? Aren't you the one whom Paul raised from the dead so that he could finish the worship service?"

Heaven will be a place of perfect peace and patience. Therefore, I am
convinced that Eutychus will not become annoyed by having to answer such questions. However, I suspect he will tell us "the rest of the story" (to use Paul Harvey's famous phrase). He will very likely point out that he had put in a full workday on that day described in Acts 20. The five-day work week had not been invented yet, and nobody had thought about giving workers Sunday off. Also, Eutychus will probably note how without electric lighting and air conditioning the conditions were just right for what happened to him. Acts tells us about the many oil lamps that illuminated the room where the church was meeting. The heat and fumes they gave off must have made drowsiness irresistible. And so he dozed off, fell out the window to his death, and was raised to life again by
Paul.

Eutychus will no doubt point out that he was awake, alert, and attentive
when he partook of the Lord's Supper. It is said specifically that the
believers in Troas came together "to break bread." Bible commentators
generally regard that as a reference to Communion. It seems that Paul's
lengthy sermon began after Communion and continued until midnight. We can sympathize with Eutychus in that. With all due respect to Don, if his sermon today should last until midnight, I dare say quite a few of us
would be falling asleep.

What do we learn from Eutychus? One valuable lesson is in learning to
come to the Lord's Table and to worship in general as well-rested as
possible. Some of us may have to work on Saturday evening. Others of us
have family responsibilities that wear us down coming into a Sunday
morning. But as much as possible we should aim to be awake, alert, and
attentive as we partake of the emblems. We are in no danger of falling
out a window here, but we could lose out on the richness of Communion
with our Lord Jesus Christ.
Thank you, Ken.

Take Care, Don