Sermon For August 27, 2000
HEBREW TESTAMENT: A Long Sermon to the Land of Nod ~ Acts 20:1-12
One of you noticed when you came in this morning. You said to me, “You look a little tired.” And I most certainly am tired. I have only had a little bit of sleep and we are leaving for Jerusalem today. Paul was in rare form last night, you should have been there. He preached the moon away, preached the sun up. All night long, he went on and on sharing the good news, good news of God’s love in Jesus Christ. Some day, I, Gaius, from the small town of Derbe, will tell my grandchildren how I was able to hear the great Apostle Paul when he preached through the night. Troas will never be the same, let me tell you that.
Usually we gather in the morning on the day of the sun, to hear the words of scripture and to share together the bread and the wine. This time though, we had plans to make our way to Jerusalem, so we gathered in the evening on Saturday, much as we gather on Friday evening to begin the Sabbath. We gathered in an upper room, the third level of the house. You already know that in most of our houses the bottom level is reserved for the animals and for storage, then in poor weather we sleep in the room above. If the weather is hot, sometimes we sleep on the roof. But in the third level we can gather to eat and talk. It seemed like much of the community was there, packed into that room, waiting to hear the right word from Paul, the word of encouragement, the word of comfort. This was Paul’s farewell tour. Seven of us were traveling with him, through Macedonia, to Greece, back through Macedonia, so that we might keep away from those who wanted to arrest Paul, those who wanted to end his speaking. Well, if they sought to end his speaking, they missed quite a few words last night.
You could tell when he began that he was full of a special power that evening. As the night went on, and the darkness came upon us, lamps were lit. It just seemed to fuel him even more, so that he spoke stronger, with more passion, with fire in his eyes, convinced that if he just kept at it long enough that he would win the heart of every single person who was in that room. He is a tireless, tireless missionary, a tireless proclaimer of the Good News. Unfortunately, not everyone in the congregation was as tireless as he was. This is the part that you really missed. Even as I tell it to you now, I don’t know exactly how to explain it. While Paul was preaching, and the lamps were burning, and people were breathing in and out, the room began to get warmer and warmer. One of the young men from Troas, Eutychus by name, sat up in the windowsill. There he had a good view of everything, but also had a breath of fresh air from outside. He must have had a hard day the day before, because part way through Paul’s words, he began to nod. You know how it is, sometimes when that sleep begins to overtake you, no matter how you try to shake it off, it still grabs you again and again. He would start awake and shake his head, trying to pay attention to Paul. He could tell from everyone who was there that Paul was speaking in words that were rarely heard. But try as he might, sleep overtook him. Then suddenly there was a sound, a scraping sound, then a thud. Paul lost everyone’s attention as they ran to the window and looked out. Eutychus had fallen from that third story window, sprawled out on the ground. Everyone ran down the stairs as quickly as possible. When the first person arrived, I could hear a wail of grief go up. Paul made it down very quickly, an interruption to his preaching no doubt, but something more important, the life of one of his disciples. Paul arrived and took the boy in his arms. No one really knows what happened. There were some who would swear that Eutychus was dead, and others only that he was stunned, and had the breath knocked out of him. Paul took the boy in his arms and spoke some words quietly and you could see air begin to fill the lungs of Eutychus. Paul said, “Don’t worry, there is life yet within him.” Paul handed him to another and then we all followed Paul back up the stairs. Even this would not stop Paul this night. He preached for hours more, well beyond midnight. Then we broke bread together, and joined in conversation. It was only when the sun began to streak the skies with morning light, that we finally called an end.
I don’t know what people will say about Paul and Eutychus. It was as if he was Elijah or Elisha, calling the widows’ sons back to life again. It was for all of us who knew what lay ahead, a symbol of resurrection. We were headed to Jerusalem, but it was in Jerusalem that some of Paul’s strongest enemies awaited us. We were on a journey that would probably not have a happy ending.
As we got nearer and nearer to that capital city, many of us feared for Paul. But what happened last night. Paul preaching, filled with the power of the Holy Spirit. What happened when Paul took Eutychus into his arms and spoke the words of God’s love, of God’s life, softly into his ears. That is encouragement for anyone to face any danger that might be ahead for us. So we will head to Jerusalem. Believing that God’s love and God’s mercy is stronger than anyone. That God is stronger than the fear of death itself.
It is a good thing that I am so inspired from Paul’s words last night, because with the lack of sleep, this is going to be a long day.