November 6, 2023 – Does the Bible Say…?

 Does The Bible Say Eutychus Died From a Boring Sermon?

“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.” Acts 20:7-9 

I have always been concerned that my preaching could have negative results on the health of certain people. At the end of a worship service during my internship years, I was confronted by a parishioner who believed that my sermon was misleading and inappropriate. At another church one of my parishioners would fall asleep as soon as I began my sermon. Sermons are one of the last enduring rights of free speech that we all participate in each and every Sunday. Sermons are a powerful opportunity for the word of G-d to reach people – and because they are individualized by each pastor standing in a pulpit or free-wheeling in the Nave, that power has enormous potential. It has enormous potential to inspire, to provoke, to enthrall and…….to bore.

Eutychus was listening to Paul preach one day, and for some reason he thought the best seat in the house was in the open window sill on the third floor. Paul was on a roll, preaching the word of G-d with power and persistence. In fact, he was so empowered with the spirit he just kept preaching, and preaching, and preaching. And while he continued to preach on and on about the workings of Jesus and the power of the Holy Spirit, Eutychus grew more and more tired. Finally he fell asleep – so asleep that he relaxed and did the unthinkable – he fell out the window, three stories to his death. It was a tragedy.

But all was not lost. “…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.” Acts 20:10-12

The raising of Eutychus is one of the great miracles attributed to Paul. But Paul does not linger over the miracle. He returns upstairs to break bread with the people, and then he moves on. But Paul was not one to sit still long — unless he was in prison. But with the power of the Holy Spirit, Paul performs another miracle, and keeps moving on toward his own death.

Pastor Dave