I Got the Message

On the first day of the week we came together to break bread. Paul spoke to the people and, because he intended to leave the next day, kept on talking until midnight. There were many lamps in the upstairs room where we were meeting. Seated in a window was a young man named Eutychus, who was sinking into a deep sleep as Paul talked on and on. – Acts 20:7-9a (NIV) 

We might as well admit it: church can be awfully boring at times. Our spirit to remain fully present and engaged in the service and in the sermon may be willing, but sometimes, our flesh is weak. At times our minds begin to wander, we gaze out of a window or lose ourselves in the mosaic of stained glass. Our eyelids get heavy, our shoulders slump, our head tilts, and before we even realize it, we have abandoned the service and the sermon for the land of sweet slumber. 

The young man, Eutychus, in the Book of Acts is not the first or the last disciple who simply could not endure a sermon that seemed to have no end. Even the midnight hour itself did not signal Paul to conclude his address, pronounce the benediction, and dismiss the people to their rest. Eutychus tried to hang in there, but he dozed off, fell into a deep sleep, and fell out of a third-floor windowsill.  

But even though he dropped out of the service, Eutychus didn’t miss God’s message. On the ground where he had fallen, he was embraced, revived and restored by an agent of God, the Apostle Paul. God used the fall of Eutychus to give vivid illustration to the gospel message that Paul had been trying to preach all night long. 

And when the young man who had fallen had been brought back to life by the loving, life-giving embrace of God, everybody got the message. Any of us who have ever fallen and experienced the renewing, reviving, regenerating embrace of God, get the message. The gospel of Christ is not just about what we hear. The gospel is also about what we experience. We may miss the service and the sermon, but God will see to it that we get the message. 

Prayer
Lord, we thank you for the sermons we hear, but we are most grateful for the sermons we live. Thank you for the message of resurrection. Amen.

About the Author
Kenneth L. Samuel is Pastor of Victory for the World Church, Decatur, Georgia.