Acts 20:7-12 A Miracle at Worship

And so, we come to the sixth, and final, resuscitation story in the New Testament.

Or probably, the fifth, if you’re unsure about the epileptic boy in Mark 9. We might even have some doubts about this one: though the young man falls out a third floor window, Paul says, “Life is still in him.” So, did life never leave him, or did Paul restore his life- which are we supposed to think? It isn’t too difficult to explain away some of these miracles we’ve studied the past few weeks. And many people have- asking honest questions- and not just because they are unbelievers

(they may not be unbelieving), but because they want to understand what really happened, and because they want to understand the ancient and biblical worldview.

Except for Lazarus, the deceased in each case had been dead only a few hours-

Jewish custom demanded that bodies be interred the same day as death- so when

Jesus raised the widow’s son at the funeral procession in Luke 7, that was the day of his death; the same when Peter raised Tabitha before her burial, in Acts 9; and some of these, perhaps only a few minutes had elapsed, as when Jesus raised

Jairus’ daughter in Mark 5 and here, where Paul revives Eutychus. There are countless stories in legend and, I’m sure, in the journals of medical history that tell of sudden revivification or a return to consciousness from coma or a death-like sleep.

And it’s important for us to ask and try to understand, as well. Because in these six stories, we want to know the purpose of the miracles beyond a mere display of Jesus’ great power. First of all, from a literary standpoint, these stories foreshadow the resurrection of Jesus at the end of each gospel; theologically, they prepare our minds to consider and believe in the new life Jesus brings; we may want to read these with a sense of hope at God’s care for those who love him and

God’s promise of life to those who believe. And they also tell us some specific things about Jesus, and in Acts, about the church. Luke writes the story of the raising of the widow’s son to demonstrate the compassion of Jesus, and then recounts Peter raising Tabitha as part of the story of the growth of the church and its outward expansion. In John’s gospel, the raising of Lazarus is shown to be the cause of Jesus’ arrest and crucifixion. And this miracle, the raising of Eutychus, is accomplished within the context of Christian worship.

I think we should recognize the moral of this story is simply this, that bad things happen when people stop paying attention to the preacher. That’s what I get out of it, how about you- don’t go falling asleep during the sermon, or you might not wake up. Think not? You may be right. Let me tell you something from the point of view of the sleeper: maybe you’ve seen the picture of Jesus asleep in church- slouched and snoozing on the front pew, while the minister goes on and on. We can understand this one of two ways, the preacher is very boring or long- winded, or he has nothing important to say. If people sleep because the preacher is boring or irrelevant or shallow, it is sin laid to the preacher’s account.

Now, raising someone from the dead should be the ultimate miracle, and yet, in this passage it is so brief and matter of fact, unlike the other stories we have studied thus far, with their touching and lifting up and speaking and calling names- here is very little drama, few details: he falls, they run down, Paul says, “he’s alive,” they return upstairs. The “ultimate miracle” here is almost incidental to the story and to the main focus of the passage, yet its presence in the passage powerfully emphasizes that focal point, which is the worship.

This paragraph, verses 7-12, doesn’t need to be here, but it’s placed in this context because it has an intentional message for us. This is the story of Paul’s journey back to Jerusalem, and it doesn’t require the telling of a miracle or any other event in Troas, this city on the western coast of Turkey. Yet it is important to the author that we understand what happened there. Paul has been in the middle of quite a lot: a riot in Ephesus that threatened his life; the realization that he must go to Rome to defend his gospel message there; a final trip of several months through the Greek peninsula encouraging the churches he had planted; a plot against him- which was discovered, but still delayed his return to Jerusalem. The delay is very important: it provides us a religious comparison in these verses. It’s likely that

Paul wanted to be in Jerusalem for Passover, but having to backtrack- to retrace his steps in order to evade those plotting against him- meant that he celebrated

Passover while still in Europe, with Jews or Jewish Christians in the city of

Philippi; and then, according to verse 16, he decided to hurry on to Jerusalem in time for Pentecost, 50 days later. And yet, on this return trip, the author tells us in verse 6, they stop and linger in Troas for 7 days. Why the delay, if he is in such a rush? Because there is something important going on in contrast to the Jewish feasts.

And that thing is the weekly worship of God in the name of Jesus Christ.

Believers gathered to hear and be taught, to be comforted and encouraged, and to share the communion meal. Each week in this Gentile city, no less than during the high holy days in Jerusalem, God was present, and the people received God’s blessings, in worship; and sometimes, the dead were raised up. It’s not that the author claims the Jewish holidays were no longer important, but that the weekly gathering of believers was just as important. Just look, right in the middle of the worship service, a miracle, the loving power of God reviving even the dead.

Notice how this is written, how the miracle is underplayed, as though it is simply one more element in their worship that night. Paul proclaims him alive and then immediately they go back upstairs to break bread.

Breaking bread is mentioned twice in this short paragraph, verses 7 and 11.

And it’s likely that they began the worship with a fellowship meal, and then at the end of the service celebrated the Lord’s Supper. If that is what happened here, see how the worship builds to that final event; and this night, even the miracle of raising the dead to life finds its meaning and its climax in communion.

So maybe the lesson for us is, sleep now, if you must, but wake up in time for the part of worship that is the central expression of our faith: communion.

Where our sense of the Lord’s presence is strongest, and where we rejoice at what he has done, where we “proclaim his death,” as the words of institution say, even while acknowledging that he gives life: he enlivens dying hearts and minds, and heals broken spirits- joining them together with others so that we may be comforted and made whole, and made truly alive.

We might want to start calling Eutychus, “Lucky,” in that Paul was there to revive him. It’s not every day you have an apostle present to save your life. I wonder though, if that wasn’t already his nickname, or became his nickname,rather than his given name, because Eutychus literally means lucky, or fortunate or blessed by the gods. And maybe we should appropriate for ourselves that descriptive term, that concept of God’s fortune or blessings upon us, calling ourselves “Lucky” because we have this connection to God through worship and communion, and to one another as we share God’s goodness, that make us all “lucky,” no matter what our circumstances.

But it also would appear to mean we are responsible for passing on our luck to others - though perhaps a more biblical way of describing luck is- the grace of

God- God’s grace and mercy given to us, the profound blessings we have received from God. Our good fortune is the closeness of friends who support one another; their love for us and the love of heaven that never lets us go; and the miracle of life, taking the place of death and despair- even life that never ends.