The Faces of Our Faith: Eutychus

©Rev. David Carter Florence Swarthmore Presbyterian Church August 12, 2018

I’ve returned from 5 trips this summer - some as close as the Philadelphia Broad Street ministry with Middle School youth and some as far as Montreat, North Carolina with High School youth. It has been a rich journey getting to know our own youth and shepherding them within the larger church and world - rich and poor, homeless and grounded in the land.

Today’s story from scripture could not be more relevant.

The text is mostly about a young man who says no words. He is sitting on the edge of the gathering – and the message that Paul is no doubt fleshing out, is the message that Peter proclaimed at the beginning of Acts. “A new age had begun in which the living God was going to do new things in the world – beginning then and there with the individuals who were listening to him. “This promise is for you,” he said, “and for your children, and for everyone who is far away.” (:39 as quoted by NT Wright in Acts Commentary).

It was for your Jewish brother next to you, and for sisters and brothers of all nations – and even those without nations.

So what is going on with this story? We may have overlooked this odd little story, but most of us who have endured long committee meetings, and long sermons could nod our heads in agreement that falling asleep in church is something that happens, especially with a long night meeting or a droning preacher. When we poll our youth and younger members they are frank to tell us that too much long-winded “churchy” talk is boring, and one of the main reasons they don’t like church.

At first reading, you may stop as I did, to question Paul’s wisdom, or simply his common sense, when you consider that he actually preached someone to death!

There’s the young man, Eutychus, sitting on the window ledge. It’s around midnight. Many oil lamps make the room smoky and the oxygen levels are low. One might think Paul is insensitive to his audience, perhaps so absorbed in his own words that he doesn’t notice the late hour. It sounds like they also missed dinner. So here are his local followers in Troas, (a few miles from Homer’s famed ancient city of Troy) attempting to listen late into the night on empty stomachs.

Then, Eutychus, our identified patient, falls asleep and plummets three floors to the ground, looking dead. Paul apparently wakes up to the situation and runs down to find his body, embraces Eutychus and all recover (in more ways than one) stating, “Do not be alarmed, for his life is in him!” Eutychus is taken away. The gathering heads back upstairs, breaks bread, and continues to converse until dawn! This was an all-nighter, with a death, and Paul has not lost determination to continue the conversation.

British Biblical scholar, N.T. Wright regards Paul as the intellectual equal of Plato, Aristotle or Seneca – How can such a great man be this insensitive, or unable to see why the people are falling asleep around him? One may wonder just how Paul carries on all night, even after the fall of Eutychus. To understand this, we need to consider where Paul was in his journeys at this point.

Paul has been run out of cities all over the known world from Turkey and Greece, to Syria and Palestine. He has been attacked, beaten and thrown in jail, and he is now fearing for his life, intent on getting the message that is the Messiah out to everyone. The book of Acts tells of his teaching, his strategic church start-ups, as well as his persecutions -- from when he was the persecutor to when he becomes the persecuted.

Paul’s story is the story of an unsettled time before Christianity was Christianity - a time when no one knew who to trust. In the minority Jewish synagogues that Paul initially visited the culture wars were fierce! Debate and argument were intense between various sects of , , and other subgroups – arguments were going on forever.

But now two huge problems are introduced-

1. Some Jews are claiming that Jesus was the Messiah. 2. Many of the same Jews are claiming that the Messiah not just for Israel and Jews, but for all nations - all people regardless of nationality, class, status, gender or age.

Both claims were earth-shattering for most Jewish communities and governments.

To add to the confusion -- discussion, debate, preaching and teaching were happening all over the place by many new people some were recorded -- Peter, James, , Priscilla, Aquila, , , Lydia, , and Paul, to name a few. We don’t have many records of this time, but the record we do have is the . As stories and teachings were shared in communities, as healing and transformations happened, they began to be documented, letters to the communities and eventually many were written. The four gospels that made it into the were kept as most authentic.

This was a tumultuous time, perhaps far more tumultuous than we can imagine. Even with the unknowns of our day, the political unrest and tumult, it would be difficult for us to understand how unsettled this world was.

So can we give Paul a break? Can we exercise a little empathy for going on and on and trying to get his message out? Even as he missed the very source of Church growth sitting before him in the window! The scene could remind us of our own lives – that all too familiar problem of busyness, working to have strong careers, working to excel and stand secure. Busy with all of our cultural concerns that seem never-ending.

Let us not miss the youth before us.

In our study guide for this sermon series, Sarah Are asks the straightforward questions: “How many people are falling away from the church, and when they do, are we kneeling in the street with them when things get hard? Are we carrying them back into the house to feed them and celebrate their life? Are we acknowledging how hard religion can be? Are we changing our traditions so that people (young and old) with different mental and physical needs can connect with God?”

A week ago, I returned from the Montreat with 9 or our youth and I want to give you an image to take away and ponder. For six weeks this summer about 500 high school youth from around the country journeyed to Montreat, NC. to hear lectures, worship and discuss God in the world. . . . Singing, dancing, laughing. They listened keynote talks, and to fairly long sermons. Days began at 7 am and ended at midnight. (Rather than falling asleep myself and falling out of the window, I took a nap each day!) Our youth were engaged with 90% of the activities. Working on themes of seeing all people, naming the cultural challenges, combating racism, active listening to every voice, honoring every person, and bringing life back to the broken – all in the context or our Christian church meeting the world. The lesson to me was that we can do faithful youth ministry with the youth enthusiastically present! We can do children, youth and family ministry that does address all the hard topics and still connect with the traditional church. We may have to reform our traditions and open our minds to many ways of “doing church.”

Friends, Let’s make sure we don’t miss the opportunity to meet our youth here and now, in this congregation, and in the larger gatherings that we call church, as well as in the unexpected places we don’t call church. Even when the world is spinning and unraveling and we’re doing our best to keep our lives and our families held together and in order. Let’s not let anyone go to sleep and fall out of the window.