Eutychus

In our Disciple Bible Study class, we have been reading the book of Acts for the last two weeks. This past week, I was reminded of a character named Eutychus. We read in chapter 20 that he was a young man. Paul (the Apostle) had recently arrived in a city by the name of Troas, which was on the coast of the Aegean Sea in present-day Turkey. He was gathered with the other believers on Sunday and began teaching them. Well, Paul's sermon went long...all the way to midnight, in fact! Young Eutychus couldn't keep his eyes open and he fell asleep. Now, normally, this would not have been a big deal. People fall asleep (or at least get heavy eyelids) all the time during sermons [although, now that I stop to think about it, I've been seeing this a lot less lately - does that mean my preaching is getting better or the sleepyheads are staying away?]. But Eutychus happened to be perched in a third-story window, and when he fell asleep, he did so quite literally, all the way to the ground. The fall killed him. Can you imagine..actually dying from a sermon?! In the end, all turns out well when Paul goes down to the young man and miraculously restores his life.

So, the next time you are bored or sleepy during a sermon, think about young Eutychus. Take heart because the sermon you are listening to probably isn't going on for hours upon hours, and at least it won't kill you!