7 On the first day of the week, as we gathered together for a meal, Paul was holding a discussion with them. Since he was leaving the next day, he continued talking until midnight. 8 There were many lamps in the upstairs room where we had gathered. 9 A young man named Eutychus was sitting in the window. He was sinking into a deep sleep as Paul talked on and on. When he was sound asleep, he fell from the third floor and died. 10 Paul went down, fell on him and embraced him, then said, “Don’t be alarmed. He’s alive!” 11 Then Paul went back upstairs and ate. He talked for a long time—right up until daybreak—then he left. 12 They took the young man away alive, and they were greatly comforted.
Reflection
Paul was on fire for God. He had been going from city to city in Asia Minor spreading the Word of God. But Paul was pursued by those who would challenge his authority and his teachings about Jesus. They wanted to change the requirements for Gentiles to become Christians. Many doubted Paul because he had persecuted the followers of Jesus, many were skeptical of him because he had not been one of the twelve disciples when Jesus had been alive. Yet, many wanted to hear what Paul had to say about Jesus and so they crowded into the three story home to hear the good news.
Paul breaks bread with the group, they eat and he talks to them, as it grows dark, for he must leave early the next day. The oil laps are smoking, the room grows hot and the youth Eutychus, sitting in the window, grows sleepy. Those listening had worked all day, but Paul continued to share about Jesus long into the night. The drowsy boy at lasts falls asleep, and falls out the third floor window to the ground below, dead.
Imagine the shock, the horror of losing this young man in such a way at such a moment in the lives of these new believers in Jesus. But Paul’s response is to run down to Eutychus, fall on him and embrace Eutychus, restoring him to life. Paul’s response to tragedy and death is one of faith and trust in God, a belief in the power of God’s love to be at work in the world, that God will restore Eutychus to life. Paul is belief in action, he chose to act in faith and trust in God. In that moment Paul chose to trust the power of God’s love to transform death to life through Jesus. And all who witnessed Paul’s act of faith were never the same.
by Jeneene Reduker
For Pondering & Prayer
We are the Easter people, the children of the resurrection, we are the light of Christ in the world. Everyday our lives bear witness to the grace and mercy, the unlimited love and power of God to change situations and lives by sharing God’s love through Jesus the Christ with others. We are the heirs, the witnesses to the resurrection of Jesus, may our lives reflect the light of Christ through our faith, so that God may transform the world through us, by God’s love.
What does our response to crisis, and even the grind of our everyday life say about our belief in God to bring new life where we thought there was only death?
Prayer: Holy and Loving God, we are your children of the resurrection through Jesus and we trust in you. Strengthen our faith so we can be belief in action as your love transforms the world from death into the life of your Kin-dom. Amen.
Our Lenten Series
For our Lent series this year, we’ll be using the Adam Hamilton book Luke: Jesus and the Outsiders, Outcasts, and Outlaws. At his website, you can find a 40-day reading plan to help you read through the Gospel of Luke during Lent. And join us for worship, in-person or online, at 9:00 & 10:30 every Sunday.
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