Week 1: That's in the Bible? - Paul and Eutychus
Sermon Oct 20, 2019, Carolyn Smith.
Main Scripture reference is Acts 20: 7-12 NRSV; also Jeremiah 31:27-34
- A song from Reimagine - feels like a centering moment:
All are worthy.
All are invited.
There’s room at the table.
Come and be curious.
In love there is no pretence, In love there is no fear.
We can see our difference. Still we belong here.
Come and be curious! This is a strange story of the bible! If only the bible
were simpler , and you would think the bible would be simpler, given how it
is revered. But battles have been fought over what got included, and
debates over the origins and timelines, or the historical context or
translation. Some people have given up on it. So, to dig up rare stories is
like a treasure hunt of surprises and strange curiosities.
And so several chapters of Acts have passed about Paul travelling and
church- building. We hear about more and more people gathering together
as the new church, eating and sharing together, learning about the Way of
Jesus.
And then Paul crosses paths with Eutychus: Let me create an Netflix or
A&E special in your mind:
The city is the bustling and cosmopolitan Troas, in Turkey, near the shore,
not far from Athens and quite a way from Israel- Paul settles in with friends
in Troas for one last night. In the careful translations of the Greek, and with
historical context, it goes a bit more like this: “At the start of the week, we
were visiting with friends, enjoying a meal, before intending to leave the
next day. And Paul was talking til midnight, talking and talking. And talking.
We had enjoyed a good supper, but he kept talking. This upstairs room
was warm, cozy and the lamplight was flickering, with the lamp fumes
hanging in the air. And Paul kept talking. I can’t even remember what he
was going on about. Off in the corner, a teenager by the name Eutychus
was lounging on the wide deep window sills, languishing there, no doubt in
need of some air, as the night sky grew darker, and the room got warmer.
And Paul kept talking. At some point, the boy was overcome by sleep, and
he, unable to focus on Paul’s endless droning, fell out the window - three
floors down. He was picked up dead.
Paul was talking so much that Eutychus died! And not one word of the
exhaustive sermon made it into the scriptures. After the boy fell, Paul
comes downstairs, interrupted at last, and says “Don’t be alarmed for his
life is in him,” and then he goes back upstairs to eat more food and KEEP
talking, until dawn. Meanwhile the boy did come to, and his family carried
him off ‘not a little bit comforted.” The scholars are clear about the greek:
his family was NOT HAPPY.
Paul, Yes- our one and only St. Paul - talked too much. Bored a kid to
death. And then leaves him there.
Now, the whole point of the book of Acts is about reaching far and wide, to
share the message of Jesus. Both the books of Luke and Acts are meant
for a wide audience, reaching out to Gentiles - the non-Jewish people -
Greek or whoever, and also the Jewish folks; and it was meant to break
down the obstacles that get in the way of BEING a Jesus-kind of worldchanging
church. It meant struggle as the traditions of Jesus’ jewish faith
that were foreign to gentiles were sometimes revisited or rendered obsolete
to be Christian - like abandoning circumcision and food laws. It meant
struggle: some jewish traditions didn’t appeal to Gentiles who came from a
different culture. The struggle meant a lot of debate on what was vital at
the core to faith, and what wasn't. Hence the early church grew up
separately from the temple. It was growing into a church of all shapes and
sizes of people, ages stages cultures races. If the whole point of this story
is about changing the world by appealing to and drawing in all of God’s
people, then Paul, as he yakked on at length, missed the mark with
Eutychus.
There’s one kid not coming to church again.
What draws people in? This is a vital question - the question of what
makes church matter, what makes it different than a social agency or
community group. There are few places in this world that create community
out of all generations. Where tots and teens and grandparents and middle
agers choose to spend time together. What draws people in is deeper than
‘giving back,’ or ‘food friends & fun,’ or even the traditions that are
meaningful. Beyond those important things, what reconciles us when we
are longing for something? Or when our hearts are tired, or beaten down?
What is sacred when people don’t even know what they might need?
Let’s picture our church, the street where we live, the grocery store and
who shops there, Kerr Street and all that happens there, the lakeshore, the
bustling swath of homes being built…
With all your heart, what matters? What reconciles us into the Spirit?
Relationship. Hope that abides. Love.
The story in Jeremiah is ancient and awkward too - more than 3000 years
at this point.. I’m not surprised if this story set you off: we try to avoid
sinning and punishment. God decrees a new covenant - promising to
forgive old sins and just worry about the new ones.
This story even tastes bad - it’s still in the lectionary but gets avoided- the
point of sour apples seems too far away.
Let’s give it a try…. These people are exiled - Imagine: being pushed away
from all you know, refugees scrambling to find shelter somewhere new. A
family forced from their neighbourhood due to rental changes, or unsafe
conditions. Leaving a long-lived -in home. Exiled. And you take your
favourite things - toys for the kids, your songs and your favourite foods.
Photographs. Your traditions - “let’s celebrate Thanksgiving even if it’s
amidst moving boxes.” And your stories, sustained as best you can. In
Jeremiah, The elders long heard about punishments for sin lasting for
generations. Sinning isn’t necessarily evil - that gets forgotten. To sin is
simply to “Miss the mark,” sometimes major, but most often, minor like a
gutter ball in bowling, and the important part is that we get chances to do
better next time. So these people who are accused of sinning are running
out of hope. Can the people keep the traditions, keep the faith, while exiled
so far from their temples and holy places?
The younger ones though have a different experience. Of course they do.
They have no memory of the Temple, or the neighbourhood that was home
before. They only know what feels like home now - how the songs sound,
and what new ones they like to sing. How the traditions and stories are
shared. The children in Jeremiah only know the love and the sense of
family that provides meaning now, and draws them back together as God’s
people.
This story is important - and really, our context is similar- we are exiled from
a time when Church was central to everything. 3000 years ago, this is a
big shift at an important time in how the people understood God. No more
fear. No longer will God punish the adults down through the generations -
now we have hope for one another, hope for the future. This God forgives
us all and refreshes us all, with new faithfulness to the covenant.
What roots that community for the work together? What pulls them
together for the long haul is a trust in each other and a love for one another
in their differences. Shared stories that are learned in new languages.
Relationships that see past differences. Ancient songs carried through and
new ones that express a new sacredness. A love for the sacred story and
a love for the people who share it.
As in our Call to worship this morning - “God made you in God’s Image!
And God made me too! God’s love of diversity means that the reconciling,
relentless spirit of Love will use whatever means necessary to covenant
again and again with each of us, and amen to that. Whether it’s coffee
hour or favourite hymns, or a prayer in a different language, or making
space for busy toddlers and tired moms, or supporting Kerr Street
neighbours, or baking meat pies - go back to your heart space. Feel it -
these all create the Kingdom of God. Diverse, relational, loving. Feel that
here. now.
Eutychus will always get bored and sleepy in the corner, and here I am
still talking… Be a champion for Eutychus - maybe he didn’t even come
today and needs you to buy him some fries at the hockey rink. Sit with him,
ask him how he’s really doing. And Paul’s story became overwhelmingly
one of drawing everyone in. Share your love for faith and favourite
traditions, and let someone else see a glimmer of how it matters so much in
your heart! May we be a place of wonderful messy people made in God’s
image, wonderful traditions and new sacred moments, missing the mark
often, but drawn again and BEING together again ; and that is the Way of
our faith.
And so we pray together, in touch with our heart:
Holy Love, reconcile us into one people, champions for each other’s faith;
cherishing one another. Here and now: Heaven on Earth.
Amen.