A young man named Eutychus, who was sitting in the window, began to sink off into a deep sleep while Paul talked still longer. Overcome by sleep, he fell to the ground three floors below and was picked up dead.
–Acts 20:9
He snoozed, and he “losed”.
Eutychus fell alseep, tipped backwards through a window, and fell three floors to his death.
The reason? Paul wouldn’t stop talking.
I’ve been there, Eutychus. Some people have so much to say. Maybe too much. I don’t know how the others folks felt in that room, but I’d have long since felt overloaded. I would have gone home at 10:30.
However, Eutychus’s night wasn’t over. Paul rushed downstairs to check on the boy and declared that he was okay after all.
How did they celebrate this miraculous recovery? Paul led Eutychus back upstairs, where Paul continued talking.
For five more hours.
This is Paul, we’re talking about. Who wouldn’t pay a fortune to hear Paul speak in person?
Umm…
I’m going to go on record offering my support to Eutychus. I don’t think I’d want to listen to anybody talk for six or eight hours. I don’t even know if I physically could pay attention that long.
To give you some perspective, the largest collection of Jesus’ teaching that we have in scripture is the Sermon on The Mount in Matthew. Do you know how long it would take for someone to read it out loud? 20 minutes.
I find that interesting, because most pastors I know try to keep their sermons to 20 minutes. I don’t think it’s because of Jesus’s Sermon. I think it’s because people can only digest so much material at once.
I do know that there are pastors who speak for 45 minutes at a go. Usually, it’s a different format for worship, and if they can keep attention that long, terrific. And there are cultures different from mine where worship can last for hours.
But for me, after about 20 minutes, my mind begins to wander. I’ll see it in faces in my congregation, too. If I go a bit too long, I see a few folks checking their phones. Twice, I’ve actually woken people who had fallen asleep!
Luckily, they weren’t in a window. But speaking of “windows”…what’s your window of receptivity? Reading, studying, listening, we all have limits to what we can ingest. I’ve found that pushing beyond those limits can be detrimental.
So, I guess this is a polite suggestion to Paul. You’re awesome, guy. You’ve done some fantastic work and changed the course of history.
But, you don’t have to share all the Good News in one setting. There are lots of ways to convey the love of God without putting people to sleep!
Maybe public speaking isn’t your biggest gift.
Next time, may I suggest…
sending a letter?
Have a great week,
Mitch
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