Back to Life
2023 rolled into Little Rock with warmer temps and sunny skies. The cold of the last week has been swept away, and the first Sunday of the year came in like a champ. Vibrant and full of life. Kind of a perfect segue into our first sermon recap of the year. I will not keep you waiting. Let’s dive right in.
Acts 20:7-12 recounts an alarming event that happens during a church service. A young man named Eutychus sits in a window as Paul is preaching. And I have to commend him for coming to hear this preaching. Mostly because I am not a night owl and scripture says that Paul was still preaching at midnight. The room has been lit by a multitude of lamps. The atmosphere has been set and preaching is going forth. Funny thing though…my boy Eutychus is tired. He starts to doze off. Eventually, he loses his fight with sleep and goes from dozing to full-on sleep. And then…well…he falls out of that window on the third floor and dies.
What a way to shake up a service. Of course, that was not Eutychus’s intent. He was just tired. Like many of the people that fill the pews in church on Sunday mornings. We are present physically but fighting a spiritual drowsiness. Well, some of us are no longer fighting that drowsiness. We are moments away from full-on spiritual sleep and death. Just like Eutychus. So what do we do? You know I am all about practical solutions and get excited when I get some real-world application tips.
First things first. Be honest when you are exhausted. Tell somebody. Do not be too holy or too saved to admit that you are worn out. Which can be easier said than done. Saying the words out loud does not mean that you love Jesus less. It is an acknowledgment that you need to be refreshed and revived. It is a chance to reach out for help and receive some of the love and attention that you likely give all the time. It’s also an opportunity to find out that you are not alone. Christians are called to be the hands and feet of Jesus, and that means we are a people of action. If you are in a community of believers that are actively involved in carrying out His commands, chances are that you are not the only one who feels that way at times. Say something. No one wants you to go into a spiritual sleep and certainly, no one wants you to experience spiritual death.
Or maybe, just maybe, you have already crossed over into a spiritual death. Physically, you look great—a new dress, killer heels, and not a hair out of place. I mean, praise the Lord that you come to church every Sunday. That’s something right??? Perfect marks for attendance but just dead on the inside. You can’t ask for help because dead people don’t talk. You may not even be aware that you have passed away. Let’s do a pulse check. Can you name 1 principle from a sermon that you have applied in your life? I’m not talking about perfection. I mean just 1 principle that you have been intentional about putting into practice. We are supposed to be continually changing and evolving. We can get too familiar with God’s goodness and grace towards us and start to doze. You may not be dead, but it is so easy to go from dozing to full-on sleep and then death.
Eutychus’s story does not end when he hits the ground and dies. Paul goes downstairs, falls on Eutychus, and embraces him. He meets Eutychus in his dead situation and declares that life is in him. And Eutychus comes back to life. How did that pulse check go for you? Are you dozing? Are you fast asleep? Have you quietly passed away while sitting in the pew? I’ve got great news for you. THERE IS LIFE IN YOU. God created you with a specific purpose in mind. I don’t know what it is. But He does. And I am encouraging you to come back to life. Reach out for help if you need it. But also be willing to help others that you notice dozing. Speak life into dead situations. Somebody is waiting for your voice to help them come back to life. #wepreach
