I’ve been having my devotions in Acts. Today in particularly,
I read Acts 20:1-12. It tells about Paul’s missionary travels. He stops in
Troas with his missions buddies for a week. On his last night, when all the
disciples had gathered together in the upper chamber, he preached to them on
past midnight (a very long sermon.)
One of the guys there, Eutychus, was sitting in the window and fell into a deep
sleep. High, open window ledges and deep sleeping people are horrible
combinations, and as you can imagine, he fell to his death. Paul basically goes
down, embraces him, and brings him back to life. Then everyone goes back up,
eats, talks until day break when it was time for Paul and his team to go.
This reminds me so much of the missions trip I took to
southern Mexico early May. (No, no one died.) We were about 7 people and we
visited several towns, churches, and fellow believers in their homes doing
various ministry activities for two weeks. Really that wasn’t enough time
because even though we split up, we could only stay one night in some places.
Needless to say, we were often up very late talking to people who really wanted
to take advantage of every moment of these missionaries with them, and
missionaries who wanted to take advantage of every moment they had to help and encourage
these believers. As I remember this and try to relate to the Biblical account,
I think about the passionate Paul and his courageous companions, of the
enthusiastic disciples, then there’s Eutychus. And like a good missionary, I
find myself relating to –Eutychus, for I personally found myself physically
unable to keep myself awake sometimes. I think to myself… you know, this is not
very encouraging. My Eutychus heart cries out, “You have no idea the schedule
I’ve had this past week.”, “It’s so hot and humid.”, “I don’t feel well.”, “They
fed me turkey!”, “I am making an
effort –I’m here!”, “I do want to
learn more!”, “I do love these people!”,
or “I’m just human!” Some may say to Eutychus’ defense, we don’t know that he
was the only one to fall asleep; he was just the only one to fall out the
window. True. However, it doesn’t actually matter. It’s easy to justify or
condemn yourself based on how other people live their lives, but it can lead to
a false sense of righteousness or guilt. I know, because it’s my constant
battle. A much better measuring standard is Jesus Christ. What is that you say?
You can never live up to Christ you say? Yeah, I know. And I suppose that’s my
point. We do things we wished we didn’t. Eutychus fell asleep in a window and
died. But, Paul, through the power of the Holy Spirit, raised him from the
dead. He didn’t have to, he graciously did so. (This is where
identifying with Eutychus gets much better.) God shows me grace too –daily. He
embraces me, picks me up, brings me back to the abundant life, provides for me,
and speaks to my heart. When I try to prove myself, I fight grace. When I
accept who I am in Christ, I rest in grace. So, today I identify with Eutychus,
and it’s not so bad after all.
Just a few pictures of our trip down south. :)
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| We saw the beach for the first time from the interstate and just had to pull over! |
