Too Much Talk

This is one of my favorite little stories in Luke's Acts of the Apostles.

On the first day of the week, when we met to break bread, Paul was holding a discussion with them; since he intended to leave the next day, he continued speaking until midnight. There were many lamps in the room upstairs where we were meeting. 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. But Paul went down, and bending over him took him in his arms, and said, ‘Do not be alarmed, for his life is in him.’ Then Paul went upstairs, and after he had broken bread and eaten, he continued to converse with them until dawn; then he left. Meanwhile they had taken the boy away alive and were not a little comforted. - Acts 20:7-12

I have to admit, I am a lot like Eutychus. If someone rambles on and on, my eyelids get really heavy and I start to drift away. So, I feel for the boy.

But I can't help but hear this story as a comedic pratfall.  And I wonder if those who heard it back in Paul's day and later would have had a great belly laugh over it.  It is kind of like a Charlie Chaplin bit, where he falls a great distance and then dusts himself off and walks away swinging his cane.

If the young boy had died and not been brought back, the story would not have the same effect.  It would be very dark humor if humor at all.

So, the outcomes matter.  

And once Paul let the crowd know the boy still had life in him, he went back to his discussion, after having something to eat.  

Now maybe the breaking of bread was the Holy Eucharist, and it was a way of giving thanks, but Luke doesn't articulate that.  It is as though he wants us to see Paul as determined to get the word to the people, since he was leaving early the next day.

I have known people like that.  They plug away at the task at hand, regardless of what obstacles or problems they encounter.  While it is an admirable quality, it can be misunderstood, as though one has no compassion.

We don't know the condition of the boy, only that he had been taken away alive.  But he must have been ok if they were not upset.

So, what is the message for us here? 

If this was a moral tale, it might be that we should not talk too much.  How many sermon and speech writers would take offense at that?

But another message might be to trust in God and continue to strive to do His work, regardless of the pitfalls we encounter.  Distractions will happen.  We need to be willing to pick up the pieces and carry on.

More to come...