Acts 20:7-12

Summary retelling of Acts 20:7-12

Paul gathers with the disciples in order to worship and celebrate communion (breaking of the bread).  As any good person who is called to speak on God’s Word can, Paul talked late into the evening.  As often happens during a talk about God’s Word, someone falls asleep.  In this case it is a young man named Eutychus, and when he falls asleep he actually falls out of a window.  They originally thought that he was dead, but Paul went down and announced that he wasn’t dead but still had life within him.  Paul then went back up into the room, continued his teaching, and celebrated communion.  The spiritual conversation continued through the night and even into daybreak the next day.  Eutychus was taken away just fine.

Thoughts for Today

First Thought:

Paul celebrates communion.  This might seem like a small point.  It might seem like a no brainer.  But it is important.  Paul remembers the Lord’s death and His promised resurrection.  So do we.  When we celebrate the Lord’s Supper, we are tapping into a tradition that many people have celebrated for many years.  We become a part of a great cloud of witnesses, joining them in a most holy act that brings honor to God.  Communion is first and foremost about fellowship with God, but it is also about fellowship with the saints across time and space.

Do you always treat communion seriously?  What may take away from communion?  What helps you take it more seriously?

Second Thought:

What may be perhaps even more amazing is that the people wanted to speak spiritually throughout the night.  We are told that what should have ended went until midnight … and then went until the next morning!  While we do not experience this every day, the reality is that spiritual people do want to be in one another’s presence and they do want to talk and learn the faith from one another.

How do you experience this sense of fellowship?  In your mind, are most Christians interested in this fellowship or are most Christians interested in getting to their agenda of the day’s events?

Third Thought:

Something should be said of Euthychus.  First, he falls out a window and survives – thanks be to God.  Second, the incident does allow the people to show compassion for him as they stop the spiritual time to check on him.  Third, when he is okay, they go back to spiritual time with one another.  It is neat to see a community flow from the spiritual to the needs of the world and then smoothly back into the spiritual as if nothing happened.

Have you ever seen this kind of spirituality in practice?  In your opinion, can most people shift gears and go from spiritual to worldly concerns and back to spirituality with any kind of ease?

Passage for Tomorrow: Acts 20:13-16