By C. Robert Wetzel
On his third missionary journey, Paul had arranged to rendezvous with some of his coworkers at Troas. Arriving there, he stayed for several days so he could meet with the church. He knew they would be meeting on the first day of the week to observe the Lord”s Supper. The meeting proved to be surprisingly eventful (Acts 20:7-12).
I wonder how the people at Troas remembered Paul”s visit? “That was the longest sermon I ever heard,” recalled one man.
“Far too long,” said the mother of Eutychus. “I know the boy should not have gone to sleep, and he certainly shouldn”t have been sitting in the window of a second-story building. But couldn”t Paul have wrapped up his sermon after an hour or two without going on till midnight? I don”t mean to be ungrateful. Yes, Paul did restore him to life. But I could have done without the fright of thinking I had lost my son.”
Alas, poor Eutychus! With whatever else he did with his life, he was remembered only as the young man who went to sleep during Paul”s sermon and fell out of a second-story window!
Perhaps years later, when most of the people had passed on, an old elder was teaching some young people in the congregation. “Let me tell you about the time I had Communion with the apostle Paul. . . .” It was indeed a memorable Communion.
As we come to the Lord”s table each Lord”s Day, it is a time of remembrance, a time to remember the new life we have in Christ.
Robert Wetzel, retired after serving as president of Emmanuel Christian Seminary for 15 years, still lives in Johnson City, Tennessee.
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