A Patron Saint For Baptists

It’s a new day in book-reading since audio books and podcasts abound. And many bibliophiles now prefer e-books. Bookshelves can pile up with a lifetime of book purchases and handling boxes of books can be backbreaking when moving to a new place.

I was interested in a discussion about books I heard in a recent ministers meeting. One participant said he listens to audio books, and sometimes listens to fiction audiobooks as he goes to sleep. I wondered if this particular reading counts in the number of pages he records in his journal, or how he’d even know.

Falling asleep with an audio book is like those I know who have the TV going in order to sleep. Neither idea seems to contribute anything to the learning process!

The late Norman Vincent Peale used to joke that people are so anxiety-ridden today that they can’t even sleep in church anymore.

But I’ve known a number of worshippers who seem not to be able to keep their eyes open when they settle in at church.

Some have said to me, “Preacher, I’m listening. I’m just resting my eyes.”

But a beneficial ministry of many a wife is the well-delivered “elbow in the side” that rouses her husband when sleep degenerates into snoring.

One of the great stories in the New Testament is what I call the story of St. Eutychus, the patron saint of Baptists, since he fell asleep in church (Acts 20).

The apostle Paul was returning to Jerusalem from his final missionary journey when he decided to spend a week in Troy. This was the same city in which he’d received his well-known Macedonian vision that sent him to Greece with the gospel. On the evening before his departure, Paul had much to say and he preached past midnight.

Eutychus is described as a young man, perhaps a teen-ager, who fell asleep and fell from the window where he sat.

Dr. Luke is a bit obtuse since we don’t know if the miracle was that Eutychus was unhurt or that Paul prayed for him and he regained health.

Whatever the case, it always gives me hope to read that at least one person fell asleep when Paul preached, though I’ve never had anyone fall from an open window when I’ve been expositing.

Of course I jest a bit. The opportunity to worship is a grand invitation and one that demands our full faculties. We deal with matters of utmost concern and must pay attention to what God says in his word.

Perhaps one worthy practice is to turn off the late-night television on Saturday and, like John, strive to be “in the spirit on the Lord’s Day” (Revelation 1:10). -30-

“Reflections” is a weekly faith column written by Michael J. Brooks, pastor of the Siluria Baptist Church, Alabaster, Alabama. The church’s website is siluriabaptist.com.