Episode 1175
What Happens When Someone Falls While the Church Keeps Talking?
The principal focus of today's discourse centers on the imperative of nurturing a compassionate community within the church, particularly in the context of individuals who may feel marginalized or have fallen away. We examine a poignant biblical narrative wherein the Apostle Paul demonstrates profound empathy by physically intervening to restore a young man, Euthysias, who has succumbed to fatigue and ultimately falls from a window during a lengthy sermon. This act serves as a metaphorical call to action, urging us to reach out to those who have metaphorically "fallen out" of our congregations, rather than allowing them to languish in isolation. Furthermore, we underscore the significance of communal meals as a vital component of faith, positing that shared experiences around the table foster deeper connections than mere sermons. As we reflect upon these themes, we invite our listeners to consider practical steps they may take to reconnect with those who have drifted away, emphasizing the essence of presence and support over doctrinal correctness.
Takeaways:
- The podcast emphasizes the necessity of making the church a place where individuals who have faltered are welcomed back, rather than being abandoned.
- It is articulated that the communal meal, a shared experience of fellowship, holds greater significance than the sermon itself in nurturing a community.
- Listeners are encouraged to actively reach out to those who have distanced themselves from the community, showing compassion rather than offering lectures.
- The narrative illustrates the importance of personal presence and emotional support for those in distress, as exemplified by Paul's actions towards Euthysias.
- A call to action is made for church leaders and members to be attentive to those who may feel isolated, urging them to extend a hand of kindness.
- The podcast concludes with a reminder that God’s enduring love and mercy are renewed each day, reinforcing the message of hope and support.
Links referenced in this episode:
The "Daily Bible Refresh" is presented each day by Rev. Dr. Brad Miller who has a goal of speaking a bit of the bible into two million ears (one million people) in three years (2025-2028).
He is the author of "The A, B, C-1,2,3 Bible Study Guide" Free to you by clicking HERE.
Brad served as a local church pastor for forty years and has a background in radio and podcasting. Moreover, he is a life-long student of The Bible.
He believes in the words of Jesus that “scripture is fulfilled in your hearing” (Luke 4:21)
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Transcript
Hello my friend Dr. Brad Miller here with the Daily Bible Refresh.
Speaker A:This is your daily reading of the Bible from a progressive point of view.
Speaker A:In a bit I will read the New Testament lesson selected from the Revised Common Lectionary for this very day.
Speaker A:The reading is understandable.
Speaker A:I use the message version relatable.
Speaker A:Please listen to the points to ponder and applicable with action steps you can take.
Speaker A:We pray and are done in less than 10 minutes.
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Speaker B: eading the reading today Acts: Speaker B:Our plan was to leave first in the morning, but Paul talked on way past midnight.
Speaker B:We were meeting in a well lighted upper room.
Speaker B:A young man named Euthysias was sitting in an open window.
Speaker B:As Paul went on and on, Eutyus fell sound asleep and toppled out of the third story window.
Speaker B:When they picked him up, he was dead.
Speaker B:Paul went down, stretched himself on him and hugged him hard.
Speaker B:No more crying, he said.
Speaker B:There's life in him yet.
Speaker B:Then Paul got up and served the Master Supper and went on telling stories of the faith until dawn.
Speaker B:On that note, they left Paul going one way, the congregation another, leading the boy off alive and full of life themselves.
Speaker B:Well, I gotta tell you this, that ends the reading of this passage.
Speaker B:I just want to hit home to hits home to me because I'm one of those kids who grow up occasionally bored in church falling asleep.
Speaker B:Have you been there or done that?
Speaker B:I've been on both sides of it.
Speaker B:I'm a preacher's kid, grew up in a pastor's home and sometimes I would just get bored.
Speaker B:And then I spent 43 years as a pastor myself and I know my own kids and other kids I knew would get bored sometimes fall asleep thinking I was preaching too long.
Speaker B:Well, it can't happen, can't it?
Speaker B:It's kind of funny I think about when I read this passage.
Speaker B:I can't help but get a chuckle about it because it just reminds me of how this goes on.
Speaker B:But it talks here about how what Paul did, even though Paul was obviously the guy who Was long winded.
Speaker B:Here Paul stretched himself out over the young boy and good things happened.
Speaker B:Hmm.
Speaker B:Let's talk today about falling asleep in church and being awake to Christ.
Speaker B:Let's talk about some points to ponder.
Speaker B:There's a lot to to chew on here.
Speaker B:Two things I want us to deal with.
Speaker B:The first point to ponder is this.
Speaker B:The church should be a place where people who fall get picked up, not written off.
Speaker B:U falls.
Speaker B:He literally falls out of the community gathering.
Speaker B:From a third story window no less.
Speaker B:But he falls out of the gathering.
Speaker B:It's kind of a metaphor for people who do fall out of favor, so to speak, in the church.
Speaker B:But it doesn't have to be the end of the story.
Speaker B:Notice what Paul does.
Speaker B:He doesn't stay up in the well lit room and just go on and on.
Speaker B:He keep and keep preaching.
Speaker B:He doesn't say, well, he should have been paying closer attention.
Speaker B:And if he goes down, he leaves the room, he's out of here.
Speaker B:No, he goes out to where Uthys is at, broken on the ground, left for dead, basically outside the building.
Speaker B:And he stretches his own body across the young man and holds him tightly.
Speaker B:Can you imagine that scene?
Speaker B:In a way it's kind of like mouth to mouth resuscitation or total body absorption, total investment, if you will, body to body.
Speaker B:That image of body to body, it kind of wrecks me a little bit because I think there's a lot of people who've fallen out of our churches and we just kind of let them go.
Speaker B:Maybe they've fallen asleep to the faith or somehow or another somebody stops speaking to somebody in their real lives and maybe they are pushed out by some bad church experience or rigid theology and there is no room for questions and no room for doubt and no room for their identity to be shared.
Speaker B:And too often the church just keeps on going.
Speaker B:Act like nothing happened, as if nothing happened.
Speaker B:A progressive Jesus shaped faith says we stop the program and go down to the wounded party, the one who's hurt, the one who's fallen out and go downstairs, go out in the street, go and meet the people on the ground where they actually are, where the brokenness is actually happening.
Speaker B:Go to them and stretch ourselves out to them, give ourselves up for them.
Speaker B:In my cancer podcast, which I have, I talk that people are sometimes barely hanging in there and the last thing they need is a lecture or something like that.
Speaker B:They need somebody's willing to come out and stretch out for them.
Speaker B:Will they come down to where they are and just hold on?
Speaker B:Second point to ponder the meal matters more than the sermon.
Speaker B:Did you get that?
Speaker B:The communal meal, the community belt that developed around the meal matters more than the sermon.
Speaker B:I really find that fascinating here because in this whole dramatic event, what does Paul do?
Speaker B:He goes back upstairs and he serves the master supper, the table, the bread and the cup, the shared meal.
Speaker B:And that's the center of gravity in the story.
Speaker B:Paul talks for hours and hours.
Speaker B:He could.
Speaker B:He's a long winded guy.
Speaker B:And yes, but the thing that the writer of Luke makes sure the name twice, is that they broke bread, they had a meal together.
Speaker B:My wife and I have been married for 34 years and I could tell you there's the moments that I hold our family together are not the lectures I did or someone else did that held our family together.
Speaker B:They were.
Speaker B:It was meals, it was family time, it was trips together, it was the table, it was showing up, it was passing the bread, it was being present with each other.
Speaker B:And I think every church understands something we have sometimes forgotten.
Speaker B:Community isn't built by one person talking and everybody else listening.
Speaker B:It's built around a table where everyone belongs and everyone is fed.
Speaker B:So when we center our faith around a sermon on having the right answers, the right doctrine, the perfect theology, people could fall asleep and fall out the window.
Speaker B:But when we center on faith around the table, on showing up and sharing faith, people walk away full of life.
Speaker B:Just like this story, one of my favorite stories from the Bible.
Speaker B:Here's your action step for the week.
Speaker B:Think of somebody who's in your life or your church or your community, who's fallen out, who's drifted away from your community, from your life, maybe your family.
Speaker B:Don't lecture, don't do a sermon, don't argue.
Speaker B:Reach out with a simple hug, a tight hook, or some way that you can say, I'm thinking of you.
Speaker B:Want to get a cup of coffee?
Speaker B:Want to talk?
Speaker B:Go where they are.
Speaker B:That's the whole thing.
Speaker B:I want to come back and have a prayer here in just a second.
Speaker B:They want you to know that we've got another gift for you.
Speaker B:Our gift is a Bible study method that you can do at home.
Speaker B:It's called the ABC123 Bible Study Method and you get it free at our website, voiceofgoddaily.com let's pray.
Speaker B:God.
Speaker B:We confess that sometimes we've been so busy keeping the program going that we miss the people falling out of the window.
Speaker B:We prioritize being right over being present.
Speaker B:We've let people hit the ground while staying comfortable in our well.
Speaker B:Lit rooms.
Speaker B:Teach us to go downstairs.
Speaker B:Teach us to stretch ourselves out towards the ones who've fallen, not with lectures, but with arms wide open.
Speaker B:Remind us that your table is always the center, and that there's room at it for the sleepy, the doubtful, the ones who couldn't stay awake for one more minute but are starving for something real.
Speaker B:And Lord, for anyone listening right now who feels a little bit like Euthysias, like they fell and nobody noticed, would you whisper to them what Paul said?
Speaker B:No more crying.
Speaker B:There is life in you yet.
Speaker B:We believe in that.
Speaker B:Help us live like we believe that.
Speaker B:Amen.
Speaker A:My friend, I am delighted you chose to join me for today's reading.
Speaker A:The Daily Bible Refresh is coming completely listener supported.
Speaker A: on years, a million people by: Speaker A:I would be so grateful if you would go to voiceofgodddaily.com and share your gift of any amount.
Speaker A:Thanks much.
Speaker A:My name is Dr. Brad Miller and I'll be right here tomorrow with your Daily Bible Refresh.
Speaker A:Please subscribe and tag your friends until tomorrow.
Speaker A:Remember, God's loyal love doesn't run out.
Speaker A:His merciful love hasn't dried up, it's created new every morning.
