Burning Lamps

Readings; Psalm 131, Isaiah 9:2-7, Matthew 6:25-34, Acts 20:7-12
Preached at First Presbyterian Church, Baldwin, NY, June 1st 2014

A printable PDF file can be found here

Our Bible reading from the Acts of the Apostles spoke of Paul's last visit to Troas.  Come with me and picture the scene on that day. It's late. We're in an upstairs room, gathered to here the words of a great man, a great preacher. We're all crammed together, like sardines, because he's going away tomorrow and we'll never have a chance to hear him again. As he speaks we are hanging on every word.

Sitting on the window sill is John Smiths son Jimmy.  The preachers been talking for a while. It's late. Jimmy is starting to nod off.  In fact he literally 'Falls asleep', falls out of the upstairs window onto the ground.  "Oh No!" shouts somebody "Jimmy just fell out the window!"

There is a great commotion as we all push and shove down a narrow flight of stairs out into the street of the town.  At this late hour lights start going on in the surrounding homes as people are awakened by our commotion. Mrs. Smith runs over to where Jimmy lies, picks up his head.. he's not breathing... there's no pulse. It can't be. He's dead?  A silence descends on us all as a couple of the guys try and offer help. We stand around like dummies in a shop window.

Then the preacher makes his way through the crowd.  He hadn't rushed down stairs like the rest of us.  He beckons the guys trying to revive Jimmy out of the way and throws himself down on the ground next to Jimmy's corpse and hugs him.  You don't know what to do.  It's embarrassing.  Visiting preachers don't usually embrace corpses. 'Don't worry', He smiles as he gets to his feet, 'He's still alive'.

The lad opens his eyes, sits up, looks around and gives the kind of look that says, "What am I doing down here, why are you all staring at me, and am I grounded for this?" We run back up stairs, some dumfounded, some talking... "He can't really have been dead". "He was y'know, I felt for a pulse..."

We share together in broken bread and then settle down to listen to what the speaker has to say.  This time nobody drops off to sleep, but everybody is encouraged and comforted and when we do finally leave it is with a great sense of peace, joy and wonderment.

Such is a similar scenario to what  took place when the apostle Paul visited Troas.  It's one of the few pictures in Scripture of what happened when Christians in the early church met for worship.  Apart from warning about the dangers of falling asleep during the sermon, it has a whole lot to teach us about what Christian worship could be like. One of the most illuminating verses in the passage comes at Acts 20, verse 8. "Many lamps were burning in the upstairs room."

I'm sure it was literally true, they would need lamps because it was dark.  But you can also interpret this verse in a spiritual sense.  In Troas many peoples hearts were burning with the desire to serve and follow Jesus Christ, catching fire under the influence of the Holy Spirit.  It is in that spiritual sense I'd like to think on those words today, "Many lamps were burning", for many hearts were hungry for God to speak.

The result of those burning lamps was worship that had a dynamic intensity.  Theologian, Karl Barth, a man of great depth and intellect, penned these challenging words. "Christian worship is the most momentous, the most urgent, the most glorious action that can take place in human life."  I'm not the only one who has been in services where the most momentous thing that has happened has been if the pastor has tripped on the steps or someone has dropped a hymnbook!

Christian worship is meant to be dynamic.  Whether or not it is depends on how brightly the light of Christ burns in our hearts.  Many lamps were burning in the upstairs room.   But what set those people alight? Their worship was focused on the great drama of crucifixion and resurrection. At the center of any Christian worship service must be a profound appreciation of the death of Jesus Christ and his subsequent resurrection to life. It is that experience of death being overcome by life that lies at the heart of the gospel message. It is towards that experience that the celebration of communion directs us.

It was a message that was vividly demonstrated by Paul's revival of Eutychus, the young man who fell out of the window.  It is a message reinforced time and time again in the New Testament.  Think, for example, of the Fathers words over the prodigal son who returned home.  "He was dead, but now he's alive, Lost but now he's found".

Every year, till he passed away, I received a Christmas Card from Rev Eric Evans, a retired Welsh Presbyterian minister and ex-Moderator of the Presbyterian Church in Wales, who attended the church I was nurtured in, that of Moreton Presbyterian in Merseyside, England.  As a young person in that church, we always loved it when Eric preached.  He was a fiery preacher.  He'd shout when he was excited. He'd bang on the bible and wake up the little old ladies who had fallen asleep on the back rows.  He had a few phrases that always let you know when a good story was coming, usually something along the lines of, "I remember a time when I was driving my car to Cardiff".

When I received a call to the ministry Eric was delighted.  He  used to write me encouraging letters at college.  In one of them, after I'd preached at Hoylake, he wrote; "Adrian, if I had one word of advice for you it would be this. Preach often on the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.  There are many things you can talk about, all sorts of interesting subjects you can preach about, but only the message of the crucifixion and the resurrection can bring a person from death to life and out of darkness  into the light.  Your calling is not to entertain people with fine words but to set them on fire with the Holy Spirit.".

One thing that can set our worship alive is to have that individual appreciation of what Jesus Christ has done for us.  He died for us and was raised for us and because of God's grace we are saved.

I find it fascinating to attend events where people get really excited about their salvation in Christ.  Because, after all, remember I am British. And we're bred not to be excited about anything except for football matches and cricket games. The 'stiff upper lip' and keeping your feelings to yourself, they're one of the few things the British could beat the world at if only they'd make it an Olympic Sport.

But; unless you have a bit of the Lord's fire in your life, it is nigh on impossible to really worship Him. What are we going to sing about if all those hymns about salvation are outside our experience? How can we be excited about prayer if we've decided we are not the praying type?  How can we draw near to God if we have intellectually distanced our self from the personal, Parent God of Scripture who reveals God's love to us in Jesus Christ?

There were many lamps burning in the upstairs room. Many hearts excited about their faith and coming to worship in expectancy. What is burning in our heart this day? What are the burning concerns that we have brought to this time of worship? What burns in us?

Could be fear. "What is the world coming to. How can I cope with this?" Could be complacency. "I'm all right. I don't need a Savior. "Could be unbelief. "Don't care what any preacher says.  I'm going to do my own thing." Could be desire. "I want this, I want that and unless I get it I will never be satisfied"

What burns within us? We have an idea what we should be thinking about in church. We know, maybe, why we should come to church. But what really burns in us? What do we really want? The answer we give will determine how dynamic and momentous our worship is!

Eutychus, in our bible reading, wasn't burning with much desire, except to go to sleep.  He couldn't stay awake.  He fell out of the window.  He was dead when they got downstairs. I know people fall asleep sometimes in church.  I can see you all from the pulpit. So, listen, if your feeling sleepy, get out of the pew and sit in the window ledge.  Then think about what happened to Eutychus and I guarantee you won't find it so easy to snooze.

Ephesians 5:15 has these words, which maybe Paul spoke to Eutychus. "Awake sleeper, and rise from death, and Christ will shine on you".  Eutychus woke up. Eutychus rose from death. Eutychus knew that Christ's light shone on him, and that night many lamps were burning in the upstairs room. Jesus said, "You are like light for the whole world. Your light must shine before people so that they will see the good things you do and Praise your Father in heaven." There is a way to be light in a dark world.  God says so.  The light is rekindled through worship.  As the Westminster Catechism puts it, "The chief end of man is to glorify God and enjoy Him for ever.

There were many lamps burning in the upstairs room, because there had been many lamps burning throughout the past week.  At times maybe they flickered.  Some may even have gone out altogether.  Some were still waiting to be lit. But when the people of God come together with their minds set on worship, hearts are set on fire to serve the Lord.

Praise God we have been granted another opportunity to rekindle our faith.  May our burning desire right now be to enter into communion with Jesus Christ, that God's  Spirit may renew our lives and that His Presence be our guide throughout the days that lie ahead.

"There were many lamps burning in the upstairs room." AMEN!

The Reverend Adrian J. Pratt B.D.