Bewildered But Not Afraid

Reflection delivered on Confirmation Sunday, May 19, 2024 at Brown Memorial Park Avenue Presbyterian Church

Scripture

Acts 2:1-21

When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. And suddenly from heaven there came a sound like the rush of a violent wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among them, and a tongue rested on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability.

Now there were devout Jews from every people under heaven living in Jerusalem. And at this sound the crowd gathered and was bewildered, because each one heard them speaking in the native language of each. Amazed and astonished, they asked, “Are not all these who are speaking Galileans? And how is it that we hear, each of us, in our own native language? Parthians, Medes, Elamites, and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya belonging to Cyrene, and visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, Cretans and Arabs—in our own languages we hear them speaking about God’s deeds of power.” All were amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, “What does this mean?” But others sneered and said, “They are filled with new wine.”

But Peter, standing with the eleven, raised his voice and addressed them, “Fellow Jews and all who live in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and listen to what I say. Indeed, these are not drunk, as you suppose, for it is only nine o’clock in the morning. No, this is what was spoken through the prophet Joel:

‘In the last days it will be, God declares,
that I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh,
    and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy,
and your young men shall see visions,
    and your old men shall dream dreams.
Even upon my slaves, both men and women,
    in those days I will pour out my Spirit,
        and they shall prophesy.
And I will show portents in the heaven above
    and signs on the earth below,
        blood, and fire, and smoky mist.
The sun shall be turned to darkness
    and the moon to blood,
        before the coming of the Lord’s great and glorious day.
Then everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.’

Sermon

In each of the beautiful, wonderful reflections we’ve heard, we’ve caught glimpses of what’s happened over this confirmation journey. We have played games together, ripped apart magazines and glued them into collages, and we’ve traveled to Massanetta and back.

And though we’re celebrating what’s already happened, the path we’ve walked up to this moment, we haven’t heard about what’s next. What’s on the road ahead? And what do we need to celebrate even though it’s sequestered in the future?

Though all of us live in the midst of transition and transience, we have the habit of pretending it mostly happens in adolescence and young adulthood, and then pewters out sometime in our 20s or 30s. But for adolescents and young adults, it’s truly impossible to ignore. “What do you want to do when you grow up?” “You’re going to college? What are you going to major in?” “How are you going to make the most of high school?” On and on and on, adolescents and young adults are smacked in the face with our own anxieties about the future and our own soothsaying about their transitions.

But as all of us will hear during these confirmands’ anointing, they will be charged to be thankful, knowing that in all of this uncertainty, it is the Spirit at work within and around them. That’s important for us to notice. In all this transition and uncertainty, it is the Spirit at work within and around it. Today on Pentecost, we see what it means for the Spirit to be at work within and around transition. 

This morning’s Scripture is a bit of a coming-of-age story. When Jesus ascends, the disciples are left to their own devices, trying to grapple with the seismic changes in how they live, how they relate to others, and how they will relate to God and the world. It is in that moment, in that coming of age and all its transition, that the disciples encounter the Spirit of God. And they are changed forever by that encounter with God.

The Scripture says that the people watching this coming-of-age encounter with God are “bewildered,” at what is happening. But though they are bewildered, confused, left with more questions than answers, they are not afraid. When the Spirit moves, it’s bewildering. 

Confirmands, whatever happens from here–whether it’s about education, relationships, successes, failures, mistakes, or something else altogether–it’s going to be full of twists and turns. As the Spirit moves you and stirs in your hearts and lives, it’s going to get weirder. Though each of you, and me, and everyone in this room might be bewildered and confused by what happens next, it’s okay. Because God calls us to be bewildered, but not afraid.

And confirmands, when you feel like you’re by yourself, when you don’t feel like there’s anyone on your side, the day of Pentecost shows us something different. God will be within you and around you, every second of every day, on every day of joy and every day of sorrow or pain. You might be by yourself, but you are never alone.

That’s the good news of the Gospel, the truth that flows from every baptism and every fruit of the Spirit. Though we will certainly be bewildered, we never need to be afraid. And though we might be by ourselves, we are never alone. Bewildered, but not afraid; by ourselves, but never alone. Thanks be to God.

“Though each of you, and me, and everyone in this room might be bewildered and confused by what happens next, it’s okay. Because God calls us to be bewildered, but not afraid.”