Bewildered

And at this sound the crowd gathered and was bewildered,

because each one heard them speaking in the native language of each. Acts 2:6

Dear Friends,

Last Sunday was our celebration of the Day of Pentecost. Our opening scripture was the story of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit upon the apostles on the Day of Pentecost. Sometimes when I am reading a Scripture, there is a particular word that grabs my attention. I’ve learned to pay attention to that to see if God can use it to open up a new learning or insight. That is what happened when I read the Pentecost passage… and the word was “bewildered.”

This is not a word that I use very much but (I think) what drew my attention to it was that it included the word “wild” in it. On that Pentecost Day 2000 years ago, it seemed like it was a rather wild day…

Loud rushing wind…

Tongues like flames appearing above people’s heads…

People speaking in languages that they had never spoken before…

Everyone rushing out to see what was going on…

It does sound a little be-wild-ering.

When I went to my Greek Interlinear to see what the original Greek word was (that was translated as bewildered), I hoped to find something that reinforced this theme of something wild happening. The word used is συνεχύθη (pronounced synechythē). It has the sense of many things being mixed together: confused, chaotic, in an uproar. Though I didn’t find etymological support, I still find this idea of something occurring as wild as helpful.

Things that are wild are different, uncontrolled, untamed and even unpredictable. When we are around something wild, our senses are heightened and we tend to pay more attention. This is part of the allure of going camping or hiking and exposing ourselves to nature. It has a way of re-centering us and waking us up.

We might be headed for a bewildering time here at FLC… at least with coffee! Kelly is handing off her office and building manager duties to our new Office and Building Manager, Elsa Sawatzki. She is handing off her Sunday morning hospitality duties to us! That means things like communion set-up, offering, greeting set-up & takedown, announcements, and, yes, coffee prep will be done by folks from the congregation. That means things will be a little less predictable, controlled and normal… In other words, bewildering! Our hope is that as new people are trained in these things and are given the opportunity to provide this service to their fellow members and guests that they will experience the joy and fulfillment that comes from this service.

If you would like to be part of our Sunday morning hospitality, look for the sign-up sheet in the lobby or just contact myself, Yvonne, Kelly or Elsa!

Peace and bewilderment,

Pastor Phil