Acts 2:1-21; Pentecost and the Uses of Confusion I

"When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. 2 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. 3 Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among them, and a tongue rested on each of them. 4 All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability.5 Now there were devout Jews from every nation under heaven living in Jerusalem. 6 And at this sound the crowd gathered and was bewildered, because each one heard them speaking in the native language of each. 7 Amazed and astonished, they asked, ‘Are not all these who are speaking Galileans? 8 And how is it that we hear, each of us, in our own native language? 9 Parthians, Medes, Elamites, and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, 10 Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya belonging to Cyrene, and visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, 11 Cretans and Arabs—in our own languages we hear them speaking about God’s deeds of power.’ 12 All were amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, ‘What does this mean?’ 13 But others sneered and said, ‘They are filled with new wine.’"

Pentecost and Confusion

This familiar story is about confusion and interpretation. It is about what we do when we think we hear something that sounds too good to be true and when someone interprets what we have heard in a completely new direction from what we have been taught. In so probing these themes, the Pentecost story can be fruitfully seen as an encouragement to think through how we relate to the deep confusions of our life, on the uses of persuasion, and on the way we reorient ourselves to new truths in our midst.

As you see, in this first paragraph I talked about none of the familiar Pentecost themes. Those, frankly, are so hackneyed and oft-repeated as to smother the meaning of what is really taking place on that first Pentecost of the Church. That is, I could easily have laid out a pleasant two-part outline as follows: I. The Senses of Pentecost (vv. 1-13), emphasizing the sound of Pentecost (the mighty wind), the sight of Pentecost (the tongues of fire) and the speech of Pentecost (the speech in the language of the hearers); and II. The First Sermon of Pentecost (vv. 14-21), in which I stressed the prophetic dimension of the words heard by all present and Peter's imaginative use of Joel's prophecy. But this is all too easy. It makes Pentecost look like something predictable and easily divided, as if the most stunning and astonishing thing in the early history of the Church (after the resurrection of Jesus) was nothing but a rather ho-hum encounter.

And it doesn't get any better, frankly, if we just say all these things in a heightened emotional state. Sometimes our emotionally-charged preaching is driven more by inadequacy than by insight. I recall that when I was a law professor I used to say in confidence to a colleague that when I was on shakiest ground as I taught, I would make sure that I looked the sharpest. That is, when I wasn't sure how things would really "flow," I made sure that I looked really professional. That way I knew that even if the students had doubts about what I said, my clothes and aura might dispel them. I don't think I am alone in this; as a matter of fact, those who act this way are larger than any Pentecost crowd.

Thus, we need a new approach to Pentecost. If we look at the Pentecost story as an exploration of confusion, we experience not only a fresh rush of wind/spirit within, but we are able to understand some of the mixed emotions probably felt by those present at that first day. So, let's explore the nature of our confusion today, using these verses as our guide.

The Theological Context--The Tower of Babel Story

The Old Testament lesson for the week is the story of the building of the Tower of Babel. I need not repeat what I said in my earlier essays on Gen. 11. Suffice it to say that the Septuagint (Greek translation) of Gen. 11 uses the same verb in 11:9 as Luke does in Acts 2:6 to explain the reaction of people to the stunning situation at hand. First, let's hear from Genesis:

"On account of this, the name of this place was called Synchysis (the word is derived from synchein, meaning "to pour together," "to mix," or "to confuse"), because there the Lord confused (again synchein) the tongues of all the earth..." (literal translation of Gen. 11:9).

Now let's turn to Acts 2:6. Here is the crowd's reaction to the sights and sounds of Pentecost:

"When the sound arose, the crowd gathered together and was confused (synchein) because each person, each one of them, heard them speaking in his own dialect."

The NRSV translates synchein as "bewildered," which is a rather upper-class way of saying that the people just didn't know what was going on. But Luke has read his Septuagint, and he wants to show that the same kind of confusion incident upon the scattering of the people at the building of the Tower of Babel is present in those who heard the first disciples.

Luke and the Uses of Confusion

Luke is the only NT author who uses this interesting word synchein. As said above, it is made up of two Greek words meaning "pour together." When two substances are poured together or mixed, there can either be a rather gentle or a combustible mixture. Just ask any chemist. Yet this verb took on the meaning of the latter, a more "combustible" mixing. Thus, whenever we see it in the Book of Acts (4 times), someone is either confused or, usually, highly agitated. For example, after Paul's dramatic conversion in Acts 9, he began to preach powerfully in Jerusalem. People were confused. 'Wasn't this the guy who was just trying to kill us?' they want to know. The text says:

"Saul became increasingly more powerful and counfounded (synchein) the Jews.." (9:22).

Then, ten chapters later, when Paul is preaching in Ephesus, he causes mass confusion. He had offended the silver guild--who made little statues of the Greek goddess Artemis--and they wanted to drum him out of town. So, they stirred up the crowd and began to shout, "Great is Artemis of the Ephesians" (19:29). As could be anticipated, "The city was filled with confusion" (19:29). Lest we miss this notion, Luke adds a few verses later:

"Meanwhile, some were shouting one thing, some another; for the assembly was in confusion, and most of them did not know why they had come together" (19:32).

Finally, a few chapters later, when Paul had returned to Jerusalem, his opponents stirred up a crowd in oppositioin to him. The Jews called on their fellow Israelites to reject this man who had taught "everywhere against our people, opur law, and this place (i.e., the Temple--Acts 21:28). Paul was seized and dragged out of the temple. Then Luke says:

"While they were trying to kill him, word came to the tribune of the chort that all Jerusalem was in an uproar" (synchein; 21:31).

The point is that the message and the messengers of the Gospel are the instruments of confusion. Luke makes it appear in almost every instance that the confusion rises because of the jealousy of other people, but the bottom line is the same--confusion attends the apostolic words and movements.

The next essay completes these thoughts.

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