CONFESSING
Several years ago, on a winter walk, this tree called out to me: Our broken lives become a frame through which to view and appreciate God’s persistent grace.
It’s curious to me that the same Greek word (ἐξομολογέω) can be translated as both confess and give thanks/praise.1 In the gospel of Matthew, for example, we learn that the people of Jerusalem and all Judea were baptized by John in the river Jordan, confessing (ἐξομολογούμενοι) their sins (Matthew 3:5-6). Later in the same gospel, Jesus says, I thank (Ἐξομολογοῦμαί) you Father, Lord of heaven and earth…(Matthew 11:25).
This dual meaning is expressed in English as well, where the word confessing is used in at least two distinct ways. For example, the song that has been running through my head today is Praise and Thanksgiving: Then will your blessing reach every people, freely confessing your gracious hand (ELW #689). But in another hymn, When Pain of the World Surrounds Us, confessing takes on a different meaning: We see with fear and trembling our aching world in need, confessing to each other our wastefulness and greed (ELW #704).
All of this has me thinking that the tree I met several years ago pointed me in the right direction: there is a connection between recognizing our brokenness and experiencing God’s grace for us. Confessing our sin, and receiving God’s word of forgiveness, enables us to confess God’s goodness.
There have been days when I have come to worship so weighed down by the hurtful words I’ve spoken, my inability to love others as I know they need to be loved, the daunting recognition that I am part of structural sin that gives me boundless privilege while systematically oppressing others. I wonder, in those moments, if I can even lead worship. That’s how broken I feel.
And then, as a community of faith, we stand in silence, facing our sin together. We confess our sin to a God who is faithful, who refuses to shame us, who freely offers unconditional forgiveness. And when that assurance of forgiveness comes–spoken through my lips but coming directly from God–I am overcome with relief, and gratitude, and a desire to share this transforming love of God with a world so in need.
Today, for just a moment, don’t run from the thoughts of all you’ve done wrong, the harm you’ve caused by your actions or by your inaction, the bad habits you fear you’ll never overcome. Don’t run from the embarrassment, the shame, the doubt, the fear. Hold it all close. Feel it fully. And then give it to your Savior.
And as you do, receive this word of forgiveness…for you.
God, who is rich in mercy, loved us even when we were dead in sin, and made us alive together with Christ. By grace you have been saved. In the name of Jesus Christ, your sins are forgiven.2
Now go, freely confessing God’s gracious hand. Amen.
1 https://biblehub.com/greek/1843.htm
2 Evangelical Lutheran Worship, p. 96