Confession: Give Us Today Our Daily Confession

For the last few weeks I’ve been asking people what images come to mind when they hear the word confession. As it turns out, the word confession elicits a mixed bag of mental images for most people. For some, this word conjures up the image of a Catholic priest in a confessional booth,

“Forgive me father I have sinned.”

For others, the word brings to mind television clips of CEO’s, presidents and public officials airing their indiscretions,

“I did not have sexual relations with that woman.”

It’s no wonder then that, for many, the word confession feels a bit…well…dirty. However, for those who are seeking to pray as Jesus taught, confession is not a dirty word…it’s a daily word.

“Father, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come.

Give us each day our daily bread, and forgive us our sins…” [Lk 11:2-4]

Did you catch that? Right after line about daily bread Jesus adds “and forgive us our sins”—which is a bit surprising. It’s almost as if Jesus expects confession to be a daily thing for his followers. I wonder what it would be like if Christians actually confessed their sins each day as they prayed. The way Jesus taught.

I imagine that married people would kiss and make love more often…

Because they wouldn’t keep anything to themselves.

Parents would ask their children for forgiveness a lot…

Because even great parents get it wrong a lot.

Self-righteous people would be more gracious…

Because inside they’d know they need grace too.

People that sell anti-depressants would probably sell fewer pills…

They might even stop making commercials

about pills that solve your problems…

Because people would bring their problems to God each day.

It would be a beautiful thing…

If Christians actually prayed the way Jesus taught.

Quote: Confession Remakes Us In God’s Image

“[The confessing Christian] believes that in that dim corner, in that brief ritual, God has really remade him in his own image.” [G.K. Chesterton]

Confession: Carrying Secrets Makes Us Sick

“For when I kept silent, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long. For day and night your hand was heavy upon me; my strength was dried up as by the heat of summer.” [Psalm 32:3-4]

David spent a whole year carrying around a secret. We often skip over details like this as we read through stories in the Bible. A year is an awfully long time to keep the murder of an innocent man to yourself. I imagine that year was the worst year of David’s life. Every morning as he watched Bathsheba’s belly grow he felt his insides unravel. Anyone who’s ever carried around a dirty secret knows how David felt.

Keeping secrets makes us sick.

Unconfessed sin is bad for the bones.

In my experience, Christians who confess their sins regularly are the healthiest, happiest people alive. Contrary to popular belief, people who confess their sins are neither solemn or overly-serious. They are the lightest people you’ve ever met.

“I acknowledged my sin to you, and I did not cover my iniquity; I said, ‘I will confess my transgressions to the Lord,’ and you forgave the iniquity of my sin.” [Psalm 32:5]

Confession: Why We Carry Secrets

Next week I’m preaching on confession…for Valentine’s Day. I didn’t sit down and map it out this way. I’m not that clever. However, now that the day of sex and chocolate is approaching I’m not sure there’s a more fitting topic in all of scripture to consider on Valentine’s Day.

Here’s why…

True intimacy always suffers when someone carries a secret. For instance, take a husband and wife. If one person in the marriage keeps a secret both people will suffer. It’s always been this way. It started way back in the Garden.

“So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate. Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked. And they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loincloths. And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden. But the Lord God called to the man and said to him, ‘Where are you?’ And he said, ‘I heard the sound of you in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked, and I hid myself.” [Gen 3:6-7]

Genesis 3 is not a great Valentine’s story: Girl hooks up with snake near the tree with the really long name. Snake smooth talks girl with an etrog.* Girl eats etrog and gives leftovers to boy. Both realize their nakedness. Instead of sex…fig leaf loincloths. As a happily married man, I can tell you that any Valentine’s date that ends with two naked people sewing environmentally friendly loincloths together is not a winner.

Loincloths aside, as a pastor, this story tears at my heart more than any other story in the Bible. What truly tragic about this story is that it repeats itself in church lobbies every Sunday. Followers of Christ get good at sewing fig leaves as they spend time around other believers. It’s just not that difficult to sound like you’re doing alright. Is it?

Most believers these days are carrying around secrets. Then again, most believers these days don’t believe in confession. Case in point: How many Christians do you know that regularly confess their sins to God and others?

If you truly want to know if a person believes in what the Bible calls grace ask them what they think about confession. If they run and hide they’re probably afraid you’ll stumble upon their secrets. The only people that are completely free from hoarding secrets and hiding sins are Christians. Grace alone can strip someone of their figleaves.

*The etrog is a medium-sized citrus fruit, with a color, scent and taste similar to a lemon. Some Jewish historians believe that the etrog, not the apple, was the forbidden fruit in the Garden of Eden. 9 out 10 people I know think that the word etrog is more interesting than the world apple.