Confession 2
April 6, 2009
Here in the presence of Almighty God, I kneel in silence, and with penitent and obedient heart confess my sins, so that I may obtain forgiveness by your infinite goodness and mercy. The Book of Common Prayer
How much does confession figure in your daily life?
Just as I am, and waiting not to rid my soul of one dark blot.
To Thee whose blood can cleanse each spot, O lamb of God, I come! I come!
Did this verse from Just as I am still speak to your soul?
Psalm 32: 1-2
Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered over.
Happy the man whom the Lord does not hold guilty and in whose spirit there is no deceit (JPS).
Reflections: A happiness from the Lord comes upon the person who does not hide his sin but lets God do the cover up job. Is forgiven, is covered over are what is called divine passive verbs, meaning God acts on our behalf. Our part is confession. His part is forgiveness (separates our sins from us) and hiding our sins or putting it out of sight. The benefit is happiness (blessedness); perhaps tears of joy.I suspect that the happiness that we enjoy as a result of forgiveness is shared happiness. That is God enjoys happiness when we confess and shares this happiness with the confessor.
What testimony can we give to this? We are not in the habit of sharing our happiness upon forgiveness. Do you do this in your church? We pray in confession but notice no difference in the mood of the people? Could it be that happiness can go unnoticed? Could it be that we are going through the obligatory motions of confession?
The nature of this happiness is surely different from say enjoying an ice cream, good delivery of the sermon, or siding with the winning team. It’s much deeper, not unlike coming home and seeing that all is in order or knowing in our hearts that a ton of good has been done in the name of Christ around the world despite what we hear on the news. Or that deep sense of contentment knowing the faithfulness of Christ by faith.
Prayer: My sin, O the bliss of this glorioius thought,
My sin, not in part but the whole
Is nailed to the cross and I bear it no more.
Praise the Lord, O my soul. It is well with my soul. Amen. Christ, have mercy.
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