Confession 3
April 16, 2009
What do you think of this text? Have you experienced anything like this? Do you think the force of the passage is compelling enough for us to do it? Do you believe confession should be done publicly in and by the church? In some churches general confession is made of sin.
Nehemiah: 9:1 On the twenty-fourth day of this same month the Israelites assembled; they were fasting and wearing sackcloth, their heads covered with dust. 9:2 Those truly of Israelite descent separated from all the foreigners, standing and confessing their sins and the iniquities of their ancestors. 9:3 For one-fourth of the day they stood in their place and read from the book of the law of the LORD their God, and for another fourth they were confessing their sins and worshiping the LORD their God.
One fourth of the day (assuming it’s 12 hours) is 3 hours. Has anyone tried a confession retreat? I would like to take a Saturday morning and spend the best of 3 hours confessing mine and others’ sins.
In our Good Friday service we focused on confession, mainly for lack of love. We then wrote our sins on 3×5 cards and literally nailed them to a 10′ wooden cross at the front of the church. As we did we sang It is Well with My Soul. About 70 of us filled the cross with cards of confessions of our sins.
I confess, Lord, that our predecessors in the faith have failed to apprentice us to Jesus. I confess that we are making the same mistake. Lord, help us to change and have mercy on us. Amen.
Comments
1 Comment to “Confession 3”
Got something to say?
-
Subscribe To MO
What strikes me most about Nehemiah 9:1 is the corporate nature. Too often we evangelicals with our emphasis on our individual relationship with Jesus only confess our sin to God. I don’t think that counts as confession, it is more like concealment. When I confess my sin to my community (the tangible body of Jesus) I feel my pride being nailed to the cross. Oh how it hurts! Once my sin is out in the light before Jesus, then He can begin healing and restoring me.