Lent IV, Cycle C

"Confession, for the Sake of Forgiveness!"

March 21, 2004

The Rev. Dr. David M. Wendel

Saint Luke’s Lutheran Church, Colorado Springs, Colorado

Lessons:  Joshua 5:9-12;  Psalm 32;  II Corinthians 5:16-21;  St. Luke 15:1-3, 11b-32

As you may have noticed, we don't preach much from the appointed psalms for the day--not because there isn't much there to preach about, it's just that there's so much, always, in the Gospel lesson, and the First and Second lessons.  Today, for example, there could be a hundred sermons preached on the parable of the prodigal son, our gospel lesson;  or a hundred sermons preached on the Israelites, finally arriving in the promised land, where they were able to plant and cultivate, and eat the produce of their own crops, rather than rely on manna from heaven;  or, one could preach a hundred sermons on St. Paul's words to the Corinthians, "so, if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation;  everything old has passed away;  see, everything has become new!"  So, with all these great texts from which to preach, preachers simply don't get around to the psalms much.  And yet, today, I thought it might be helpful to begin with our psalm appointed for this Fourth Sunday in Lent--because it states so clearly and distinctly, the overarching theme, not just for this particular Sunday in Lent, but for the season of Lent, as a whole!  And what is that overarching theme?  Surprise, surprise! The theme is, "Repent, for the forgiveness of your sins!"

     Okay, that may not be new information to you-- you may not need to hear that theme, repeated, one more time.  But, for all the times we hear that call--to repent--we often, still don't get it.  The more I minister, the more I come to realize, most of us are carrying around a tremendous burden of guilt!  The more I minister to you, the more I realize--we Christians, in spite of the general, corporate rite of confession and forgiveness each and every Sunday--go home, Sunday after Sunday, saying to ourselves, but to no one else, "I know God forgives, but surely, not me--surely, not that sin of mine, that I keep hidden, buried deep inside, locked away in that place reserved only for me, and my shame and guilt."  And so, many of us go week after week, and month after month, and year after year, dragging that sin, we feel is "unforgivable", along with us.  And it shapes and colors, who we are, and how we relate to others, and how we deal with life.  It keeps us, really, from being the people God created us to be.  Or should we say, it keeps us from being the people God wants to re-create us to be.  And this happens, because we don't really get-- repentance, confession, and forgiveness.  We don't understand what it means to carry our sin, and the burden of guilt, around with us day by day.  And--we don't understand what it means, to bring that sin and guilt, to God, in order to be forgiven.  And that's why our psalm for today, is so meaningful--because it clearly lays out for us, what it looks like, in a person's life, not to confess--and similarly, what it looks like, to repent, and be forgiven!

     The psalmist writes, "happy are they whose transgressions are forgiven, and whose sin is put away!  Happy are they to whom the Lord imputes no guilt, and in whose spirit there is no guile--no deceit--no hidden-ness!"  The psalmist knows the value of forgiveness, because he also knows what it's like to remain silent, and to keep one's sins to oneself.  He writes, "While I held my tongue, while I refused to confess, openly, my sin, my bones withered away, because of my groaning all day long.  For your hand, Lord, was heavy upon me day and night;  my moisture was dried up as in the heat of summer."  The psalmist, for whatever reason, would not, or could not, confess--in spite of the fact that the hand of the Lord was upon him--heavy upon him, day and night.  And the psalmist groaned all day long--in his groaning, his bones withered away--life drained out of him--his spirit was dry, as dry as a dry bone lying, sweltering, in the heat of summer.  "This," writes the psalmist, "this is what happens to you when you keep your sins hidden inside you!  This is what happens to you, when you remain silent, and are afraid to bring your sins out into the daylight, before God!  It dries up your spirit, it withers your life-force, it drains you of energy for living, and before long, your life is like a moaning, and a groaning--as if there is an illness that can't be healed--as if there's a disease, inside you, that's not being treated."  Is there anyone here, who hasn't carried around a burden of sin and guilt, for a time, and felt the darkness, the shame, the despair that comes, from knowing--knowing that you've transgressed--against God, or your neighbor--yet you just haven't been able to bring that sin, out into the open?  Is there someone here, who doesn't carry around, inside-- a sin, a broken-ness, a transgression, that we keep locked up inside, because we feel, it's so bad, it can't be forgiven?  I trust that there may be some-one of us, here, who has laid our soul out before God like an open book--but I've been a pastor too long to think, there isn't more than one, or two of us here.  I've been a pastor long enough, that I've learned, that most of us, if not all of us, are holding our tongues, are remaining silent about some sin--that we just can't bring ourselves to confess.  And so, often, we suffer in silence;  we find ourselves groaning, most all day long;  we believe in confession and forgiveness--just, not for me…not for someone who has done what I've done.  And there, of course, is where we're missing, the whole point of confession and forgiveness.  That's where the psalmist is trying to break through to us, to help us see, that there is no sin that won't be forgiven!  To help us see that no matter how painful repentance and confession might be, the grace and life that comes with forgiveness, is ever so worth it!  That's why, having finally confessed, and been forgiven, the writer of Psalm 32 can say, "happy are they whose transgressions are forgiven, and whose sin is PUT AWAY!  Happy are they to whom the Lord imputes no guilt--and in whose spirit, finally, there is nothing hidden, or locked away!"  That's why the psalmist exhorts the rest of us, saying, "Be glad you righteous, and rejoice in the Lord;  shout for joy, all who are true of heart--all who have confessed, and been forgiven!" 

     What we don't get about forgiveness, is that there is no sin, no disobedience, no dirty little secret, that won't be forgiven, once confessed!  What we don't get about confession, is not, so much, that we confess it before God, but that we confess it, in order to receive, forgiveness! The little pamphlet we have available for folks preparing to make private confession,  is titled, "Private Confession for the Sake of Absolution"--emphasizing not so much, the private confession, as an end in itself, but private confession, which leads one to absolution.  In the chief Lutheran confessional document, the Augsburg Confession, it is stated in article XI, "It is so taught concerning confession, that we should keep private Absolution in our churches, and not let it decline."  In the Augsburg Confession, it's not confession that is the emphasis, but the opportunity for Private Absolution! Certainly, confession precedes absolution, the confession is always "for the sake of absolution".  Luther, in the Small Catechism, writes, "What is confession?  Confession has two parts.  First, that we confess our sins, and second, that we receive absolution…not doubting, but firmly believing that by it our sins are forgiven before God in heaven." 

     The parable of the prodigal son, which we hear in our gospel lesson today, affirms this, in that the reason the son repents, and returns, is to be forgiven, and to be restored to life in his father's household.  Even after the father saw his son, still far off, and ran to him, and put his arms around him and kissed him, still, the son confesses, saying, "Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you:  I am no longer worthy to be called your son."  But the father responds, with absolution--the father responds, not by allowing the son to grovel for a while;  not by sending the son out to do some manual labor, to earn his keep--the father expresses absolution, by welcoming the son back, as a son--as his own child, who yes, had left home for a time--but who now had repented, and confessed, and returned to the father's household, and the father, welcomes the son back, as the dead, now alive again--as the lost, who has now been found!  And that's what forgiveness--that's what absolution is!  Confession is admitting that we have not lived as God's own child--absolution, is being received back into the household, as the son, the daughter, we have always been, in baptism.  And then, celebrating!  Celebrating the new life, and the new relationship, that has been restored, through confession and forgiveness.  Celebrating the new life, and the new relationship, that comes about, when we have confessed our transgressions to the Lord, and He has forgiven the guilt of our sin.  Celebrating the new life, and the new relationship, that comes, as St. Paul writes, as a result of God, reconciling the world, and us, to himself;  not counting our trespasses against us--making him to be sin, who knew no sin, so that in him, in Jesus Christ, we might be reconciled to God the Father, through Christ the Son, and His death and resurrection--so that, being in Christ, we, too, may be new creations--so that we, too, may experience the old, passing away--the old sins, the old disobedience, the old broken-ness and shame and guilt, passing away, so that in Christ, everything--everything, can be made new!  That, is what confession and repentance is truly about--confessing our sin and guilt, so that it may indeed, pass away, be left behind--so that God can make of us, new creations--new beings in Christ;  healed, whole, strong, courageous;  not dry and drained, but full of life, and the Spirit--ready to be, the new creations God has forgiven us to be--ready to move forward, as daughters and sons, once again, living in the household of God--living in the household of God, the Father who created us, who has reconciled us to himself, and who is, even now, re-creating us--to be, new, in and through Christ Jesus.  Which is why, after all, the psalmist says to us, "Be glad, you righteous, and rejoice in the Lord;  shout for joy, you true in heart--for, happy are they whose transgressions are forgiven!"

     In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen.