"Try This Discipline:  Joyful Confession!"

God abides in those who confess that Jesus is the Son of God, and they abide in God.    (1 John 4:15 )

It was the theme of my Ash Wednesday sermon that GOD does the forgiving, WE do the confessing-but such a simple Gospel truth demands our careful attention!  Living as we do in a world where confessing and forgiving, if related at all, are thought of conditionally ("If you confess, then I'll forgive you."), it is a radical step for the Christian to live out the Gospel of unconditional mercy, grace and love.  So consider, for a moment, the following as a Lenten spiritual discipline:  joyful confession!

As forgiven confessors of Christ, we affirm that confession and forgiveness are inextricably bound to one another, and that neither confession nor forgiveness is truly accomplished without God's initiative having saved us in Christ and constantly interceding for us in the Holy Spirit.  Allow me to explain with two inextricably linked biblical events.  1.  In the passion of our Lord, the sinless Son of God freely binds our sins to himself and willingly suffers their ultimate consequence at the cross on our behalf, thus forgiving the sins of an unrepentant world.  2.  We have inherited this Gospel story as our own, not only on account of our sins being forgiven us in Christ, but in the post-resurrection gift of the Holy Spirit that Jesus breathed into the disciples (John 20:21-23 ), bestowing on the church the freedom to confess both Jesus as Lord and Savior AND the forgiveness of sins in Jesus' name.  There is a flow, then, of God's unconditional mercy, grace and love that proceeds from Christ through the Holy Spirit to us.

So how does all this help us in the discipline we're called to practice during Lent:  joyful confession?  Simply this:  GOD does the forgiving, WE do the confessing.  Simply go with the flow of grace!  Because of what God accomplished once for all in Christ through the Holy Spirit (forgiving our sins unconditionally, and restoring our image as beloved children of God), we now are free to walk in newness of life, with thanks in our hearts, with grace on our lips, forgiving one another without reserve.  What a joy such confessing can be!  But what (you may ask) about the dark side of confession-confessing our sins?

Well, there's no denying the gravity of sin-it led our Savior to die on a cross.  And knowing our sin nailed to that cross is a grievous revelation to bear.  Just here, in our weakness, not knowing how to pray, the Spirit intercedes for us with sighs too deep for words-conveying our lament to God.  We confess our foolish ways, our ungodly actions, our selfish indulgences...  But because of Christ's intercession and the Spirit's abiding presence, we can freely own up to our sins, willingly suffer the consequences of what we've done wrong, and rededicate ourselves to confessing Christ crucified-that is, the revelation of God's unconditional mercy, grace and love-by how we conduct our lives.  What a relief (and joy!) such confessing can be!  This Word of promise (nicely contained in Romans 8 , reflected in Luther's Large Catechism as he explicates the fifth petition of the Lord's Prayer ("Forgive us our sins...")), this Word is ours to confess to ourselves and to others.  "This," Luther would say, "is the surpassingly grand and noble thing that makes confession so wonderful and comforting."  May it be so to us as well this Lent as we make our way towards Easter! 

Peace+