Has the prayer of confession ever thrown you off on Sunday morning? Or, maybe on occasion you’ve simply said the words and not really thought about it much? What does the silent prayer of confession mean to you? Is there too much time of silence for you? Or maybe not enough!? You’ll notice that we do not ever have worship without some sort of confession. In fact, our denomination’s Book of Order prescribes it: “A prayer of confession of the reality of sin in personal and common life follows. In a declaration of pardon, the gospel is proclaimed and forgiveness is declared in the name of Jesus Christ. God’s redemption and God’s claim upon human life are remembered.” (W-3.3301d)
I find it helpful to look toward the psalms when seeking guidance for prayer. Psalm 51 is a prayerful plea for God’s forgiveness. The Psalmist recognizes that God knows all that we are and all that has drawn us away from God. In fact, God knows this even better than we know it ourselves: “You desire truth in the inward being; therefore teach me wisdom in my secret heart.” (Ps. 50:6)
So what is it then about our prayer of confession, if God already knows our heart and Christ is already redeeming our sins? The late theologian Frederick Buechner puts it this way: “To confess your sins to God is not to tell God anything God doesn't already know. Until you confess them, however, they are the abyss between you. When you confess them, they become the Golden Gate Bridge.” [Note: I wrote this post before Frederick Buechner died last week. Very few contemporary theologians have influenced me (along with a generation of others) as much as Buechner. I encourage you to read this tribute to Buechner written by New York Times columnist David Brooks.]
The Psalmist comes before God desiring to be made clean: “Create in me a clean heart, O God, and put a new and right spirit within me. Do not cast me away from your presence, and do not take your holy spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and sustain in me a willing spirit.” (Ps. 50:10-12) Confessing our sins before God is a powerfully difficult thing to do. Create in me a clean heart. Cleanse me. Wash me. Before we can experience God’s healing power, we need to acknowledge our inequity. And then there’s so much joy in being made clean.
Today I did my laundry, so my sense of cleanliness is fresh in my mind. I can smell the clean laundry as it is still warm and I’ve spent the past hour or so folding it. Cleansing – being made clean – allows us to begin something new. Once cleansed by our God we are able to go out into the world alongside others who are in need of God’s deliverance. Once cleansed we are able to guide others to be cleansed.
Unlike the inanimate articles of clothing that don’t have the ability to bring themselves to be washed, though, I am invited to play a role in my cleansing. When we internalize God’s wisdom in our hearts, the compulsion toward sin instead becomes a compulsion toward those things that glorify God. Our prayer, then, is that the God who knows us in our inmost being would cleanse us, and instill in us a heart that desires to do God’s will and glorify God in all that we do.
Think about the time of confession during worship and prepare yourself by reviewing Psalm 51. As you attend one of the worship services at Pinnacle this weekend, or wherever/whenever you may be worshipping, mindfully consider the time of confession. How can you submit yourself before God to allow the time of confession to inspire and influence your week ahead?
