Thoughts on Confession

I just finished reading this book.

Recently the readings were about confession among Christians.  Here are some of Bonhoeffer's thoughts on the matter.  They are very challenging.

 ‘In confession there takes place a breakthrough to community. Sin wants to be alone with people. It takes them away from the community. The more lonely people become, the more destructive the power of sin over them. The more deeply they become entangled in it, the more unholy is their loneliness. Sin wants to remain unknown. It shuns the light. In the darkness of what is left unsaid sin poisons the whole being of a person. This can happen in the midst of a pious community. In confession the light of the gospel breaks into the darkness and closed isolation of the heart. Sin must be brought into the light. What is unspoken is said openly and confessed. All that is secret and hidden comes to light. It is a hard struggle until the sin crosses one’s lips in confession. But God breaks down gates of bronze and cuts through bars of iron (Ps. 107:16) Since the confession of sin is made in the presence of another Christian, the last stronghold of self-justification is abandoned. The sinner surrenders, giving up all evil, giving the sinner’s heart to God and finding the forgiveness of all one’s sin in the community of Jesus Christ and other Christians. Sin that has been spoken and confessed has lost all of its power. It has been revealed and judged as sin. It can no longer tear apart the community.’

‘In this connection, we are talking exclusively about confession between two Christians. A confession of sin in the presence of all the members of the congregation is not required to restore one to community with the entire congregation. In the one other Christian to whom I confess my sins and by whom my sins are declared forgiven, I meet the whole congregation.’

‘In confession there occurs a breakthrough to the cross. The root of all my sin is pride.’

‘Confession in the presence of another believer is the most profound kind of humiliation. It hurts, makes one feel small; it deals a terrible blow to one’s pride.’

‘It is none other than Jesus Christ who openly suffered the shameful death of a sinner in our place, who was not ashamed to be crucified for us as an evildoer. And it is nothing else but our community with Jesus Christ that leads us to the disgraceful dying that comes in confession, so that we may truly share in this cross. The cross of Jesus Christ shatters all pride.’

These words have made me think more deeply about confession and about the sin that I deal with in my own life.  I’ve been going to church so long and been a Christian most of my life.  As I’ve matured there are many sins that I deal with less and less because I have been weeding them out of my life for years.  That makes it easy for me to think, “I’m OK.”

And then I come across a prayer like this written long ago and contained in a book of common prayers…

Most holy and merciful Father:

I confess to you and to the whole communions of saints in heaven and on earth, that I have sinned by my own fault in thought, word, and deed; by what I have done, and by what I have left undone.

I have not loved you with my whole heart, and mind, and strength.  I have not loved my neighbors as myself.  I have not forgiven others, as I have been forgiven.  Have mercy on me, Lord.

I have been deaf to your call to serve, as Christ served us.  I have not been true to Christ.  I have grieved the Holy Spirit.  Have mercy on me, Lord.

I confess to you, Lord, all my past unfaithfulness: the pride, hypocrisy, and impatience of my life.  I confess to you, Lord.

My self-indulgent appetites and ways, and my exploitation of other people, I confess to you, Lord.

My anger at my own frustration, and my envy of those more fortunate than I, I confess to you, Lord.

My intemperate love of worldly goods and comforts, and my dishonesty in daily life and work, I confess to you, Lord.

My negligence in prayer and worship, and my failure to commend the faith that is in me, I confess to you, Lord.

Accept my repentance, Lord, for the wrongs I have done: for my blindness to human need and suffering, and my indifference to injustice and cruelty, accept my repentance, Lord.

For all false judgments, for uncharitable thoughts toward my neighbors, and for my prejudice and contempt toward those who differ from me, accept my repentance, Lord.

For my waste and pollution of your creation, and my lack of concern for those who come after us, accept my repentance, Lord.

Restore me, good Lord, and let your anger depart from me, favorably hear me for your mercy is great.

Accomplish in me and all of your church the work of your salvation, that I may show forth your glory in the world.

By the cross and passion of your Son our Lord, bring me with all your saints to the joy of his resurrection.

I come across a prayer like this, and I realize I’m not OK.  I’ll never be OK.  I realize that there is much that God still wants to deal with in my life.  I am glad for the work that remains to be done in my life, the work of conforming me to the image of Jesus.  It’s a work that lasts a lifetime.