Lent Devotional: Lord, I confess

Lately I have been thinking a lot about confession.  No, I haven't done anything really bad that I need to get off my chest (in case you were wondering).  In one of the studies here at church we discussed the role of confession in our spiritual lives and it was suggested that we make sure to include a Prayer of Confession in worship each week.  So far these prayers have been communal confessions, said in unison.  In searching for or writing this confession each week I have pondered how powerful the act of confessing can be, at least when we come at it with a genuine spirit.  Here is an example of a prayer of confession that we will use in worship.  It comes from The United Methodist Hymnal

"Lord we confess our day to day failure to be truly human.

Lord, we confess to you.

Lord, we confess that we often fail to love with all we have and are,

often because we do not fully understand what loving means,

often because we are afraid of risking ourselves.

Lord, we confess to you. 

Lord, we confess that by silence and ill-considered word

we have built up walls of prejudice.

Lord, we confess that by selfishness and lack of sympathy

we have stifled generosity and left little time for others.

Holy Spirit, speak to us.  Help us listen to your word of forgiveness, for we are very deaf.

Come, fill this moment and free us from sin.

This is a pretty general confession, but it sure does speak to all of us, doesn't it?  It is easy to think that confession is only necessary when we've done something really wrong, something that we know was wrong. Confession isn't necessarily about counting the times we swear or say snarky comments (even in our heads).  It is about recognizing the need to be known and forgiven.  

Wikipedia defines confession as "a statement made by a person or a group of people acknowledging some personal fact that the person (or the group) would prefer to keep hidden."  I always knew that confession was about acknowledging sin, but I hadn't ever really thought about the nature of keeping it hidden.  When you get right down to it, I think this definition really encompasses a deep truth that most of us gloss over or avoid.  We all have moments in time or parts of ourselves that we do not want put on public display.  We don't want other people to know the darkness that resides in us, those raw places that we hope remain safely hidden.  I think deep down though, we really all desire to be known fully, and in that to be embraced and loved as we are.  It isn't until we bring our whole selves into the light of a relationship with a loving Creator that we really confess and move forward.  

1 John 1:9 says, "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness."  

There isn't anything that can keep us from the love of God when we really yearn for it to come into our lives.  We are mistaken when we live thinking that the not-so-great parts of who we are, are hidden from God.  Vulnerability is so difficult and it begins with confession and acknowledgment.  God wants all of us, and it's often the messiest parts that glorify God the most.  


In closing I remind you of the words from this beautiful Psalm:

O Lord, you have searched me and known me!

2 

You know when I sit down and when I rise up;

    you discern my thoughts from afar.

3 

You search out my path and my lying down

    and are acquainted with all my ways.

4 

Even before a word is on my tongue,

    behold, O Lord, you know it altogether.

5 

You hem me in, behind and before,

    and lay your hand upon me.

.....

Search me, O God, and know my heart!
    Try me and know my thoughts![c]

And see if there be any grievous way in me,
    and lead me in the way everlasting!

Are there parts of you that you dislike?  Parts that you wish would remain hidden?  Might these be the parts that the God of Love longs to know and redeem?  How is confession a part of your faith-life?  What do you have to talk over with God today?