Confessions
Notes
Transcript
Have mercy on me, O God,
according to your steadfast love;
according to your abundant mercy
blot out my transgressions.
Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity,
and cleanse me from my sin!
For I know my transgressions,
and my sin is ever before me.
Against you, you only, have I sinned
and done what is evil in your sight,
so that you may be justified in your words
and blameless in your judgment.
Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity,
and in sin did my mother conceive me.
Behold, you delight in truth in the inward being,
and you teach me wisdom in the secret heart.
Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean;
wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.
Let me hear joy and gladness;
let the bones that you have broken rejoice.
Hide your face from my sins,
and blot out all my iniquities.
Create in me a clean heart, O God,
and renew a right spirit within me.
Cast me not away from your presence,
and take not your Holy Spirit from me.
Restore to me the joy of your salvation,
and uphold me with a willing spirit.
Then I will teach transgressors your ways,
and sinners will return to you.
Deliver me from bloodguiltiness, O God,
O God of my salvation,
and my tongue will sing aloud of your righteousness.
O Lord, open my lips,
and my mouth will declare your praise.
For you will not delight in sacrifice, or I would give it;
you will not be pleased with a burnt offering.
The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit;
a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.
Do good to Zion in your good pleasure;
build up the walls of Jerusalem;
then will you delight in right sacrifices,
in burnt offerings and whole burnt offerings;
then bulls will be offered on your altar.
Scripture: Psalm 51
Sermon Title: Confessions
The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise. Brothers and sisters in Christ, I think it’s safe to say that the topic of confession brings up a lot of questions and anxieties if we’re honest with ourselves. What does God expect? Is it supposed to be like an examen at the end of the day where we look back, remember the times we messed at home, at school, or at work, and ask that God would forgive us and help us to be better tomorrow? Is it something we’re supposed to do immediately following every sin, which if we don’t it feels like we’re walking on glass? Is it “enough” maybe we wonder if we come to church on Sunday and say whatever words we are indicated to say during the time of confession? Is silent prayer good enough or do we have to say these things out loud, or even more intimidating are we supposed to be confessing to other people, even the pastor like we see Catholics doing? What if we forget to confess one sin, is that okay? What are we supposed to feel, guilt or shame, or is confession supposed to make me happy? If I confess one time and ask for God’s help, why do I still mess up? If Jesus died already, “once for all” like the Bible says, and you tell me he has redeemed me, why do I have to keep on confessing? What does it mean to confess our sins? There’s not enough time this morning to address all these questions, and I think God works with us both communally and individually to address the sins, the trespasses we commit against him and others, this morning however I want to offer what might be a new perspective for some concerning this topic as well as a word of hope that comes from the confession that is in our psalm this morning.
Psalm 51 is traditionally attributed to David, and is considered his confession for his sins of adultery and murder. Most of you probably know the backstory. 2 Samuel 11 tells us that it was spring time “when the kings go off to war,” David decided not to go for whatever reason, but sends his men to fight the Ammonites. We’re told they destroyed them “and besieged Rabbah.” Rabbah was the chief city of Ammon, about 40 miles east, northeast of Jerusalem on the other side of the Jordan River though not a pleasant or easy journey, and probably meant more than 40 miles. David goes out on his roof at night, sees this beautiful woman bathing across the way, and has her brought to him against the warning of the one he sends that she is married. It seems that David treats her like a one night stand, until of course he find out she’s pregnant. In attempt to avoid the scandal and the dishonor that it will bring to this king whom all of Israel looks up to, David brings Uriah back, welcomes him, and sends him a gift, thinking he will go home and be with his wife; with respect to his brothers at war, he does not go home and so David tries to seduce him to by way of food, drink, and merriment that he will go home and lie with his wife a second night. When that doesn’t work he is sent back to battle with a letter to pass to the commander which contains the plot for his death. For David the would-be scandal has been covered, he brings Bathsheba into his house as his wife when she has grieved, but he does not confess the sin until the prophet Nathan, sent by the Lord, confronts him and reveals he deserves death.
The starting point for addressing how we confess our sins is recognizing we are sinful from conception the psalm tells us, but then to recognize the conviction that believers experience in response to individual sins. In 2 Samuel 12:7-10, the Lord says to David through Nathan, “I anointed you king over Israel, and I delivered you from the hand of Saul. I gave your master’s house to you, and your master’s wives into your arms. I gave you the house of Israel and Judah. And if all this had been too little, I would have given you even more. Why did you despise the word of the Lord by doing what is evil in his eyes?” David replies, “I have sinned against the Lord.” Nathan tells him that the Lord has taken away his sin, he will not die because of it, but his newborn baby will.
The starting point in the process of confession is recognizing the wrong and recognizing that the action committed or that which we have failed to do is an offense to God, it’s “despising” to God, telling him that his blessings are not enough, we want and deserve more but are not willing to ask him. This type of conviction causes us to remember who God is and who we are in relation to him. This type of conviction teaches us that we are sinful, that we have disrupted a particular relationship that God intended whether it be by adultery or lying or stealing or wasting. Because we are not our own authority, God’s intended response is not for us to be filled with guilt or shame. Looking at confession and this first step of conviction teaches us that our story does not begin with the darkness of our sin, but rather that we were created very good and God loves us in such a way that he wills us to be disciplined to remind us of the way it things are supposed to be.
Moving from conviction is the response of confession, the recognition by us of sin which prompts us to take responsibility and ask for help. David’s confession in 2 Samuel 12:13, “I have sinned against the Lord,” is a starting place but confession is more than an admission of wrong doing, and thus we’re drawn back to Psalm 51. David recognizes that only God can wash away, can clean the slate; David didn’t just do wrong to someone, but even greater his murder and act of adultery was a sin against God because it undermined what God had put in place. Confession from David involves seeing the sin in his life, but also seeing the patterns of God’s blessing and God’s working, that sin will only be non-existent when God creates a pure heart and a steadfast Spirit, when the Spirit enjoins us with the joy of YOUR salvation, grants us a willing spirit which SUSTAINS us.
Brothers and sisters, confession as a response is where I think we get caught up. I look at this psalm and passages throughout Scripture regarding confession, and I get a different picture than what I think most of us are accustomed to. We get worried that we’ll forget a particular sin. There’s the imagery of a classroom chalkboard or white board where teachers write the names of students who have unfinished business or came tardy or skipped class, we think of confession as a way of getting our names off Jesus’ bad student board, when we get caught up in particularly repetitive sins or sins that make us disgusted with ourselves, this process of removing our names can feel like we’re struggling through no man’s land in a war zone, army crawling under barbed wire. Hopefully no one sees us, especially God, but hopefully that pain we experienced is enough of a punishment. Maybe for some of you your response of confession is filled with the anxiety that your penitence is not going to equal the number of sins you know you committed because you have forgotten or maybe the you feel you’re just never going to be good enough.
The response that we are invited to give, the response of confessing our sin and acknowledging and pleading for God’s grace doesn’t call for this though! Don’t get me wrong, I think there is benefits to postures of prayer that emphasize our submission to God, I think there’s great value in the lament, fasting, and deep emotionally-charged experience like David gives us an example of, but notice that his confession comes long after the sin, his confession reveals his recognition of wrong doing but is not a clear statement of the facts, having been told that the punishment of his sin will be a death, he prays not worrying about the fury of God raining down if he doesn’t do things exactly right, but rather his confession confesses God as merciful, having unfailing love, great compassion, right and just, desiring truth and teaching wisdom in our inmost beings. The prayer of confession, the response to the conviction of sin given by God, is restoration and sustainment.
The last step I see in the process of confession is our duty to teach. It’s the classic account of Martin Luther caught in the storm where he gives life to God, and who knows how many others caught in the midst of danger where death seems to be near. “God, if you will save me, I will give my life to you!” It’s easy to mock and I think we’re prone to look at people that have the so-called deathbed conversion as treating faith lightly and we wonder if they’re actually saved. But here we have David, Israel’s king, looked so highly upon by his people and still today, but he’s a sinner, he knows that, and he knows God knows every move that he’s made. A man has come to him who knows his secret, who tells him he should die, but God will intercede and instead the son who has been born to Bathsheba will die. The call for restoration has been given, and then in verse 13David says, I will teach transgressors your way, and sinners will turn back to you. That’s not a call for the king or for the pastor by title, that’s a call for the believer, for those who see themselves as sinners as well as redeemed.
Having been convicted, having responded because we are reminded of who we were created to be, who created us, and the hope we are assured of because we have a God who has been the Redeemer since the beginning of time, we go and teach. We’re not magically perfect or never going to sin again, we recognize that but we do not let it stop us from teaching others about the one who is by nature perfect and by nature never sinful. All of us have this duty to teach, to go outside the walls of this building and the walls of our houses and the walls of the places we’ve deemed our Christian strongholds, and we as transgressors are called to teach other transgressors. The world will call us hypocrites when they see us mess up or if they find out about something buried in our pasts, but that’s okay. The world is filled with people who are trying their hardest to cover up messes: affairs, lies, pride, greed-driven motivations, but instead of seeing them as lost and gone, what if were to see the world populated by David’s? What if instead of focusing our conversations always on the newest sports news, the latest breaking world news, or the 20 television shows which feature the same story just different people, we were willing to tell our co-workers and classmates, can we talk at break, I wronged you whether you knew it or not. Or maybe our conversations dig deeper, maybe you find someone and have a discussion about something you’ve each struggled with for 5, 10, maybe even 20 years and you ask hard questions about what brought you into gossiping daily or why do you never encourage or what circumstances led to you not giving back to the church. We are so caught up in a society that gives you room to deal with things the way you see fit, whatever works for you, whatever stance you want to take, my generation is said to talk about wanting to be real and honest. Let’s change the words this morning, let’s not be real, let’s admit we’ve all got problems, let’s ask for help with others from God, let’s be truthful and say we need the Spirit to sustain us, let’s treasure that Christ is the only sacrifice we’ll ever need and that truly will ever matter, let’s teach about our God who willingly and lovingly picks up the pieces of torn lives, not to sort through all junk and garbage but to make them like they were created to be.
I want to conclude by going back to how we began. Verse 17, “The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.” There’s certain words throughout Scripture that I’ve come across, that you think you know the meaning to. We don’t use them in everyday conversations and we’ve never looked up in a dictionary or even on Google, but we figure the English translators have probably done a good job and our ideas are probably right. Contrite is one of those words I found this week. It means, “honest,” “sad,” or “sorry” right? That is what the word means and maybe that’s what God intended, but a more literal translation of this verse would be, “The sacrifices of God are a breaking spirit; a breaking and shattering heart, God, you will not despise.” I don’t see God working in this message that we have a great cry and anguished groaning in a few minutes when we get to the time of confession though maybe it’s how some of you feel and I won’t take that away from how you feel when you are convicted and contemplating the goodness of God’s salvation on your life, but as emotionless and seemingly painless as many of our confessions might normally be, the psalmist speaks of true worship from humble sinners as coming from breaking and shattering hearts which need someone to put things back together. Confession time isn’t just meant for Sunday, it’s an everyday thing. It’s not just a time to lay out our dirty laundry before God; it’s a time to mediate on his goodness, his faithfulness, and his love. I challenge us brothers and sisters to listen to David and to go to the David’s we meet. Convicted by God, responding to his love, and being willing to teach. Do these things as actions and pronouncements of humility and worship to God who has overcome sin and death by his own death and the resurrection which we celebrate until he comes again. Amen.