Confession as a healing sacrament
One thing lacking in many expressions of modern Christianity is a genuine practice of heartfelt, honest, and personal confession. In church traditions that practice the season of Lent, the weeks leading up to Easter Sunday will often emphasize confession, but even then, many genuine Christians are hesitant to embrace this healing act of faith because we do not like to confess. Yet, genuine confession is not only a vital aspect of Christian witness, but also a powerful means to heal the soul and a faithful discipline all Christians should take seriously.
There is no singularly right way to practice confession. Some traditions value the compassionate and pastoral ears of a trusted faith leader or intermediary to hear the confession. Some traditions prefer the privacy of the prayer closet and the believer’s individual intimacy with Jesus Christ. Other traditions place the confession as an integral part of the worship liturgy and incorporate a communal prayer of shared confession as a part of praising God together. Still others emphasize the humility of coming before the altar of the church in worship and prayerfully confessing before God in the context of Spirit-filled worship. All have value!
A powerful model of confession can be learned in the Biblical witness of Psalm 51. Written by King David following the shame and disgrace of his adulterous rape of Bathsheba and subsequent murder of her husband and hasty marriage to Bathsheba designed to cover up the unintended pregnancy David’s sin conceived, the remorseful king penned the powerful words of lament that make up the Psalm. For Christians in the 21st Century, the repentant, faithful, and hopeful language of Israel’s broken and disgraced king hold tremendous power to restore everyone who has sinned—and that is pretty much everyone born human!
Prayed as a personal and faithful prayer of confession and repentance, as well as embraced as a prayer of hope and deliverance, the unique character of this Psalm immeasurably restores human dignity and grace, while faithfully addressing the challenges of living Godly lives in a world filled with immeasurable sin, temptation, and human frailty.
The Psalm begins with a heartfelt call for mercy and forgiveness with a recognition that the confessed sin looms large and has cut the sinner off from a closer connection with God. It acknowledges that humanity’s sinful nature is part of our being human, yet also faithfully recognizes that God calls us to a higher understanding of both ourselves, and our interconnectedness with God’s Creation. Acknowledging sin is a vital part of forgiveness.
Being aware that the sin in question has caused what some may consider irreparable damage, the Psalm humbly asks God to purge, cleanse, and purify the sinner in the immeasurable grace that comes from God. The prayer of the Psalm boldly confesses wrongdoing and regret, but also dares to hope for Divine restoration and renewal by the graces of God. The prayer then asks God to use the same power of Creation that brought forth all life to create within the sinner a new and clean heart, as well as a righteous spirit. In receiving this blessing, the sinner not only trusts in God’s power to redeem even the most egregious sin, but also restore a sense of joy in the life that has been humiliated, shamed, and destroyed by sinful mistakes.
In bold humility, the prayer recognizes that God cares little for fancy words or ritualistic observances. A broken, and subsequently transformed heart is that which God seeks. The psalmist’s prayer concludes with a recognition that while the sin was dreadful, God will see that the sinner will rise above that sin and prevail with praise and joy—provided the sinner takes the prayer to heart. This is a prayer from Scripture which all believers need to pray seriously!
This article originally appeared on Las Cruces Sun-News: Confession as a healing sacrament
