Confession and renewal

Today’s thoughts from Greg:

If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word has no place in our lives.
- 1 John 1:8-9

Confession of our guilt makes space for God to operate in our lives. God will act faithfully according to His covenant love, which He sealed with Jesus' blood, if we will only confess our sin and offer our hearts up to Him. What work does this confession make room for God to do? The work of renewal.

Repentance is the restoration of baptism. It is a covenant made with God for a second life. Repentance is the purchasing of humility. Repentance is always distrustful of bodily enchantment. It is self-critical reasoning and solicitude for ones' carelessness. Repentance is the daughter of hope and the denial of hopelessness. Repentance is being guilty but not put to shame. Repentance is reconciliation with the Lord through the performance of good works that are the opposite of one’s faults. Repentance is the purification of conscience.
- John Climacus, Ladder of Paradise 5

Confession leads to repentance, the commitment live differently than we have before. When our repentance meets God's promise of grace and mercy, new life happens. This transformation, the renewal of our souls, is the essence of salvation; having been drawn to God, this renewal of our inner being makes us more like God, and less like the sinful nature we have identified and repented of. Confession and restoration are two sides of the same coin. Hear a prayer of confession and rebirth by Kenneth Slack:

God of mercy and forgiveness, For the times when our love of indulgence and ease have weakened our hold on spiritual things; pardon us.

For when we have not held our bodies in subjection, and have forgotten that they were meant to be temples of your Holy Spirit; pardon us.

For the times we have failed those who have trusted us,and have been concerned with ourselves when they needed our concern; pardon us.

For the times when we have failed in courage, when we have failed to take a stand for righteousness, when we have come to terms with evil in our own lives; pardon us.

And make us new, in Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen

Let us kneel before God's throne, so that we may be forgiven and transformed according to God's image. May God's Spirit be with you today, and always.

Greg

Wickedness and holiness

This week, Greg Steele has prepared our devotional thoughts.

I wish now to review in memory my past wickedness and the carnal corruptions of my soul--not because I still love them, but that I may love thee, O my God. For love of thy love I do this, recalling in the bitterness of self-examination my wicked ways, that thou mayest grow sweet to me, thou sweetness without deception! Thou sweetness happy and assured! Thus thou mayest gather me up out of those fragments in which I was torn to pieces, while I turned away from thee, O Unity, and lost myself among "the many."
- Augustine, Confessions

Guilt, and the confession which it brings forth, are means by which we come to understand God's commitment to us in the context of our sin. Admitting and examining our own iniquity points us directly to God's long-suffering love, which welcomes us back in spite of our wrong-doing.

Now therefore, O our God, the great, mighty, and awesome God, who keeps his covenant of love, do not let all this hardship seem trifling in your eyes - the hardship that has come upon us, upon our kings and leaders, upon our priests and prophets, upon our fathers and all your people, from the days of the kings of Assyria until today. In all that has happened to us, you have been just; you have acted faithfully, while we did wrong.
- Nehemiah 9:32-33

Confession, the admission of guilt, draws us to God. Recognizing our stains pulls us toward the only one who can wash them. Rather than trying to avoid or downplay our guilt, we identify it and call out to God to rectify it. Being drawn to God, we depend on the faithfulness of His commitment to us. We have done wrong, but His word still stands.

Guilt is not something to be afraid, but rather an integral part of the transformative process of salvation. Guilt, articulated in confession, recognizes who God is and who we are in relation. Confessing the sin that separates us draws us closer to our Savior, and enables us to become more like Him.

Lord, we have sinned, and betrayed you
We have wandered from you, but you have never left us
Forgive us, Lord
We have dug our own graves, apart from you
But please remember your covenant of forgiveness and of love
Do not leave us to our mistakes
Rather, please rescue us, that we may know your love
Your love, which is greater than all our mistakes Amen

Let us be drawn to God even in our struggles, that we may also participate in His holiness. May Christ move you today.

Greg

Confessing our vices

A prayer to challenge us, and a scripture to give us comfort.

Prayer of Confession - Our Vices and Virtues

O Father, we know that all of us have sinned
and fallen short of your glory.
We confess that we know personally the hatred which divides
nation from nation, race from race, sisters from brothers.
We admit that even though our words or thoughts
may conceal hate, our actions give us away.
Father forgive.
We realize that the covetousness of people and nations
to possess what is not their own is not distant from us,
but has taken up residence in our heart as well.
Father forgive.
We own up to stockpiles of the greed which exploits
the work of human hands, and lays waste to the earth,
Father forgive.
We concede that our bottomless hunger has sharpened the pangs of
our envy of the welfare and happiness of others.
Father forgive.
We acknowledge our deafness, our indifference to the plight
of the imprisoned, the homeless, the refugee,
Father forgive.
We allow our eyes to lead us into the lust which dishonors the bodies
of men, women and children,
Father forgive.
We confess the pride which leads to trust in ourselves and not in you,
Father forgive.

[Selah – a turning]

Father, help us to swallow our pride and fill our throats with your praise;
Correct our vision from lust to the discernment of beauty and truth;
Open our ears to your calling to forsake our indifference,
and embrace a passion that tunes our ears
to hear the cries of the oppressed for justice;
Refine our taste with your goodness that we may satisfy our hunger
With contentment instead of deepening it with envy;
Liquidate our greed to make room in our lives for
the conservation of our planet’s resources;
O Lord, in your mercy
Hear our prayer.
Remove the dross of covetousness from our hearts and shape us
into vessels of blessing for others;
Train our minds to purge hatred from our thoughts
And fill the gap with love for others before our waywardness
replaces it with something worse.
Help us empty ourselves of evil, Father,
so that you may fill us with that which is good.

Continue your work of conversion in us, Father.
O Lord, in your mercy

Hear our prayer.

Through your Spirit, shape us to conform to the image of Jesus;
In the name of your perfect imager we petition you,

Amen.

Enlighten us with your word, O Lord.

See, a king will reign in righteousness,
and princes will rule with justice.

Each will be like a hiding place from the wind,
a covert from the tempest,
like streams of water in a dry place,
like the shade of a great rock in a weary land.
Then the eyes of those who have sight will not be closed,
and the ears of those who have hearing will listen,

The minds of the rash will have good judgment,
and the tongues of stammerers will speak readily and distinctly.
A fool will no longer be called noble,
nor a villain said to be honorable.

For fools speak folly,
and their minds plot iniquity:
to practice ungodliness,
to utter error concerning the Lord,
to leave the craving of the hungry unsatisfied,
and to deprive the thirsty of drink.

The villainies of villains are evil;
they devise wicked devices
to ruin the poor with lying words,
even when the plea of the needy is right.
But those who are noble plan noble things,
and by noble things they stand.

- Isa 32:1-8 NRSV

Grace and peace,

Ron