Learning the Liturgy - Confession & Absolution

“If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” (1 John 1:8-9)

In a culture drowning under the deluge of self-empowerment techniques, true Christianity stands in direct opposition declaring: “All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God” (Rom 3:23). At its most basic level Luther said the Christian faith can be summarized with the phrase: The forgiveness of sins through Jesus Christ. Certainly it is bigger in scope than this, but without this vital truth, it is mere religion and worthless. As one pastor put it, “Christianity is not a self-improvement plan. It is about God doing for us what we could not do ourselves.”

This is why following the invocation on Sunday morning, we Lutherans fall at the feet of our gracious God and confess our sins and receive absolution. It is the recognition that we stand before our holy God by the merits of our Lord Jesus Christ and not through our own inherent goodness or works. I’ve always appreciated that this takes place at the beginning of the service as it becomes a preparatory element and releases in me a true sense of thanksgiving and joy, freeing me to worship wholeheartedly, because I am reminded that I have been washed in the blood of Jesus Christ, my sins are nailed to his cross. Most Sunday mornings I must admit that I enter the sanctuary as a man weighed down by sin and repeated failures. I trust that I am not alone on this one. Thus, I feel the immeasurable weight of stating aloud with my fellow sinners:

Most Merciful God, We confess that we are by nature sinful and unclean. We have sinned against You in thought, word, and deed, by what we have done and by what we have left undone. We have not loved You with our whole heart; we have not loved our neighbor as ourselves. We justly deserve Your present and eternal punishment.

These may sound like harsh words to the uninitiated, but they are true nonetheless. Therefore, when our pastor declares that my sins forgiven I do not just wish the slate was wiped clean. I know it actually is! And this provides great impetus for me to sing robustly to the praise of my great Redeemer.

Absolution may seem odd to those coming to Grace Lutheran from a broad evangelical background. “I thought just Catholics practiced that,” is a frequently heard sentence. In point of fact, Martin Luther saw no biblical reason to get rid of this long held practice, both in the public liturgy and in private with the pastor since it follows our Lord’s words to his apostles, “If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you withhold forgiveness from any, it is withheld” (John 20:23). The Augsburg confession sums it up this way: “We also teach that God requires us to believe this absolution as much as if we heard God's voice from heaven, that we should joyfully comfort ourselves with absolution, and that we should know that through such faith we obtain forgiveness of sins” (Article XXV). Having confessed to God and received His forgiveness, we are truly ready to receive His Word and sing His praises. Amen!