I can see a pretty good sermon about this in and of itself, but I wonder what would happen if we changed the board a little bit.

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Doreen Walsh
6 years ago
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1 1 James 5:16 Life app 3: How confession heals the world 16 Therefore confess your sins to each other (Jam 5:16 NIV) What sins do you want to confess? On January 25, Ashton Kutchers entertainment website uploaded a video of people in New York and a Giant Chalkboard. At the top of the board it asked this question: What s your biggest regret. The answers were what you might have guessed Not following my artistic passions Not spending time with my mom Not getting my MBA Never going after my dreams Not being a good girlfriend I can see a pretty good sermon about this in and of itself, but I wonder what would happen if we changed the board a little bit. Maybe we put it up in the foyer of our church and said this: Sins I want to confess I wonder what the board would look like if we knew no one was watching us write the answer down. [on white board up front] I have looked at porn every night this past week I cheated on my wife 12 years ago I had an abortion I lied about my friend I stole money from my dads wallet last week I lied about being sick to miss work I have a serious lust for my neighbors wife I molested a child I raped a girl in college I gave my parents the finger after I closed the door I cheated on my entrance exam I steal office supplies from work every week I lied on my taxes

2 2 I broke the vase I hate my dad I don t trust Jesus Need more And that stuff just kills us. It eats at us a little at a time for days, weeks, years and years... and years. Not merely hearing the word, but doing it For the last few weeks we have been talking about life apps. We have been talking about not merely hearing the word and so deceiving ourselves, but doing it. Applying it to our life. Life App. When we don t apply it, it s like looking in a mirror and seeing what needs work and then walking away and not actually shaving. Praying about shaving. Talking about shaving. Doing a study on shaving, knowing the Greek word for shaving, but not actually shaving. And one of those areas I fear that we have neglected is confession. The Bible seems clear that we should indeed confess our sins. And it goes a step further, we should confess our sins... to one another. Why don t we confess our sins to one another? I think the reason that we ignore this one perhaps is not just because it s scary, but because we really don t get it. I think maybe we misunderstand both sin and confession If you have been in a church or hung out with Christians long enough, you probably define sin how Christians have taught you to define sin. Sins are things that Christians judge you for. And we Christians think we know what sin is We have done our Greek word study and found that sin is from a Greek word that was used in bow and arrow accuracy. To sin, is to miss the mark. And that is more or less true. And we Christians have made sure everyone knows what missing the mark entails. Not having sex before marriage that s a big one for us No dancing. You know what they say about kissing right? It almost always leads to dancing. No Latin dancing for sure because the hips cant lie No alcohol

3 3 No metal or gangster rap because that s of the devil No four letter words I don t know, cards, R movies, cigars We all have our list, and we all look down on those who don t abide by it. Those who miss the mark, as we define it. For now, let s just pretend that we are good Christians here and we have these rules for ourselves and we don t judge non disciples when they don t measure up. I wish that were more true, but pretend it is true. There are still sins, individual actions that displease our king. But I think we misunderstand both what sin is and what it means to confess it. Misconception: Confession is only for Catholics I wonder if perhaps you have a misconception about confession. That maybe confession is just for Catholics. They have to do penance saying their hail marys and our fathers and putting some money in the poor box. But that isn t for Protestants. But it is Misconception: A priest can t absolve sin Perhaps you think that the whole idea of a confessional booth and a priest waving his hand with some kind of magic formula and absolving our sin is ludicrous. After all, he is just human like I am. This is just another attempt for the church to require money and to do what only God can do. But a priest can make absolution Misconception: that we have sin buckets that require emptying to keep God happy I think some of us have sin buckets that we think hold our sin until we can talk to God about it and make things right. But confessing our sins doesn t reset the clock. Misconception: God forgets your sin Perhaps you think that when God empties that bucket, he forgets all about the sin

4 4 But he doesn t forget. He can t Misconception: It's not good to open up and be that vulnerable to someone Perhaps your concern isn t so much theological, but practical you aren t about to open up your heart to someone else because then they will have the dirt on you and they might use it against you. Plus you are a leader and that kind of transparency means you won't be able to be a good model for what Christians should be. It discredits you and people need good models. Misconception: this really isn t that important Perhaps you think having a sermon on this one subject is probably not a good use of time. Out of all the important things in the world, why is this one being singled out. It can't be that important. But it so is. It's a command. Misconception: Confession empties your sin bucket and relieves YOU I think another misunderstanding is that when you confess your sins to the priest, you leave with a blank slate. Your bucket gets emptied and you feel so much better That the purpose of confession is for your betterment. Confession, after all, is good for the soul so they say. But it's far more important than that. So no, Confession isn t just for Catholics, yes, priests can absolve sin, no, God doesn t forget your sin, yes it is good for you to be vulnerable, no, confession doesn t make God happy with you again yes, it really is important, and no its not primarily about you. Here is my guess as to how most of us think it works. We all have a sin bucket. It holds our sins Perhaps you have an average sized sin container. This is my sin bucket. (A bucket)

5 5 Some of you need one a bit larger. Carl, Pete, Joyce Hartman (A larger bucket) Maybe someone has a slightly smaller one (look around and pick someone) Some of you need a larger one though. I am guessing Austin (because I know what that kid is thinking every time he sees me and God is not happy) defining depravity, Darlena Hartman I am thinking. Annabel Knight (Trash can sized) And they hold our sins. Confession is the act of getting rid of our sins, and we have to do it with great regularity so God stays happy with us. If it gets too full, we risk God s lightning or something. So we have to get rid of it. I think a lot of Catholics live their life this way. They carry their buckets into the confessional booth and they tell the priest it's been 6 days since my last confession, then they rattle off a list. That was Luther, remember? It was said that he couldn t even get back to his room before he had to return to the confessional with more sins he committed on his way back. He wore out the priests. Priests sure have to put up with a lot A Catholic priest friend of mine told me about a guy who was obviously drunk staggering into his confessional booth. He sat there for several long seconds until the Priest gave a little cough to get his attention. The man didn t move. The priest gave a knock on the window, followed by a few more. Finally the man replied, There is no use knocking man, there s no paper in this one either. Okay, that wasn t true. But I do wonder what priests have to put up with. You know speaking of apps and confession, the pope just recently approved a confession app. It's not what you think though. It's just an app for recording your sins until you can get to a priest to confess them. It doesn t take the place of a priest it just reminds you of your long list. For those with the trash can sized sins, this would be important.

6 6 Even for Protestants. Confession is not just a Catholic thing. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. (1Jo 1:9 NIV) Okay, well yeah, but that s confessing straight to God, right? Maybe so, but confession itself is not just a Catholic thing. But the text doesn t really even say that this is a person to God thing. It might not be. But assuming that it is, don t forget James 5 16 Therefore confess your sins to each other This seems pretty clearly to not be talking about confessing straight to God. But let s talk about these two things 1. Confessing to God 2. Confessing to each other What do you need to know about confession Both seem pretty important. And I think we think about both of these askew. 1. sin is not held against you For instance, if we do the holy thing (and the safe thing) and confess straight to God, we might think that before we confess, God is just sitting there waiting and getting more and more frustrated. Every minute that passes he becomes more and more angry with us and we need to make sure that we confess as quick as possible so as not to risk our life. What would happen for instance, if we didn t confess and we got hit by a car? That s why Catholics do something called Last Rites. A priest will come to your death bed and ask if you have anything else to confess and you confess them. You empty your bucket and save months or years in purgatory. If it s not purgatory, we at least think that God likes us better now. Maybe we think with that word of confession, God has forgotten the sin. After all, Hebrews 8:12 says,

7 7 For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more." But be careful here, it doesn t mean that God has actually forgotten your sin. I know he doesn t forget because your mama won t let him forget, your ex wife won t let him forget, your brother won t let him forget. He hasn t been flashed by the Men in Black pen/flashy thingy. I doubt God even has the ability to forget sin. He is God. He doesn t forget anything. Yes, there are things God can t do. God can t sin. God can t make a rock so big he can t lift it. God can t ignore justice, God can t go against his own character. Be careful when you speak of the omnipotence of God that you have the right idea here. God can t forget. But the verse says he does. Let me see if I can explain this It's not that he forgets, it s that he doesn t bring this information to mind. He doesn t bring it up. It isn t used against you. Using things against you, that is Satan s job. He is constantly telling you about your sin and how it makes it impossible for God to value you. But that isn t what God does. 2. God loves you Confession isn t about emptying your bucket to make God stop being angry at you. God isn t angry at you. God loves you. But there is a restoration that happens for you when you confess. Because someone who is really a Jesus follower hates living life off the path that Jesus is on. And it just kills us. We are hiding this, doing that, not listening to Jesus and when we confess we offer all those sins up to God. And God reminds us again of the beauty and the horror of the cross. Because it s our sin that hung Jesus there. But it s that work on the cross 2000 years ago that makes me want to insist with boldness that God values you. That he does not look at you with a frown. That he loves you. 3. You become free Your confession frees you, not because God was about to bring the pain, but because you were living a false life, a life that you aren t designed to live. You are living life in a concentration camp but you are the one who walked into the camp. You weren t designed for that kind of living and God keeps crying out to you that you just need to

8 8 walk out. The door isn t locked. But you wander around thinking that sin bucket makes it impossible to leave, but it doesn t. God is like a parent. He already knows what you did wrong. He knows you broke the window on the house last week. He watched the whole thing. He already went to the neighbor, bought the window and put it back in. Now he is walking next to you and what he knows is that for you to live an abundant life, you shouldn t have that thing making you feel guilty. He already took care of it. Just admit the deed. The good news is that your sin is not being held against you. Some of you know this. But you don t live it. You hear the word, but you don t do it. Some of you needed to hear this more than anything God isn t angry at you. But some of you think this is all about freeing yourself. It's bigger even than that. 4. Everyone becomes free It's about freeing everyone. Because you aren t supposed to just confess your sins, you are supposed to confess your sins one to another. And that is not just for you. Sure, they can remind you of exactly what God says about your sin that it is not being held against you, that he has thrown it into the deepest sea, as far as the east is from the west. They can remind you that he is faithful and just and forgives you. They can remind you that you are absolved all a priest should be doing. They can encourage your heart and love you. But more than that, they are brought into the same world that you are. Because most of us are afraid and alone and both of these things are destroying the Kingdom within. Anne Jackson in a recent article titled The Power of Confession says this, A recent survey conducted by the American Sociological Review noted that a quarter of Americans say they don t have a close friend to confide in. When you add on the culturally imposed (and widely erroneous) requirement of being a good Christian today, I imagine that percentage goes up for those in religious circles. Here we are, supposed to be the safest place in the world to come and admit weaknesses and flaws and outright sins. But we don t want people to know we have a drinking problem because

9 9 that isn t acceptable. We don t want people to know we look at porn. We don t want people to know what we did last night. We want to keep our masks on and our mouths shut. We think the word fellowship means coffee time or potlucks or picnics. We make appearances to things, but we have no obligation to one another. We are relationally anemic. And it s because we are afraid. It's not easy to admit things. and yet it s absolutely essential in order for us to experience the full and abundant life God has for us and for the body we re a part of. Friends, there is power in truth. It actually destroys fear and loneliness; It cultivates community. It makes us who we are called to be. Here is what happens First we are humbled, vulnerable and ready to accept grace and healing that has always been there but we kept at bay. Second, we invite people into the world of truth that we are trying to live in. Third, we give others permission for them to uncover their injuries and their shame. 4. It is safe Friends, the church exists as a safe place for you, no matter who you are. 5. Both Christians and non Christians have sin to deal with Some of you feel like you are trying to hit the mark and you are failing. Yep, so are we all. That doesn t mean it doesn t matter, it means we understand and we support and we don t use your failures to hurt you because we have plenty. Some of you aren t trying to hit the mark. Let s be honest here. You aren t aiming for that center circle like Christians say they are, because you don t even see their being a center circle. It's true that if you ask all the Christians in this room their opinion on this or that ethical point, you might get a 100 different nuances. Some may outright tell you that isn t a sin, others might think it s the biggest sin in the world. For some of you drinking may be a sin. For others of you not drinking may be a sin Some of you may still think that dancing is a sin.

10 10 Maybe cards, maybe R movies, maybe cigars I think all those things sound like a great evening with Baptist brothers. But we aren t talking about specifics right now. The truth is there is sin. God is a god of love and justice and goodness and falling short in these areas means sin. Even if you aren t a Christian and you haven t agreed to any code of conduct. I don t plan on judging you for it. I understand where you are at. But I need to tell you that sin does exist. Perhaps I need to emphasize the fact that sin is often more than an individual action, it carries with it the idea of being bent away from God. For some of us, confession is freeing us from a trapped conscience, from a prison we make for ourselves. For some of us, confession might be the first act in putting ourselves under the reign and rule of God. Because confession leads to repentance. And repentance leads to following. Dr. Chuck DeGroat speaking of Lent said this, Lent is NOT God s sin management program. It s relational, inviting us to recognize and surrender any obstacle to union with God. 6. Redemption comes with it Maybe that is what I am getting at. The biggest point I want to make today is that you are not confessing your sin because God is angry at you and you are trying to keep him happy. That is a lie of Satan. You are worthy. That is why Jesus went to the cross. He wants the relationship with you and the world. You are redeemed. (erase chalkboard and write Redeemed) Whoever you are, I hope today is a day of confession. I hope you are freed from guilt and leave here with an abundant and eternal life. (play video ) Dear Family,

11 11 You already know I am a sinner; you know it theologically and practically. You have witnessed it up close far too many times. But the truth is, you have no idea. My list of secret sins is longer than I want to admit. I don't have any sins that actually disqualify me from being a pastor, but I have quite a lot that might keep you from liking me very much. I assume you are a sinner too, but I don't actually know that much about you. You probably don't tell me for the same reasons I don't tell you. We don't want to be that vulnerable. We already wonder whether we are liked and we don't want to risk someone liking us even less. The truth is, the relationship might change. I wonder if it s time for a change. I wonder if confession frees us. I wonder if confession heals us. Here is my working thesis this week: confessing our sins to one another heals the world. It s actually one of the keys to relationship, the keys to change, the keys to real life. I hope you will think about James 5:16 this week and I look forward to helping you think through this on Sunday. Songs Nothing but the Blood, Redman What can wash away my sins Ther eiw a fountain filled with blood, William cowper Maybe during offering? Chan on this subject I am glad when my boys talk about cleaning their room, having a Study about what it means to clean their room. Read a book on cleaning their room. Rock on. But it would be nice and the expectation is that they actually clean their room.

Because, well, it s an overused word and as such, has stopped having an impact

Because, well, it s an overused word and as such, has stopped having an impact 1 Acts 15 No more living under the frown of God The word grace Grace. It s a simple elegance or refinement of movement It s what loan collectors might give you if feeling particularly happy that day It