Thoughts on the Divine Service
3. The Confession
Dear friends,
Confess is a simple word. Borrowed from Latin, “con” means “with” and “fess” means “speak.” To confess means to “speak with” someone, as in “to say the same thing as someone.”
When we confess our sins at the start of the service, we are saying the same thing about us that God says about us: we’re sinners in need of forgiveness. If there’s any surprise as we begin Sunday morning with the Service of Confession and Absolution, it isn’t our confession of sin. It’s not like the Lord in heaven is reeling in shock and saying, “You did what?!” He already knows all about our sin, including the ones we’ll do next Tuesday. When we confess it, we’re agreeing with what He already knows.
No, if there’s a surprise in the Service of Confession and Absolution, the surprise is in the Lord’s response to our confession of sins. I always have to smile at the start of Divine Service (DS) III when we say Psalm 32:5 back and forth, “I said, ‘I will confess my transgressions to the LORD,’ and you forgave the iniquity of my sin.” It’s natural for us to hide our failures and weaknesses: if you’re trying to impress a dinner companion in hopes of a second date, you don’t run through a list of your worst habits over the appetizer. If you’re applying for a new job, you don’t lead on your resumé with your worst failures ever. Yet here you are, standing before God with eternal life and death on the line, and your bid for salvation is, “I have sinned against you in thought, word and deed, and I deserve your temporal and eternal punishment?” That’s got to be the worst pitch ever. Are you crazy?
You’re not crazy. Instead, by faith you trust in God’s promises that He forgives your sins for the sake of Christ. Refusing to confess your sins is as smart as refusing to let the ER doctor splint your broken leg even when everybody can see your foot pointed in the wrong direction. If you refuse to admit you’re hurt, you’re only lying to yourself as you refuse treatment. If you refuse to admit your sin, you’re only lying to yourself as you refuse the Lord’s grace.
Behold the mercy and grace of God: in the confession of sins, you pour out an honest statement of how you in no way deserve His grace, and He doesn’t cast you away. He forgives you because Jesus died for you.
That’s why the confession in DS III begins with the pastor bidding you to “draw near with a true heart and confess our sins unto God our Father.” A true heart simply says what is true, and it’s true that we’re sinners in need of forgiveness. Anything else would be a lie, and lying is a poor way to enter into the presence of God.
The confession in DS I cuts to the chase even faster with 1 John 1:8-9: “If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. But if we confess our sins, God who is faithful and just will forgive our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” If that’s what the Bible says, then obviously the next thing to do is to confess our sins and be cleansed.
The call to confession in DS IV is the longest of the bunch, but it says the same thing as the other service orders. What’s noteworthy is how brief is the confession! “Almighty God, have mercy upon us, forgive us our sins, and lead us to everlasting life.” I wouldn’t want such a short confession every Sunday—it’s good for me to annoy my old Adam with the longer confessions of sin. Nevertheless, the short confession of DS IV is a good reminder that those who called upon Jesus in the Gospels usually confessed their need with just a few words like, “Son of David, have mercy!” or “Lord, I believe—help my unbelief.” Likewise, while the DS IV confession is brief, it says what needs to be said.
The confession of sins may not be the most pleasant thing to say, but it sets the tone for the rest of the service. In the Invocation, you’ve been reminded that you’re a baptized child of God. Now in the confession, you say what’s true: although you’re God’s own child, you haven’t always acted like it and you still need His grace.
How does God respond to this true confession? You know how, but we’ll save the absolution for next week.