John 20:19-23; 1 John 1:5-10; 2 Samuel 12:1-15; Psalm 32
Washed in the Blood of the Lamb: The Ten Commandments and Confession & Absolution
Confession & Absolution: What is it? Why do I need it?
In the Name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit.
The word “confess” is simple and profound. It means “to say the same thing.” When you confess your faith, you say the same thing God has said about Himself in Holy Scripture. When you confess your sins, you say the same thing God has said about your thoughts, words, and deeds, that you have fallen short and have not kept His Commandments.
Jesus said, “Everyone who confesses Me before men, I will also confess him before My Father who is in heaven.” That is confessing your faith. Saint John wrote in tonight’s first lesson, “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 us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” That is confessing your sins. Both are necessary for the Christian life.
So, what exactly is Confession? The Small Catechism answers clearly: “Confession has two parts. First, that we confess our sins, and second, that we receive absolution, that is, forgiveness, from the pastor as from God Himself, not doubting, but firmly believing that by it our sins are forgiven before God in heaven.”
Notice that confession of sins and absolution are two sides of the same coin. You cannot have one without the other. In fact, you confess because the absolution is already there, guaranteed in the blood of Christ. That is why Luther could say that “to confess is simply to be a Christian,” and that every true Christian “would run a hundred miles to hear the words, ‘You are forgiven.’”
We see this lived out in the life of King David. The prophet Nathan was sent by God to confront David with his adultery with Bathsheba and the murder of her husband Uriah. The Word of the Lord cut David to the heart. In Psalm 32 David later testified: “When I kept silent, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long. For day and night Your hand was heavy upon me; my strength was dried up as by the heat of summer. I acknowledged my sin to You, and I did not cover my iniquity; I said, ‘I will confess my transgressions to the LORD,’ and You forgave the iniquity of my sin.”
David did not confess in the dark, hoping maybe God would be merciful. He confessed in the full confidence that mercy was already waiting for him. You and I need that same confidence, because Satan never stops accusing. He delights to fill us with dread, guilt, and shame so that we will either run from God in despair or puff ourselves up in proud self-righteousness. That is why the Lord has given His Church pastors. He has not left you alone with your sin.
After you confess, the pastor asks, “Do you believe that my forgiveness is God’s forgiveness?” You answer, “Yes.” Then, laying his hands on your head, he declares: “In the stead and by the command of my Lord Jesus Christ I forgive you all your sins in the Name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit.” That is not the pastor’s opinion. That is the voice of Christ Himself.
Where does this authority come from? From the Office of the Keys, which our Lord instituted on Easter evening. Saint John records it in chapter 20: “Jesus breathed on His disciples and said to them, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you withhold forgiveness from any, it is withheld’.” Christ gave this authority first to the apostles and then, through the Church, to those rightly called and ordained as pastors, for your sake, so that you may be certain that what is spoken on earth is spoken in heaven.
“What sins should we confess?” the Catechism asks. Before God we plead guilty of all sins, even those we are not aware of, just as we do every time we pray the Lord’s Prayer and the General Confession. But before the pastor we confess only those sins which we know and feel in our hearts. The Catechism then directs us to examine our lives according to the Ten Commandments in light of our various callings: father, mother, son, daughter, husband, wife, worker. Have we been disobedient, unfaithful, lazy, hot-tempered, rude, or harmful in word or deed? Have we stolen, wasted, or neglected what God has entrusted to us?
For the past two weeks we have been meditating on those very Commandments. They are God’s holy Law. They do not save us; they only expose our sin. Their purpose is to terrify the old Adam in us and drive us to despair of saving ourselves. That is exactly what happened to David when Nathan said, “You are the man!” David replied, “I have sinned against the LORD.” The Law crushed him. Then the Gospel flowed in: “The LORD also has put away your sin; you shall not die.”
The prodigal son ran home only because he knew there was a home and a father waiting. You and I confess our sins only because we know the Absolution is already prepared for us in Jesus Christ.
Some of you may have been taught that private confession and absolution is only for the really big sins, the ones that keep you awake at night. It is certainly for those sins, and thank God it is! But it is not only or even primarily for those. From the time of the Reformation until well into the twentieth century, individual confession was the normal way Lutherans prepared to receive the Lord’s Supper. People came after Vespers on Saturday or early Sunday morning. They did not try to list every sin; they simply confessed what troubled their conscience, and the pastor absolved them. This practice continued in our churches for centuries.
While private confession has become less common in the last several generations, it has never been abolished. Faithful pastors and congregations still offer it because it is one of the Lord’s most personal and comforting means of grace. When you speak your sins out loud in the presence of another Christian called by God to hear them, those sins are dragged out of the darkness into the light of Christ. When the pastor lays his hands on your head and speaks the words of absolution, you hear the living voice of the Gospel applied directly to you. The burden lifts. The devil is silenced. And you are strengthened for the daily battle against temptation.
This Lent, do not miss out on what your Lord has provided for you. If you have never used private confession, begin. If you have grown rusty in the practice, return. Schedule a time with your pastor. Come with the sins that weigh on you, great or small. Come confident, like David, that the Absolution is already yours in Christ. Come and hear the words you were baptized to hear: “I forgive you all your sins in the Name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit.”
A Christian would run a hundred miles to hear those words. You don’t have to run a hundred miles. You only have to walk through the church door. Your pastor will be waiting. Your Savior has already paid the price. And the forgiveness is certain, because it is not the pastor’s forgiveness; it is God’s.
In the + Name of Jesus. Amen.
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