“The Relief of Sincere Confession”
Text: Psalm 32 & Luke 18:9-14
8-27-2023
In the name of Him who justifies us poor, miserable sinners, dear friends in Christ. This morning we’re going to spend our time digging deeper into the Confession and Absolution that we used at the beginning of this service, so you’re welcome to refer back to your bulletin if you'd like. While preparing this sermon I toyed with the idea of stopping you right after the Confession of sins and asking, “Do you really mean it? Do you even know what you just said?” And I thought that maybe I should wait to announce the Absolution until the real purpose of Confession was explained more thoroughly during the sermon. But I couldn’t do that because I have no right to withhold from you God’s words of forgiveness. Not for 15 minutes while I preach this sermon and not even for 15 seconds! You see, God’s offer of forgiveness remains even if there are some of you who weren’t sincere about those words we just uttered. It’s not for me to judge what’s in anyone’s heart because I don’t have that power. God does. My only “job” is to be His instrument in proclaiming the forgiveness Christ has won for you. I pray that you humbly received it.
That being said, though, it’s good for us to now go back and look at those words of Confession more closely and better understand what we’re saying so that we can be sincere about this precious means of grace. Because if we do, the words of forgiveness in the Absolution will be clearer to us and bring God’s intended relief for our souls when burdened by sin. Now, I’m assuming all of you see the vital importance of Confession for the health of our souls. If you don’t then we’ve got a whole ‘nother problem.
You may not know this, but there are some folks in the Christian Church who bristle at the wording of the Confession we used this morning. Why? Because in it we say, “I, a poor, miserable sinner.” To their way of thinking, these words hurt our self-esteem. If I were a Pastor who simply wants you to be happy and feel good about yourself, then I best remove that kind of language. It’s troubling to see congregations, even Lutheran ones, who have succumbed to this kind of thinking. In good conscience, I can’t delete or avoid that kind of language. Because, to be blunt, that’s what we are– “poor, miserable sinners”! We’re standing in the presence of a holy, perfect God and with these words we recognize that we are filthy sinners who have no right to even approach Him.
I prefer this Confession over all the others because of the personal pronouns: “I... a poor miserable sinner.” Not “we.” You may be surrounded by people as you speak those words but nobody can take the blame for your sins except you and you alone. And nobody can ask God for your forgiveness except you and you alone. Do you remember what the Small Catechism says about Confession? It asks the question, “What is the first part of confession?” And the answer is, “The first part of confession is that we confess, or acknowledge, our sins.” That’s what we’re doing as we speak those opening words in our corporate confession of sins.
We go on to say, I “confess unto You all my sins and iniquities with which I have ever offended You.” You may think that’s impossible. How can you identify all your sins in such a short time? You can’t, because there are too many. The good news is you don’t have to enumerate every last one in order to be forgiven. As we speak those words, we are opening up our hearts to God and saying, “Lord, You know all my sins and I can’t hide them from You. Search my heart and purge away all my sins; both the ones I’m aware of and even the ones I’m not.” That pretty well covers it. But listen closely: You best not try holding back! Don’t think for a minute that you can retain a pet sin that you’re involved in and still have a sincere confession. God knows all your secret sins and invites you to confess them. If you consciously and willfully hold onto any sin, then you can forget about receiving the benefits of Christ’s total forgiveness. I have to warn you, if you try to hold onto to that sin it’ll eat you up inside.
That’s what David was saying in our reading from Psalm 32. He’s talking about the terrible, internal pain of trying to hide a sin compared to the indescribable relief of total confession. In verses 3-5 he says, “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 did not cover up my iniquity; I said, ‘I will confess my transgressions to the LORD,’ and you forgave the iniquity of my sin.” You see, God refuses to let you get comfortable with a hidden sin. Because He loves you so deeply, He will make the weight of your guilt become an unbearable, crushing load. Why? Is it because He wants to punish you and make you suffer for that sin? No. Jesus already did that for you on the cross. The reason why He puts pressure on you is that He wants you to take responsibility for your many sins and cry out to Him for relief.
As the Confession goes on, we acknowledge that due to our sins we “justly deserve Your temporal and eternal punishment.” It’s old language but it simply means that God has every right to punish us here on earth and forever in hell for all our sins against Him. That ought to scare us enough to stop us in our tracks. Actions have consequences and the consequence of sin is real and terrible. Unfortunately, too many people believe that God grades on a curve when He looks at our sins. They think that some of their sins are merely little indiscretions that God will overlook. They change the words of that great hymn of confession, “Chief of Sinners Though I Be.” Instead of sincerely confessing their sins, they sing, “Chief of sinners though I be, so-and-so is worse than me.” But that’s not how God looks at our transgressions. ALL sins are serious to Him and deserving of damnation. And any retained sin will destroy your soul if it’s left unconfessed and therefore unforgiven.
Thankfully, though, God in His mercy has given us a way out from under that crushing load of sin. Through His Word He has revealed the source of our relief: Jesus Christ. Turn your attention to the Confession again. After we acknowledge our sins and “sincerely repent of them” we call upon God’s promise of forgiveness. The only reason why God will remove the guilt of our sins is because of the “holy, innocent, bitter sufferings and death” of Jesus. That is our only hope and our only source for relief– the sacrifice of Christ on the cross. No matter what sin you may have committed, no matter how long ago it happened, you have God’s promise that He will forgive it for Jesus’ sake. He won’t refuse you. Jesus has already paid the punishment for the sins of the whole world. Now, all that any sinner has to do is sincerely repent and by faith tap into that unlimited forgiveness.
In that regard I truly have the best “job” in the world because I have the awesome privilege of telling you the good news that your sins are indeed, all forgiven. I have a relative who is not a Lutheran and he has argued with me about this. He said, “What right do you have to forgive anyone’s sins?!? You’re just a human being. Only God can forgive sins!” He’s correct. I myself have no power to forgive your sins. HOWEVER! In the Absolution, I say to you “in the stead and by the command of my Lord Jesus Christ I forgive you all your sins.” I’m just God’s spokesman. Jesus says in John 20, “If you forgive anyone his sins, they are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven." Christ gave that power and responsibility to the whole Christian Church. And the Church calls Pastors to announce that good news on their behalf to all repentant sinners. That’s why the Catechism says, “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.” So, it’s not me that makes the forgiveness effective. It’s God’s Word and promises. My calling is to be like the personal representative of a billionaire who sends me out to give away gold coins to everyone who will receive them. The forgiveness, like the coin, is not mine. I just have the happy privilege of freely giving it away.
And what should our attitude be as we confess our sins before God? Well, just look at the Gospel lesson. The Pharisee was not sincerely confessing His sins and calling on God for mercy. No, he felt he was a pretty decent guy and he thought God should take notice of it. Not only that, he was also comparing himself to others and he figured he looked mighty righteous. Notice, he didn’t humbly acknowledge any of his own sins and he certainly didn’t show sorrow or repentance for them. That is a dangerous attitude to have, my friends! In stark contrast is the tax collector. He says, in essence, the words we said earlier, “I, a poor, miserable sinner.” He felt so unworthy to be standing in God’s holy presence that he wouldn’t even look up to heaven. All he could do was beg God for mercy. He acknowledged his sin and sincerely confessed it. Which man walked away forgiven? Jesus says that the tax collector went home “justified before God.” That’s what God offers to you. If you sincerely confess your sins and plead for God’s mercy through Jesus Christ, you too can leave here today and go home confident that you are “justified before God.”
I pray that you now have a deeper understanding of the benefits of sincere Confession. And I also pray you have a deeper appreciation of God’s word of forgiveness in the Absolution. There is no greater relief for a soul which is burdened with the crushing load of their multitude of sins. By faith in Jesus our Savior, we have the precious forgiveness of every last one of them. I invite and encourage you to sincerely confess all your sins to Him regularly, trusting in His promise to remove that burden and give you His righteousness instead. You can leave this service now with a clear conscience, believing God’s word of total forgiveness for Jesus’ sake. Amen.
Soli Deo Gloria!