Grace Happens - Part 5
December 9, 2012
They say Confession is good for the soul. But is it? How many of you really would be willing to get up here and confess your sinfulness? It’s not easy . . . is it? We struggle with it one on one. When we need to confess to a loved one that we blew it. We messed up. We sinned against them and because we sinned against them, we also sinned against God.
When we make that confession, we often like to say it in a way which will minimize the damage. We say things like “I kind of did that.” In my black and white world, either you did it or you didn’t do it, there’s no such thing as kind of. You either hit your friend or you didn’t. You stole that item or you didn’t. You said those words or you didn’t.
Plainly, we don’t like to confess. Yet, in the oldest book of the New Testament, what is considered to be the first letter written, James gives these instructions to the early church ~ 16 Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. (James 5:16)
James doesn’t talk about how to worship, or how to take communion, or how to serve; instead he finds it more important to help the early church understand the need for confession.
When we talk about confession, we have lots of images in our heads and hearts. We may think of someone who was arrested and think of CSI and how a confession is being coaxed out of them. Or maybe you’re thinking about a moment in a confessional, where there is another person who can’t see you and they listen to your words of confession.
Most images of confession really aren’t positive. You see, the root meaning of the word confession is to say “we are in full agreement.” We are in full agreement with one another, so we pray for one another; and we are in full agreement with God. We agree that what we did was wrong, it was a sin against God and others. That’s a good reason to ultimately find healing as James concludes.
Sometimes we think confession is telling God something He doesn’t already know. That’s impossible. Sometimes we think confession is complaining. We just tell what’s bothering us and we feel better. And sometimes we think confession is blaming. We point fingers at others, so that we don’t have to point fingers at ourselves.
Basically, confession is coming clean with God. King David did this. It took awhile before he eventually came to confess his sinfulness. It’s a story which was even made into a movie, aptly called, David and Bathsheba. David made a series of very unwise decisions. Saying they were unwise is being overly generous.
The story is found in 2 Samuel 11. It was Spring time, which was the time of year, kings went off to make war. But, David decided not to go to war. He sent his soldiers, but David stayed back and took it easy while they fought. He watched the reports on CNN.
This began a series of events which led to disaster. They seemed innocent enough at first, but one problem compounded another problem. David had too much time on his hands. As he walked on his balcony, across the street, he saw Bathsheba, who was a real bathing beauty, taking her bath.
Instead of saying get her a bigger and better curtain, David told his servants to send the limo over to her home and bring her to the castle. When she walked in there was champagne chilling and rose petals on the bedroom floor. You know what his intentions were, and it seems like his intentions matched her intentions.
I’m not sure how much contact they had after their first encounter. They may have had daily or weekly visits; or maybe they didn’t see each other again. But, after awhile, Bathsheba sends David a text message, ‘I need to talk to you,’ and she tells him she’s pregnant and he’s the dad.
David does some quick thinking, because he knows her husband is off fighting in the war he is supposed to be at. Ultimately, Bathsheba’s husband demonstrates better character than David, and David can only think of one thing left to do, and has Uriah killed in battle. Then David and Bathsheba carry on like nothing ever happened. The baby was born and nobody knew anything. At least 9 months had gone by and nobody knew about this. Well, almost nobody. You see, God knew.
Now, David, the man after God’s own heart, had developed a stone cold heart. Finally, a prophet named Nathan confronted David about his sin. David had lived with this unconfessed sin for about 1 year. On the outside everything appeared normal, but on the inside, David was suffering from his unconfessed guilt and sin.
In Psalm 32:3-4, David said, 3 When I refused to confess my sin, my body wasted away, and I groaned all day long. 4 Day and night your hand of discipline was heavy on me. My strength evaporated like water in the summer heat.
5 Finally, I confessed all my sins to you and stopped trying to hide my guilt. I said to myself, “I will confess my rebellion to the Lord.” And you forgave me! All my guilt is gone.
It took him almost a year to do this, so during this time, he was suffering under the weight of his guilt. He was weak, he was miserable, his body was wasting away, his strength was gone. There was no rest, just guilt weigh down on him. The reality of his sin had replaced the euphoria of his sin. Every time he looked at her, he felt the pain of his sin. Unconfessed sin is like a knife blade lodged in your soul; and you can’t escape the misery it creates.
Just ask, Li Fuyan. A robber stabbed him on the right side of his jaw. For 4 years, he suffered from terrible headaches and had trouble breathing, but couldn’t find a cure. He used injections to kill the pain in his head and ears.
The doctors had checked his mouth, but there were no wounds or scars. Ultimately, they did an x-ray, and this is what they found ~ Picture of his head
No wonder he had such stabbing pain. You look at a story like that, and you wonder how could that happen? But there’s other stories out there —
In April 2009, a Colorado man coughed up a nail that had been stuck in his nose for three decades.
And in 2004, doctors in France found 350 coins in a man's stomach.
An X-ray showed a pencil inside a German woman's head. It had been there for 55 years. She fell on it when she was 4 years old.
A woman in Australia had severe stomach pain for 18 months after surgery. She insisted on an X-ray, and it showed a 6½ inch pair of surgical scissors left in her after that surgery. http://www.nydailynews.com/news/craziest-x-rays-gallery-1.7270
How does all of this happen? Don’t they know we can’t live with foreign objects in our bodies? Don’t we know we weren’t made to live with unresolved guilt? We weren’t made to live with unresolved guilt in our souls. You may not have a knife in your skull, but you may have something worse.
What would an X-ray of your soul reveal? What if we did a body scan, what would we see? Regret over a poor choice of words!
Unresolved anger and bitterness!
Words you never said — which would have brought healing!
Actions that hurt others!
A habit or addiction you won’t let go of.
The temptation you couldn’t resist.
The parent you could never be.
There are those wounds, festering deep beneath the surface of our heart and soul. Sometimes we don’t even know what they are, but they’re there. We can feel them, we know they’re there. Something just doesn’t feel right, we’re not right. Those who are closest to you know which topics not to bring up, because they know it will illicit your wrath. So, it’s better for them to avoid those conversations. They’ve learned to expect certain mood swings and crankiness, because you’re going to fly off the handle at any moment. You’re touchy . . . . . . and why? You’ve got that unresolved guilt buried within you.
Now, here comes the question . . . and honestly, the answer will vary with each one of us . . . Would you like God to extract it? The procedure for its removal is called confession.
It’s to ask God to look into my soul and reveal the truth. It’s like what we read in Psalm 139, when the psalmist writes, 23Search me O God, and know my heart; try me, and know my anxious thoughts. 24See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting. It’s a prayer in which we invite God to give us that full body scan for our heart and soul.
It’s a risky prayer, isn’t it? When we do something like this without God’s presence and blessing, we end up either with self-condemnation or self-justification. Either we beat ourselves up for our actions; or we find ways to justify our actions. We don’t need either one. What we need is God’s guidance and grace.
After he was confronted by Nathan, David finally confessed and said this prayer which we’ve used as part of our memory verses this year. It’s from Psalm 51 ~
1 Have mercy on me, O God, according to your unfailing love; according to your great compassion blot out my transgressions.
2 Wash away all my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin.
3 For I know my transgressions, and my sin is always before me.
4 Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight, so that you are proved right when you speak and justified when you judge.
Remember, the word confession means to speak the same, to be in full agreement. This is what David is saying. He’s waving the white flag, saying ‘you’re right God. You’re fair, you’re righteous. No more arguing and combat, no more secrets.’ He confessed and came clean with God.
What about you? What would it look like for you? It often happens at night, doesn’t it? You’re tired and looking forward to hitting the pillow with your head. But you can’t sleep. Your mind is racing, not about tomorrow’s plans, but it’s memories, guilt.
Maybe it was the events from that day. Earlier in the day you had words with a family member, a coworker, or a friend. You said some things that were not good. You were angry, you felt justified, but you know, it wasn’t right. Now, you’re reliving that conversation in your head, heart and spirit.
The old you would have done nothing. You would have crammed this incident in the back of your conscience as one more person who doesn’t agree with you. You would have justified your words and actions and moved on, just avoid the other person; and life goes on. That relationship would be over, just like the others.
But this is the new you, not the old you. Something is happening to you. Grace is happening to you. You know that you’ve received the greatest gift imaginable, the gift of God’s salvation, the Son of God, came into this world just for you. He lived, He died, He rose again and He comes, still comes to give you abundant life and the hope of something better, today and tomorrow. You know that, you believe that, and you’ve allowed God to soften your heart of stone, into a heart of flesh.
So, instead of hitting the pillow and letting another relationship go down the tubes. You start talking to God. That’s called prayer! You tell God what He already knows. Remember, He was there, He saw what happened. You tell God about it, you search your heart and you ask God to forgive you for what you did. It was wrong and you agree with God. You prayed the prayer of confession. And it becomes more of a lifestyle. We start catching ourselves immediately after doing something and confess it right on the spot. We do it with sincerity and humility.
Eventually, we become closer to God that we learn what not to do, we learn what sparks our fires; and we become just a little holier, a little more Christ like. Oh, we still mess up. We still sin, but the coming to the Father to say, “Father, Abba, daddy, dear Jesus, I’m back . . . I did it again. Oh Lord, forgive me, help me to turn from my evil ways, and turn to your righteous ways.”
It becomes a cleansing, a feeling of being at peace with God, which frankly too many of us don’t have. And it’s a vicious cycle, because we don’t confess, we don’t pray, and when we do, we pray for Uncle Buck to get his act together, when we won’t have our act together.
The prayer of confession should be more of a lifestyle, where we recognize our sin, and we immediately jump on it. No sooner do the words fly out of our mouths, than we petition God for His grace and the person we said the words to.
No sooner do we judge or look or take or whatever it is we do, we humbly step into the throne room of God, and we confess our sinfulness. You see, we now have the opportunity to experience the grace of God. Things aren’t getting backed up and clogged. You know what’s it’s like to clean out a clogged up drain.
Picture that to be our souls when we’re filled with guilt. But when we experience the grace of God, we experience His peace. We gain strength and comfort; power and love; courage and mercy. It all flows together. Our soul and our conscience are opened to His power and presence and we feel a greater freedom, a greater engagement with life.
Paul reminds us 18 If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. (Romans 12:18) As much as you can, seek to live in peace with others. You can only do so much, but do your part with those who are around you. Sometimes you have to let things go. Pray about it, confess your part in it. Confess your anxiety over it. Seek God’s presence and grace to lead you, instead of you leading.
Maybe along your journey, you need to dig a little deeper into your soul. Maybe there are things from the past that have been gnawing at you for a long time, and it’s time to let them go. Maybe you did something you shouldn’t have done, or it’s a discussion with God you need to have about your feelings toward Him, and it’s hindered your relationship with Him.
You have the opportunity to turn to God and talk to Him about what happened, about your soul. He seeks to bring the healing you really, really need. God will extend His grace and mercy to us. Look at what John says. It’s one of my favorite passages and was a memory verse in week 6 of this year — 8 If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. – 1 John 1:8-9
I’ve said this before about this passage. It’s all contingent on one small seemingly insignificant word . . . IF. If we confess our sins, if we do, then listen to what John tells us God will do for us.
He reminds us God is faithful and just to forgive our sins, and not only that He will cleanse us, He will purify us from all that filth, dirt and sin that covers us. As David prayed in Psalm 51, he asked God to make him whiter than snow. Isn’t that a great image of God’s cleansing and purification at work in our lives. Make me whiter than snow, Lord. Help me to glisten, but it’s not me, it’s you who glistens and shines through me.
Let me close with these words from Psalm 103. Consider these words, meditate on them, hold them close, especially when self-condemnation is close at hand ~
8 The Lord is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love. 9 He will not always accuse, nor will He harbor His anger forever;
10 He does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities. 11 For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is His love for those who fear Him;
12 as far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us.
13 As a father has compassion on His children, so the Lord has compassion on those who fear Him; 14 for He knows how we are formed, He remembers that we are dust.
Most people live with the belief God is angry at them. So, they don’t want to go near Him, because if they ever did, God would stand there with arms folded, a scowl on His face; and they would feel totally rejected.
But that is not the God I know. God has proven He is loving and compassionate, powerful and tender, grace-filled and strong. So, we can talk to God, and it will do wonders for our relationship with Him, and with others. Because if we always act like we’re perfect, we’re going to be pretty hard to live with.
So, go to God, talk to God, confess to God. Do it as part of your regular day. Confess to God, confess to one another (to those whom you trust and are safe). Admit your frailties; and I really believe people will see a new you. They’ll see someone who extends grace as well as receives it. They’ll see someone who gives what they didn’t deserve in the first place. Why? Because grace happens!
