February 17, 2021
Ash Wednesday
Hope Lutheran Church
Rev. Mary Erickson
Psalm 51:1-17;
Confession: The First Step towards Wholeness
Friends, may grace and peace be yours in abundance in the knowledge of God and Christ Jesus our Lord.
Today we turn the corner and a new season stands before us, the season of Lent. Lent is a season of inner renewal. The word Lent comes from an Old English word meaning spring. New life emerges in the spring from the softening earth. So in Lent, we experience a type of spiritual revival. During these six weeks we engage in practices to enliven our faith.
The season of Lent begins with Ash Wednesday and it ends in the events of Holy Week. Lent points towards its ultimate destination: Jesus’ cross and grave. Lent’s focus pivots from his earthly ministry to the cross. His footsteps carry him resolutely towards Jerusalem and his ultimate destination: the cross and the grave.
And so we enter Lent. We begin with this first day of the season, Ash Wednesday. Ash Wednesday reminds us of our limitations. We’re limited in the number of our days: we’re all mortal and will die. And we’re also limited within by our shortcomings. We’re all fundamentally flawed. Sin has corrupted us to our very bones. We apply the ashes of this holy Wednesday with the sobering words: Remember you are dust, and to dust you shall return.
Our theme for Wednesdays this Lent is Forgiveness. For each of the following Wednesdays we’ll explore an aspect about forgiveness through one of the gospel stories about Jesus. On this Ash Wednesday we begin with the theme of confession.
As the saying says, confession is good for the soul. Confession is the first step towards restoration and wholeness. It marks an end of our denial. Our actions – and inactions – have caused pain and alienation. Confession is the long look in the mirror. It admits that all is not well.
Psalm 51 is the appointed psalm for this day. It’s a psalm of confession. The psalm is connected with an event in the life of King David. He’d been harboring the secret of his sin. David had lusted after the wife of another man. He used his power to arrange a secret meeting with the woman, Bathsheba. It was an offer she couldn’t refuse. When she told David that a child was on the way, David took further steps to cover his guilt. He arranged for the death of her unsuspecting husband so that he could then marry the woman he coveted.
It seemed like David had successfully covered his tracks. But the prophet Nathan confronted David with the atrocities of his actions. David’s façade of perfection was fractured. And like a pricked balloon, David’s heart broke open in remorse. Although he’d conducted himself outwardly as if all was well, on the inside David was rotting from the canker of his horrible actions.
David confesses. And the confession is like a great exhalation. The secret had been killing him from the inside out. In the words of Psalm 51, he expresses his remorse. “Have mercy on me, Lord! I know my offenses, my sin is ever before me. You delight in truth deep within me.”
David’s words capture the feeling we all have in confession. The truth deep within us begins to shine its light. And in its light, our healing begins.
Archbishop Desmond Tutu wrote about the power of confession:
“Because forgiveness is like this: a room can be dank because you have closed the windows, you’ve closed the curtains. But the sun is shining outside, and the air is fresh outside. In order to get that fresh air, you have to get up and open the window and draw the curtains apart.”
Confession is the first step towards our wholeness. We’re able to come to this admission because we have the promise of forgiveness. Condemnation doesn’t have the final say. We know that God does not despise a troubled and broken heart.
Within the ashes of our confession comes the promise of God’s restoration. Sin does not get the final say. There’s a new way forward. Open the windows and let in the fresh wind of renewal.
Create in me a clean heart, O God,
and renew a right spirit within me…
Restore to me the joy of your salvation
and uphold me with your bountiful Spirit.
