“ I said, “ I will confess my transgressions to the Lord”

– and you forgave the guilt of my sin.”

When I was an adolescent, confession meant time out. Not the kind of time out parents call when their children are misbehaving. I mean time out from playing whatever game we were playing on West Street. I lived in a very Roman Catholic neighbor in Union City, NJ and every Saturday around 3 o’clock our games were interrupted because my Roman Catholic friends had to walk down the block to St. Michael’s Monastery and go to confession. As we walked down the block they would prepare what they would tell the priest. There was always a debate as to whether they would tell the priest what they told them last week. The big fear was what would happen if they got the priest from the week before.

I went with them because someone had to hold the sport equipment while they one by one entered the confession booth, what we referred to as the penalty box.

Roman Catholics have often asked me if we believe in confession. I suppose this question is prompted by the absence of confessional booths in our sanctuary. However, I assure them the practice of confession is pertinent to all Christians. As a matter of fact it is vital to all people who desire a relationship with God.

Leviticus 5:5 states,

This need to confess sins was a constant message of the prophet, who constantly called the nations of Israel to acknowledge their sins and repent. When John the Baptist was proclaiming the advent of Jesus he said,

“Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near.”

In 1 John 1:9,10 we read,

If we confess our sins, God is faithful and just and will forgive our sins and purify us from unrighteousness.
If we claim we have not sinned, we make we make God
out to be a liar and His Word has no place in our lives.”

The need for confession is constant throughout the entire Bible.  The Bible teaches confession is essential.  Confession must precede forgiveness. Confession paves the way for God to work.

“I said, “ I will confess my transgressions to the Lord”
 – and you forgave the guilt of my sin.”

How serious do you think people are about confession?

On a scale of one to ten, one being absolutely not serious and ten being absolutely serious, how would you score the general population?  How would you score the average church person?  How would you score yourself this morning when you prayed the prayer of confession?  How much thought did you give to the words that you said?  Did you say the words or did you pray the words?  Did you allow the words to exam your heart, your motives, your actions?  Did you turn the petitions in the prayer into a checklist?  I am not guilty of that one.  I am not guilty but so and so is.  Did you think maybe that one?  Or perhaps you thought yes definitely that sin, but he deserved it.

There is an attitude in today’s culture against taking responsibility for your actions.  Look at the billions of dollars spent each year in legal cases where one person is suing another because of their own carelessness.  The epitome is found in the woman who sued McDonald’s because she ordered a hot cup of coffee, placed it between her legs while driving and was burned when the coffee spilled.

What happen to accepting responsibility for your own actions?

Unfortunately, too often when we do take responsibility for our actions it often comes with a catch.  The catch is justification.  We bring feelings and reasons as to why we were justified in doing what we did.  Which basically means that we are still using the childish argument, “He hit me first,” to validate our sinful act or behavior.  What has happened to, “Two wrongs don’t make a right?”

As much as we want to try we cannot deny the truth of God’s Word,

“We have all sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.”

God’s Word also states,

Confession does for our soul what a nice hot shower does for our body after a day of hard work. It cleanses and rejuvenates us. Confession is the practice of removing whatever there is that separates you from God. Think of confession in terms of coming to the dinner table. I know I was taught that before I came to the table I best wash up first. When we make confession we are washing up. Confession is washing up, coming clean, it is asking God what David asked God to do. Confession leads to oneness with God. It leads to forgiveness.

In closing I want you to picture this. You are in a court of law. The prosecuting attorney has with great eloquence informed the members of the jury about the crime that the defendant is charged with. The prosecuting attorney has also told the jurors, how over the course of the trial he will prove to them that the defendant is guilty. The prosecuting attorney has appealed to the jurors, to listen to the testimony of each witness, to consider the evidence carefully and to render a guilty verdict. The prosecuting attorney returned to his chair at which time the accused stood up and said, “I agree with prosecuting attorney!”

Sounds ridiculous doesn’t it? Yet this is what we do every time we make our confession of sin. We are, as Ron Susek states in his book God Will Answer, “agreeing with God against ourselves.” Confession of sin is “refusing to offer excuses and explanations of God.” Confession is agreeing with God against yourself. Why would we want to do this? So nothing gets in the way of our communion with God.

Confession is refusing to offer excuses and explanations to God. Confession, in a way, is Time Out called by us for ourselves. Like the child, who is sent to his room and told to think about what they did. Confession is a time to think about, how we have fallen short of the glory of God, and resolve to try harder

Like the Psalmist we need to pray,