Ash Wednesday
February 17, 2010
Confession
John 20:22-23
Wow! What a Power
Forgiveness is the Key
Wow! What a great power it is that Jesus gives us: “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any they are forgiven; if you retain the sins of any they are retained.” This is the power of Jesus. The power of confession and forgiveness. It is the “Office of the Keys.”
During this Lenten season on Wednesday evenings, it is our plan to do something very Lutheran and talk about the “six chief parts” of the Christian faith.
And where we start is with what Martin Luther called the “Office of the Keys,” because it is a key the unlocks the doors of heaven itself. We know it better as “Confession & Forgiveness.”
At almost every worship service we have, the very first thing we do is to return to our baptism, confess our sins and receive the assurance of God’s forgiveness. And on the Ash Wednesday night we do the very same thing with all the more intensity—very mindful of our mortality. “Remember that you are dust and to dust you shall return.”
In previous years, the tradition in our Lutheran churches was to confess our sins this night, this Ash Wednesday night, and then hold off the pronouncement of forgiveness until Maundy Thursday and Good Friday. This way Ash Wednesday and Good Friday formed the two bookends of the Lenten Season.
On Ash Wednesday we confessed our sins, we did so very deeply and very personally. And then, on Good Friday we received the personal assurance of God’s forgiveness.
Personal Assurance of Forgiveness
And we still do that in a very unique way here at Emmanuel. And I invite you to come back on Good Friday at noon to complete the action.
On Good Friday between noon and 1:00 God’s people gather for about 10 minutes of private meditation. And then, they are invited to come forward to the communion rail where they stand or kneel as they are able.
And after they do, I will go down the row one-by-one to lay my hands on them and give the personal assurance of God’s forgiveness: “In obedience to the command of our Lord Jesus Christ, I forgive you all your sins.” It is a powerful and moving moment for us all. And then we receive the reserved sacrament, bread and wine, from the night before and go.
But before this all happens, Bob Lessing reads a passage from Martin Luther’s “Brief Exhortation to Confession & Forgiveness.” It’s a powerful piece. And although I hear it for about three times year after year, I never tire of it.
Part One: Look in the Mirror
Examine Yourself in the Mirror of the Ten C's
Confession has two parts, Luther says. The first is that we confess our sins and examine ourselves on the basis of the Ten Commandments. Take out the Ten Commandments, Luther says, and use it like a “mirror.”
Do you know how you can’t see a blot or blemish on your face without a mirror? Who would ever go outside in the morning without checking one’s appearance in a mirror first?
Well, hold up the Ten Commandments like a mirror, Luther says, and then begin to ask yourself these questions: “Have you feared, loved and trusted God as God requires? Have you properly used his name, prayed, praised and given thanks? Have you kept God’s word holy, heard and learned it, as you should have done?Have you been loyal to your family, faithful to those who love and trust you? Have you served and helped your neighbor in every need?
Room for Improvement
I don’t know how you do when you check your lives against the Ten Commandments, but I know how I do. And it’s always, “Oops! There is clearly room for some improvement.” The face I see in the mirror always has its faults and blemishes.
Do any of you have High Definition TV? I just read that actors and actresses and the TV talent are getting upset with HD TV because it now shows all the faults and blemishes on their faces.
Well, the Ten Commandments are like that, too. They are like HD TV. They will show us all our faults and failings, if only we dare to look at our lives through them closely. That is the bad news.
Part Two: Faith in Jesus Christ
But the good news is this: the second part of confession is faith. Faith in Jesus Christ. Who has taken away the burden of our sin and who gives to us the assurance of God’s forgiveness as an undeserved gift of God’s grace. It is all gift. Sheer gift. The very gift of God. What we cannot do ourselves, Christ has done for us.
And so, Luther says, when the pastor absolves you, these are not just empty words. But something is really happening. You are really receiving the forgiveness of God promised in the Gospel. It is happening, it really is.
Your sins are indeed forgiven you before God, just as certainly as if Christ himself would immediately speak from heaven: “Be of good cheer, my son, my daughter, your sins are all forgiven you.” The voice of Christ himself. That’s what we hear when we confess our sins and receive the assurance of forgiveness. The voice of Christ himself.
How Do You Picture Sin?
Sin is a Headache
About two weeks ago I was sitting with a couple of pastors at a professional leadership retreat. And one asked me, “How to do you picture sin?” I don’t know how you picture it. But I picture it as heavy weight or burden. And I feel it physically.
Sometimes it feels like a heavy weight on my shoulders. Like a monkey on my back. Sometimes it feels more like nausea or a knotting of the stomach.Sometimes if feels more like a pounding headache that will not go away.
But what a great gift it is to be able to bring that weight here week after week and reduce it all to dust and ashes and to be able to dump it and leave it at the foot of the cross. And then to walk away a Spirit-led person: washed, unburden and cleansed.
Now that is power. Real power. The Power of Keys. Confession & Forgiveness. An extension of our Baptism. That great part of Christian faith and life that unlocks the doors of heaven itself.
© 2010 Pastor Paul Jaster