Call to Confession

July 28, 2024 homily on Psalm 51:1-12 and Matthew 5:23-24 by Pastor Galen

“Have mercy on me, O God,  according to your steadfast love; according to your abundant mercy, blot out my transgressions.”   – Psalm 51:1

The Backstory of Psalm 51

Usually, when we read the Psalms, we don’t know the backstory or the context in which it was written. The Psalms were Israel’s hymnal, composed over the course of about 1,000 years by many different people, and compiled together into a collection of songs to be sung in in worship. Not unlike our own United Methodist Hymnal and The Faith We Sing. Normally when we read the Psalm or sing hymns from our hymnal we’re completely unaware of the events that led up to the writing of the psalm or hymn. 

But Psalm 51 is unique in that in most of our Bibles we are told exactly who wrote this song, and why it was written. Many Bibles say something to the effect of, “A Psalm of David, when the prophet Nathan came to him, after he had gone in to Bathsheba.” If you know the story of David and Bathsheba, you know that David abused his power as king to take another man’s wife and attempted to cover up what he had done by having the man killed. For a king who was also supposed to set an example of morality for his people, this was a horrendous abuse of power and a terrible moral failure.

Next week we’ll look at the parable that the prophet Nathan delivered to King David that helped him acknowledge his wrongdoing and that led to his repentance. But today we’re looking at the act of confession itself as an aspect of worship.

Confession vs. Reputation Management

Currently we are in the midst of a series on the topic of worship, in which we’re looking at various parts of our worship service, and what we can learn about worship from the events in King David’s life. Today we’re focusing on the Call to Confession. What is particularly striking to me about Psalm 51 is the fact that not only did David write down his prayer of confession, but that he shared it publicly and that it was even included in Israel’s hymnal, The Psalms. 

We live in a day and age in which there is so much attempted cover-up of wrongdoing. Companies and organizations are often more concerned about doing damage control when one of their leaders has a moral failure than they are with providing restitution to the individuals who were wronged. “Reputation Management” is a whole industry in our society, where companies and celebrities hire firms to help them positively modify their reputation after their failures have come to light. Unfortunately, churches and religious institutions are often prone to this type of “reputation management” as well.

In contrast, David’s prayer of confession was shared publicly and included in Israel’s hymnal with an explanation of why this song was written. It’s as though David wanted people to remember that he wasn’t perfect, as though he was offering himself up as a role model and example—not of moral perfection, but of truthful acknowledgment of sin, and of seeking a restored relationship with God and others.

Of course, David could not be reconciled to Bathsheeba’s husband, since he was no longer alive. But David recognized that his sins created a barrier between himself and God and that he had also broken the trust of the people he was charged to lead and protect. And so he acknowledged his sins before God and others, and in so doing he sets an example of what it looks like to confess our sins before God and one another.

Confession = Speaking the Truth

We do not have a particular time of confession built into our worship services each week, as some churches do. Typically we recite a prayer of “confession and pardon” before partaking in communion, which we typically do monthly. But confession is simply stating what’s true about ourselves and God, and so the invitation to confess what is true about God and ourselves is interwoven throughout the various aspects of our worship service.

• Our Call to Worship, Opening Prayer, or Prayer of Illumination often include an acknowledgment of our moral failures and of God’s goodness and mercy and forgiveness. 
• Many of the hymns we sing include an acknowledgement of our sin and imperfection and speak of God’s mercy and power to forgive.
• The Scriptures we read and the messages we hear each week should lead us to awe and reverence of God, and in so doing should lead us to take stock of what we’ve done or failed to do, and turn to God in repentance and trust.
• Our time of responding to the Word, whether through prayer, or the offering, or discussion, often includes an acknowledgment of our need for God’s mercy and grace in our lives.
• Typically we pray The Lord’s Prayer together, in which we ask God to “forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us.”

In all these ways and more our communal times of worship lead us to acknowledge our humanity and how far we fall short, and to confess our need for God. The structure of our worship services invites us to acknowledge and speak what is true and invites us to make things right with God and with one another.

Passing the Peace

There’s one other aspect of our worship service that includes an inherent call to confession, and that’s the Passing of the Peace. I know that we often experience the Passing of the Peace as a time of greeting. We catch up with folks that we haven’t seen since last Sunday. And in recent years I’ve added a “question of the day” to help give shape and focus to our time of sharing during the Passing of the Peace. I try to make our “question of the day” something that anyone of any age can answer, and I try to make it so that people can share deeply if they want, without feeling forced to be too vulnerable. (For example, our “question of the day” for today was: “How do you typically react when you realize you’ve made a mistake?” You could go deep if you wanted to, but you didn’t have to.)

At its core and essence, the “Passing of the Peace” or “question of the day” is a reminder that our relationship with God is not just about us and God, but rather, God has invited and called us to be a part of a community that is seeking God together.

Sometimes we mess up and hurt one another. Sometimes we have misunderstandings. Sometimes we do things that make other people upset, or we fail to fulfill our obligations, and it hurts other people. And so our Passing of the Peace is a reminder that there are others on this journey with us, and that we are called to seek God together as a community. Part of what it means to be a community that is seeking God together is that we keep a short record of wrongs and that we seek to make peace with one another when there is conflict.

Leave Your Gift at the Altar

In his Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5, Jesus emphasized the importance of making peace with our siblings in Christ. Jesus said, “When you are offering your gift at the altar, if you remember that your brother or sister has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar and go; first be reconciled to your brother or sister, and then come and offer your gift” (Matthew 5:23-24).

The imagery here is of coming to the temple to offer a sacrifice or offering to the Lord. “Going to church” (temple) looked a little different back then. People could come throughout the week to pray and worship God, and hear teachings on Scripture. As part of their worship, they would bring the “first fruits” of their crops—the first olives or figs that they harvested that year, or the first lamb to be born in their flock, and they would give this as an offering to God. The food helped provide for those who served in the temple, and it was distributed to those who were in need. 

And so imagine someone coming to offer their first fruits to the Lord. And as they are getting ready to give their offering, they look down at the array of fruits and vegetables that they’re getting ready to place at the altar. Perhaps they’re proud to bring such an amazing crop of produce to offer to the Lord. But then their conscience strikes them, as they remember that the figs in their bowl were actually from their neighbor’s tree. When they had been picking the apricots from the tree in their yard, they couldn’t help but notice how good their neighbor’s figs looked, and so they had reach across the fence to grab a few figs from their neighbor’s tree to help make their offering more impressive.

But as they’re getting ready to place their basket before the altar, they’re struck with a pang of guilt, and they realize that what they did was wrong. And so what should they do? Should they push aside their conscience and proceed with giving their offering, rationalizing that it’s going to a good cause? Or should they commit to bring even more produce next time to make up for their wrongdoing?

No! Rather, Jesus is saying that we should pay attention to our consciences. We should not ignore the wrongs we have done against others, but rather we should leave our gift at the altar, and go and make things right with our neighbors–which in the case of the stolen figs would involve returning the figs and probably giving their neighbor some of their own apricots as well to make up for it. Only once we’ve apologized and sought to make things right with our neighbor should we then proceed to come and make our offering before the Lord.

I’m reminded of the story about Zacchaeus, the wealthy tax collector who hosted Jesus in his home. Like many tax collectors back then, Zacchaeus’ wealth was most likely gained through cheating hardworking people of their hard-earned money. When he encountered Jesus, his conscience was stricken. He immediately promised to give away half of his money and to repay anyone he had cheated four times the amount he had taken. Zacchaeus recognized that following Jesus involves seeking to make things right with the people we have wronged.

Practical Implications 

So what are the practical implications for us as we think about our worship services and the Call to Confession?

1. The Call to Confession is an invitation to speak what is true about God and ourselves. If you’re not aware of any particular wrongdoing you’ve done or you don’t feel like there’s anything in particular you need to confess, then just speak what you know is true about God. Speak about God’s greatness and majesty. The more we dwell on God’s goodness, our imperfections will come to light and we can acknowledge those before the Lord and receive God’s mercy.
2. We don’t need to go around feeling bad about ourselves all of the time. That’s not what confession is. Confession is about seeking healing and restoration in our relationships with God and one another. We confess our sins before God and seek to make things right with our neighbors, and ask for their forgiveness, and then move on in freedom. (Note: If you’re having trouble moving on from wrongs that you’ve done in the past, and you’ve done everything necessary to seek reconciliation, then talk with someone else about it. God does not want us to live with shame and remorse. Counseling/therapy can be helpful when we are living in shame and regret)
3. Seek to make things right with others as quickly as possible. Remember that it’s not just about apologizing, but about seeking to restore whatever damage has been done. Jesus believed this was even more urgent than bringing your offering to the altar, so we should take this seriously and seek to make amends as quickly as possible. 

May we be people who confess what is true about God and ourselves, and may we experience the wonderful grace and mercy and forgiveness that is made possible through Jesus Christ. 

Amen!

Questions for Personal Reflection in Response to Today’s Sermon:

1. In what situations have you found yourself trying to manage or cover up your mistakes rather than confessing them honestly?
2. How does David’s public confession in Psalm 51 challenge or inspire you in terms of being open about your own failures?
3. What role does confession play in your personal relationship with God, and how does it impact your worship experience?
4. Consider a time when you had to confess a wrongdoing to someone else. What was the outcome, and how did it affect your relationship with that person?
5. In what ways do you feel that confession can lead to healing and restoration, both with God and within your community?