CONFESSION
Have mercy on me, O God, according to your unfailing love; according to your great compassion blot out my transgressions. – Psalm 51:1
As I led the Ash Wednesday service for today, I led us in the following confession before our God: “We confess to you and to one another, and before the whole company of heaven, that we have sinned by our fault, by our own fault, by our own most grievous fault, in thought, word, and deed, by what we have done and by what we have left undone.”
It’s a heavy confession, isn’t it? We must not only confess that we alone are to blame for the wrong we’ve done – whether it’s something we did or didn’t actually do – but we must do so before each other, before God, and before all the saints on earth and in heaven. That’s big, vulnerable, and humbling. It’s enough to make you not want to do it.
I hope you’ll still find the resolve to say these words and to truly mean them in the context of that service. Our culture and society model all sorts of ways to try to get out of responsibility and culpability. However, our faith tells a very different story. It reminds us that being human means messing up. It’s just part of who we are. Better yet, God knows just how much we mess up. If we aren’t willing to admit that we aren’t always perfect, then there’s no need for us to claim Jesus. To be Christian means to admit our failings and cling even more tightly to God’s promises in Jesus Christ.
Especially on Ash Wednesday, we get that truth presented to us directly. With crosses of ash on our forehead, we are reminded that we are dust and also that Christ’s cross has marked us for life. You can’t have one without the other. Because we are finite and fallible, God sent Jesus, who died for us, and marked us with his cross to remind us of all he has done for our sake.
Let Ash Wednesday, and the whole Lenten season, guide you into a time of repentance and honesty. Who needs your apologies today? How will you show that you have chosen a path of restoration and compassion? How can you model the strength in being honest about your weakness? It can be painful to confess and repent, but forgiveness and wholeness are always worth it.
Let us pray:
Open our eyes and hearts, God. Show us where our brokenness keeps others from seeing your glory. Call us not only to repentance, but to reparative and restorative action for the sake of all your people and this world you love. Amen.