Christmas Eve: I Have Something To Confess
“ ‘Sinner’ does not mean merely that I did not fulfill the law, it means I hate Christ.” (Luther’s Outlaw God, Vol. 1, Stephen Paulson)
Confession and Forgiveness in so many church worship services is mostly misguided and misused, domesticated to be a mere recognition and recitation of mistakes, and then, too, since spoken generally, corporately, unarmed of any personal punch. “Of course I’ve done some bad things. Doesn’t everybody? Just give me another day and another chance and I’ll get it right. I can do this!”
Well now, such a reset button is not such a bad thing, right? Of course it has value, and many times true life-saving value because lifestyles can be and are reformed and others do get the care and healing they need. But who needs church for that? Wouldn’t a good Intervention Counselor and Group do the trick? And, do it better perhaps too because there you actually have the time and place and listening ears to process all the garbage and damage done and figure a way to make amends.
No, confession in a church service is not only naming things done and left undone. That can be helpful, but it’s not even close to the issue at hand. Confession is about saying out loud that we really don’t want God just out and out giving us the goods with no questions asked and no requirements either before or after the giving. What kind of self-respecting person of integrity and honor does that?
And that, of course, is the heart of the matter.
The answer is that nobody with self-respect does that. Nobody just takes and does not give.
Life with God, you see, is not about self-respect. It is rather about God-Respect. I’m afraid this sin of not trusting the unconditional giving of God has been with us from the beginning, whenever and wherever that is. Genesis 1-3 is a tale told to describe this disaster. After simply giving all of humanity life itself, God has had to endure our refusal of this gift and that refusal’s natural and logical consequences, even to the time and place of Golgotha.
Who can respect this giving, this unconditional gift? We will not. Instead, we will establish the conditions and boundaries for life, who is In and who is Out, and we will do so to our liking, thank you very much.
Love God? No, we hate God. Love Christ? No, we hate Christ.
We confess.
God help us.
It’s Christmas Eve. A Child is Born. The Gospel of Matthew says this Child is God With Us. Emmanuel.
That will work.
