When you hear confession, what comes to your mind? Does confession invoke you to reflect upon your sins? Or does it invoke you to think about speaking the truth of our Lord Jesus? Is a confession about truth? A confession is about speaking a truth, but it is not limited to sins. When we say the Apostles’ Creed, Nicene Creed and Athanasian Creed, these are all confessions of faith. We will concentrate today on the confession of sins.

This passage from 1 John may sound familiar. “ 9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. 10 If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word is not in us.“ This by itself does not constitute a confession. I will examine one of the confessions in the Lutheran Book of Worship (LBW). Keeping in mind, we have multiple resources for confessions, Evangelical Book of Worship (ELW), Sundays and Seasons and anyone can write their own confession, as long as the necessary pieces of the confession of sins are contained within the confession. What is necessary for a confession of sins?

In the confession of sins, we must admit that we have sinned and the guilt of the sin. When we say that we are in need of God, for what we have done, we admit the guilt of sin. We also must release our ability of correcting the sin, and place that responsibility upon God.

In Psalm 51, we can hear the Psalmist confess that he sinned, and the guilt of the sin.

“1 Have mercy on me, O God, according to your unfailing love; according to your great compassion blot out my transgressions. 2 Wash away all my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin. 3 For I know my transgressions, and my sin is always before me. 4 Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight; “

It is in verse 14 that the psalmist admits that he cannot free himself, but only God can, of the sins, and in response to what God does, the psalmist is repentant and promises to change. “14 Deliver me from the guilt of bloodshed, O God, you who are God my Savior, and my tongue will sing of your righteousness.”

Now, to the confession from the LBW, (P) In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. (C) Amen

(P) Almighty God, to whom all hearts are open, all desires known, and from whom no secrets are hid: Cleanse the thoughts of our hearts by the inspiration of your Holy Spirit, that we may perfectly love you and worthily magnify your holy name, through Jesus Christ our Lord. (C) Amen

(P) If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. But if we confess our sins, God who is faithful and just will forgive our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Silence for reflection and self-examination.

(P) Most merciful God, (C) we confess that we are in bondage to sin and cannot free ourselves. We have sinned against you in thought, word, and deed, by what we have done and by what we have left undone. We have not loved you with our 3 whole heart; we have not loved our neighbors as ourselves. (C) For the sake of your Son, Jesus Christ, have mercy on us. Forgive us, renew us, and lead us, so that we may delight in your will and walk in your ways, to the glory of your holy name. Amen

(P) Almighty God, in his mercy, has given his Son to die for us and, for his sake, forgives us all our sins. (P) As a called and ordained minister of the Church of Christ, and by his authority, I therefore declare to you the entire forgiveness of all your sins, in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. (C) Amen

The only part of this confession that comes from the Bible is the small section from 1 John. Is it biblically based? Yes, it is. However, the Psalm comes directly from the Bible, where the LBW confession, only one portion comes from the Bible. Does it contain the necessary admittance of the sin and the guilt of the sin, yes it does. Does it place the responsibility of the release of sins on God and not self, yes.

Below is another example that is biblically based and fits the mentioned requirements. It does not have a direct piece of scripture but fits all the needs of a confession. This one is an example of a confession from the Sundays and Seasons resource for worship. In fact, each of the confessions taken from the LBW, ELW or Sundays and Seasons all fit the necessary requirements for a confession.

(P) I confess to God Almighty, before the whole company of heaven, and to you, my brothers and sisters, that I have sinned by my own fault in thought, word, and deed. I pray God Almighty to have mercy on me, forgive me all my sins, and bring me to everlasting life.

(C) Almighty and merciful God grant you healing, pardon, and forgiveness of all your sins. Amen. I confess to God Almighty, before the whole company of heaven, and to you, my brothers and sisters, that I have sinned by my own fault in thought, word, and deed. I pray God Almighty to have mercy on me, forgive me all my sins, and bring me to everlasting life.

(P) Almighty and merciful God grant you healing, pardon, and forgiveness of all your sins. (C) Amen.

Why one confession over another? It comes down to liturgy. Simply, it is the order of worship. But it is much more than that.

From the Merriam-Webster Collegiate Dictionary; liturgy \ˈli-tər-jē\ noun plural -gies [Late Latin liturgia, from Greek leitourgia public service, from Greek (Attic) leïton public building (from Greek laos—Attic leōs— people) + -ourgia -urgy] 1560
1: often capitalized: a eucharistic rite
2: a rite or body of rites prescribed for public worship
3: a customary repertoire of ideas, phrases, or observances Many church bodies use a lectionary for the readings and seasons of the church.

We use a three-year lectionary most of the time. Readings are selected based upon the season of the church year. I have used sermon themes that also tie to each other and look to bring out a theme for that time of the sermon. During the sermon series and using the Sundays and Seasons, the third part of the definition of liturgy is emphasized to bring a common flow of ideas to the worship service. 

Sundays and Seasons provides music suggestions based upon the church year. The confession matches with the church year and the readings. Ideas for the sermon are given to tie the season, music, confession and readings. By changing things up during worship, keeping the same format of worship, pushes us to grow as Christians. We can look for a greater understanding of God’s activity in the world.

If we are comfortable during worship, then we are most likely not growing. God does not call us to live in comfortability, but to live in discipleship. Disciples live as followers of Jesus Christ, which is to stand and confess the truths of our faith. In order to do that, we need to grow into a faith that can be prepared to provide truths to everyone we encounter.