JULY 28, 2024 Tenth Sunday after Pentecost
Readings: 2nd Samuel 11:1-15; Ephesians 3:14-21; John 6:1-21
Calling Us into Confession
Today we are going to explore confession as a component of Worship. You’re probably thinking and questioning how confession is a part of worship? If you will remember that we do have a prayer of confession that is printed in our hymnals “we have not done your will, we have broken your laws, we have rebelled against your love, and we have not heard the cries of the needy.” None of us really like that prayer because it not all together truth for us here at Hope Methodist Church. We are good Christians here, that prayer does not necessarily fit with us. We believe we are a loving community. We have a meal site and feed the needy, we believe the UMC is wrong in changing its doctrine, we love all our neighbors here in Hope. So, how is that relevant to us in this congregation? Pastor Ed, you need to change the subject and make us feel good about worship and that we are doing the will of God. We do not have a large need to confess.
Let’s look at the Old Testament reading. We do believe that King David was a man of God’s own heart, right? With what we read today, how is it possible for David to commit such a sin. Surely David could not have done this. It must have been Bathsheba’s doings. That is what some theologians have theorized over millennia, she did something to provoke David to commit that sin, or should I say sins. Absolutely not! This was all about David! Even if she had done what those intellects had stated, David only had to say no. But he did not. With what we read here it is all about what David did. David overexerted his power; he abused the authority God gave him in the city and on the people of Israel. This man after God’s own heart, is just as much a sinner as we are, even though we do not want to admit it to ourselves. One sin led to another and another. David committed adultery, deceit, false witness, lying, murder, and betrayal to God. Wow! Maybe we are not as bad as David was. Yet, this sinful man is in the lineage of Jesus and Jesus came to redeem the world. With all that David did, then why do we keep this story in the Bible? Also, with the way David treated Bathsheba, should we remove the Psalms from the Bible? That is how our cancel culture today judges someone who goes against what someone has deem acceptable. With Jesus being the redeemer, does that mean David is redeemed? To be honest, we do not know. That is between God and David. God is David’s judge not us. Let this be a warning, no one is exempt or immune from bad behavior. However, we do read later that David does confess to God and owned up to his sins.
So let’s return to the subject at hand about God calling us to confession in our examination of worship. No matter how good we feel we are, we are still prone to sin. Nor do we like to admit that we fail coming to God confessing our sins. That would mean we must admit to ourselves those sins we have committed. We do like to berate other denominations for coming in on Friday, confess their sins to the religious leader, then Monday, go right out and commit the same sin again. Reading or hearing this story about David again throws it directly into our face. When was the last time you truly confessed your sins to God? Do you keep doing something that you know God does not want you to do?
This week the Bible Study looked at Commandment Number 8, Thou shalt not steal. Most of us right now would say we do not steal. On the other hand, have you not reported some income to the IRS, then you stolen from the government that somehow must be made up. Have you not given back the excess change that a clerk gave you when they miscounted? Then you have taken money that wasn’t yours and someone must make up the short in the register. Are you late for appointments or do you make people wait who schedule an appointment with you? Then you’ve stolen time from someone. What about your tithe, are you holding back on the giving of your time, talent and tithe? Then you are stealing from God. What about the term Finders Keepers? That item belongs to someone, it technically does not belong to you. I’ll confess I pick up things on the interstate. The last thing Jesus did on earth was an act to forgive the thief, because he confessed. Is there a need for you to confess something?
When we come to church each week, we have regrets. Maybe not to the magnitude that David did when he murdered someone to cover up his assorted affair with his best friend’s wife. He may not have stabbed him personally, but he orchestrated others do it for him. This man was a faithful to David and David stabbed him in the back. Yet, we have said unkind words to someone, talked behind their back, or committed hurtful acts against someone. We may have turned our backs on someone needing help, found excuses to not participate in a ministry, or turned a deaf ear to someone calling out. There are times when these burdens tend to overwhelm us when we come into the church. Do we just set them aside for the duration of worship? Then we walk out these doors just to pick them up again. That’s why we need confession. We have the corporate prayers but there is time for individual prayers to our God.
My friends, when you immerse yourself fully in worship, then like David we can come to God for our forgiveness. We can ask God’s Grace for the things done and the things left undone. When we let go of our inhibitions and ask God for Grace, then we can find absolution, forgiveness, and His blessings that will allow us to start over afresh. We must not pretend that these sins David committed are on a different level of sins than we commit. No, a sin is a sin. Nor can we be so weighed down with our sins that makes us feel like evil people. We are simply humans that are prone to sin. But God has created a plan that can bring us Grace. All we must do is ask for it. How can God forgive us when we cannot bring our sins to Him? Just as Paul tells us in Ephesians we must bow before God. That can be just as Paul says and be on bended knee or bow humbly before Him in acknowledgement of who He is and what He can do for us. If Jesus can feed five thousand, then how much more powerful is it that he can forgive you for asking. All you have to do, is ask!
