Spiritual Disciplines- Confession (Remembrance Day)
Confession is the practice of sharing our deepest weaknesses and failures with God and with others we trust. We do this to seek God’s forgiveness, and healing. We confess as individuals, but it is also appropriate for us to practice confession as a group.
I think communal confession is important for us to do on Remembrance Day. War is always a complicated thing to deal with as Christians. The plain understanding of the words of Jesus seem to speak against any act of violence on the part a Christian. For example, in Matthew ch 5 we read,
“You have heard that it was said, ‘Eye for eye, and tooth for tooth.’ But I tell you, do not resist an evil person. If anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to them the other cheek also. And if anyone wants to sue you and take your shirt, hand over your coat as well. If anyone forces you to go one mile, go with them two miles. Give to the one who asks you, and do not turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you. You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbour and hate your enemy.’ But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your Father in heaven." (Matt 5:38-44).
Understandably, many Christians feel called to pacifism on the basis of these words. Pacifism is not to do nothing. It is a call to engage violence, but not with violence.
However, as Early Christianity went from a politically powerless group to being in control of the Roman Empire they felt the need to rethink how they would respond to violence. Some Christians who held power and were responsible for cities or countries suddenly had to figure out how to respond when a foreign army invaded and did violence to their people. Was it right to allow that army to have its way with their vulnerable people? This gave rise to the development of the Just War Theory which spelled out when violence can be used in response to aggression and injury. The theory teaches that when war is entered into, it is as a last possible course of action. The theory also outlines how a war is to be conducted. A military force can’t target non-combatants, for example.
Trying to decide if a war is “just” is incredibly difficult.
However, as Early Christianity went from a politically powerless group to being in control of the Roman Empire they felt the need to rethink how they would respond to violence. Some Christians who held power and were responsible for cities or countries suddenly had to figure out how to respond when a foreign army invaded and did violence to their people. Was it right to allow that army to have its way with their vulnerable people? This gave rise to the development of the Just War Theory which spelled out when violence can be used in response to aggression and injury. The theory teaches that when war is entered into, it is as a last possible course of action. The theory also outlines how a war is to be conducted. A military force can’t target non-combatants, for example.
Trying to decide if a war is “just” is incredibly difficult.
How do you know when you have enough information?
How do you know if you can trust your information?
How do you know if you are being manipulated into a war for the benefit of someone else?
How do you know if you are twisting things to make it easier to justify going to war?
What if you are uncertain, but the weak and vulnerable are threatened?
St. Ambrose (339-397 AD) once said,
St. Ambrose (339-397 AD) once said,
“Whoever does not ward off a blow to a fellow man, when he can, is as much at fault as the striker”.
But, that doesn’t mean a war can be entered into lightly. Martin Luther said that even just wars that we feel are necessary to participate in should be waged “with repentance”.
Throughout Christian history we have been in an uncomfortable position. We cannot do nothing when innocent people are being threatened with violence, but our Lord calls us to be people of peace who love our enemies. Christians have often participated in war as a “necessary evil”, because to not engage in war seemed to allow a greater evil into the world.
If war is a necessary evil, then Martin Luther is right in saying that it should be engaged with repentance. We also need to confess that, though we go to war for the sake of peace, that peace often continues to elude us. Throughout human history we have engaged in war for the sake of peace, and yet wars continue. The ethicist Robert Brimlow suggests that we often find ourselves participating in “necessary” wars, but there may have been things we could have done to prevent the war if we acted sooner and with more faith. For example, perhaps we wouldn’t have found ourselves in such a difficult position facing the Holocaust if we had responded to World War 1 differently, and had acted differently even before that. Brimlow says,
If war is a necessary evil, then Martin Luther is right in saying that it should be engaged with repentance. We also need to confess that, though we go to war for the sake of peace, that peace often continues to elude us. Throughout human history we have engaged in war for the sake of peace, and yet wars continue. The ethicist Robert Brimlow suggests that we often find ourselves participating in “necessary” wars, but there may have been things we could have done to prevent the war if we acted sooner and with more faith. For example, perhaps we wouldn’t have found ourselves in such a difficult position facing the Holocaust if we had responded to World War 1 differently, and had acted differently even before that. Brimlow says,
“The church should have preached and lived a love of the Jews for many centuries before the twentieth; the church should have formed Christians into the kind of people who do not kill Jews, or homosexuals, or gypsies, or communists, or other Christians, or Nazis, or whoever else was victimized by the war. The church should have lived and taught in such a way that the First World War would have been incomprehensible in a largely Christian Europe and, failing that, should have railed against the Versailles Treaty and the vengeance it embodied in favour of forgiveness and reconciliation. The failure of the church and of Christians to be peacemakers in 1942 is horrible precisely because it is a result and culmination of centuries of failure" (Brimlow, What about Hitler?).
As a society it is important to remember our past. It is important to remember those who suffered because of war. In particular, we remember those who are willing to put their lives on the line who believed that to do nothing in the face of violence is a greater evil. But, we don’t glory in war. We confess that the lives that were lost were often is as a result of our failure to find another way that would have saved those lives. And so, I think that confession is an appropriate discipline to consider today.
We are going to switch gears because I want to consider confession as an individual spiritual discipline, as well, but I do think confession is important as a communal discipline and I think it is an important element of Remembrance Day that we don’t want to lose.
Redemption is at the very heart of God’s relationship with us. God does not want to leave us in our brokenness. God wants to heal and restore us. Love is behind the work of the cross to forgive sins. God, in Christ, desires to absorb the power of sin and the evil of the world. The cross looked backward through history into all the nooks and crannies and dark places in the heart of humanity right back to the beginning. And the cross looks forward into the future to all the horrors that would manifest in the world. And over it all we hear the words of Jesus, “Father, forgive them, they know not what they do” (Lk 23:34). The cross of Christ frees us from the darkness that we have participated in- that has sometimes enslaved us. The cross of Christ shows us the lengths God is willing to go to to win us back- to show His self sacrificial love for us. That same love is constantly drawing us deeper into God.
Confession is one of the ways we press deeper into God. It is the way we expose the darker parts of ourselves to the light of the cross to be healed and forgiven. It is a way of removing barriers to spiritual maturity.
Our ordinary mode of confession is between us and God in the quietness of our hearts. There are times, however, when our quiet confession between us and God is a way of hiding. It can be a place where we are trapped by shame. We think that if people really knew the things I’ve done, the things I’ve said, the things I think- they would reject me. We can hardly imagine speaking these things to another human being. And yet, we yearn to be known deeply. … We are stuck- wanting to be known, but prevented because of our shame. There are times when it is important to bring our sin to someone we trust who can hear our darkness- who can be the body of Christ to us in that moment. The letter of James urges us,
“confess your sins to one another” (James 5:16).
The letter of John promises,
“If we confess our sins, he who is faithful and just will forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 Jn 1:9).
Jesus grants us the authority to declare forgiveness in John 20,
“If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them” (Jn 20:23).
To prepare for confession you may want to sit before God in prayer and ask if there is anything that you need to confess, and write down anything that comes to mind. Look through your life and examine yourself using the teachings of Christ- to the Ten Commandments, to the 7 Deadly Sins and Virtues. Where in your heart do you need healing. It may be helpful to go to a priest, or your spiritual director for this, but you might also want to go to a mature Christian sister or brother who you know you can trust. A mature Christian is so aware of the depth of their own sin that they will not be shocked by yours.
(St. Paul talks about being the chief among sinners (1 Tim 1:15). He can say that because he sees his sin from the inside. All mature Christians will see themselves this way because everyone else's sin is seen from the outside. When we see out sin from the inside, it is always darker than when it is seen from the outside.)
When confessing You don’t have to go into great detail, but you should be specific enough that you aren’t hiding your sin in generalities. If you confess that you have been "not nice" to your spouse- I don't know if that means you ate the last piece of pizza or if you hit them. So be specific enough that the sin is clear without going into gory detail. Confess with the desire to not sin anymore.
Sometimes people think the church is a place for perfected saints. We sometimes even hear people say that they will come to church once they get themselves sorted out. … The church is not a place for the perfected. The church is a hospital- it is a place where we seek healing. As we consider confession we should remember the father in the parable of the Prodigal Son (who ran to the son and embraced him without really allowing him to get his full confession out), or the shepherd who leaves the 99 sheep in search of the one that was lost. God is always more eager to forgive us than we are to seek forgiveness.
Sometimes people think the church is a place for perfected saints. We sometimes even hear people say that they will come to church once they get themselves sorted out. … The church is not a place for the perfected. The church is a hospital- it is a place where we seek healing. As we consider confession we should remember the father in the parable of the Prodigal Son (who ran to the son and embraced him without really allowing him to get his full confession out), or the shepherd who leaves the 99 sheep in search of the one that was lost. God is always more eager to forgive us than we are to seek forgiveness.
Amen
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