On this first Sunday of Lent we are focussing on the importance of confessing our sins to God and to one another. Did you know that the LCA has brought back the opportunity for private confession with a pastor? This description of confession by Dietrich Bomhoeffer opens up this issue very well.
“In confession there takes place a breakthrough to community. Sin wants to be alone with people. It takes them away from the community…Sin wants to remain unknown. It shuns the light. In the darkness of what is left unsaid sin poisons the whole being of a person. This can happen in the midst of a pious community. In confession the light of the gospel breaks into the darkness and closed isolation of the heart. Sin must be brought into the light. What is unspoken is said openly and confessed. All that is secret and hidden comes to light. It is a hard struggle until the sin crosses one’s lips in confession…Sin that has been spoken and confessed has lost all of its power. It has been revealed and judged as sin. It can no longer tear apart the community…Now one is allowed to be a sinner and still enjoy the grace of God. We can admit our sins and in this very act find community for the first time.”
