The Power Of Confession
Sermon
Sermons On The First Readings
Series I, Cycle B
A man wrote to Dear Abby admitting an affair with another woman that cost him dearly. A co-worker began to flirt, flatter, and confide in him. He allowed himself to be convinced an affair was justified, since his wife was so busy raising his children. After the affair was exposed, this man had to leave his home and family.
Realizing his mistake he wrote: "Abby, I traded everything important in my life. Although I never strayed before, my reputation is ruined. My children will never again respect me." He shared his story as a warning to others. He concludes his letter, "I wish I could change everything I have done ..." knowing that he could not. He signed his letter, "Sadder but Wiser."
Abby replied, "If you don't value what you have, you're sure to lose it."1 David would soon realize the truth of those words. While David thought he had the perfect cover up and had gotten away without anyone suspecting his affair with Bathsheba, he would be in for a rude awakening.
David must have breathed a sigh of relief. His extensive and frustrating cover up worked; no one suspected him of doing anything wrong. David had acted on his impulses in having an affair with Bathsheba, who was married to Uriah. When word reached the king that Bathsheba was with child, David arranged for her husband to return home from battle for a short stay. What David did not count on was Uriah's deep sense of duty and loyalty. Uriah would not under any circumstances return to his home while other soldiers were in battle. It just would not be right. In a desperate, despicable act, David ordered Uriah's death; he would be killed in battle. Again no one would suspect anything out of the ordinary -- soldiers die in battle all the time. David thought he had solved the problems he created.
Bathsheba mourned the death of her husband before marrying David. No one would ever surmise anything was wrong, and the few who might have known or heard about David's indiscretion would never say anything. At least that was what David was counting on.
The temptation for those in power is to define power in their own terms, so that whatever they do is all right. Taking unfair advantage of another person by someone in power would be called an abuse of power. David thought he had gotten away with something that deep down he must have realized was wrong. Before too long, Bathsheba "became his wife, and bore him a son."
While David thought he had gotten away with his deceit, God knew what had taken place. While we might be able to convince others of our innocence or goodness, we cannot fool God. At the time David was anointed king, the Lord God explained to Samuel, "For the Lord does not see as mortals see; they look on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart." God knew what had transpired and was not at all pleased.
Not long afterwards God sent Nathan to pay a personal visit to David at the palace. Nathan was a prophet who was in tune with God. It was not unusual for a prophet like Nathan to visit David, after all kings often acted as judge in disputes over property. David did not suspect anything out of the ordinary when he greeted Nathan. The prophet told him a story about two men, one wealthy and the other poor. The wealthy person had much livestock while the poor person had only one lamb. The lamb became a pet to the poor person's children. The children gave the lamb a name; when they called, the lamb would come to them. The lamb slept with the family, ate food from their table, and drank from their cup. Everyone in the family loved this little lamb. It was almost as though the lamb was a part of the family the way they treated it.
One day an out-of-town traveler visited the wealthy person. Instead of taking one of his own livestock for dinner the wealthy person seized the poor family's pet lamb. The children were distraught over this outrageous act; they were crying their eyes out having lost their pet.
David, having been a shepherd boy, was caught up in this story. He was outraged that anyone would do such a thing. David told Nathan, "As the Lord lives, the man who has done this deserves to die." He then issued a judgment, "he shall restore the lamb fourfold, because he did this thing, and because he had no pity." What enraged him so was how the rich person took something that belonged to the poor family without a thought of the family's feelings and how later the wealthy person appeared generous by treating his guest to a feast.
Then came the moment of truth. Nathan might have taken a deep breath before telling David; "You are the man!" It was a risky business to speak the word of the Lord and Nathan knew it. David could have just as easily ordered him killed as he did Uriah. Be aware of persons telling you stories. Stories have a way of pulling you in, hook, line, and sinker. A good movie is one that draws you into the story at some point. The parable Nathan told had that effect on the gullible but guilty David. David was filled with outrage over the rich person who took unfair advantage of the poor family. Then Nathan turned the story around to him. David was the man! He was the man with power who took the wife of a poor man. He was the one who acted so cruelly. He was the one responsible for an innocent man's death.
Before David could say a word, Nathan launched into what God laid upon his heart. "Thus says the Lord...." It was God who gave David his power in the first place. Everything that David had, all his victories, were because God willed it. And Nathan speaking for God said, "If that had been too little, I would have added as much more." David would be punished for what he did. Nathan concluded by asking, "Why have you despised the word of the Lord, to do what is evil in his sight?"
David remained silent. There was no arguing with a prophet who spoke the word of the Lord. When Nathan finished David humbly admitted, "I have sinned against the Lord." David admitted and confessed his own sin. In the Psalm attributed to this experience David pleads, "Create in me a clean heart, O God, and put a new spirit within me" (Psalm 51:10). Even though David sinned he could still pray and find God with him.
Even at those moments when we know we have sinned, we can still pray with the assurance that God will hear us. No matter what we do or where we find ourselves, God is still present with us. Even in the valleys of life it is still possible to experience God's presence.
There is a healing power in confessing our sins as Charles Axe relates: "All I could think of is how I had failed everyone -- friends, church, God." He thought all his friends would abandon him after they learned what he did. He thought about this while he sat in a prison cell. After a brief but destructive bout with gambling, Charles was arrested for stealing.
As the months passed while he was awaiting trial, members of the church had blessed Charles with their friendship. While he appreciated their friendship, he was afraid that if they knew what he had done they would no longer be his friends. Out of fear Charles continued to claim his innocence.
Charles began praying and seeking God's guidance. Eventually he came to understand what he had known all along: "To experience God's forgiveness," he says, "I needed to plead guilty and to begin apologizing to everyone I had hurt." It was an emotionally charged moment when he began telling others of his wrongdoing all the while praying for forgiveness. God answered his prayers, and as time passed he felt the burden of guilt finally being lifted from the depth of his heart.
Charles recognized that through his ordeal God never abandoned him. God has forgiven and blessed him with comforting friendships. "Through God's eternal presence, the truth has set me free," he claims quoting Jesus. "The truth will make you free."2
Nathan was not trying to make David feel guilty over what he did, rather he wanted him to confess and experience God's forgiveness. David realized the error of his ways and made his humble confession, "I have sinned against the Lord."
Sin does have consequences that are hard to escape and David's sin would continue to haunt him for many years to come. The prophet Nathan speaking the word of the Lord told him, "The sword shall never depart from your house, for you have despised me...." What David did and tried to cover up in secret would spell disaster in the future. Instead of being secret what would transpire in the future would be out in the open for the entire world to see. Nathan speaking the Word of the Lord told David, "I will raise up trouble against you from within your own house." This would be the beginning of the end for David.
Confessing our sins is the first step toward our reconciliation with God. It was an ordinary afternoon for David Daniels. Weeks before he had made the commitment to take a prayer retreat once a month. He envisioned it as a whole day of "basking in the presence of the Lord." Full of anticipation, David arrived early. He prayed for God to "open the doors of heaven so that I could enjoy him in prayer and worship." David read from the scriptures, quoting verses and memorizing new ones. He prayed and sang hymns aloud.
Five hours later David was angry with God because he says, "Though I was drawing near to him, he seemed so far away from me."
God's message was undeniably clear: "My child, I'm not hiding from you. You've been hiding from me. And before you can enjoy fellowship with me, you must uncover the hidden places of your heart."
Those words struck David. He knew they were indicting but true. As he admits, "I harbored sin -- habits, words, actions, attitudes -- that I had tried to conceal." Rather than admit his own sin, he had counted on "spiritual" activities to cancel it out -- or at least to cause it to be overlooked. That afternoon David realized that it was time to be honest with God.
The most dangerous result of unconfessed sin is the inability to relate rightly to God. To confess involves stripping away layers of disguise to expose what is really at the center of who we are. "That day," David says, "I learned that communion with God must be preceded by confession before God."3
As in all episodes from the Bible, this one forces us to consider if we are the ones who have sinned against God. If so, then we need to acknowledge our sins in the hope of being forgiven. Only when we make our humble confession to God are we able to experience forgiveness. When we claim the error of our past we are given a new future that does not look back.
____________
1. "Dear Abby," Abigail VanBuren and Jeanne Phillips, "Man's affair cost him family's respect," June 28, 2001.
2. "Truth or Consequences," Charles Axe, The Upper Room, July/August 2000, p. 27.
3. "Coming Clean," David Daniels, Christian Reader, January/February 1998, pp. 70-73.
Realizing his mistake he wrote: "Abby, I traded everything important in my life. Although I never strayed before, my reputation is ruined. My children will never again respect me." He shared his story as a warning to others. He concludes his letter, "I wish I could change everything I have done ..." knowing that he could not. He signed his letter, "Sadder but Wiser."
Abby replied, "If you don't value what you have, you're sure to lose it."1 David would soon realize the truth of those words. While David thought he had the perfect cover up and had gotten away without anyone suspecting his affair with Bathsheba, he would be in for a rude awakening.
David must have breathed a sigh of relief. His extensive and frustrating cover up worked; no one suspected him of doing anything wrong. David had acted on his impulses in having an affair with Bathsheba, who was married to Uriah. When word reached the king that Bathsheba was with child, David arranged for her husband to return home from battle for a short stay. What David did not count on was Uriah's deep sense of duty and loyalty. Uriah would not under any circumstances return to his home while other soldiers were in battle. It just would not be right. In a desperate, despicable act, David ordered Uriah's death; he would be killed in battle. Again no one would suspect anything out of the ordinary -- soldiers die in battle all the time. David thought he had solved the problems he created.
Bathsheba mourned the death of her husband before marrying David. No one would ever surmise anything was wrong, and the few who might have known or heard about David's indiscretion would never say anything. At least that was what David was counting on.
The temptation for those in power is to define power in their own terms, so that whatever they do is all right. Taking unfair advantage of another person by someone in power would be called an abuse of power. David thought he had gotten away with something that deep down he must have realized was wrong. Before too long, Bathsheba "became his wife, and bore him a son."
While David thought he had gotten away with his deceit, God knew what had taken place. While we might be able to convince others of our innocence or goodness, we cannot fool God. At the time David was anointed king, the Lord God explained to Samuel, "For the Lord does not see as mortals see; they look on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart." God knew what had transpired and was not at all pleased.
Not long afterwards God sent Nathan to pay a personal visit to David at the palace. Nathan was a prophet who was in tune with God. It was not unusual for a prophet like Nathan to visit David, after all kings often acted as judge in disputes over property. David did not suspect anything out of the ordinary when he greeted Nathan. The prophet told him a story about two men, one wealthy and the other poor. The wealthy person had much livestock while the poor person had only one lamb. The lamb became a pet to the poor person's children. The children gave the lamb a name; when they called, the lamb would come to them. The lamb slept with the family, ate food from their table, and drank from their cup. Everyone in the family loved this little lamb. It was almost as though the lamb was a part of the family the way they treated it.
One day an out-of-town traveler visited the wealthy person. Instead of taking one of his own livestock for dinner the wealthy person seized the poor family's pet lamb. The children were distraught over this outrageous act; they were crying their eyes out having lost their pet.
David, having been a shepherd boy, was caught up in this story. He was outraged that anyone would do such a thing. David told Nathan, "As the Lord lives, the man who has done this deserves to die." He then issued a judgment, "he shall restore the lamb fourfold, because he did this thing, and because he had no pity." What enraged him so was how the rich person took something that belonged to the poor family without a thought of the family's feelings and how later the wealthy person appeared generous by treating his guest to a feast.
Then came the moment of truth. Nathan might have taken a deep breath before telling David; "You are the man!" It was a risky business to speak the word of the Lord and Nathan knew it. David could have just as easily ordered him killed as he did Uriah. Be aware of persons telling you stories. Stories have a way of pulling you in, hook, line, and sinker. A good movie is one that draws you into the story at some point. The parable Nathan told had that effect on the gullible but guilty David. David was filled with outrage over the rich person who took unfair advantage of the poor family. Then Nathan turned the story around to him. David was the man! He was the man with power who took the wife of a poor man. He was the one who acted so cruelly. He was the one responsible for an innocent man's death.
Before David could say a word, Nathan launched into what God laid upon his heart. "Thus says the Lord...." It was God who gave David his power in the first place. Everything that David had, all his victories, were because God willed it. And Nathan speaking for God said, "If that had been too little, I would have added as much more." David would be punished for what he did. Nathan concluded by asking, "Why have you despised the word of the Lord, to do what is evil in his sight?"
David remained silent. There was no arguing with a prophet who spoke the word of the Lord. When Nathan finished David humbly admitted, "I have sinned against the Lord." David admitted and confessed his own sin. In the Psalm attributed to this experience David pleads, "Create in me a clean heart, O God, and put a new spirit within me" (Psalm 51:10). Even though David sinned he could still pray and find God with him.
Even at those moments when we know we have sinned, we can still pray with the assurance that God will hear us. No matter what we do or where we find ourselves, God is still present with us. Even in the valleys of life it is still possible to experience God's presence.
There is a healing power in confessing our sins as Charles Axe relates: "All I could think of is how I had failed everyone -- friends, church, God." He thought all his friends would abandon him after they learned what he did. He thought about this while he sat in a prison cell. After a brief but destructive bout with gambling, Charles was arrested for stealing.
As the months passed while he was awaiting trial, members of the church had blessed Charles with their friendship. While he appreciated their friendship, he was afraid that if they knew what he had done they would no longer be his friends. Out of fear Charles continued to claim his innocence.
Charles began praying and seeking God's guidance. Eventually he came to understand what he had known all along: "To experience God's forgiveness," he says, "I needed to plead guilty and to begin apologizing to everyone I had hurt." It was an emotionally charged moment when he began telling others of his wrongdoing all the while praying for forgiveness. God answered his prayers, and as time passed he felt the burden of guilt finally being lifted from the depth of his heart.
Charles recognized that through his ordeal God never abandoned him. God has forgiven and blessed him with comforting friendships. "Through God's eternal presence, the truth has set me free," he claims quoting Jesus. "The truth will make you free."2
Nathan was not trying to make David feel guilty over what he did, rather he wanted him to confess and experience God's forgiveness. David realized the error of his ways and made his humble confession, "I have sinned against the Lord."
Sin does have consequences that are hard to escape and David's sin would continue to haunt him for many years to come. The prophet Nathan speaking the word of the Lord told him, "The sword shall never depart from your house, for you have despised me...." What David did and tried to cover up in secret would spell disaster in the future. Instead of being secret what would transpire in the future would be out in the open for the entire world to see. Nathan speaking the Word of the Lord told David, "I will raise up trouble against you from within your own house." This would be the beginning of the end for David.
Confessing our sins is the first step toward our reconciliation with God. It was an ordinary afternoon for David Daniels. Weeks before he had made the commitment to take a prayer retreat once a month. He envisioned it as a whole day of "basking in the presence of the Lord." Full of anticipation, David arrived early. He prayed for God to "open the doors of heaven so that I could enjoy him in prayer and worship." David read from the scriptures, quoting verses and memorizing new ones. He prayed and sang hymns aloud.
Five hours later David was angry with God because he says, "Though I was drawing near to him, he seemed so far away from me."
God's message was undeniably clear: "My child, I'm not hiding from you. You've been hiding from me. And before you can enjoy fellowship with me, you must uncover the hidden places of your heart."
Those words struck David. He knew they were indicting but true. As he admits, "I harbored sin -- habits, words, actions, attitudes -- that I had tried to conceal." Rather than admit his own sin, he had counted on "spiritual" activities to cancel it out -- or at least to cause it to be overlooked. That afternoon David realized that it was time to be honest with God.
The most dangerous result of unconfessed sin is the inability to relate rightly to God. To confess involves stripping away layers of disguise to expose what is really at the center of who we are. "That day," David says, "I learned that communion with God must be preceded by confession before God."3
As in all episodes from the Bible, this one forces us to consider if we are the ones who have sinned against God. If so, then we need to acknowledge our sins in the hope of being forgiven. Only when we make our humble confession to God are we able to experience forgiveness. When we claim the error of our past we are given a new future that does not look back.
____________
1. "Dear Abby," Abigail VanBuren and Jeanne Phillips, "Man's affair cost him family's respect," June 28, 2001.
2. "Truth or Consequences," Charles Axe, The Upper Room, July/August 2000, p. 27.
3. "Coming Clean," David Daniels, Christian Reader, January/February 1998, pp. 70-73.
