Grace Notes 2024-09-18
On a good day I realize and will admit that I am getting older. Sometimes my body helps me to be reminded. And I am realizing that there are benefits to growing older. The inevitability of going the way of all the earth sets in. Oddly, that can make the present moment more precious. Likewise, it can help set the mind and heart on the things that really matter.
The Psalmist intones, “So teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom” (Ps 90:12). Against any notion of eternity, our lives, even if they are 90, 100, or more, are a drop in the bucket. Our lives in this age pass so quickly, as many of us discover as we grow older.
If we don’t realize that our lives in this age are transitory, we will not fare well spiritually. We will fail to understand what we should be about in this age. We will live like there is notomorrow, and that this world’s entertainments and treasures are all there is. “Reach for all the gusto, for you only go around once in life…”
If, on the other hand, we understand our lives in this age as preparatory and meant for service, the way we go about things will be markedly different. Couple that with an understanding that we belong to our Creator, and that along with the dignity of being fashioned in His image, we have been entrusted with the management of His creation. We are to represent Him to others, and we are to tend and care for His world.
And when we understand our complicity in the corruption and decay of the world He created good, we will have a greater appreciation for His redemptive work, and His joy and willingness to employ forgiven sinners in this rescue and restoration project. In fact, nothing will be more important! And nothing more rewarding. For, among other things, it will transcend this age.
Since You Asked…
Do Lutherans Promote Private Confession?
“Confession has not been abolished by the preachers on our side. … The people are carefully instructed concerning the consolation of the Word of absolution (forgiveness) so that they may esteem it as a great and precious thing. It is not the voice of the man who speaks it, but it is the Word of God, who forgives sin, for it is spoken in God’s stead and by God’s command. …it is necessary for terrified consciences” (Augsburg Confession, XXV).
Private confession has two parts: First that we confess our sins, and second, that we receive absolution, that is, forgiveness, from the Pastor as from God himself.