Our Sins Laid Bare
One of the difficulties in taking advantage of “Individual Confession and Absolution” is the whole matter of self-disclosure. The guilt and shame associated with a sin is hard enough to deal with alone. But it is a whole new level to stand naked and exposed before others. We say to ourselves, “What will they think when they find out what I am really like?” And this holds no less true when it comes to the Pastor. “What will he think of me now?”
There are several responses to this obstacle. The first is that it is not necessary to go to your own Pastor to make Private Confession. There is a reasonable expectation that any Pastor in the LCMC or NALC would be willing to hear your confession. And a part of our vows as Lutheran Pastors is the pledge of confidentiality in Private Confession.
A second response has to do with understanding what is necessary to say in confession. The purpose of making a confession is to identify and freely confess specific sins, but not necessarily a lot of details. It is enough to confess out loud sins like disobedience, unfaithfulness, being bad-tempered, dishonest, or injury to anyone by word or deed. A confession of infidelity, for instance, probably does not require names, circumstances, or details.
Third, we may fail to recognize that the most serious sins are the ones for which we often feel the least guilt. False belief and despair are the most serious. They are related to having other gods and the failure to hear and believe God’s promises, especially as relates to the forgiveness of sin.
Finally, any Confessor (a Pastor who hears confessions) worth a grain of salt recognizes his own most grievous sins, and with any experience has heard many sins confessed. There are ten upon which to especially focus. And in one degree or another we all fall short of each one of the ten. We all alike are sinners.
Since You Asked…
What is the meaning of “Lent”?
The English word “Lent” means “springtime”. Lent is the six-week period of spiritual discipline before Easter (40 days not counting Sundays). At an early period in the Church’s history baptisms might only be celebrated once a year at the Easter Vigil Service. Accordingly there was a period prior to this of introducing and training candidates for baptism. In time the training for baptismal candidates grew to a six week period, and this training involved fasting. The 40 days was, no doubt, modeled on the 40 days of our Lord Jesus’ fasting in the wilderness before his temptations by the devil. As the years passed the Lenten fast began to be applied, not only to the baptismal candidates, but to the church as a whole. Church members were encouraged to approach Easter in the same manner in which they had solemnly prepared for their baptisms. That is why the Season of Lent has finally developed as a time for fasting, study, prayer, acts of love, and humility. (with help from The Westminster Dictionary of Worship, edited by J.G. Davies, The Westminster Press.)