Recently I have been writing and thinking about confession as confession of sin. Daniel’s confession of sin for the whole of Israel is an example for the Church. In its confession within the worship service the Church confesses sin for the whole Church and members confess, usually silently, individual sin.
Since I have been writing about the Church making her Confession of Jesus Christ and about the Declaration of Barmen and the Confessing Church in Germany, I have, of course, also been thinking of Dietrich Bonhoeffer. In his book Ethics he gives a very clear understanding of what it means for the Church to confess sin, and not only her sin but the sin of the world. He writes this:
“The Church is precisely that community of human beings which has been led by the grace of Christ to the recognition of guilt towards Christ. … The Church today is that community of men which is gripped by the power of the grace of Christ so that, recognizing as guilt towards Jesus Christ both its own personal sin and the apostasy of the western world from Jesus Christ, it confesses this guilt and accepts the burden of it. It is in her that Jesus realizes His form in the midst of the world. That is why the Church alone can be the place of personal and collective rebirth and renewal.”
Three important points are made about the Church. She is what the world sees of Jesus Christ. She is the only entity that in relationship to Jesus Christ can confess sin, so she confesses her own sin and she confesses the sin of the world. Because of this only in the Church can there be individual renewal and the renewal of the Church and that is based solely on the Church’s confession that she has sinned.
Apostasy enters in to this picture, for as Bonhoeffer writes, “It is a sign of the living presence of Christ that there are men in whom the knowledge of the apostasy from Jesus Christ is kept awake not merely in the sense that this apostasy is observed in others but in the sense that these men themselves confess themselves guilty of this apostasy.” But one must quickly acknowledge that Bonhoeffer allows grace to come to the aid of the Church’s Confession. He writes:
“Not the individual misdeeds but the form of Christ is the origin of the confession of guilt, and for that reason the confession is not unconditional and entire; for Christ subdues us in no other way more utterly than by His having taken our guilt upon Himself unconditionally and entirely, declaring Himself guilty of our guilt and freeing us from its burden. The sight of this grace of Christ blots out entirely the sight of the guilt of other men and compels a man to fall upon his knees before Christ and to confess mea culpa, mea maxima culpa.”
So what would it look like for those of us today to confess our apostasy from faith in Jesus Christ?
What did it look like to Bonhoeffer as he made confession for the Church in Germany during the Third Reich? Bonhoeffer’s confession is very long but here are some of his words from that confession:
Since I have been writing about the Church making her Confession of Jesus Christ and about the Declaration of Barmen and the Confessing Church in Germany, I have, of course, also been thinking of Dietrich Bonhoeffer. In his book Ethics he gives a very clear understanding of what it means for the Church to confess sin, and not only her sin but the sin of the world. He writes this:
“The Church is precisely that community of human beings which has been led by the grace of Christ to the recognition of guilt towards Christ. … The Church today is that community of men which is gripped by the power of the grace of Christ so that, recognizing as guilt towards Jesus Christ both its own personal sin and the apostasy of the western world from Jesus Christ, it confesses this guilt and accepts the burden of it. It is in her that Jesus realizes His form in the midst of the world. That is why the Church alone can be the place of personal and collective rebirth and renewal.”
Three important points are made about the Church. She is what the world sees of Jesus Christ. She is the only entity that in relationship to Jesus Christ can confess sin, so she confesses her own sin and she confesses the sin of the world. Because of this only in the Church can there be individual renewal and the renewal of the Church and that is based solely on the Church’s confession that she has sinned.
Apostasy enters in to this picture, for as Bonhoeffer writes, “It is a sign of the living presence of Christ that there are men in whom the knowledge of the apostasy from Jesus Christ is kept awake not merely in the sense that this apostasy is observed in others but in the sense that these men themselves confess themselves guilty of this apostasy.” But one must quickly acknowledge that Bonhoeffer allows grace to come to the aid of the Church’s Confession. He writes:
“Not the individual misdeeds but the form of Christ is the origin of the confession of guilt, and for that reason the confession is not unconditional and entire; for Christ subdues us in no other way more utterly than by His having taken our guilt upon Himself unconditionally and entirely, declaring Himself guilty of our guilt and freeing us from its burden. The sight of this grace of Christ blots out entirely the sight of the guilt of other men and compels a man to fall upon his knees before Christ and to confess mea culpa, mea maxima culpa.”
So what would it look like for those of us today to confess our apostasy from faith in Jesus Christ?
What did it look like to Bonhoeffer as he made confession for the Church in Germany during the Third Reich? Bonhoeffer’s confession is very long but here are some of his words from that confession:
Individually, “… I must acknowledge that precisely my sin is to blame for all. I am guilty of uncontrolled desire. I am guilty of cowardly silence at a time when I ought to have spoken. I am guilty of hypocrisy and untruthfulness in the face of force. I have been lacking in compassion and I have denied the poorest of my brethren. I am guilty of disloyalty and apostasy from Christ.”
“The Church confesses that she has not proclaimed often and clearly enough her message of the one God who has revealed Himself for all times in Jesus Christ and who suffers no other gods beside Himself. … She has failed to speak the right word in the right way and at the right time. She has not resisted to the uttermost the apostasy of faith, and she has brought upon herself the guilt of the godlessness of the masses.”
"The Church confesses that she has taken in vain the name of Jesus Christ, for she has not striven forcefully enough against the misuse of this name for an evil purpose. She has stood by while violence and wrong were being committed under cover of this name.”
“The Church confesses herself guilty of the loss of the Sabbath Day, of the withering away of her public worship.”
“The Church Confesses herself guilty of the collapse of parental authority. She offered no resistance to contempt for age and the idolization of youth, for she was afraid of losing youth, and with it the future. As though her future belonged to youth. She has not dared to proclaim the divine authority and dignity of parenthood in the face of youth, and in a very earthly way she has tried ‘to keep up with the young.’ She has thus rendered herself guilty of the breaking up of countless families, the betrayal of fathers by their children, the self-deification of youth, and the abandonment of youth to the apostasy from Christ.”
The Church confesses that she has witnessed the lawless application of brutal force, the physical and spiritual suffering of countless innocent people, oppression, hatred and murder, and she has not found ways to hasten to their aid. She is guilty of the weakest and most defenseless brothers of Jesus Christ.”
“The Church Confesses that she has found no word of advice and assistance in the face of the dissolution of all order in the relation between the sexes. She has found no strong and effective answer to the contempt for chastity and to the proclamation of sexual libertinism. … She has failed to proclaim with sufficient emphasis that our bodies belong to the Body of Christ.”
“The Church confesses that she has witnessed in silence the spoliation and exploitation of the poor and the enrichment and corruption of the strong.”
“The Church confesses herself guilty towards the countless victims of calumny, denunciation and defamation. She has not convicted the slanderer of his wrongdoing, and she has thereby abandoned the slandered to his fate.”
“The Church confesses that she has desired security, peace and quiet, possessions and honour, to which she had no right, and that in this way she has not bridled the desires of men but has stimulated them still further.”
The Church confesses herself guilty of breaking all ten commandments, and in this she confesses her defection from Christ. …”
So once again I ask, what would it look like for those of us today to confess our apostasy from faith in Jesus Christ?
“The Church confesses that she has not proclaimed often and clearly enough her message of the one God who has revealed Himself for all times in Jesus Christ and who suffers no other gods beside Himself. … She has failed to speak the right word in the right way and at the right time. She has not resisted to the uttermost the apostasy of faith, and she has brought upon herself the guilt of the godlessness of the masses.”
"The Church confesses that she has taken in vain the name of Jesus Christ, for she has not striven forcefully enough against the misuse of this name for an evil purpose. She has stood by while violence and wrong were being committed under cover of this name.”
“The Church confesses herself guilty of the loss of the Sabbath Day, of the withering away of her public worship.”
“The Church Confesses herself guilty of the collapse of parental authority. She offered no resistance to contempt for age and the idolization of youth, for she was afraid of losing youth, and with it the future. As though her future belonged to youth. She has not dared to proclaim the divine authority and dignity of parenthood in the face of youth, and in a very earthly way she has tried ‘to keep up with the young.’ She has thus rendered herself guilty of the breaking up of countless families, the betrayal of fathers by their children, the self-deification of youth, and the abandonment of youth to the apostasy from Christ.”
The Church confesses that she has witnessed the lawless application of brutal force, the physical and spiritual suffering of countless innocent people, oppression, hatred and murder, and she has not found ways to hasten to their aid. She is guilty of the weakest and most defenseless brothers of Jesus Christ.”
“The Church Confesses that she has found no word of advice and assistance in the face of the dissolution of all order in the relation between the sexes. She has found no strong and effective answer to the contempt for chastity and to the proclamation of sexual libertinism. … She has failed to proclaim with sufficient emphasis that our bodies belong to the Body of Christ.”
“The Church confesses that she has witnessed in silence the spoliation and exploitation of the poor and the enrichment and corruption of the strong.”
“The Church confesses herself guilty towards the countless victims of calumny, denunciation and defamation. She has not convicted the slanderer of his wrongdoing, and she has thereby abandoned the slandered to his fate.”
“The Church confesses that she has desired security, peace and quiet, possessions and honour, to which she had no right, and that in this way she has not bridled the desires of men but has stimulated them still further.”
The Church confesses herself guilty of breaking all ten commandments, and in this she confesses her defection from Christ. …”
So once again I ask, what would it look like for those of us today to confess our apostasy from faith in Jesus Christ?
4 comments:
Anonymous I am deleting you because I don't won't that kind of link on my blog. If you want to say who you are and comment on what I wrote you may post.
To make this confession and really mean it?!
Wow.
I hate to sound cynical, but I don't think any church could actually bring itself to make such a confession - not in any meaningful way.
But it is fun to imagine it. Humbling really.
Carl
Yes, it is humbling.
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