` Divine Forgiveness - Part II

Divine Forgiveness - Part II



God’s Gift of Forgiveness—Part 2

Individual Confession & Absolution

During our Lenten mid-week series this year, we have been praying and hearing God’s Word via the Catechism on Individual Confession and Absolution.  This has been a wonderful study, and I think has raised many questions in the minds of our congregation about the nature of sin and forgiveness.

This is a very good thing.  As a congregation, what we are about is studying and hearing God’s Word of forgiveness for the sake of Jesus Christ.  God has great gifts to give to us.  Why not hear what God has to say?

Here are some questions and answers that I thought might be helpful to you.

Does this mean that God only forgives my sins if I go privately and speak to the pastor?

In a word, No!  Remember, God forgives sins by several different means: Baptism, preaching, the Word of God, general absolution, the Lord’s Supper, AND individual absolution.  It is not really our place to play one of God’s gifts off of another, or to try and say that one is more important than the other.

Isn’t Individual Confession/Absolution Roman Catholic?

No.  Our Lutheran Confessions repeatedly state that this is a good, evangelical practice.  Remember, the point of confession and absolution is the absolution, that is, forgiveness.

Does God forgive me when I pray for forgiveness?

Yes and no.  Yes God forgives my sins, but no He doesn’t do it by means of my prayers.  When we pray to God to forgive our sins, we are asking God to forgive our sins.  That is what prayer is, asking God for something.  We pray this every day in the Lord’s Prayer: forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us.

But prayer is not the same thing as the Word of God.  God forgives us through His Word.  In other words, when I pray that God would forgive me, He does so by pointing me to His Word of truth in the Scriptures, giving me a pastor to speak forgiveness to me, by drawing me to the Lord’s Supper, and by giving me His Word.  But prayer, in and of itself, does not forgive sins.

Let me give you an example.  If I ask my parents to buy me a new car, that does not give me the new car.  They have to actually do it.  So when I ask God to forgive my sins, He answers my plea through the Scriptures and the Sacraments.  That’s how God speaks to us.

So how exactly do I go to the pastor for individual confession and absolution?

After our midweek Vespers services and at other posted times after Lent, I am available in the chancel of the church to hear confession and give God’s absolution.  You simply go up to the communion rail and I will show you what to do.  You may look at the rite of Individual Confession and Absolution on page 310 in Lutheran Worship.

What if I have something really bad to confess?  Will the pastor tell anyone?

When I was ordained, I made a vow before God never to reveal the sins confessed to me.  God throws your sins into the depth of the sea.  When you confess your sins to the pastor, you are confessing them to God.  I would go to jail or do whatever was necessary to keep those sins hidden in God forever.

But I feel awkward talking to my pastor about these things.  Won’t I be embarrassed?

You might be embarrassed.  It is proper to be ashamed of our sins.  But remember: this isn’t about the pastor, this is about your relationship to God.  God is there waiting to forgive you.  Be ashamed, but confess your shame to God!  He will cover up your sins forever.

I go to my own pastor for confession and absolution every month.  Sometimes it’s easy to do; other times it is like pulling teeth.  I hate it, because I want to cling to my sins and keep them to myself.  But every time I go, I thank God that He gave me a pastor that would hear my confession, so that I could hear God’s Word of forgiveness in my ears.  Thanks be to God.

—–Pastor Peperkorn


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This page was created on 02/03/2007 and last edited on: 02/03/2007
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