Pipe-Cleaner for the Soul

Call to Confession

God has drawn the church into covenant, calling us to be faithful people who walk in the ways of Christ. Yet how often do we explore what that means or examine our behavior against the example of Christ? A time of confession gives us the opportunity to reclaim and grow in our relationship with God.

A covenant is another name for a contract. Our worship service this Sunday will recall a covenant made between Abram and God (Genesis 15). Abram was promised a legacy in exchange for promising faithfulness to God. That is an ancient story and our distance from it is equally vast. The idea that we are all somehow heirs in God’s family and have specific rights and responsibilities seems remote. I have citizen’s rights as an American and thus I have responsibilities to the IRS; do I have similar rights and responsibilities to God?

Confession

God of all people, we confess that we claim you majesty and power for our exclusive benefit. We relish the good things of life and are reluctant to share with those who seem less deserving. We resist the prophets who point out our greed, even when we feel we are being generous. We resent persons in positions of authority over us who seem not to have our best interests at heart. We are angry about one whose evil deeds seem to go unpunished. O God, how can we receive your mercy when we are so reluctant to pass it on? Help us to center our lives in your love more than our own desires.

For weeks now I have driven past a “Vote for Scott Brown” sign that was written in sloppy black ink onto a white, 10-gallon, plastic container lid and bolted to a telephone pole. The sign was taken down not after Scott won the election but after Scott lost the good will that sent him to the Senate. Scott sided with the democrats. Now all that remains of the good will are two bolts with fragments of white plastic attached to a post. We are fickle and merciless. In yesterday’s Boston Herald a woman wrote condemning Tiger Woods insinuating that his hedonistic lifestyle was a direct result of his Buddhist practices and added “When he dies I pray God will have mercy on his pathetic soul”. Does she really pray for Tiger’s soul? Might she also pray for her own?

Assurance of Forgiveness

If we confess our sins, God who is faithful and just will forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. In the name of Jesus Christ, you are forgiven.

In the name of Jesus Christ you are forgiven. Amen.

At the end of this week’s sermon I tell a story about a man who experienced a divine conversion while visiting the Holy Land. He described the experience as if something had taken a giant pipe-cleaner to his soul. Clean. May it be so for you this Lent.