Lost Sheep

Like Lost Sheep: Reflections on the General Confession

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โ€œConfession is good for the soulโ€ is a much-touted proverb, but many of us neglect such a wonderful medicine. In the American Evangelical tradition, we rejoice at how the message of Christ has been spread, even if we disagree amongst ourselves on certain methods of presentation or means of persuasion. However, this tradition has been weaker regarding our daily devotional life, including how we address our own sinfulness.

I know this tendency in myself. I am prone to navel-gazing: peering into the depths of my soul, looking at myself, and attempting to hunt my own heart for as much sin as I can find. Many other Christians share this struggle. American Evangelicalism, for all its blessings, has emphasized the personal nature of Christianity to our own detriment. Anglicans, however, affirm the basic Christian truth that individuals must possess a personal and living faith in the Christ we confess in the creeds while recognizing the danger of individualizing this faith.ย 

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The Boundaries of the General Confession

This is where the Daily Office comes in. I have written elsewhere of its uses in my own life as a stabilizing force. Here, I want to focus on how it helps us bring out sins to God. We easily fall into two ditches during our times of confession: we think that we have to grovel long enough for God to accept our repentance, or we skim over our confession and ignore our sins. The General Confession at the opening of the Office provides us with the boundaries we need.

We Have Erred and Strayed

Almighty and most merciful Father, we have erred and strayed from your ways like lost sheep.
We have followed too much the devices and desires of our own hearts.
We have offended against your holy laws.
We have left undone those things which we ought to have done, and we have done those things which we ought not to have done; and apart from your grace, there is no health in us.

We begin where we must, and we acknowledge that we pray to the being that is simultaneously our almighty God and our loving, compassionate Father. Both must be held together. We cannot have a God with no power or a deity without love. We easily want one, or we feel as if we deserve one over the other. Both are true; both are what we believe about God, whether we feel like we deserve the truth or not. We also confess a humble fact to our loving Father: we are helpless as dumb animals. We often find ourselves compared to sheep in the Bible, not because they are great, but because they often seem to lack common sense. They often wander from the fold, helpless without the guidance of their shepherd, as do we. Thus, Isaiah tells us,

All we like sheep have gone astray;
we have turnedโ€”every oneโ€”to his own way…

Isaiah 53:6

The confession does not gloss over anything. It first roots sin in its proper place: our own hearts. We sin not because external circumstances force us to but because we listen to our own desires. We know nothing of โ€œfollowing your heartโ€ in Christianity. Our hearts are deceitful and wicked (Jer. 17:9). The confession also spotlights the two ways we can sin: omission and commission. We either do not do what we should or do what we should not do. We are squarely in St. Paul’s lament in Romans 7.

No Health in Us

What ends this section has rubbed some individuals wrongly. The 1662 Prayer Book, long held as the universal standard for Anglican liturgy, only contained the phrase โ€œthere is no health in us, rightly pointing out that we, in our fallen state, possess not a single ounce of goodness. The 2019 Prayer Book prefaces this with the phrase “apart from your grace.” reminding us of the truth expressed by St. Augustine: unless God grants what he commands by his grace, we are lost.

The key impact of this opening confession is its breadth and its simplicity. We confess multiple divine truths: God as our Father, our own sinfulness, the motivations behind our sin, how we sin, and our utter helplessness without divine aid. However, we do all of this without falling into any extreme, something which our age is constantly tempting us to do. As Christians, we must maintain the fruit of the Spirit even while we confess our sins, and part of that fruit is self-control (Gal. 5:23). This aids us in doing that.

Have Mercy Upon Us

O Lord, have mercy upon us.
Spare all those who confess their faults.
Restore all those who are penitent, according to your promises declared to all people in Christ Jesus our Lord.
And grant, O most merciful Father, for his sake, that we may now live a godly, righteous, and sober life, to the glory of your holy Name.
Amen.

There is only one proper response to our own sin: โ€œLord, have mercy on me, a sinnerโ€ (Luke 18:13). This is what we are guided to say in the confession. It moves us to ask God for his pardon. We do not sit in our sins and earn his love back through penances and groveling. Instead, we ask him to spare us and that he, in his mercy and grace, would pass over those who confess their faults. We cling to the hope of the Israelites: that those whose hearts are sprinkled with blood would be passed over by the Lord. Then, we ask for restoration.

American Evangelicalism struggles with the idea of restoration. We tend to dismiss failed believers, especially leaders. While there is everything good about exercising caution in those who must lead the flocks of the Lord, we must not carry over such wise hesitancy in our personal lives. We ask for the Lord to restore the penitent, and we ask him to do so based on the promise he gave us. We are not presuming. He has committed himself to our soulโ€™s good through his Son.

Hope for a Fruitful Life

The General Confession closes with the final prayer that we would be fruitful in our Christian life. We ask that, as we have been pardoned and restored, we be given a life of obedience to God. This is true biblical repentance. We do not ask God for forgiveness and remain in our miserable condition; instead, we turn from our sin to Christ, the One who enables us both to turn and to continue on after we have turned. We do all of this for Christโ€™s sake; this is what gives us the faith to know we are heard.

The confession ends with an โ€œAmen,โ€ a word that is often heard in churches and never truly defined. Saying โ€œAmenโ€ is an expression of agreement. It is an affirmation that I, as a person, agree with the truthfulness of what was just said. The โ€œAmenโ€ here at the end of the Confession is the best way to wrap up what has been said. I agree that I am a sinner; I agree that I am a wicked person; I agree that I have broken every aspect of Godโ€™s law; and I agree that I beg for my Fatherโ€™s pardon through his Son.

Conclusion

I cannot end this article without a note to those with tender hearts. The General Confession is just that: a general confession of our sins. It is not meant for you to use as a rake to turn over the leaves of your soul. If reading this causes you to analyze yourself for hours on end, stop. Read the General Confession. Admit your sins. Then, move on to the Absolution, where God promises you that you will be forgiven in his Son.


Photo by birdseye from Getty Images, courtesy of Canva.

Author

James Hodges

James Hodges, of Ridgeway, VA, is a Kindergarten Teacher in the local public school system and teaches the Junior Church in his local congregation. He is husband to Anna and father to Lilabet.

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