| Our Christian history and tradition is just full of gold: stories, people, traditions and prayers that have inspired and nurtured peoples’ faith and helped them on their walk with Jesus through life. Here is one such prayer…. |
 Merciful God, we have sinned in what we have thought and said, in the wrong we have done and in the good we have not done. We have sinned in ignorance: we have sinned in weakness: we have sinned through our own deliberate fault. We are truly sorry. We repent and turn to you. Forgive us, for our Saviour Christ’s sake, and renew our lives to the glory of your name. Amen. This week our prayer to live by is the most commonly used confessional prayer from our A New Zealand Prayer Book. A prayer, that under normal circumstances, we say every week. But with things we become familiar with we can forget there meaning and significance. Familiarity can breed ignorance. So let’s look at why this prayer might be one to help guide our lives. Sin really is not everyone’s favourite topic and it would be a worry if it was. However, Sin is a reality. Even for those who are not believers there is a sense that things are not the way they are supposed to be. However, there is a lot of confusion about what Sin is and how it effects the world around us. A close reading of Scripture shows at it’s most basic Sin is about relationship. Sin is the loss of love in relationships. Sin is the thing(s) that destroy loving relationships. The problem with the world and the reason things are not the way they should be is because our relationship with God, one another and the earth has broken down. Especially because we have lost loving relationship with God, the source of all life and goodness. Therefore, we are cut off from the life of love that was meant for us. The famous painting by Michelangelo, The Creation of Adam, is a good illustration of Sin. Adam, a symbol for humanity, simply seems to not care about God, barely lifting a figure to touch Him. This shows that Sin is not just the more extreme ends of human behaviour, but simple indifference to God, and His love, guidance and wisdom. This quiet indifference is tantamount to full on rebellion and rejection of God. However, on the other side of this picture we have God who is desperate to connect with His creation, reaching, stretching out, to touch Adam. The story of the Bible is the story of a God who loves us, and made us for loving relationship, and will not quite till loving relationship is restored. And He will really do anything to prove His love, faithfulness and trustworthiness. Even going as far as to come as a human to die, taking all the sin upon Himself. Taking the worst consequences of Sin on our behalf, so that we might have a chance at restoring loving relationship with Him, with one another and with this planet. Our God is a God of forgiveness and reconciliation. So with all that in mind that brings us to our prayer of confession. This prayer is a prayer to keep us honest. A prayer recognising our part in creating Sin. It is only by being honest about where we have broken relationship that we can come back into loving relationship. And so, like a medication, receiving the forgiveness, reconciliation and healing to the broken places it is needed. Us humans have an emotional need to feel innocent. We find it painful to own our fault and brokenness. It can seem counter-intuitive to purposefully invite pain into our lives. But Sin is there whether we like it or not. And if Jesus is to be believed and trusted, we can only overcome Sin, find healing and become innocent by being willing to admit and own our Sin. Therefore, we can embrace this painful way knowing that we are forgiven and accepted by God. And God does not accept us because we said the right words, and He does not accept us begrudgingly (as if He secretly wished we hadn’t), but accepts us as a Father loves and accepts His children. He is proud of us and loves us and our lives, and wishes to see us to grow and mature into honest and loving people, the way that it is meant to be. So know that you are forgiven and be at peace. May God strengthen you in all goodness and keep you in life eternal. |