November Focus

Free Indeed

The Book of Common Prayer informs the worship of the Episcopal Church. Following The Prayers of the People comes The Confession, often referred to as "the general confession." This prayer we say together, "in general" to distinguish it from private or personal confession.

The Episcopal Church is unapologetic in our recognition of the need for confession. Who can deny the violence, the neglect, the oversight, or the abuse of self as well as neighbor all around us?

Worship in the Episcopal Church conforms to the biblical understanding of the covenant-making God of Israel. The biblical narrative wrestles with the reality of broken relationship, bad faith, and betrayal of trust that abounds in the human experience.

Although the word sin sometimes falls victim to comedic exaggeration and is used to mock biblical insight, the reality of sin is no laughing matter. It identifies a fundamental disorientation of the human heart.

Ask a single mother abandoned by the father of her children to laugh at the reality of sin. Ask an aging pensioner who must choose between food and medicine because of executive incompetence or greed to laugh at the reality of sin. Ask an underpaid teacher who dips into her meager salary to buy school supplies for her students because her school system is under-funded to laugh at the reality of sin.

God created us for love but everywhere fear rises up in the human heart and snuffs out that spark before it has a chance to blaze.

Scripture, like bright lights shining in a dark night, exposes what we hoped we could ignore. In Genesis 7 God says to Noah,

"The end of all flesh has come before me, for the earth is filled with violence through them. . . ."

Is the world less violent than in the days of Noah?

The prophet Isaiah says,

The ox knows its owner
And the donkey its master's crib;
But Israel does not know,
My people do not understand.

Is our nation any more responsive to the call of justice than ancient Israel? Only those lost in denial of the violence of human history take offense at the biblical witness to the reality of sin.

But this is not the only word. Even more remarkable than the acknowledgement of human failing in Scripture is the invitation to transformation. The prophet Isaiah continues,

"Come now, and let us reason together,"
Says the LORD,
"Though your sins are like scarlet,
They shall be as white as snow; Though they are red like crimson,
They shall be as wool.

Psalm 51, the penitential prayer of the Psalter, is not a pessimistic cry of despair in the face of God's justice. It is a prayer of transformation that recognizes God's grace is available to all.

Have mercy upon me, O God,
According to Your lovingkindness;
According to the multitude of Your tender mercies,
Blot out my transgressions.
Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity,
And cleanse me from my sin.

Proverbs 4:18-19, highlights the contrasting possibilities available in the human experience. The possibilities are as different as night and day.

The path of the righteous is like the shining sun,
That shines ever brighter unto the perfect day.
The way of the wicked is like darkness;
They do not know what makes them stumble.

Saint Paul characterizes the human condition as "imprisonment" or "slavery." In his letter to the Galatians he says, "For freedom Christ has set us free; stand fast therefore and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery." Do not again, Paul says, submit to the slavery of sin.

The most poignant witness to the power of grace to transform and free humanity from the power of sin comes, of course, from Christ Jesus. Even as the Roman soldier pounded the spike into his hand, Jesus prayed a prayer that established the confession as a central part of our liturgy. His prayer is humanity's greatest hope for freedom from sin's dark prison.

"Father forgive them for they know not what they do."

Monthly Focus Archive

2006:

Easter Focus: New Covenant
Lenten Focus: A Covenantal Response to Poverty
February Focus: Moving Forward

2005:

December Focus: Longing
November Focus: The Gift of Years
October Focus: Stewardship
September Focus: Foundations
Summer Focus: The Book of Acts
Easter Focus: Tapestry
Lenten Focus: Rule of Life
January Focus: The Next Wave

2004:

December Focus: Surprising Grace
November Focus: Free Indeed
October Focus: Money Madness
September Focus: The Outrageous Promise
Summer Focus: Into the Fullness
June Focus: Thick Faith
Easter Focus: All Things New
Lent Focus: A Hungry World
February Focus: Commitment
January Focus: Unity

2003:

December Focus: Hope
November Focus: Worship
October Focus: Stewardship
September Focus: Seasons of Faith
Summer Focus: The Gospel of John
May Focus: Faith
April Focus: Resurrection
March Focus: Truth
February Focus: Covenant Groups
January Focus: Sabbath

2002:

December Focus: Shut Up and Sing
November Focus: Spiritual Gifts
October Focus: Stewardship
September Focus: Intentional Faith