So, 

I have a confession to make!

Yes, it was me that sent out that email on Thursday encouraging everyone to drop off your thanksgiving Baskets by 4:00pm, without noting that a whole mess of you already had, and…

…that the email was a mass reminder, not a specific reminder to particular individuals. 

Sigh! I will take the lumps necessary.

And I will repent – that is change my ways - and I will repair – that is – fix my errors!

Now, I am so glad I got that off my chest! 

And while this intended to be a bit of a funny example of confession, you all get the point.

Confession is the second step in a process of drawing closer to God by admitting that we, like Adam and Eve, are sinners, and then moving onto a process to deals with that sin.

Confession!

Not necessarily because we are bad awful people, but because sometimes we see the good-looking fruit and decide to take a bite, all while willfully ignoring the consequences.

Sometimes we become aware of the need for confession and change on our own.

More often, it has to be pointed out to us!

Either way we have to see sin for what it is, and then have to take ownership of our responsibilities in relation to that sin.

Just as the Psalmist does here in Psalm 51. And what does the Psalmist write? 

“Please wipe away my sins. Wash me clean from all of my sin and guilt.”

Why? 

Well, for context, most theologians both Christians and Jews have believe this Psalm to be a song of confession and repentance written by King David of Jerusalem.

He had sinned by taking Bathsheba to be his wife, even though she was already married, and compounded his sin by making sure her current husband ended up with military duties that got him killed.

It was a show of absolute power that a renowned King like David could get away with.

But not without consequences, especially if David wished to remain in an intimate relationship with God.
And soon, God sent a prophet named Nathan to confront David. 

The whole story is found is 2 Samuel 11 & 12.  
God sent Nathan the prophet to tell this story to David:
A rich man and a poor man lived in the same town. 2 The rich man owned a lot of sheep and cattle, 3 but the poor man had only one little lamb that he had bought and raised. The lamb became a pet for him and his children. He even let it eat from his plate and drink from his cup and sleep on his lap. The lamb was like one of his own children.
4 One day someone came to visit the rich man, but the rich man didn’t want to kill any of his own sheep or cattle and serve it to the visitor. So, he stole the poor man’s little lamb and served it instead.
5 David was furious with the rich man and said to Nathan, “I swear by the living LORD that the man who did this deserves to die! 6 And because he didn’t have any pity on the poor man, he will have to pay four times what the lamb was worth.”
7 Then Nathan told David:
You are that rich man! 
David said, “I have disobeyed the LORD.”
“Yes, you have!” Nathan answered. “You showed you didn’t care what the LORD wanted.

In order to be able to confess, we first have to see the sin, we have to understand the difference between right and wrong and why it matters, we have to be willing to look at our complicity in challenging God’s authority, provision and love.
And then we need to act!

And just so we are all clear, to confess is to acknowledge our guilt. 

No explaining it away. No making our sin reasonable and acceptable. No pointing out other people’s sins as somehow a reason we should be let off the hook.

Confession is to make clear to us, to God, and to others that we are a sinner. To say as David did, “I have disobeyed the Lord.”

And then to change (repent) and repair the damage we have done to our relationship with God, with others, and to ourselves.

It’s all really powerful stuff!

But it is also the stuff that will help you become the kind of disciple of Jesus you would really like to be!

And so, it continues.

As David says later in the Psalm: You are kind, God! Please have pity on me. You are always merciful! Please wipe away my sins. 2 Wash me clean from all of my sin and guilt.

May it be so! Amen.