A MATTER OF GRACE . . .
The Revd Deacon Polly M. Bowen
Bad stuff happened in the Bowen household over the summer. There were days when we thought it couldn’t possibly get any worse, and then came days when it did. We looked at the terrible times others were having (tsunami and hurricane victims, for example) and we knew we were blessed beyond belief in comparison, but this only made us feel guilty and added to the depression. We were all depressed at one time or another – though by God’s grace not all at the same time.
God’s grace . . . this is the power that gets us through the tough times, whether or not we recognize it. In the Bowen household, some recognize it, some don’t. But those who do are acutely aware of it, praying for the less fortunate and contributing what we can to the funds that help them. Still, as I used to tell my clients when I was a grief counselor, comparisons aren’t really helpful. The fact that your neighbor has a broken arm doesn’t make your hangnail hurt any less; it just makes you feel guilty if you complain. And that kind of guilt gets you nowhere.
But there is guilt that does get us somewhere – not the pious, false kind that sets us up as some sort of Holy Joe or Josephine (apologies to Cursillo for borrowing that one!), but honest acknowledgment of our sinfulness and our shortcomings. And again, by God’s grace, we can deal with that.
Some of the earliest Christians delayed their baptism until they were on their deathbeds, because it was believed that sins committed after baptism couldn’t be forgiven. But gradually, as they searched the scriptures and reflected theologically on what they were reading, they came to a better understanding. Sin is part of the human condition, and we are constantly in need of forgiveness.
“On the evening of that day, the first day of the week, Jesus showed himself to his apostles. He breathed on them, and said to them: ‘Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.’” (John 20:19, 23)
When we sin, we wound God’s honor and love. We betray our own human dignity as sons and daughters of God, and we wound the spiritual well being of the Church. But God has provided us with the wonderful gift of reconciliation to heal that wound, and the Church has provided us with a form – look on page 447 of your prayer book. Once we examine our conscience and identify our sins, repentance and amendment of life are all that are required of us, and we don’t necessarily have to make our confession in the presence of a priest.
But it’s not a bad idea. There is an Exhortation on page 316 of the Prayer Book. It says in part, “ . . .if . . . you need help and counsel, then go and open your grief to a discreet and understanding priest, and confess your sins, that you may receive the benefit of absolution, and spiritual counsel and advice, the removal of scruple and doubt, the assurance of pardon, and the strengthening of your faith.”
Sacramental confession is always available in the Church – just ask any priest, or for that matter, any deacon or informed lay person, although only a priest will grant absolution in Christ’s name. Others will read a declaration of Christ’s forgiveness from the Prayer Book.
Why should I go to another person, you may be asking. The answer is simple: sin has broken the bonds between the sinner and God, and between the sinner and the community. And that other person represents both.
One last caution: we don’t make our confession with some sort of sick intent to wallow in our sinfulness. That’s just another form of sin. We do it to restore us to the firm ground of spiritual growth, to enlarge our spiritual life, to make us more productive ministers of Christ, to bring about healing and wholeness, not only of the sinner, but also of the entire Body of Christ. What we do has profound effects on the Body.
And what does confessing one’s sins have to do with the bad stuff that happens to us? Maybe nothing. But maybe everything. The painful honesty that is required helps us to look at everything differently, to sort out the important from the unimportant, to recognize and truly appreciate the grace of God in our lives. It helps us to recognize, with St. Paul, that
´ . . . neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 8:38-39)
After all, it’s a matter of Grace.
