Confessing to Be a Sinner

Steven E. King

 

 

   If and when the Renewing Worship materials replace the Lutheran Book of Worship, one of the phrases from the LBW that I will miss is from the Brief Order for Confession and Forgiveness: “We confess that we are in bondage to sin, and cannot free ourselves…” (p. 56).   It is not only one of the prayers most meaningful to me in my worship life, it is the phrase from the Sunday liturgy that I have quoted most often in my preaching and teaching as a pastor.

 

   The words of this confession articulate well the human condition as Jesus described it in John 8:34 (“everyone who commits sin is a slave to sin”).  As a teaching tool, it is one of the only expressions well-known to the average worshipper that touches upon Luther’s doctrine of the bondage of the will.  One of the great gifts of Lutheran theology is its understanding of Sin – not merely as a collection of actions, but as a condition basic to our human nature.  The words of this familiar confession allow us to be honest about our condition, and commend who we are to God.

 

   As part of our Pauline emphasis and Augustinian heritage, Lutherans have always believed and taught that sin is not a problem that can be solved or avoided simply by what we do.  Our bondage to sin goes much deeper than that; it is a part of who we are, and it requires God’s action to address.  As exemplified in Jesus’ parable of the Pharisee and the Tax-collector (Luke 18:9-14), for us to make a true confession of sin is more than admitting to a list of misdeeds; it is an honest appraisal of our very being, and our need for God’s mercy and grace.  Confession is not simply saying, “I have sinned;” it is admitting that “I am a sinner.”

 

   Unfortunately, the materials being proposed toward the creation of a new hymnal for the ELCA allow no opportunity to make such a confession.  Not only has a confessing to being “in bondage to sin” been removed from the Brief Order, virtually every liturgical reference to sin-as-a-condition has been excised.  Gone is the phrase from the LBW service of Corporate Confession & Forgiveness “I, a troubled and penitent sinner…” as well as the prayer “be merciful to me, a poor sinful being” (LBW, p. 194).  Even the baptismal service no longer admits that “we are born children of a fallen humanity…” (LBW, p. 121).  Certainly, there are places in Renewing Worship that provide for the confession of sins, but there is no place for us to confess that we are sinners.

 

   In responding to the materials being proposed by the Renewing Worship committee, perhaps we must do just that.  We must make the bold confession of who we are, speaking the truth about our sinful nature no less clearly than we speak the truth of Christ’s forgiveness.  In doing so, we join with the tax-collector and with all the faithful saints before us who share that common confession, trusting that God shows mercy not only to those who have sinned, but to those who can actually admit to being sinners.

 

Steven E. King is pastor at  Holy Cross Lutheran Church, Maple Lake, MN 

 

 

 

Further Reading:

 

Apology of the Augsburg Confession, Article 2

on Original Sin for discussion of sin as a condition.

 

Tappert, Fortress Press, Philadelphia, 1959, pp. 100-107