FIRST READING Ezekiel 18:1-4, 25-32
1The word of the Lord came to me: 2“What do you mean by repeating this proverb concerning the land of Israel, ‘The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children’s teeth are set on edge’? 3As I live, declares the Lord God, this proverb shall no more be used by you in Israel. 4Behold, all souls are mine; the soul of the father as well as the soul of the son is mine: the soul who sins shall die. 25“Yet you say, ‘The way of the Lord is not just.’ Hear now, O house of Israel: Is my way not just? Is it not your ways that are not just? 26When a righteous person turns away from his righteousness and does injustice, he shall die for it; for the injustice that he has done he shall die. 27Again, when a wicked person turns away from the wickedness he has committed and does what is just and right, he shall save his life. 28Because he considered and turned away from all the transgressions that he had committed, he shall surely live; he shall not die. 29Yet the house of Israel says, ‘The way of the Lord is not just.’ O house of Israel, are my ways not just? Is it not your ways that are not just? 30“Therefore I will judge you, O house of Israel, every one according to his ways, declares the Lord God. Repent and turn from all your transgressions, lest iniquity be your ruin. 31Cast away from you all the transgressions that you have committed, and make yourselves a new heart and a new spirit! Why will you die, O house of Israel? 32For I have no pleasure in the death of anyone, declares the Lord God; so turn, and live.”
PSALM Psalm 25:1-10
1To you, O Lord, I lift up my soul; my God, I put my trust in you; let me not be humiliated, nor let my enemies triumph over me. 2Let none who look to you be put to shame; let the treacherous be disappointed in their schemes. 3Show me your ways, O Lord, and teach me your paths. 4Lead me in your truth and teach me, for you are the God of my salvation; in you have I trusted all the day long. 5Remember, O Lord, your compassion and love, for they are from everlasting. 6Remember not the sins of my youth and my transgressions; remember me according to your love and for the sake of your goodness, O Lord. 7Gracious and upright is the Lord; therefore he teaches sinners in his way. 8He guides the humble in doing right and teaches his way to the lowly. 9All the paths of the Lord are love and faithfulness to those who keep his covenant and his testimonies. 10For your name’s sake, O Lord, forgive my sin, for it is great.
SECOND READING Philippians 2:1-18
1So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, 2complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. 3Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. 4Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. 5Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, 6who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. 8And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. 9Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, 10so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. 12Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, 13for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure. 14Do all things without grumbling or disputing, 15that you may be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world, 16holding fast to the word of life, so that in the day of Christ I may be proud that I did not run in vain or labor in vain. 17Even if I am to be poured out as a drink offering upon the sacrificial offering of your faith, I am glad and rejoice with you all. 18Likewise you also should be glad and rejoice with me.
GOSPEL Matthew 21:23-32
23When {Jesus} entered the temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people came up to him as he was teaching, and said, “By what authority are you doing these things, and who gave you this authority?” 24Jesus answered them, “I also will ask you one question, and if you tell me the answer, then I also will tell you by what authority I do these things. 25The baptism of John, from where did it come? From heaven or from man?” And they discussed it among themselves, saying, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ he will say to us, ‘Why then did you not believe him?’ 26But if we say, ‘From man,’ we are afraid of the crowd, for they all hold that John was a prophet.” 27So they answered Jesus, “We do not know.” And he said to them, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things. 28“What do you think? A man had two sons. And he went to the first and said, ‘Son, go and work in the vineyard today.’ 29And he answered, ‘I will not,’ but afterward he changed his mind and went. 30And he went to the other son and said the same. And he answered, ‘I go, sir,’ but did not go. 31Which of the two did the will of his father?” They said, “The first.” Jesus said to them, “Truly, I say to you, the tax collectors and the prostitutes go into the kingdom of God before you. 32For John came to you in the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him, but the tax collectors and the prostitutes believed him. And even when you saw it, you did not afterward change your minds and believe him.
CONFESSION DOESN’T ALWAYS MEAN REPENTANCE
Anyone who’s dealt with children will, at one point or another, witness the following: One child is mean to another and the adult in charge tells the offending child to say they’re sorry. The offending child then says sarcastically, “I’m Sorry.” However, it’s obvious that the child doesn’t really mean it, but they’ve done as they were told and said the words. In a way, they’ve confessed their wrong and have asked for forgiveness. However, the question is, did they repent? Confession is admitting one’s sin, either the act or the omission. Repentance, on the other hand, means to reversal of course, to change our behavior. Repentance includes contrition; the feeling of regret and the desire to never repeat the inappropriate behavior.
Too often we’re guilty, like the offending child, of saying the right words, but not really meaning what we say. Oh, we say we’re sorry, but deep down, we really have no intention of changing our motives, actions or behaviors. Too often we stand here on Sunday morning and repeat the words of Confession found in our bulletin, yet we have no intension of turning away from our injustice, (Ez. 18:26) we have no desire to, “Cast away from [ourselves] all the transgressions that [we] have committed and make [ourselves] a new heart and a new spirit!” (Ez. 18:31) Oh, yes we confess, but how often do we feel contrite and be willing to truly repent?
Another pastor shared with me an incident from his past. He said, someone had slipped a church bulletin under his office door. When he spotted it after the morning worship service and saw some notations on it, he assumed that the writer had jotted down an announcement or a date to be included in the newsletter that was to be printed the next week. However, upon reading the note scrawled across the ritual, he knew it was meant, not for the newsletter, but for him.
“Garbage!” the note read. “This is garbage and we will not tolerate any more of it.” That note of judgment was not aimed at the service in general, but only part of it. The unidentified writer was neither disagreeing with the pastor’s interpretation of Scripture, nor any of the content of the sermon, nor even the hymns selected for the service. The note was written across the congregational prayer of confession and certain phrases of that prayer were underlined.
He said that the note didn’t surprise him, that since coming to serve at that congregation, he had heard rumblings about the confessional prayers; they were too specific, too pointed. It was a prayer used for one of the Lenten services and the prayer went like this: O God, your will and purpose for us is far finer, far greater, than we ever dared to hope. What bothers us deeply is not so much our sin, but our shabbiness; the poor use we have made of great gifts, the talents we have squandered, the resources unrealized. We apologize for being so un-businesslike about the business of living; for being so slipshod about the act of living.
We beg your pardon for being satisfied with getting, instead of getting on; for lazy prayers and slack speech; for half-hearted friendships; for tired marriages. We think with shame of un-invested wealth, of physical, mental and spiritual capital that promoted nothing but our own security, and brought nothing into being. We ask forgiveness for silly sins like vanity, for weak sins like self-pity, for shoddy sins like self-indulgence. But above all, we pray to be pardoned for our lukewarm commitment to you; for living, not by your truth, but by our own preferences. Help us, we pray, to commit our lives to you, the Lord of life, to your way of thinking, acting and being. This we confess and pray, in Jesus’ name. Amen
When Jerusalem was captured by Babylonian in 597 B.C., the city was left intact, but the king and certain other leading citizens were taken to the captors’ homeland. Among those refugees was a young priest named Ezekiel. While exiled in Babylon, Ezekiel saw a vision of God during a thunderstorm. He was commanded to tell his people what God intended to do with them and why. Up until the time of the second Hebrew deportation to Babylon and the destruction of the temple in 587 B.C., Ezekiel chastised his people for their unfaithfulness to God and foretold the doom of those remaining in Jerusalem and the land of Judah.
Like his prophetic predecessors, Ezekiel made it plain that God did not desire the doom and destruction that the Hebrew people were facing. With anguished cry, Ezekiel says in the name of Yahweh, “Why do you Israelites want to die?” (18:31, TEV.) They had broken the covenant. God had kept His promises, but the people had been unfaithful; they had turned and worshiped other gods, they had failed to live by the laws handed down through Moses and therefore, destruction was inevitable.
The Hebrew people thought that their suffering in exile was the result of another generation’s unfaithfulness to the covenant. As an excuse for their behavior they repeated the proverb, “The parents ate the sour grapes, but the children got the sour taste.” (18:2, TEV) They thought of themselves as innocent victims, thus shifting the blame for the tragedy of exile to the previous generations. Yes, they went through the motions of worship, but their hearts were not in it. God said it best through Isaiah, “this people draw near with their words and honor Me with their lip service, but they remove their hearts far from Me, and their reverence for Me consists of tradition learned by rote” (Isa. 29:13.) So, God speaking through Ezekiel says, “You will not repeat this proverb in Israel any more. The life of every person belongs to me, the life of the parent as well as that of the child. The person who sins is the one who will die.” (18:3-4, TEV)
Ezekiel ministered to the people in exile in addition to delivering oracles of doom to the nation of Judah. In our Old Testament reading, he tried to help his people see, that in spite of where one was or how one got into that situation, one could still be loyal to God and keep His commands. If so, that person would have a good and wholesome life. If not, that person would destroy themselves by not being obedient to God’s directives. The clear indication was that the individual was expected to repent, with a contrite heart (Ps. 51:17) and remain faithful to God no matter what the circumstances.
Ezekiel was very specific about what constituted the good life. “A truly good man … doesn’t worship idols … doesn’t commit adultery or engage in sexual immorality … doesn’t cheat or rob anyone … returns what a borrower gives him as security … refuses to do evil and gives an honest decision in any dispute” (18:5-8.) He then points out, that the man who robs and kills, commits adultery, cheats the poor, worships idols, and such other immoral things, does not live a good life and is responsible for his own destruction.
Ezekiel, as God’s spokesman, tried to help his people understand that every individual should fulfill within themselves the covenantal requirements. No one could blame others, their upbringing, their environment or their parents for their behavior. Each person must fully accept responsibility for their thoughts, words and deeds. Now Ezekiel could have spoken in general terms, simply saying that the people needed to obey God’s commands and keep God’s laws. He could have sheepishly said, “Stop sinning and do what is right.” But Ezekiel was explicit about the sins of the people. He spoke plainly about the specific actions that God commanded against and this must have been as disturbing to the Jews, as was that prayer of confession to the worshiper.
Yes, confessing our sins is difficult. Yes, confession demands honesty. Yes, confession must be specific. It’s easy to ask God to forgive our many sins, to be generic and not examine our lives and ask, what are we doing that is displeasing to God? But going through the motions, saying the words and not intending to repent is to cheapen God’s grace. However, to confess with a contrite heart is even harder. It’s painful to repent of particular sins; sins like pride and envy, anger, lust, greed and hatred and then to feel worthy of forgiveness. It’s easier to take a bland view of our conduct, to blame others for our indiscretions, preferring instead to congratulate ourselves on our virtues rather than dwelling too much on our failures.
Far too often, those who talk about being sinners in need of forgiveness are unwelcomed. They’re like the guy who persistently calls attention to the fact that there’s something wrong with the drains, when the other people living in the house would prefer to ignore the rather strange smells they can’t help noticing from time to time, and find it much more congenial to maintain that everything is in order. However, a Christian should be a realist.
A true disciple should continue to insist that everything is very far from being in order, that try as we will to live in a world of pretense, the brute fact of sin is an inescapable one which all of us must face and take into account. To ignore the existence of sin in our lives is to refuse to face up to reality. This, psychologists say, is fatal to mental health.
We cannot begin to deal with anything until we identify it. If we refuse to identify our sinfulness, “we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us” (1 John 1:8.) If we cannot, or will not, tolerate the pain of self-examination, we hinder our ability to make confession and we prevent ourselves from being truly repentant. We get to a point where the mirror of our lives reflects only our own perceived righteousness. If we do anything to avoid the pain that comes from looking honestly at ourselves, we eventually will hate the light of goodness that shows us up, or the light of scrutiny that exposes us, or the light of truth that penetrates our deception.
The Israelites had difficult times with their prophets, especially those whose messages spoke doom to the kingdoms of Judah and Israel, and of the part that the people were playing in bringing about that destruction. They were usually successful in ignoring these unpleasant messengers, but there were so many of them and they spoke with such persistence, that they proved to be nuisances, so they persecuted and killed them (Acts 7:52) instead of heeding their messages.
As long as the prophets spoke in generalities and as long as difficulties could be explained away as the corporate community’s fault, the people let the prophets carry on. It was when they became specific, as did Amos and Jeremiah and Ezekiel, that the listeners tried to silence their messages. The congregational prayer of confession was, perhaps, too specific, but to be truly repentant, we must be willing to face our sins honestly and then make our confession to God with a remorseful heart.
Keith Miller, an Episcopal layman, has written a number of books on commitment. In The Second Touch, he tells how sharing himself with his family through prayer led to a kind of openness. For a long time, he and his wife had a standard prayer ritual with their children at bedtime. It consisted of “Now I lay me down to sleep,” followed by the God blesses. One night, Mr. Miller was going through this ritual with his five-year old daughter when he realized he wasn’t praying at all with his child. They had never heard any confession or petition from him about the things that were real in his life.
The next evening, he came home irritated about something that happened at work, and at the dinner table he took out his irritation on the family, speaking sharply to Mrs. Miller and the children. That night, as he was tucking the same five-year-old into bed, he began the prayer. “Dear God, forgive me for being so fussy at dinner tonight.” There was a kind of awed silence. Then very quickly, his little girl went through the familiar “Now I lay me” and the usual God blesses.
The next night it happened that Mr. Miller was again irritable when he came home and showed his irritation at dinner. As he was having his nightly ritual with his daughter, he prayed, “Dear Lord, forgive me for being so cross again tonight and help me not to be fussy. I really don’t want to be that way. Please help me to try hard not to be.” There was the same silence. Then, with eyes clenched shut, his little girl quickly prayed: “Dear God, forgive me for tee teeing out in the backyard under the tree last summer.” That was a real confession with a contrite heart for that five-year-old, and as specific as her father’s.
What is it that we confess each week but are unrepentant of? To truly confess can be hard when it includes contrition. However, to be truly repentant we must be willing to change our ways and to reverse course. When we are, God is ready and willing to forgive, and to help us in our change of course. Then with pure and clean hearts we can, as Paul writes, “work out [our] own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure (Phil. 2:12b-13.) God’s words are sure; He takes no pleasure in the death of anyone, all we have to do is turn and live (Ez. 18:32.)
Amen
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