Confess like the Pope!

Scripture:  James 5:16

Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed.

Thoughts: Holy Smokes – we have an American Pope!! And just today did I realize, “I bet that’s where the phrase ‘holy smoke’ comes from!!”

A friend recently sent me a video of an American Protestant pastor explaining the significance of the various parts of the Roman Catholic mass with great admiration…and it was as if he’d never considered that the main worship service of the Catholics would have much value or meaning. Well, it’s been around for a couple thousand years, it traces its roots back to the earliest Christians, and it is meaningful for about a billion people these days, so…yeah…it probably has some meaning to it, folks! Ha!

Most Christian worship services of any denomination or no denomination that are actually effective at drawing us close to God have similarities to them. It’s well known that the Catholics, even the Pope, have rituals of confession in which people tell the truth about what they’ve done wrong. But ALL Christians who get close to God and grow in holiness have some version of the practice of Confession. As the book of James declares in 5:16, you should “confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed.”

Action: Tell a friend, and tell a stranger some sin you’ve committed or struggle with – and see what happens. A true friend will pray for you, and a stranger will realize they aren’t the only ones who struggle against sin! And finally, be sure to confess to God – both generally, and specifically.

Prayer: “Father, forgive me my sins, as I forgive those who sin against me.”

Wrestling with Sin like Paul did

Scripture: Romans 7:19-20,

14 We know that the law is spiritual; but I am unspiritual, sold as a slave to sin. 15 I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. 16 And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good. 17 As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me. 18 For I know that good itself does not dwell in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. 19 For I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing. 20 Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it.

21 So I find this law at work: Although I want to do good, evil is right there with me. 22 For in my inner being I delight in God’s law; 23 but I see another law at work in me, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within me. 24 What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death? 25 Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord!

Thoughts: Throughout history, some Christian groups have declared that once you’ve decided to follow Jesus completely you’ll NEVER EVER SIN, and other Christian groups have declared the extreme opposite of that and have said you’ll sin every day in thought, word and deed and might even be worse morally than a pagan…except you’re forgiven because you’re sorry for it.

But the Bible is paradoxical. It holds those extremes in tension, like Paul’s writings there in Romans 7 – and declares that while we still have “evil right there with us” we can give thanks to God for delivering us from it through Jesus Christ our Lord.

By his power, then, we can live into the challenges of 1 John 3 and 2 peter 1 that show us that we can NOT sin! It IS an option available to us every time we’re tempted. BUT, unfortunately we sometimes let sin win out and we do the evil we don’t want to do…and can the Lord’s Prayer anew and as God to forgive us our trespasses, debts, and sins.  

Action: Tell someone, literally, out loud, one of your recent struggles against sin – maybe a confession of a sin you’ve committed, or something you’re tempted to do. Out loud. Honest. To someone. Notice how you feel just a little stronger against it by getting out of the dark hiddenness and into the light of confession.

Prayer: “Father God -- Help me to NOT sin in this area, by the power of Jesus and the Holy Spirit! I believe you can help me. Amen!”

WAIT...but...ACT

Scripture: Psalm 37:7 says, “Be still in the presence of the Lord, and wait patiently for him to act.”

Thoughts: There’s a paradoxical nature to the act of daily devotions. On one hand, there are multiple places in the Bible, like there in Psalm 37, that give instructions to wait on the Lord, wait patiently, waiting for Him to act… And sometimes we literally need to wait in his presence in prayer or Bible reading or worship and not rush, not push, and not insist that God act on our timetable. Be patient. Wait.

On the other hand, though, sometimes we think that it’s holier to have loooong prayer times and devotional times and that we should feel guilty if we aren’t good at those sorts of devotional times. A friend who’s walked with God for many decades longer than I have recently told me, “I was never good at those sorts of long devotional times…but then again, who says God can’t act quickly!?” For him, God made clear pretty quickly what he was supposed to do.

Action: Let’s pray a different kind of prayer today with this action. Point like your telling yourself which direction to go in, and during the first prayer move very very slowly, praying on something that God may be taking a long time to make clear to you. Then for the second prayer, move your finger very quickly back and forth, asking God to remind you of what He’s already told you to do that you need to get busy doing and stop waiting around – because God’s already made it clear! Stop procrastinating! DO IT NOW!

Prayer: “God our Father, help us to wait on your guidance…what are you revealing in YOUR time, slowly, and we just need to be patient.” BE PATIENT.

AND…“God our Father, help us to get moving and act on what you’ve told us to do? ACT NOW.