Prayers Of Repentance And
Confession
This lesson compels us to examine our attitude toward people caught in sin or who publicly confesses wrongdoing or sin.
Psalm 51:1-4
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
Psalm 51
Prayer for Cleansing and Pardon
To the leader. A Psalm of David, when the prophet Nathan came to him, after he had gone in to Bathsheba.
1 Have mercy on me, O God,
according to your steadfast love; according to your abundant mercy, blot out my transgressions.
2 Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me
from my sin.
3 For I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me.
4 Against you, you alone, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight, so that you are justified in your sentence and blameless when you pass judgment.
Psalm 51:10-12
10 Create in me a clean heart, O God,
and put a new and right[a] spirit within me.
11 Do not cast me away from your presence,
and do not take your holy spirit from me.
12 Restore to me the joy of your salvation,
and sustain in me a willing[b] spirit.
Psalm 51:15-17
15 O Lord, open my lips,
and my mouth will declare your praise.
16 For you have no delight in sacrifice;
if I were to give a burnt offering, you would not be pleased.
17 The sacrifice acceptable to God[a] is a broken spirit;
a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.
This text raises a question we sometimes grapple with but are often afraid to discuss publicly. The matter arises when people catch prominent spiritual or religious leaders in “heavy sins” like adultery or misappropriation of church funds. The question is, “How can people, who know or should know about God so well, do such obvious wickedness?” The King David in this story is the same person who felt offended when Goliath insulted the Hebrew’s God. This is the same David for whom God had broken all the traditional rules of coronation to select as a king. How could a man so close to God, who had benefited from God’s intervention in his life, be so sinful?
From one terrible event of sin, we label people as corrupt and demonic for the rest of their lives. Happily, for all of us, God is not like that.
Luke 19:1-10
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
Jesus and Zacchaeus
19 He entered Jericho and was passing through it. 2 A man was there named Zacchaeus; he was a chief tax collector and was rich. 3 He was trying to see who Jesus was, but on account of the crowd he could not, because he was short in stature. 4 So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore tree to see him, because he was going to pass that way. 5 When Jesus came to the place, he looked up and said to him, “Zacchaeus, hurry and come down, for I must stay at your house today.” 6 So he hurried down and was happy to welcome him. 7 All who saw it began to grumble and said, “He has gone to be the guest of one who is a sinner.” 8 Zacchaeus stood there and said to the Lord, “Look, half of my possessions, Lord, I will give to the poor, and if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I will pay back four times as much.” 9 Then Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, because he, too, is a son of Abraham. 10 For the Son of Man came to seek out and to save the lost.”
“A Repentant heart results in repenting actions”
The text provokes consideration of an issue that theologians and commentators have wrestled with for centuries: to what extent does repentance demand restitution? We can look at the matter using the encounter of Jesus and Zacchaeus in Luke 19. Following the law, Zacchaeus’ reaction to Jesus was to offer to give to the poor half of his wealth. Further, he would pay in restitution four times the amount he had stolen from people. In this encounter, we see a collision between the law and grace. Going strictly on the recorded text, Jesus ignored Zacchaeus’ offer and focused on the salvation of Zacchaeus’ soul. It is as if Jesus said, “Zacchaeus, as good as your offer sounds, that is not the heart of the matter. The real issue is the condition of your heart and how it lines up with God’s requirements for eternal life.”
Before you express outrage at this approach, look at another portion of scripture in Luke 12:13-21.
The Parable of the Rich Fool
13 Someone in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the family inheritance with me.” 14 But he said to him, “Friend, who set me to be a judge or arbitrator over you?” 15 And he said to them, “Take care! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of possessions.” 16 Then he told them a parable: “The land of a rich man produced abundantly. 17 And he thought to himself, ‘What should I do, for I have no place to store my crops?’ 18 Then he said, ‘I will do this: I will pull down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. 19 And I will say to my soul, Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.’ 20 But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life is being demanded of you. And the things you have prepared, whose will they be?’ 21 So it is with those who store up treasures for themselves but are not rich toward God.
Assume the person who asked Jesus to intervene in the inheritance dispute was genuine and desired justice. Look at how Jesus side-stepped the man’s appeal for Jesus to ask the offending party to act justly. Again, Jesus went to the underlying greed in the heart. What conclusions can we draw from these situations? Restitution out of obligation does not impress God. The physical act of restitution must come from a heart that acknowledges that the offending deeds were sinful. This requires a commitment to abandon the attitudes that led to the crookedness in the first place. In legal cases, a judge can order a thief to restore property or pay its value in money. But that act alone will not get the thief God’s forgiveness and favor. The restitution that excites God is a repayment that flows directly out of repentance, not a sideshow. Now back to our text.
How could David have restored to Bathsheba any mental anguish or shame she might have felt? She was married and we assume loved her husband and would not be eager to have sex with another man while her husband was risking his life to save his country. How could the king have restored what he took from her that fateful day? We ask the same regarding her husband. Look at his attitude when David ordered him home. He felt no joy to be home when his brothers were out on the battlefield fighting to save the nation. What would have been appropriate restitution: a new life; could David give that? In our money-crazy society, we try to value everything in dollars. The two Luke references are instructive as Jesus seemed to ignore the money solution approach. Most likely, the Lord was showing that there are some things no amount of money can restore. The best that a person can do is to recognize errors, turn away from them, and carve a path through life that pleases God. As you may have already concluded, restitution is a beast with sharp horns which is never easy to ride.
Cynics maintain that repentance is a prerequisite for forgiveness. In other words, before they forgive a person, they must be convinced that the person is truly sorry for the hurt they inflicted. To justify this, they lay hold on John the Baptist’s call to the “vipers” to show fruit worthy of repentance. How do you feel about this? Is such a view consistent with Jesus’ teaching on forgiveness? Can we tell when a person is truly repentant? We saw earlier that to err is human. That means that if we are in relationships with other people conflicts, misunderstandings, and abuses will occur. We can be sure about this. Therefore, since we know these things, should we not have a mental framework for dealing with situations when we feel offended? But be aware the door swings both ways. With all the best intentions in the world, at times we will offend people. Yes, situations will arise where we strongly yearn for other people to forgive us. So, consider your personal approach to asking for or granting forgiveness. What guiding principles do you apply when someone has hurt you and needs your forgiveness? Likewise, how do you recognize when you have hurt someone and need their forgiveness? Consider if your principles are fair and godly in both directions. If you have great difficulty in dealing with this matter, at your leisure, read Shakespeare’s work on Sherlock the Jew. In the Introduction, we noted that every person is capable of good and evil. You can keep this before you by memorizing and repeating Bryan Stevenson’s words, “Each of us is more than the worst thing we’ve ever done.” To see the principle explained, read Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption by Bryan Stevenson. Bitter people make it a pastime to nurture and hold grudges. Once we met a person who, years after the person’s partner had died, was still nursing a grudge about a wrong suffered at the hands of the deceased partner. We know that is an extreme case (or so we want to believe), but let it spur you to examine your attitude to holding grudges. Set aside time, and in your private devotions, consider how long you hold onto the hurts you suffered from others. Do you ever let go of the pain? Do you always forgive? As you struggle with such a question, note this quote: “Unforgiveness is a poison that shrivels the heart. It means a person cannot truly live in the present as they are always thinking about the past.”
1. Why is forgiveness a teaching of Christ that is hard for Christians to embrace?
2. Consider the case of repeat offenders. How often should we forgive them?
3. Can we abuse God’s loving-kindness disposition to forgive us our sins?
Closing Hymn: “There’s a Wideness in God’s Mercy,” AMECH #78
