It Is Time to Go to Confession

By Rev. David Petersen

What is Confession?

Confession has two parts. First that we confess our sins, and second, that we receive absolution, that is, forgiveness, from the pastor as from God Himself, not doubting, but firmly believing that by it our sins are forgiven before God in heaven.

It may surprise you, but there was a dismal period in the history of The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod when individual confession and absolution was almost unknown, despite that fact that it was well known and promoted by Martin Luther, Martin Chemnitz, and C. F.W.Walther. Luther thought so highly of it that he inserted an example of it right into the catechism itself. It was also mentioned and put forth as a good practice in the first constitution of the LCMS.

The synod’s first English catechism of 1943, however, omitted it along with Luther’s Preface and any mention of the sign of the cross. Nor did it appear in the synod’s first English hymnal, The Lutheran Hymnal (1941), or its companion books.

What happened? Lots of things, few of them good. There was an anti-Roman Catholic prejudice in America, and the loss of German made Luther and the Lutheran fathers largely inaccessible and left us quite susceptible to American religious movements. The American context was steeped in revivalism and individualism, neither of which had any use for the Office of the Keys. All those things contributed, but I don’t think they were the real cause. The real cause was what still threatens to keep this gift from us today: sin, shame, and fear.

Our fallen flesh doesn’t ever want to confess sins and certainly not to a man. Indeed, there is more than a little risk in such an act, for while our pastors all promise at ordination to never reveal any sins confessed to them, all our pastors break their promises. I can tell you honestly that I have never yet divulged a sin confessed to me and that I never intend to but the reality is that I might. Why then would you take such a risk? Especially since we can take what Luther says about confession and the Office of the Keys in the Small Catechism and apply it, in a general way, to what we call public confession and absolution on Sunday mornings, to preaching, and even to the mutual consolation of the brethren? If I don’t have to confess my sins to the pastor in order to be forgiven, why would I?

Because this is what the Lord has given, instituted, and promised: “When the called ministers of Christ deal with us by His divine command...and absolve those who repent of their sins and want to do better, this is just as valid and certain, even in heaven, as if Christ our dear Lord dealt with us Himself.” To deny ourselves this is to deny ourselves the fullness of what God Himself deems to be good for us, to stop short of all He would have us have, and to imply that we don’t really need what He has bothered to give. With such a wonderful gift, why would you stay away?

By God’s grace, individual confession and absolution, as taught and demonstrated in Luther’s Small Catechism, is regaining its place among us. A form of it was placed in the synod’s second English hymnal, Lutheran Worship, in 1981 and the actual form from the catechism has appeared in the latest hymnal, Lutheran Service Book (p. 292) and in The Treasury of Daily Prayer (p. 1463). It was also put back into the English catechism in 1986. This is the translation and text in the newest, maroon catechism. You can find the order for Individual Confession and Absolution on page 27. These are great strides, unthinkable forty years ago. While it is not mandatory, it is more than a commendable practice, for individual confession and absolution is what the Lord Himself has established and given for us.

There is some risk, to be sure, along with some discomfort, but the penitent who confesses his sins to his pastor is in control. He chooses what to reveal. The pastor may ask you to examine yourself theologically. He might ask you what commandments you have broken and so forth. But he will not probe. His goal is to help you confess, to call yourself to account for your sins, but only so that he might do what he was sent to do, fulfill the divine command of his ordination, and speak the words of Christ’s absolution to and upon you.

The scariest part is thinking about it before the first time; actually going is not that bad. There is no guarantee that it will make you feel better. It may simply leave you feeling the way you felt when you began or even worse. The guarantee is that through it Christ will deliver Himself to you and remove the guilt of your sins. He will forgive you. And while there is no guarantee of a good feeling, that grace usually does fill the absolved with some measure of joy and gladness. Most penitents walk away with a sense of peace and a spring in their step. For my part, I’ve never heard of any Lutheran who went to a faithful and beloved pastor for this gift, no matter how scared and uncertain he was on the way there, who regretted it.

Rev. David Petersen is pastor of Redeemer Lutheran Church in Fort Wayne, Indiana. His e-mail address is prdhpetersen@gmail.com.

The Ten Commandments. Luther's Small Catechism. © 1986 Concordia Publishing House. www.cph.org. Used with permission.