Confession Brings Freedom: Healing, Community, and Forgiveness

And that's what Jesus wants for us. That's why part of the reason why he came was to set us free from these things that bind us so that we can become more authentic versions of ourself, so that we don't have to hide behind a perfect Mary Poppins image. But instead, we can say, this is me. These are my strengths, these are my character flaws and what I struggle with, and I am a child of God, and God loves me. [00:57:52] (32 seconds)  #FreedToBeAuthentic

But here is the amazing good news. When we confess, we are free. We become free from this weight of guilt and shame. And I want to tell you something. There's a difference between guilt and shame. Guilt is actually a really good thing. Guilt tells us that we have done something wrong. I used to tell my kids, it's like putting your hand on a hot stove, and it burns, so you pull it away. So guilt tries to tell us that, no, no, no, that's going to lead to danger. You want to change that behavior. Shame is a feeling that you're not worthy of love. [00:49:35] (40 seconds)  #GuiltVsShame

So it's not until we are willing to bask in that care of a loving God that we're then able to confess. Because if we're not really convinced of God's love for us, then to admit anything, we fear that we'll be separated from God. I love one of the praise songs that we sang this morning. Shame can't separate us. You know, nothing can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord, Romans eight twenty eight. So there's nothing that can separate us. But if we're not secure in that love, then we fear that not acknowledging or confessing is separate us from God. [00:46:46] (45 seconds)  #SecureInGodsLove

When we welcome new members, when we baptize someone, when we confirm our youth, we say to them, we will surround you with a community of love and forgiveness. And so when someone comes to confess to us, we are invited to be like God, to surround them with that love and with that community of forgiveness so that we can help them learn from their mistakes because ultimately, that's what it's all about. It's about being transformed. It's about changing. It's about living a new life, and that freedom is such a gift. [00:52:19] (41 seconds)  #CommunityOfForgiveness

And so that's what happens. Something gets locked up, and it's either gonna be our sense of guilt and shame, or we're gonna have the key that opens that up by confession, by saying, it was me. I did it. And there is such an amazing sense of freedom when we go through that. It reminded me of this movie, 2012, I think, called Flight by Denzel Washington, or he was the the star. [00:53:25] (31 seconds)  #ConfessionIsTheKey

And so James was inviting us then to confess our sins. And, boy, how do we do that? That it takes a lot of courage, doesn't it, to confess our sins? Because it's hard. And I think so many times, it's hard because we have these barriers we need to overcome. We need to overcome a sense of our self image as good Christian people. My kids and Beau used to call me Mary Poppins when I was when they were lived at home because they said I was practically perfect in every way. Talk about a reputation that's hard to live up to. Right? [00:44:54] (44 seconds)  #CourageToConfess

And so a person's sin impacts the entire community because they're not whole without that person there. And James says, we're supposed to anoint the sick, we're supposed to pray for those who have sinned. And look at what Jesus did. Oftentimes, when he healed people, he asked them, like when he healed the lepers, he asked them to go to the priest and be declared clean. Why was that? It wasn't just about fulfilling the law. It was about restoring them to community. And so that's such an important piece of our healing. [00:44:05] (38 seconds)  #HealingRestoresCommunity

But whether the person accepts your confession and your apology or not doesn't matter because you are still free once you confess, once you say, this is what I did. And here's why it's related to our community. When we welcome new members, when we baptize someone, when we confirm our youth, we say to them, we will surround you with a community of love and forgiveness. [00:51:47] (32 seconds)  #FreedomInConfession