This article reads as a condemnation on modern Lutherans. It might as well say, “Rejected are the Lutherans who do not practice private absolution, and see no need of it.” I see the need. After all to say that we do not need absolution is to suggest that we need not Christ, which is the heart of unbelief.
But I truly wonder whether private absolution will ever have a regular place in the life of most Lutherans. I hope so, and I seek to reintroduce the practice, but I must admit that I have doubts. There are many obstacles to restoring this precious gift to the church. There are the perceived ties between this practice and the Romans Catholic church. There is the human fear that admitting our sins to another must change their view of us. But I think no doubt, the great thing standing in the way of restoring this practice is the presence of the general confession and absolution in our divine service (a new feature in the liturgy historically speaking).
It is sort like we have just added absolution to the buffet menu. It is there week after week, and yes, we may well place a little on our plate and eat it up. But rarely does one order something that would be found on a buffet as the main course at a normal meal out. Why? Because it can always be had again when the buffet it served.
So even when people are troubled by a sin, the idea of ordering up absolution as a main entree with a Pastor seems odd and unnecessary. Why not just wait until Sunday when it will be there again on the “buffet?”
I think the mass absolution served up by the pan-full has truly decreased our appreciation for the sweet savor of absolution. We need to have this gift served up right on the center of our plates all by itself so that we can treasure how good the Lord is indeed.
I fear the only way to restore the hunger for absolution is to take it off the buffet. But with the practice entrenched so firmly in the liturgies of our hymnals, it is unlikely this will ever occur in our church. I will continue to offer absolution year round and emphasize its use in the penitential seasons. I plan this year to have the confirmands experience this gift during their catechesis. But I fear unless we remove it from the buffet, it will never be treasured as one of the finest of entrees our Lord has prepared for us.
Phil,
Please keep on, with love and care, of course, teaching your flock about the grace that flows from confession and absolution. You may not get 80% or even 50% or even 10% of your flock to partake of this gift (yes, it is a gift!), but it’s more than what would have been.
It may not surprise you that my current priest has been in his position here in Omaha for 19 years. And in that time, a great many of the parishioners have not come for confession not even during Lent when it is, more or less, understood as something you do (without the legal prescription, of course). Fr. knows he’s not going to reach those, but he does reach those who come into the faith year after year. Some of these converts are better about it than others, but that is whom you must focus on. Go after the confirmands. I believe you and I had a discussion about that a few months ago.
Even with many Orthodox (especially Arab Orthodox who wanted to remain Orthodox in faith, but took up many Protestant traditions including the architecture of their churches), the Protestant ideal of confessing your sins en masse has become more appealing. There’s no shame, there’s no guilt, there’s only being a voice in a chorus. There is nothing inherently wrong with the public confession of sins by all in the church, but this is a both…and situation.
The irony I see in all of this with modern Lutherans as with Protestants in general is that the individual’s faith is given near sacrosanct status. The individual becomes the center around which salvation is dispensed. Yet, with all this talk and belief in the individual before God, why the hesitation to be truly one on one with God in receiving His absolution for the sins one has committed? You do not have the power to forgive sins, as you are a sinner yourself and you must remind the penitent that he confesses not to you but to God Who loves him. You are there as a called and ordained servant to offer advice and help in the spiritual life, which is part of your job.
It’s indeed a sad thing when you feel you have to “sell” a great treasure of the church catholic. Confession and Absolution is not something any one group has a monopoly on (we can argue about sacramental grace and charismatic grace another time). But since you are more or less compelled to sell this, I would just point out that confession is inherently linked to our baptism. As many as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ, says St. Paul to the Romans. The Church Fathers have consistently said that confession is like a second baptism, where our tears wash out the sinfulness of our very selves. In Psalm 50, when David says, “Wash me and I will be whiter than snow,” he’s asking the Lord to unleash the tears locked away which, once released, will make his face pale as if snow.
You have a difficult job, Phil and I don’t envy you that. No one likes to confess their sins; it’s hard and it’s painful and it’s embarrassing. But the spiritual life is, too (as we are embarrassments to the world). Don’t let your flock forget that. Good luck, my friend.