From the Pastor
He was an old man in a Veterans Hospital. His pastor came by a week or so
into his stay to visit him. It was rather late in the day when the pastor showed
up so the hustle and bustle of the day had pretty much subsided. In the late
afternoon quiet they talked for a while, after which the pastor Communed him and
prayed for him. Then, as the pastor was putting things back into his Communion kit,
that the real conversation began. The man told about a particularly divisive time
in the life of the congregation, a time when tempers flared and tensions ran high.
He began to cry as he told of what he’d said to a by-then deceased member of the
congregation. The pastor, realizing that he’d just heard a Confession, put his hands
on the man’shead and granted him Absolution. It was like a weight had been lifted
from the man’s shoulders; he quit crying. A few weeks later he died.
That story reminds me of just how powerful the word of forgiveness from our Lord
and Savior really is. For years, the man had carried around the burden of his guilt
like a giant millstone around his neck for years. Finally, but only within weeks of
his departure from this life, he got the relief he’d so long yearned for.
I’ve been reflecting, as of late, on the practice of “fasting” from the public
distribution of Communion during Lent and, instead, of providing a time for individual
Confession, Absolution, and Communion following each public worship service.
Of those who stay after everyone else has gone, in order to make confession and
receive absolution and Communion, most stay only because they can’t bear to go for
six weeks without having Communion. A few stay because they’re going to have some
medical procedure and want the assurance of the Sacrament of the Lord’s body and blood. But every once in a while someone stays who, like the man in the story, has been bearing the heavy burden of guilt over something they’ve either done or left undone. And it’s in those times that I get to see the worth of private confession and Communion. For it’s in those times that I’m able to see the great relief that comes from having the burden of one’s sin removed and laid on Christ Jesus.
Shame, guilt and exhaustion are suddenly swept away as the words, “Let it be done for
you according to your faith. By your confession, your sin has been removed from you
and laid on Christ. Your sin is forgiven in the name of …” are spoken. And best of
all, no one knows what has happened except the person who stayed and me; and I’m
pledged to confidentiality. My ears must be like a tomb; the confession must go in
and stay there for all of eternity. I can’t even talk about it to the person who’s
made the confession, after all, once the Absolution has been spoken, the sin is gone
– taken care of by Christ.
I’m pondering all of this now because I’m wondering how we might make this same
reliefavailable to those in need during seasons other than Lent – that is, during times
when we practice corporate, or group confession of sins and distribute Absolution
and Communion to all who are present. For while that practice works for most folks,
it seems that corporate confession and pronouncement of absolution and distribution
of Communion just don’t make the forgiveness concrete enough to salve the conscience
of one who feels the bite of some particular sin. And it’s exactly for those whose
consciences are burden that absolution is commanded by our Lord Christ. For Jesus
knows that if He required us to pay the price of our sins all of us, without
exception, would be eternally doomed. He knows that the only way for us to go on
living is for Him to grant us the forgiveness of our sins – the forgiveness He has
paid for and can give away as He pleases.
So, how can we be faithful in giving away the forgiveness our Lord commands
to thosewho so desperately need it? I’m considering having a short, private, healing
service, following the public worship service, on maybe a monthly basis, to provide
those who need healing – be it for a physical ailment or an ailment of the soul –
an opportunity to turn their burden over and let Jesus carry it; for that’s what
He desires to do. What do you think? Let me know. And God bless you as we venture
through The Great Fifty Days of Easter, the celebration of our Lord’s resurrection
and our deliverance from sin, death and the devil.
