Return to God: Historical and Modern Confessional Sources for the Renewal and Regathering of the Church

My latest book gathers a number of sources together that (1) are previously unpublished or are translated here into English for the first time, (2) have struck me as important both in their original  time and context and (potentially) for our time and place, (3) share a common confessional conviction (in both the "penitential" and the "professional" sense), and (4) may be of particular value as the Church shakes off it Covid shackles and regathers to pray, sing (!), worship, celebrate the sacraments, and breath in the Holy Spirit together.

Two sermons from the American Awakenings are here: one by Gilbert Tennent (First GA) on how we should listen to sermons, and another by Samuel Miller (Second GA) on the glory of the Gospel. 

Several first-ever English translations are also included (which I mention here in reverse chronological order): 

• the long prayer from the London journal of the brilliant critic of the Enlightenment, Johann Georg Hamann; 
• a prayer of confession "for more difficult times" from Oswald Myconius (the successor to Oecolampadius in Basel)
• three pieces from the Oecolampadius corpus: 
• A Litany to God the Father (a clear attempt to reform the rosary in a more orthodox direction, this is a wonderful tool for commiting the life, work, and ministry of Jesus to memory)
• Questions and Answers for the Examination of Children (a child's catechism)
• Discourse at the Synod of Basel (1531), delivered not long before the Reformer's death and culminating in his own Profession of Faith.
• the opening and closing prayers of confession from the 1520 edition of Jodocus Windsheim's Confession of a Repenting Christian, to which Oecolampadius provided the preface. Earlier editions of this piece have roots going back to at least early 1517. It made a big impression on Oecolamapadius, who later wrote his own attempt to reform the penitential rite. 

These pieces by Windsheim—offered here only in partial translation for its 500th anniversary—surround his nine prayers of confession in response to the Ten Commandments (he responds to the ninth and tenth commandment with a single prayer), and this form in turn inspired my own eleven prayers of confession, offered here in the modern section of the book, in response to the Decalogue (one for the prologue and one each for the commandments) and with the current state of the church and the world in view. 

The modern section also includes four "scripture messages" or postils, if you will, consisting purely of biblical verses arranged in logical sequence and which may prove useful for either outreach or in lieu of a sermon where the services of a preacher are not available. With no pretensions of adding to the authoriatively confessional literature of the church, I have also included my own Twenty-four Theses as a personal confession of faith offered at such a time as this, in view of the social unrest of the age.

A Prayer of Confession in Response to the Ninth Commandment

"Neither shall you bear false witness against your neighbor." (Deut 5:20) 

God of Justice, 

you have prescribed an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth

to punish false witnesses with the same punishment they wish 

to impose on those they malign and slander. 

 

Have mercy, O God! 

 

We confess the corruption of our human nature.

Condemning in others what we despise in ourselves,

we readily and thoughtlessly project onto our neighbors 

the evil we harbor within.

 

Quick to accuse, slow to confess,

eager to judge, reluctant to repent,

we say one thing and do another,

crafting a self-image that cannot withstand scrutiny

and will not be able to stand in the judgment.

 

Forgive our hypocrisy, O God. 

Forgive every careless and libelous word, 

every indulgence in gossip,

every smear, every slur, every disparagement of others.

 

Spirit of Truth,

you require honesty of your people

and love for our neighbors.

 

O give us courage 

to remove the logs and beams from our own eyes,

to think of others as better than ourselves, 

not only that we might avoid the punishment 

of the hypocrite and the false accuser,

but that we might embody the grace 

of the true Judge who refrains from judging,

and who bore the judgement for us in his death on the cross,

the Faithful and True Witness, 

your Son Jesus Christ

who taught us to pray, saying,

 

The Lord's Prayer

"Our Father, who art in heaven ..."

Second Sunday of Advent

Numbers 12 OR 20:1-13 (14-21) 22-29

Psalm 106:(1) 7-18, 24-28 (43-48) (OR Psalm 95)

Luke 1:(57) 58-67 (68-79) 80

Hebrews 3:1-19


   

OPENING PRAYER [from GREATER ATTENTION: LERW, YEAR D]

You, O God, are the builder of the all things, and Christ Jesus, your Son, the faithful builder of your house, even as he serves as its head and cornerstone. Help us, O Lord, as partners with Christ, to be the house in which you dwell, that we may hold firm to faith and hope until the end, with boldness and unwavering confidence in you. Show your holiness, O God, to this assembly, among this people where your glory abides, in Jesus' name.

The Second Sunday of Christmas

Exodus 25:1-40

Psalm 73

Matthew 11: (1-11) 12-24 (25-30) OR Luke 7:18-35

Hebrews 8:1-13

PRAYER OF CONFESSION [From GREATER ATTENTION: LERW, YEAR D]

Our Holy and Gracious God, truly you are good to the upright, to those who are pure in heart. But we confess that we have harbored envy, pride, and bitterness in our hearts. We have seen how the wicked seem to prosper, at least for a time, yet we have often failed to see the slippery slopes on which you have placed them. Forgive us, O God, for our foolishness, for our ignorance and blindness, for desiring things that are contrary to your will, for being untrue to the circle of your children. For there is nothing on earth worth desiring above you, and we have no hope of heaven apart from you. Forgive us, O God, and lead us ever more deeply into your will, for it is good for us to be near you, and to have Christ Jesus, your Son, as our refuge.

Prayers of Confession (General)

Here are some classic, general prayers of confession from the deep history of the church. The versions that appear here have been slightly adapted, updated or "corporatized," as the case may be, by yours truly. I hope you find them worth adding to your files and using in worship, probably in Ordinary Time. Meanwhile, if you find this sort of thing helpful, please copy and share the link with others and let them know what wonderful resources are to be found at The Year D Project. With warm wished for a blessed New Year to one and all. — TMS

§

O God, you are faithful and just to forgive us our sins. 
Mercifully grant that we may be delivered from the bondage of sin, 
and that we may one day rejoice in perfect liberty 
in our very Fatherland, which is in heaven. Amen.

— Roman Breviary (adapted by TMS).

Almighty and merciful God,

the Fountain of all goodness,

who knows the thoughts of our hearts,

we confess that we have sinned against you,

and done evil in your sight.

Wash us, we pray, from the stains of our past sins,

and give us grace and power to put away all hurtful things;

that we, being delivered from the bondage of sin,

may bring forth worthy fruits of repentance.

O eternal Light, shine into our hearts.

O eternal Goodness, deliver us from evil.

O eternal Power, be Thou our support.

Eternal Wisdom, scatter the darkness of our ignorance.

Eternal Pity, have mercy upon us.

Grant that, with all our hearts, and minds, and strength,

we may evermore seek your face;

and, in your infinite mercy,

bring us at last into your holy presence.

Strengthen us in our weakness, so that,

following in the footsteps of your blessed Son,

we may obtain your mercy, 
and enter into your promised joy. Amen.

— Alcuin of Tours (adapted by TMS)

Forgive our sins, O Lord. 

Forgive us the sins of our youth and the sins of our old age, 

the sins of the mind, the soul, the spirit, and the body;

forgive our secret and our whispering sins, 

our presumptuous and our crying sins, 

the sins we have done to please ourselves, 

and the sins we have done to please others. 

Forgive us those sins which we know, 

and those sins which we neither know nor remember; 

forgive them, O Lord; 

in your great goodness, forgive them all. Amen. 

— Private Devotions, 1560 

(adapted for corporate confession by TMS)

Penitential Rite for Pentecost (Year B)

Excerpts from When Heaven Stands Open: Liturgical Elements for Reformed Worship, Year B.

CALL TO CONFESSION

God alone has the power to breathe life into the dead, to redeem for vital service those who are otherwise lifeless due to the weighty burden of guilt and sin. This God who turns slaves into prophets, the young into visionaries, and the old into dreamers of the future glory, can be trusted with the truth about our sin.

PRAYER OF CONFESSION

Spirit of the Living God, we confess that change fills our hearts with sorrow, loss stirs up doubt and fear, and our memories of past unfaithfulness often make life unbearable. Yet you are more than faithful in providing for us and for all creatures under heaven. You are good to renew all things with your Holy Spirit and to give countless blessings with your open and generous hand. Forgive us, O God, for our shortsightedness, our lack of faith, our timidity. Empower us with your Holy Spirit to proclaim your good works and to do your will in all things, for the sake of your Son Jesus Christ.

DECLARATION OF FORGIVENESS

Surely all who call upon the name of the Lord will be saved! The God, who takes care to proclaim the gospel to all peoples in their mother tongue, has made provision for forgiveness for every believer under heaven and redemption for the whole of creation under the governance of Jesus Christ. Receive the good news, even as you receive anew the promised Holy Spirit, for in Jesus Christ we are forgiven!

Liturgical Elements for Reformed Worship

Consisting of one RCL cycle, plus Year D ...

       

One colleague suggested issuing them in a slip case. Now that would be nice, wouldn't it!

A universal Call to Confession

Here is a Call to Confession straight off the pages of scripture. This could be used every Sunday, but how often are the Proverbs put to work in worship?

"No one who conceals transgressions will prosper, but one who confesses and forsakes them will obtain mercy" (Proverbs 28:13).

An open invitation to the Church

Dear Believers in the Lord Jesus Christ:

Grace and peace to you, one and all, who are baptized in the name of the Triune God and who are called by "the name that is above all names." 

Far too many times we hear a call to repentance as though it were an insinuation that we ourselves are about to embark on a guilt trip that none of us wants to take; but only rarely—far too rarely—do we hear it and welcome it as a call to intercede in the priestly ministry of Christ, the ongoing ministry of reconciliation on behalf of a world that is, frankly, ignorant of spiritual things, biblically illiterate, and thoroughly deluded by any number of forces that are hostile to faith: sin, the flesh, the principalities of this present darkness, etc.

In light of the many daunting challenges facing the church and the nation at present, challenges arising on so many different fronts, but especially the fact that the nation and the world stand on the cusp of a major epidemic—Ebola—that has for decades been isolated to a remarkably small part of the world, I hope you will consider, whether you are overly familiar with or not at all acquainted with it, putting into practice this important and vital text from the Old Testament book of 2Chronicles:

"if my people who are called by my name humble themselves, pray, seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land" (7:14). 

No doubt, if the Church were to do this and if the Lord were to relent and, with the breath of his mouth, instantaneously eradicate this virus from the entire world—may it be so!—the world would almost certainly disregard our efforts as silly, unnecessary, and superstitious; while if for some reason this plague were to continue to spread, the world would likely ridicule our prayers as ineffective. Either way, we have nothing to gain in the eyes of the world. But, in the eyes of the Lord, what we do now is an altogether different matter.

... if my people who are called by my name ...

As you know, this is a word not for unbelievers, who will not give a thought to any of this; rather, it is a word for the Church of both testaments: Jews and Christians alike.

... humble themselves ...

Let me encourage you to kneel if you are able, or at least bow your head, and perhaps lie down face first on the ground. Show the Lord, show heaven, that you mean it.

... pray ...

In many ways, any prayer will do that is reverent and directed to the Holy One whom we meet in the pages of the Bible, for it is faith and fellowship with us that God desires above all; but let me suggest general prayers of confession—lots of them—that apply not only to you, but to the whole church [see the Book of Common Prayer, The Book of Common Worship, Feasting on the Word: Worship Companion; and/or any volume of Liturgical Elements for Reformed Worship]; add your specific confessions to express remorse not only for sins that offend you and your politics, but everything, including the sins that perhaps don't bother you so much, but which may cause others to stumble. Remember Bilbo's confession to Frodo: "I'm sorry for everything!" Let us speak thus to God! Grab a worship resource, one that offers multiple confessional prayers, and read as many as you can, and if possible, read them aloud.

... seek my face ...

Let God know that you desire the joy of his presence, the peace of restored fellowship, and the blessedness of his radiant glory. He will not refuse, for that is precisely what he desires with us.

... turn from their wicked ways ...

Commit to letting go those empty, vain, profane, offensive, self-destructive, selfish, hurtful habits that you have protected and reserved up to now. Remind yourself that God desires better for you, a better state of spiritual health, stronger faith, a purer heart, and a richer life—richer in the treasurers of the kingdom, not in the fleeting riches of this world. Remember that life is short, far too short to waste on ... waste.

The rest of this vital verse consists in a series of three promises: 

... then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land.

Let those promises sink in. Let their goodness and our immeasurable need for them move you to your knees, to prayer, to confession, and to an earnest seeking of the Lord's face. 

Dismiss this open letter, if you must, as the ramblings of a pious old fool. I will gladly bear the caricature if it will move others to pray earnestly in faith and beseech the Lord for mercy. By all means, pray for those infected and exposed to this virus; and absolutely, pray for the CDC, NIH, WHO, etc., that their efforts to contain and stop Ebola altogether would be successful, and, mind you, in a way that does not create other (and perhaps worse) collateral consequences. But, as you well know, "unless the Lord (does it), those who (labor for it do so) in vain" (Psalm 127).

God be with you all, for "our help is in the name of the Lord who made heaven and earth." Let us delight the saints of heaven with a demonstration of the confessional intercession of the saints on earth. Yes, we saints too have sins to confess. But we are uniquely the ones who know we are to confess them, and we are the ones who have been given the Spirit as the Lord of the conscience so that we may respond to such a call as this, at such a time as this.

Yours in Christ,

TMS

Psalm 41

The Psalm assigned for the 27th Sunday of Ordinary Time is Psalm 41, for its associations with the Last Supper, the gospel accounts of which are suggested for World Communion Sunday. The opening section of this psalm (vv. 1–3) asserts in general terms that the LORD blesses, delivers, protects, keeps, preserves, sustains, and heals "those who consider the poor." Such merciful people "are called happy in the land" (v. 2), for despite the many troubles from which the LORD preserves them, the assumption is that they will face them for a time — yes, they will have troubles, they will have enemies, they will fall ill on occasion — but the LORD will ultimately guard them and show them favor, and they will enjoy a good reputation as those who are so blessed.

With the phrase, "As for me ... " (v. 4), the psalm takes a decidedly specific and personal turn, and the focus remains on the psalmist and his circumstances until the final verse. What is remarkable in this section is the sense in which it is framed between, on the one hand, a plea for gracious healing, the rationale for which is a confession of sin against the LORD (v. 4), and on the other hand, a reiteration of the plea (with the expressed desire to "repay" the psalmist's enemies) attached to a word of self-assurance that the LORD must be "pleased with" the psalmist, and indeed has "upheld (him) because of (his) integrity" (vv. 10–12). The memory of the psalmist's confessed sin has receded entirely, and in fact the assurance is pregnant with eternal significance, for the LORD (sings the psalmist) has "set me in (his) presence forever" (v. 12).

In between the confession and assurance, an extended complaint (vv. 5–8) describes the conduct of the psalmist's enemies who visit him in his illness. What is startling about this description is the psalmist's characterization of the enemies' malice and their inwardly hostile motivations: "their hearts gather mischief" (v. 6), as compared to the description of the enemies' actions, which appear relatively benign and mundane. These enemies, unlike those in other psalms, do not ambush the psalmist or seek to murder him, but they simply wonder when he will die; their attempts at comforting words are "empty" and they go away gossiping. Their hostile actions consist of "thinking" the psalmist will soon expire (v. 8), of spreading the news of his condition "abroad" (v. 6) — no doubt in unduly pessimistic terms — and of whispering together: the kind of thing that occurs all the time in hospitals and nursing homes. It is even difficult to distinguish some of these actions, externally speaking, from the common practice of sharing concerns among the community of faith. Hence, in light of the sense in which the inward attitude is altogether decisive here, this psalm should stand as a cautionary tale for anyone who renders pastoral care or attends upon the sick.

One closing word of complaint escalates the psalmist's sense of betrayal, since he perceives the same conduct and hostility in his bosom friend who has "lifted his heel against me" (v. 9). This verse is taken up in the New Testament in association with the betrayal of Jesus by Judas Iscariot, as the phrase: "who ate of my bread" (v. 9b) is connected with Jesus' identification of the the one who "dipped his hand into the bowl with me" (Matthew 26:23; par.), an action that connotes a clear lack of respect and deference, or even a brashness akin to that of Esau who exchanges his birthright for some stew. The phrase "lifted the heel against me" clearly signals more than a mere departure, or a turning of one's tail (so to speak), but a traitorous turning away that amounts to permanent renunciation, an irreversible rupture of friendly companionship.

Nevertheless, from all this, the LORD delivers the psalmist such that his assurance is certain, his vindication is declared, his confession is (largely) forgotten, and the psalm ends with a doxological outburst (v. 13), blessing "the LORD, the God of Israel from everlasting to everlasting," and concluding with a double "Amen." Thus ends the first book of the Psalms.

A Prayer of Confession on behalf of the whole world (as well it should be)

In the Series Foreword to Liturgical Elements for Reformed Worship, I explain that the Reformed tradition views the corporate Prayer of Confession is not limited to the confession of personal sins or even the sins of the church, though it certainly includes both. More broadly, it is a confession of the sin of the whole world, a continuation of Jesus' own intercession on the cross in which he says, "Father, forgive them for they know not what they do." In that spirit, then, let me offer this Prayer of Confession from When Heaven Stands Open, not because any person of genuine faith could have had a hand in the mayhem in Boston, but so that we might recognize and confess the sickness of whole human race, honor those who are suffering, direct our thoughts to the redeeming suffering of Christ, and cry out for healing. And to those who do not see the sense of such prayer, and even to those who would scorn it and thus demonstrate that do not know what they are doing, let me simply say, "In the name of Jesus Christ, you are welcome anyway."

Prayer of Confession (Proper 24/Ordinary 29, Year B)

Merciful God, with tears and cries you offered yourself for our release, yet our pettiness perpetuates grief and suffering. Forgive us, O Christ, for failing to recognize you in those we hurt or tear apart. Forgive us for holding ourselves and each other hostage in judgment, anger, contempt, and criticism. May your Spirit flow through us once again.

Er, Sorry ... !?

Anne Lamott's new book, Help, Thanks, Wow: The Three Essential Prayers seems to overlook one that has been rather important for those of the Presbyterian/Reform tradition. It goes like this: Sorry.

A quick search — yes, I confess I have not read what looks like a "quick read" book, only the free excerpts ... sorry! — shows the word only occurs twice in the book (once sarcastically, so that doesn't count). "Forgiveness" occurs once, "forgive" twice, "repent" once (but she soon retracts it). So, evidently "Sorry" is not a major theme, neither does it (for Lamott) constitute an essential prayer.

Lamott is a witty writer who evokes a lot of sympathy (I'm truly sorry about her cat, and the serial human losses she endures), and I don't wish to detract from what she has to say about Help or Thanks or Wow. But when it comes to what we consider "the essential," shouldn't the "Reform" tradition in the age of Twitter expect just a bit more — if only five more titular keystrokes — of its leading literary lights?