The Catharsis of Confession
Repentance 3
Trusting in God’s love for us through Christ our Reconciler we confess our sins to God. Openness and transparency.
If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word is not in us. I John 1:8-10
Jane left to get a drink of vodka. Relationship with Mom had not been good because of her drinking. Now she broke her vow to herself.
Jane is your client. She is angry and troubled by her past. She expresses a lot of anger about her mother and the trauma of being her mother’s child. Over the course of several sessions you perceive that there is something else about this relationship with her mother that is still troubling her that she has not shared with you. You work through the “courage to confess” with her. She says she believes that Jesus did die for all of her sins. You talk to her about God’s Law in a general way. You talk about guilt and how guilt impacts us so negatively.
Finally she shares her sin that is still troubling her. In connection with her mother’s terminal illness, Jane tells you that they had made peace about six months before her mother died. She was able to care for her mother and be with her during the final months of her mother’s life. She heard her mother confess the sins she had committed against her and confess her faith in Jesus. When her mother entered the hospital the final time, she told her mother and even made a vow to herself that she would be with her mother and hold her hand and would be there for her in her final moments.
But that is not how it worked out. Jane confesses to you that she left her mother when she was breathing peacefully in the hospital bed to get a cup of coffee. She was gone for about ten minutes. That is when God took her mother home. Jane was angry at herself and at God and even at her mother for not being able to be with her mother at that moment of her death.
What is your response?
- An almost audible sigh of relief? This is not a sin that Jane did in leaving her mother that brief time.
- Words that are dismissive about Jane’s feelings of guilt?
a. “That is not a sin, Jane!”
b. “Don’t feel bad about that. You had no control over that.” - Words of acceptance.
a. “Jane, I hear your guilt and pain.”
b. “Jane, that must have been very difficult for you. You feel you left your mother down. You feel you left yourself down.” - Words that express the Gospel of Jesus as the complete payment for all sins.
The blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin. I John 1:7
Catharsis comes from a Greek word that means cleansing. Psychologically there is a great sense of relief and cleansing that comes when we confess what is troubling us to someone else. It happens when your client has talked the whole session about her troubles and you have listened with empathy and concern and love. She responds, “Thank you. You helped me so much today.” You say to yourself, “I hardly spoke a word.” Your client felt a psychological catharsis.
Catharsis with God comes with confession to God through another person or with God personally and privately in prayer and meditation. But confession to God comes with the assurance of forgiveness. It is more than a psychological catharsis. Jesus has already paid for our sins. “II Cor. 5:19, “God was in Christ reconciling the world unto himself, not counting men’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation.”
Our reconciliation with God always includes the sense of catharsis that comes from the assurance of our forgiveness.
Personal Reflection:
- What sins are troubling you?
- What sins have you confessed to God?
- What sins have you confessed to a friend you can trust who keeps confidences?
- What assurance do you get from the fact of your Baptism in connection with confession?
- What assurance do you get when, confessing your sins, you receive the Body and Blood of Jesus in, with, and under the Bread and the Wine in the Sacrament of Holy Communion?
Prayer
Lord, my sins are many. Forgive me for Jesus’ sake. Give me peace for my troubled conscience. Help me share your message of reconciliation with you through Jesus with others. Amen.
