Over the next Sundays before
Easter, we are celebrating the season of Lent, which has often been a time for
spiritual renewal in the church, for self-examination, and re-focussing our
hearts in repentance and turning back to God.
Over the next Sundays, as I did
during Advent, I’m going to lead into our time of confession with a few
thoughts from our readings. Today in our readings, we’re going to hear quite a
bit about baptism. We’re going to hear about Jesus’ baptism—but also in our Old
Testament, we’re going to hear about Noah and the flood. And our baptism is a
bit like Noah and the flood, because through baptism we are rescued by God from
the world through water and carried into the church, like we’re in the safety
of the ark.
As we make confession of our sins
today, what things are still hanging onto us from the world that we would like
Jesus to throw back overboard?
But also, we are going to read
about Jesus’ fasting and temptation in the wilderness. And we know that as
Christians, we are often faced by many temptations. What are the temptations
that you face that you would like to bring to Jesus today? What are the things
you hate yourself for and that you want to be free of? What does the devil want
to hold against you? The devil’s name actually means “accuser”. What does he
want to accuse you of?
This absolution, this
forgiveness, that we’re also going to receive today is won for you by Jesus,
since Jesus is the one who has defeated sin, and has defeated the devil. There’s
a wonderful verse from Psalm 3, a favourite verse of mine, which says: “You
strike all my enemies on the cheek; you break the teeth of the wicked.” When we
come and hear the words of forgiveness that Jesus has commanded his pastors to
speak, remember that Jesus has smashed out the devil’s teeth, and that the
devil has got no biting power over us, except to gnaw at us with his gums.
So let’s confess our sins to God,
and receive that wonderful forgiveness that Jesus gives, and join in with Jesus
who has won the victory over Satan and all the powers of darkness and hell.
Let’s pray…
No comments:
Post a Comment