As we come to confess our sins
today, I’d like to pull out a couple of words from our Gospel reading today.
Jesus says: What does it
profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul? Wow—aren’t these
powerful words? Do you give attention to your soul? Do you care for your soul?
Is your whole life directing to nurturing and feeding your soul with every good
thing that it needs from God? Or are you trying to gain the whole world, so
that you forfeit your soul? As we come to confess our sins today, what are
these the things from the whole world that you need to forfeit instead of your
soul?
Jesus says: If anyone would
come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. We
don’t often like to hear words that ask us deny something of ourselves. We
often say: Go on! Give yourself a treat – you deserve it! And then, when
there’s some hardship in our life, we say to God: What did I do to deserve
this? But there’s a wonderful truth, that the more we realise our sin, the more
the praises of God sing forth from the depths of our soul, because the more we
realise just what Christ has done for us. We are asked not to deny some things
and some stuff, but ourselves, and take up our cross and follow after Jesus,
and plant our footsteps in his. What of yourself is preventing you from
following Jesus each day? Is it yourself? Your ego? Your pride?
Jesus asks us today just like he
said to Peter in our Gospel reading: Who do you say that I am? Peter
answered him: You are the Christ.
So as we come to receive the
wonderful forgiveness of sins in the absolution today, let’s say the same to
Jesus. Yes, Jesus, I believe you are the Christ. I am a sinner—but that’s a
good thing for me to know that, because sinners are the only people you died
for. You are my Saviour—I need saving. You are my righteousness—I am your sin.
You took my sin and died for it, and now you give to me your forgiveness and
even your resurrection from the dead.
What a wonderful gift that Jesus
now gives to us, here in our church today—six simple words: I forgive you
all your sins. Let’s pray…
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