Posts Tagged: confession

“Of Cover Ups and Mercy”

On May 1, 2019 by Dteb With 0 Comments - down to earth believer


“Whoever conceals his transgressions will not prosper,

but he who confesses and forsakes them will obtain mercy.” (Proverbs 28:13, English Standard Version)

“You’re only as sick as your secrets.”  (Twelve-step saying)

I want to live a H.O.T. life: Honest, Open, and Transparent.  Sad to say, I don’t always.  I think I’ve opened up to those who need to know about my big struggles.  However, not so much on little things.  At least, I want to think they are little things.  And, in any case, little hidden transgressions have the same tendency as termites and cancer: They eat away at us from their places of concealment.

And let’s face it.  This world is not really geared for honesty, openness, and transparency.  Neither is any of us.  We play at hide and seek when we’re young.  As we get older, it’s not a game anymore.  We work at hiding—and hope that no one finds us.

In Proverbs 28:13, the Hebrew words translated “confesses” and “forsakes” are participles.  Participles are verbal nouns. In other words, they are a cross between nouns and verbs.  In Hebrew, when participles have a verbal thrust, they often suggest repetitive action that flows from the very character of a person.  They often suggest a continual or repetitive action.

If this is true of the participles in Proverbs 28:13, the verse could be unpacked in the following manner:

“Whoever makes a habit of concealing his transgressions will not prosper,

but he who makes a habit of confessing and forsaking them will obtain mercy.”

Now, we are really good at confessing the wrong-doings of other people.  However, Proverbs 17:9 says that this is precisely what we ought not to do.  In fact, the same words are used for concealing transgression as in 28:13!

The word for “forsaking” is a strong word.  It is used in Genesis 2:24 for a man forsaking his father and mother to marry his wife.  It is also used of divorcing a wife.  Sometimes, we think that it is enough to confess our sins.  It isn’t.  We need to forsake them.

And, as much as I would like to believe it—and as much as you would like to hear it—this is not a one shot deal.  When people come to faith in Christ, that is only the beginning.  That’s when the real battle begins.

We tend to think that mercy is about God’s kind treatment of us when we’ve messed up.  That’s true.  But there is another, harder truth: Mercy is also given to those who confess and forsake their transgressions.

I’m not saying that living a HOT life is easy.  However, honesty, openness, and transparency set us up to receive mercy.  And that is hot!

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“GOD HATES DISH WASHING MACHINES!”

On May 15, 2018 by Dteb With 0 Comments - down to earth believer

God hates automatic dishwashing machines!  The reason I know this is because I hate automatic dishwashing machines!

Yes, I am aware of the studies that “prove” that dishwashing machines use less water and energy and are better for the environment.  However, my question about this (and all other studies that prove or disprove this or that) is, “Who financed the study?”

I have an exceedingly current reason for this rant.  The sad tale goes as follows.

My wife loves to cook and bake.  This is good, because she’s good at it and I love to eat.  However, this creates a lot of dishes.  I try to do most of them.

My wife had baked some cakes to take last night to some needy folks whom we feed on Monday nights at our church.  When she came home, I rinsed off the cake pans (none too well), and put them into the dishwasher.  I was tired, so I said to myself, “Let the dishwasher do the work this time!”

This morning, I got up early and started unloading the dishwasher.  I got out a new drying towel and began drying the cake pans.  Problem?  Cake was still caked on the cake pans.  (And yes, I did remember to run the dishwasher!)

I was ticked!  I made a vow that I would wash all dishes by hand from here on out.  We’ll see how long that vow will hold.

As I was rather angrily doing most of the dishes from the dishwasher by hand, it suddenly occurred to me that God hates dishwashers too.  Or, at least, God doesn’t use them.  God washes us by hand.

“Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity And cleanse me from my sin.”  So says David in Psalm 51:2.  Throughout the Old and New Testament, we are told repeatedly that, even when his people sin, God doesn’t give up on them.  Punish, yes.  Give up, no.  God’s desire is that we repent of our sin.  Repent is an old-fashioned word that likely embraces the ideas of being sorry for our wrong-doing, confessing them, and turning to God and away from those wrong-doings.  When we repent, God begins the cleansing process.  God washes us by hand, and no one has hands that are as thorough as God’s.  God is careful not to break any of his dishes, but he sure scrubs hard, and  unlike dishes, we humans have feelings and free will.  We don’t like to be washed thoroughly.

Like virtually all little boys (and some girls), we would rather take a beating than a bath.  God scrubs us like my grandma scrubbed me when I was little.  When I protested during a bath that she was hurting poor little me, my grandma said, “If you aren’t pink, you aren’t clean,” and kept right on scrubbing.

God uses abrasive scouring pads, strong soap, hot water, and lots of elbow grease.  He scrubs us again, if we are not clean enough to suit him.

I’d like to do the dishes once, and be done with them.  Unfortunately, they seem to get dirty again.  We get dirty again too.  Old preachers used to talk about “keeping short accounts with God.”  We need to do the same with God.  Dishes are much easier to wash if the grime hasn’t set up.

We need to confess our mess-ups to God.  We need to ‘fess up if we want God to clean our mess up.

 

 

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“ACCEPTING GOD’S ACCEPTANCE”

On May 11, 2018 by Dteb With 0 Comments - down to earth believer

 I recently read these words from the theologian Paul Tillich:

“You are accepted! … accepted by that which is greater than you and the name of which you do not know. Do not ask the name now, perhaps you will know it later. Do not try to do anything; perhaps later you will do much. Do not seek for anything, do not perform anything, and do not intend anything. Simply accept the fact you are accepted.”

But accepting acceptance isn’t simple to do, is it?  At least, accepting acceptance is not simple for the vast majority of us.  Most of us tend to put an “if” or a “when” in our acceptance.  And, for most of us, the if never is fulfilled and the when never comes.  Even if the if is fulfilled and even when the when does come, we are pounced on by another if or when.  No, accepting acceptance is not simple.

Maybe my basic problem is what has been called “the performance trap.”  I think that I have to perform at a certain level (and a very high level at that) in order to be acceptable.  Maybe I need to learn a lesson from very small children or my dog.  They don’t seem to worry a lot about performance or acceptance.  Or, at least, they don’t worry about these things until they are taught to do so.

Perhaps my basic problem is that I don’t so much need to learn any new truth.  Rather, I need to unlearn some old untruths.  The untruths that I am not accepted, that I am not acceptable, that I have to do something in order to be acceptable—all these and more—need to be kicked (or carried) to the curb.

It is definitely spring now.  It is time for spring cleaning.  A mental and spiritual spring cleaning is in order.  I need to set out my mental and spiritual trash.  That is what is called by the old-fashioned term “confession.”  The God of the universe is humble enough to haul it all away.  That is what is called by the old-fashioned name “forgiveness.”

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KEEPING UP APPEARANCES

On June 8, 2016 by Dteb With 0 Comments - down to earth believer

DTEB, THE LIE OF “AS IF,” GENESIS 27, 12

“Perhaps my father will feel me, then I will be as a deceiver in his sight, and I will bring upon myself a curse and not a blessing” (Genesis 27:12 The New American Standard Bible, 1995).

Did you notice the little word “as” above?  No?  I admit it is a little word—indeed, it might be regarded a throwaway word, not even fit to put in a yard sale.

Years ago, I had a professor at Hebrew Union College who would often remind us that “context is everything.”  He would sometimes say (or write on the board) C.I.E., for short.

So, what is the context for Genesis 27:12?

The patriarch of the family, Isaac, was old, blind.  Isaac thought he was about to die soon, and was planning to give his favored son, Esau, the blessing.  Rebekah heard of this, and hatched a scheme to steal the blessing for her favored son, Jacob.

The word “as” is part of the dialog between Rebekah and Jacob, as they plot to deceive Jacob (Rebekah’s husband and Jacob’s father) in order to cheat Esau (Jacob’s brother and also Rebekah’s son) out of the blessing.

Family intrigue is such a lovely thing, isn’t it?  And you thought it was just a soap opera thing?

When Rebekah proposes her plan to deceive Isaac, Jacob’s only protest is that his father may realize that he is trying to deceive him.  Jacob is not concerned with whether what his mom is proposing is right.  Jacob is not worried about long-term results.  He does not think about the effects on his own character, on his brother, on his father.  He apparently does not even care about the possible effects on his mother, who offers to take his curse upon herself.

Now, let me quote verse 12 again, with one word highlighted: “Perhaps my father will feel me, then I will be AS a deceiver in his sight, and I will bring upon myself a curse and not a blessing.”

Did you notice the word this time?  Of course you did!  I have made it inescapably obvious.

The Hebrew word Kî  means “like, similar to, as.”  Jacob is not saying that he will be a deceiver.  He is only saying that he will appear to be a deceiver “in his father’s eyes.”  (There may be an ironic intent here, since Isaac is blind!)

Jacob is not worried about what he is about to do, nor is he worried about what he is becoming.  He is only worried about keeping up appearances.

Before I go off on Jacob (or you), I need to consider myself.  How many times have I been more interested in appearances than reality?  I am reminded of the saying, “All I ever wanted out of reality was . . . out!”

The tendency to be more interested in appearances than in reality is well formed in every child by age three.  We laugh at the three-year-old who denies getting into the cookie jar, even though his mouth is covered with cookie crumbs.

However, even as we laugh, there is a queasy feeling that we have not entirely grown up ourselves in this regard.  The vast majority of us don’t become more interested in reality as we age.  We just become better at hiding the fact that we are concerned primarily or exclusively with appearances.  We even learn to hide our real concerns from ourselves.  We are all very good at covering our . . .  I will spare you the crude pun, which involved the word “as.”

Of course, Jacob did succeed in keeping up the appearance of being someone else.  Well, at least he kept up that appearance long enough to succeed in stealing the blessing.

Or did he succeed?  He spent twenty years in self-imposed exile.  It appears that Rebekah died while he was in exile.  He arrived home just in time to bury his father.  He was repeatedly deceived by his father-in-law and by his own children.

Yes, Jacob was blessed with wives, children, and material goods.  And yet . . .

The more I reflect on this story, the more I feel myself being sucked into it.  I identify entirely too easily with Jacob.  I find that I am no longer reading the Bible.  Rather, it is reading me.  And, in reality, I do not like to be read.  I like to hide.  I don’t like reality; I like appearances.

God, help me to accept reality!  I can’t do this on my own!

The solution to practicing the not-so-fine art of appearances sounds simple: We need to confess reality.  Such confession my sound simple, but it feels like an amputation.

Proverbs 28:13 boils it down to a very terse maxim: “He who conceals his transgressions will not prosper, But he who confesses and forsakes them will find compassion” (The New American Standard Bible, 1995).

Dark secrets, like certain bacteria, tend to multiply in dark places.  The bright sunlight of God’s forgiveness will kill appearances, and foster my/your/our growth in reality.

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