Confession

I’ve been very careful to place this post after the previous discipline of forgiveness, God’s grace as shown to us through the life of Christ tells us that forgiveness should be given to the other, even if the other is our enemy, (especially if they are our enemy) but I also would say that this grace also shows us that confession should not be a requirement for forgiveness.

We dance to a different rhythm to the rest of the world, our song is a song of grace and hope, where the world says that a sorry must be given, (and it has to be a meant sorry) before we forgive (or say we do anyhow) our song sings us into an understanding where we forgive without the need for a confession. We are forgivers, not judges, called to live lives that forgive rather than lives that hold grudges.

While this is true, we are also called to be confessors, people who are called to learn the discipline of confession.

Confession is an act that is not done because of the need for God to know what we’ve done, for God already knows how we have missed the mark, instead it’s a discipline we learn for the benefit of ourselves, our community and our world.

The act of confession reminds us of our imperfectness, it reminds us of the log in our own eye so that we do not revert to being judges in a world already too full of people who judge. We confess so that we are always able to hear the music to which we are dancing.

Confession is not something we do out of guilt, it’s a step in the dance that keeps calling us towards the one who which wrote the song. Confession is a creed, it’s something that centres us all, and aligns us together, together we say that we are not perfect, together we say I’ve forgotten our way, together we say I’ve not been listening to the music, and together we say that we know, deep down in ourselves that the song needs to be danced to, and that we are going to dance to it, even if we forget the steps occasionally.

That’s probably a bit airy fairy for many out there, perhaps the song that I’ve been hearing is a different one to many, perhaps you think confession should always be about guilt, that it should always precede forgiveness. Perhaps you are a youth pastor or leader who wonders how this would connect to your ministry, perhaps, if we were all honest we have relied upon guilt in our ministries too much. We’ve used guilt to seed thoughts into our communities that they need to come to church more, to inspire people to give more of themselves, to give more from their wealth, to bring their family with them, to evanglise more, to pray more, to read more, to study more, to earn more, to take on responsibilities…

Perhaps we’ve relied on guilt to always “bring them back” when they’ve been away too long, we hope that over time people’s levels of guilt will convince them that they need to “get right with God” which sometimes means that they “need to get right with God’s people” which, in itself is a huge error in our message and life as community, we, as forgivers are not supposed to bring thoughts of guilt, but inspire thoughts of grace, of love, of passion and of a new song to sing, to dance too…

This is not to say that confession is not important, as I believe it’s a part of our dance, it’s a step that we all need to learn, but in saying that we need to revision, reclaim the act of confession as a spiritual practice that is an integral part of our youth ministries. Our young people need to learn to confess as much as they need to learn to forgive if our song is to ever be danced to again.

As I look back on my ministry I recognise that there was much said and done to me by people I was in community with that hurt, harmed, angered, darkened me and I need to forgive them, I must forgive them if I believe the song is worth dancing to.

I also look back on my ministry and recognise that I’ve participated either silently or actively in hurting others in my community and I need to own this in order to really learn this dance, I need to confess it, to name it, to really know it, to see the log in my own eye and confess that, not only will I try to dance better, but that this has also hurt me as well as others, and, in confession I stand alone, I stand in community, I stand in knowledge that there are many like me who are also confessing and, finally I stand with God, the author of life, of the song that I long to dance to and alone, yet together once again confess my passion for the song, that I shall get back to dancing it.

As followers of Jesus we know that we are forgiven, confession is then almost a reaction to that forgiveness, in a way I should pray “because you have forgiven me I confess” rather that “please forgive me.”

The young people need to know that they are in this dance together with us, that confession is not just a “me” thing, but an “us” thing, that it’s not more important than forgiveness, as I’d say they are two sides of a similar coin, the coin is not a coin without both sides, without forgiveness, without confession it’s merely a token only useful for playing different songs on a worn out jukebox with songs that we’re already sick of.
Recently the Prime Minister of Australia stood up and confessed on behalf of the entire Nation, of those that went before, those that exist now and those that will come after us for the shameful things, for the wrong things, for the destructive things that were done to the indigenous people of this land. His words echoed though televisions, speakers, homes, schools, pubs, parks, streets, communities, churches, states, the nation and far beyond our borders. Yet, as he said those words, as he confessed many stood up, many owned the words, many became a part of those words, many repeated those words, many believed those words…

His confession, his Sorry to the nation was a creed, it was something that brought us together as people and connected us all to a song that had been sung and danced to well before we entered this land, a song that was slowly being re-learned, a song that was beginning to break through the numbness of our past and break through the community in a way that would cause many to dance, and we were reminded together that this dance is a joyful one.

Confession is an act that brings our thoughts together, it’s an act that focuses us, it’s an act that opens our ears to begin to hear the music again and dance, our confessions are never individual, they are always corporate, they need not be things that we dread, but things we celebrate, it’s like we’re clearing out our ears that have been blocked for many years and once again align ourselves to the dance to the song that our Lord has composed.

So, confession is a discipline that needs to be a part of our youth ministries, it’s something that we cannot do without, sure, we can do with less of the guilt that we’ve mistakenly attached to it and replace it with the joy that the logs in our eyes are in plain sight to us, to all of us, and that we are together in this dance, occasionally stepping on God’s and people’s toes, but that as we confess we are realigning ourselves to the steps of the dance, we are committing ourselves to learn to dance better, we confess not to be guilty of the feet we’ve stepped on, but in order to look at those people in the eye and say “I will continue to dance with you, I will not leave the dance floor, I will learn these steps better and step on your toes less.”

And as we look in the eyes of our dancing partners we recognise that they are saying the same thing back to us, and that the music just keeps getting louder and louder…

I mentioned the Prime Ministers Apology to the Stolen Generations in this reflection, recently many of his words have been mixed into a song written by Paul Kelly (Australian Singer and Songwriter and Story teller) and Kev Carmody (Indigenous Australian Singer and Songwriter and Story teller) titled “From Little Things, Big Things Grow. ” I feel it’s probably time that I add this beautiful track to The Alternative Hymnal, it’s been a part of the song that I dance to for many years, it’s even made it into a discipleship, baptism and confirmation pack written for the Uniting Church In Australia with Paul and Kev’s permission. It’s a song that brings tears to my eyes and a song that brings joy to my heart, it’s a song of confession and a song of hope, it’s a song of our past, and a song of our future…

The song’s been released (with the mentioned words from the apology mixed in) for download and purchase as audio and video by a group called Getup, the following is from the GetUp website:

On 19th April 2008, on behalf of GetUp!, EMI/Virgin digitally released the GetUp Stand Up version of ‘From Little Things Big Things Grow’ with all proceeds going to the GetUp! Action for Australia charity. The single features Kev Carmody, Paul Kelly, Urthboy, Missy Higgins, Mia Dyson, Radical Son, Jane Tyrrell, Dan Sultan, Joel Wenitong and Ozi Batla. The single also features exerts from Kevin Rudd’s historical speech alongside a former Prime Minister Paul Keating.

Surely a world first to have a song featuring a current and former Prime Minister on a single!
When Prime Minister Rudd said the words “I am sorry” a wave of emotion and a process of healing began across the nation. The apology to the Stolen Generations on 13 February 2008 marked a historic moment in our history and the first step on the road to a reconciled Australia.
There was no shortage of people willing to come onboard with this project, and the song really gained a life of its own. Before long people were queuing up to be a part of the next chapter of the reconciliation journey. Kev Carmody and Paul Kelly unhesitatingly offered the use of the song, Urthboy grasped the opportunity and under his direction vocalists, musicians, celebrities all took their place alongside Australia’s leading filmmakers to produce a gift to the nation – a national moment of great harmony, presented as a rousing euphonic statement in song.

Through this new GetUp Stand Up version of the classic Australian song we hope to inspire and encourage Australians to GetUp and Get Behind creating equal opportunities for Indigenous Australians.

After all, from little things big things grow.”

Check out the Video to the new release:

From Little Things Big Things Grow
By Paul Kelly and Kev Carmody

Gather round people let me tell you’re a story
An eight year long story of power and pride
British Lord Vestey and Vincent Lingiarri
Were opposite men on opposite sides

Vestey was fat with money and muscle
Beef was his business, broad was his door
Vincent was lean and spoke very little
He had no bank balance, hard dirt was his floor