Pastor's Blog: A Response We All Would Do Well to Give
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For the longest time I did not appreciate responsive readings in worship. They seemed too rote and emotionless, especially when the congregation read them in a boring monotone. But over the years, I’ve come to focus instead on the power of the words regardless of how they are read and how that power is magnified when spoken by a multitude of souls.
I’ve also learned to appreciate how corporate confessions show up regularly in Scripture. Because community dominates the Bible narrative in both the Old and New Testament, God is most pleased when He receives the faithful responses of His people.
This truth has been on my mind as I’ve been following the significance of this season for our Jewish friends. Their high holy days came to their conclusion this past week with what is the most sacred of days, the Day of Atonement, or Yom Kippur. Grounded in God’s requirements for His Exodus people in Leviticus 16, the Day of Atonement marked a time when the High Priest would lead the people in a corporate confession that expressed their repentance for sins committed. It was the means by which they both acknowledged and sought atonement for their transgressions over the past year.
I read this week that Jews today gather on the Day of Atonement and recite the following confession ten times: “We have sinned against you, O God, of our own free will; by hardening our hearts, speaking openly and privately, knowingly and deceitfully, in our speech with impure lips; giving in to our worst urges, speaking ill of our neighbors, throwing off restraints, ensnaring our neighbors, taking false oaths, and in baseless hatred.” These are the 44 sins Jews recount as they go twice through the Hebrew alphabet of 22 letters, a doubled “A to Z” of sin.
The one thing that jumped out at me in the list is the way the bulk of these sins refer to wrong actions toward others. While we Christians tend to focus on our individual sins, the confession of our Jewish friends reminds us that our blindest spots may come in our relations with others.
So, this month I’ve decided to join my Jewish brothers and sisters in considering how my sins ruin my relationships, with God first and others second. I’ve decided to think more carefully about what I might be doing to keep others from experiencing the best God has for them to know. I’ve committed myself to a practice of confession that helps me to see God’s Presence in others so that perhaps they will then better see God’s Presence in me.
And I invite you to join me. Only then will we see our church grow together in a unity that will never be pried apart and a fellowship that will point people to Jesus, who himself came to earth as the Lamb of God to take away the sins of the world.
“Produce fruit in keeping with repentance” (Matthew 3:8).