Restoring Confession and Absolution in the LCMS

Brothers: we need to get more serious about what God offers and wants for us in the Sacrament of Absolution. Its promise is extolled in the first constitution of the LCMS but it was almost unknown before Paul Lang and other serious men started talking about it in the 1960s. Despite their good work very little ground has been gained since they lived. We have talked about it. Now it is time to do it.

Perhaps it is an unfair comparison, but at the same time as Lang and crowd were talking about the goodness of private confession and absolution in the LCMS, there was also an awakening to more frequent communion and to lowering the age of admittance to the Sacrament. Those two things have had much more success among us. I say the comparison might be unfair because even at our lowest point all the pastors of the LCMS received the Holy Communion at least four times a year. So did many laypeople. In fact it was probably unusual that someone would have communion less frequently than that.

In contrast, when it comes to the Sacrament of Absolution, there are actually men currently on the clergy roster, likely including some in leadership positions, who have never received the Sacrament. Never. Not even once. To be sure, they have participated in the preparatory rite of public confession. They may have confessed to their peers or their wives for personal sins they committed, but they have not confessed a single sin or even a general confession to a pastor directly, and then heard Christ’s absolution directly applied to them. That is to say they have not actually partaken of the gift as Christ gave it. This is shameful.

I understand that our leaders and chaplains and those in various non-parish roles don’t usually teach the Catechism on a daily basis. They have other duties. They are likely able to forget about this. We should try to help them remember. Perhaps not all our parish pastors teach the Catechism every day either, but they should. Again, though, we should remind them.

We should remind them because they have all subscribed to the book of Concord. The current ordination vows, which I believe to be retroactive, require diligent study of the Confessions. I am not sure how to measure the diligence of study but I think we might be able to expect more than one reading at Seminary and then never again. But even so, all of us have read the Catechism at least once and agreed to it. In a sense, 1/6th of the Catechism is on this topic and in the Apology Melanchthon calls it a Sacrament. How can we claim that our neglect of this is not despising it? What if someone neglected the marriage bed or the Sacrament of the Altar or preaching in this way? Would that be tolerable? I would hope not.

I understand that some might separate themselves from Luther’s admonition to Confession (1529) since it wasn’t included in the very first edition of the Large Catechism or in the German Book of Concord of 1580 though it was included in subsequent editions. But even so, they must still contend with the Small Catechism and the Apology. The Small Catechism expects that sins that are known and felt should be confessed before the pastor according to one’s station in life. There are no adverbs about how deeply the sins are felt or how terribly troubling these sins might be. Absolution can be an emergency measure. It is also appropriate for weak Christians who are struggling in their faith. But that is neither of those realities are its main use, nor does the Catechism suggest either use. The main use of this Sacrament is for those who know they have sins and who know that Christ has provided means to remove the guilt of those sins and strengthen faith in the Absolution. If we are confessing and teaching the Catechism we know both those things. Our laity may not know it. But we do.

If God invited you to a wedding banquet, would you go? Certainly you wouldn’t tell Him you that you weren’t hungry. God is inviting you. The Sacrament of Absolution is for those who trust God’s Word. Jesus doesn’t institute Sacraments as optional luxuries or as a matter of taste. We should fear neglecting any invitation that He proffers. We should trust that anything He institutes is necessary for health.

Whatever the case in the synod at large, I can’t imagine anyone in the Gottesdienst Crowd taking such a line. We all recognize the goodness and the uniqueness of what God has given us in this particular gift. So let’s start acting like it. It is an easy gift to neglect. It is easy to let months go by without confession. God forbid that it should be years or never! Let’s commit to the Sacrament. Let’s practice and promote it. Let’s lead by example. The laity need us to. If it has been more than a couple of months, pick up the phone and call your confessor and make an appointment. Do it now. For if we neglect it or take it for granted, we might come to the last day and be exposed as hypocrites who refused the garment. We were too weak for that.