Scripture: James 5:16
Therefore confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another, so that you may be healed. The prayer of the righteous is powerful and effective.
Thought for the Day: I just finished rereading Rob Bell’s book, What We Talk About When We Talk About God. Toward the end, he made a comment that resonated with me in light of my recent tummy troubles. Bell wrote, “Confession is like really, really healthy vomit. It may smell and get all over the front of your shirt, but you feel better—you feel cleansed—when you’re done.” I appreciate his earthiness because confession is not easy or clean. We often talk about it in rather casual language as if we just do it and it is done. My experience with confession is a lot of moaning and cramping before a person can even begin to purge him/herself of the unhealthy thing within. In the book of James, the author wants people to move toward healing (wholeness), but he recognizes the need to have someone to help us. Though it was never very pleasant, I had many Friday nights when I was an RA in the dormitory where I held someone’s head as s/he knelt beside the porcelain bus stop. And between heaves, these individuals often thanked me for being with them. God can hear the confession of a person who is all alone, but the actual purging can often use the help of a friend who prays with us and is willing to be with us no matter how ugly it might become.
Prayer: Thank you, O Lord, for those who can hear the honest confessions of others without judgement or haughty opinions. We need these friends along our journey toward healing. Amen.
Don’t Miss This Sunday’s Worship
It is Youth Sunday
Worship at 8:15, 9:30 and 11:00
