I’m tired of eating the same sandwich for lunch every day week in and week out! Sam complained while picking at the lettuce and tomato peeking out from two slices of white bread. “Why not ask your wife to make you something else?” a co-worker suggested. Flushing with indignation, Sam bristled, “I’ll have you know I make my own lunch, thank you very much!”
In worship, when we confess before God and one another those things done and left undone, we experience a moment of honesty. Sometimes we “make our own sandwich” when our patterns of doing or not doing persist even when we know they don’t lead us to greater love for God and neighbour.
Thanks be to God that the story doesn’t end there (nor does Paul’s reflection in today’s Bible reading). The church’s orders of confession and forgiveness assure us that God forgives us and liberates us from brittle patterns of behavior. God opens to us a path of freedom to find new ways to grow in our love for God and our neighbour each day.
Thank you, God, for freeing us from things that sap the life from us and for freeing us for a life of following your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. — BSC