August 22: Kindness and Confession
Having trouble viewing this message? View it in your browser. http://act.ucc.org/site/R?i=Nt3k2187mrMVsdamc7MWQw August 22, 2011 Kindness and Confession Excerpt from Romans 2:1-11 http://act.ucc.org/site/R?i=k9V34wl-W2ZFPiwqeeVLNA “Do you not realize that God’s kindness is meant to lead to repentance?” Reflection by William C. Green We’ve got it backwards. It’s not repentance that leads to God’s kindness but the other way around. It’s God’s kindness that inspires repentance. As Bill Coffin used to say, absolution or the “words of assurance” ought to precede rather than follow the general prayer of confession. The assurance of love makes me wonder why, then, I’ve behaved as I have. It opens flood gates that held back the truth. All of us struggle to make peace with our conscience. We often deny what we have done to block that peace. We find excuses, dwell on how badly we’ve been wronged, and try to squirm out from beneath the full weight of our conduct. We may work hard to be “good,” trying to counteract our wrongs. We do everything we can to even the score. This is tiresome and futile. Only admitting the truth can set us free. We don’t want to hear still more about guilt in church. Today’s concerns about self-esteem also give guilt a bad name. But the problem is not the truth about guilt but how it’s handled. The issue is greater happiness, not guilt-tripping. There is no real freedom without confession. Nothing inspires that confession more than kindness. We’re loved just as we are, but too much to want to stay that way. Prayer Eternal God, under your judgment we stand, and by your mercy we are forgiven. Help us to know this-and to tell the truth. Amen. About the Author William C. Green, a United Church of Christ minister, is the Director of Long Looking, a consultancy service specializing in fundraising and education for congregations. His new book, 52 Ways to Ignite Your Congregation: Generous Giving, has just been published. http://act.ucc.org/site/R?i=E7dLl40PIvt5qnJgu9RlPQ http://act.ucc.org/site/R?i=p4dUBSQH4X8e1dcxKC9qnQ The Daily Devotional is now on Facebook. Become a fan! http://act.ucc.org/site/R?i=lZA92AyCVkEwZzJ1po851w Sign up to receive Daily Devotionals http://act.ucc.org/site/R?i=rvZ-CjlsoNEXBXSWOSRUFA More items written by the Stillspeaking Writers’ Group http://act.ucc.org/site/R?i=QIgN4EtjZDl49ZgP1di9TQ Facebook Fan Page http://act.ucc.org/site/R?i=zIY13HjIB81BCHfcFeiFZA Forward to a Friend http://act.ucc.org/site/R?i=vyzwb-a6IN2dtuyOiU6B2Q Signup for the Daily Devotional http://act.ucc.org/site/R?i=OFqeZ3Ght3YlrvCo703IHQ Writers Group http://act.ucc.org/site/R?i=PWNR4UsZpNzdp_d6ZX-LBg The Stillspeaking Daily Devotional is a free service and is supported by your gifts to Our Church’s Wider Mission. Scripture quotations are from New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989 National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America,adapted. Used by permission. All rights reserved. http://act.ucc.org/site/R?i=oI8SC9YWrkYfA8bbYcqCFg Unsubscribe or edit your settings http://act.ucc.org/site/CO?i=ZVCJU4eJFTM872_FAKhiC_A7u826A3I7&cid=1072
