The Beauty of Confession

with S. Billie Mandle, Dietrich Bonhoeffer and Augustine

Confession is a thread that has drawn me along my somewhat rambling journey, to my current theology studies. It has continued to surprise me, shake me from my complacency, and has given me a real sense of God’s love. Confession is a thread I’m still tracing.

Which is why I was struck by a photo series called “Reconciliation,” by artist S. Billie Mandle. Over 10 years, she photographed confessionals across the US, working towards reconciliation with the Roman Catholic church she was raised in. The photos are arresting in their subtlety and solitude. Perhaps they are also a bit unsettling, in their absence of people, with only traces of inhabitation.

The places and images I have in mind when I recall my experiences with confession are quite different - sitting in cars, on living room couches, on rocks assailed by relentless sea waves, or by a still lake at night. I also see the faces of many humble and Christlike people, who have modelled an honest and open walk before God, and before me. And perhaps most vividly, I see those who have received my confessions with compassion.

It seems to me confession can be restorative, whether at the seaside or in a confessional. But what I have found most challenging and profound in the experience, has been facing another person. This is conspicuously, perhaps deliberately, absent from Mandel’s photos.

My brother gave me his copy of Bonhoeffer’s “Life Together” years ago, and to his underlining and marginalia, I’ve added my own. For Bonhoeffer, of ultimate importance to Christian community is Christ, mediating between believers. But there is still a vital role for us as members of His body. One aspect of this is proclaiming God’s Word to each other, an emphasis he picks up from Luther. Another aspect is our call to hear confession, and to forgive in Jesus’ name: “As the Father has sent me, so I send you,” Jesus tells His disciples, “If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained” (Jn. 20.21,23).

Augustine, famous for his autobiographical "Confessions," comments on Psalm 104.1, describing God as “clothed with confession and honour.” He goes on to describe the beauty of the church and the soul, given through confession, on account of Jesus’ incarnation and death. Augustine claims that the soul becomes beautiful, through confession to Jesus - “him who is ever more beautiful, but was for thy sake for a season not beautiful.” The Son of God did not abandon His beauty, rather set it aside in incarnation, “that he might render her [the Church] beautiful … He loved her when deformed. … For Christ died for the ungodly.” Here, through confession and through the cross, the Son gives us His beauty.

Bonhoeffer also describes the glory that comes through the cross. I'm inclined to agree with his observation that confession is humbling, dying to ourselves and our sins, as we are vulnerable before another person. Thus we identify with Jesus’ humiliating death. But we are reminded that as Jesus’ death brought resurrection and His glorification, similarly confession enables a reflection of this glory, as we are forgiven and renewed. “In confession the break-through to new life occurs … ‘Behold, all things are become new’ (II Cor. 5.17). Christ has made a new beginning with us.”

Perhaps you too have had a taste of this beauty. I hope that even in this season of isolation, you are offered glimpses of renewing community in Christ, in the compassion of brothers and sisters (whether by Zoom, Skype, Facebook or some other interface!) Looking forward to a time when we can meet again, face to face.

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Sources:

Saint Augustine, Expositions on the Book of Psalms: Psalms 102-125, Vol 5, J.H. Parker, 1853.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Life Together, translated by John W. Doberstein, New York: Harper Collins: 1993.

Images:

a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/69643793@N06/48969455006/">fcorvus</a> Flickr via <a href="http://compfight.com">Compfight</a> <a href="https://www.flickr.com/help/general/#147">cc</a

Augustine, by author