Invocation, Confession and Absolution

This sermon is part of a midweek series on the parts of the liturgy.

In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

            We’ve heard that so many times at the beginning of sermons, haven’t we? In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Pastors have options to begin their sermons with different words. Some use other traditional phrases; some jump right into the sermon without any prologue. A long time ago I chose to begin with the Invocation, beginning in the name of the Triune God. I chose it because it echoes the beginning of the service and because it’s a reminder of everyone’s Baptism, when the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit was placed upon them. It’s to remind you that whatever you hear in the sermon, you’re hearing it as a child of God, forgiven and washed clean in Baptism. When I decided to begin sermons this way, it was to mirror how the service begins and how each and every one of our lives in Christ begins.

            The invocation begins the sermon, service, and our eternal life because it gives us a name. It tells us who we belong to, just as our surname tells us—and others—what family is ours. It tells us about our origin, who we go home to. And on our best days we can bring honor to that name given to us. We can do things to make our family proud. Similarly, we can do things that our heavenly Father approves of. We can honor His name with our words and deeds, as He’s instructed us in His commandments.

            But then there are the times we do not. We act as one who doesn’t live as God’s child. We live as if God didn’t matter at all, chasing the idols of this world, not loving our neighbor as ourselves. Or, even if we can appear outwardly to do so, we still know the truth deep down in our hearts. Our thoughts are not those thoughts that the Lord has said are good or right. We covet what others have—their wealth, their ease, their lifestyle, the people around them—even though no one can see it on the outside. Our hands might do something nice, but inwardly we’re resentful that no one is doing anything for us, or that anyone is praising us enough for it. We do good things, but we do them to prove our worth, to earn praise, to win a different name for ourselves than the one God has given us in Baptism.

            And so, on this day, Ash Wednesday, we wear the outward sign of that uncleanness. In the very same spot where the pastor put the sign of the cross in our Baptism, we now put a cross of ash, a mark that because we have not honored that baptismal name of the Trinity given to us, that we are now dust, and to dust we shall return.

            What a dark night this would be if that were the only repeated phrase this evening, if this were the only part of our liturgy. But as often as it has been repeated, with each of you coming forward to receive that sign; as often as that reminder of dust and ashes is spoken tonight, we hear another repeated phrase in this service. “Take, eat; take, drink; this is the true body and blood of our Lord Jesus Christ, given and shed for you.” You hear the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit repeated again and again. The liturgy of our service is intentionally built over the centuries so that way of acknowledging sin and shortcoming is answered by forgiveness.

            That’s why the service moves from the Invocation, the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, to the Confession and Absolution. “Beloved in the Lord! Let us draw near with a true heart and confess our sins unto God our Father, beseeching Him in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to grant us forgiveness.” We confess our sins and God grants us forgiveness. And it is upon these two points that the entire structure of our Divine Service is built. It all comes down to two words: Law and Gospel, threat and promise, sin and forgiveness, confession and absolution.

            We don’t confess our sins in order to conjure up some sort of purely emotional response. We don’t go through the motions this Ash Wednesday to generate some sort of required reaction, external or internal. Nor do we confess our sins so that we can get something in return from God, as if it were a token we exchange for something good. We don’t confess our sins to wallow in our shame, nor do we do it to impress God with how honest we’re being or how far we’ve come. We confess our sins because we want to unload them. We want to be made clean. We confess them because we don’t like the fact that we’ve misused our heavenly Father’s name; we want a fresh start with Him. So we come to Him, already knowing that His joy is to forgive. He’s already told us that when that name of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit was first put on us in Baptism. So He sends a man whose single-minded focus is to proclaim that forgiveness to you. You are forgiven all your sins. You are clean. You are God’s child. You wear His name.

            This Lent we’ll take Wednesday evenings to explain what we do on Sunday mornings. By explaining how all these parts of the service interconnect, where they come from in Scripture, what they do and say, how they vary at different times of the church year, why we do what we do and say what we say, in all these ways your time in the service will be enriched. You’ll be more mindful of what you’re doing in the service and what’s going on around you. You’ll be able to explain to others what’s going on and why.

            So we begin Lent in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, just as we’ve begun everything in this life of faith. We begin by recognizing that we are His children, saved, purchased, won, and that He’s stopped at nothing to secure our place with Him. We’ll move through this season, sometimes saddened, sometimes angered, sometimes pensive, but always knowing that we’re moving ever closer to our redemption. We’re going from confession to absolution, from sin to forgiveness, darkness to light, death and dust and ashes to life and grace and joy. Walk with your Lord this season of Lent, through His life and death, through His Words in the Divine Service, through your entire life of repentance in this world. In the name of Jesus, our Redeemer. Amen.