Joseph Patty, Associate Director of Student Ministries

Center yourself on today’s reflection by lighting a candle and reciting this breath prayer:
Inhale – Though the darkness covers me
Exhale – I will remember your light.

John 3:19-21
This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but people loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. 20 Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that their deeds will be exposed. 21 But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what they have done has been done in the sight of God.

1 John 1:8-10
If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word is not in us. 

Reflection:
I have a confession. I have publicly prancercized twice in my life. Oh, you’ve never heard of prancercizing? Fair warning: once you start, it’s hard to stop. In short, it’s the shameful act of walking and dancing in public and calling it exercise. And yes, I’ve participated in the art of prancercizing twice in my life. I know you may think less of me, but I’m confessing it here in this safe space of this thousand-person email list that is the Daily Habit. Phew, I feel better now with that off my chest.

Here’s the deal. Humans love the appearance of perfection, but when perfection isn’t reached, we are really good at hiding it, even from ourselves. We can fool ourselves into pretending sin doesn’t exist, and then we have a slew of dismissively encouraging comments in our back pocket to make us feel better if any attention is drawn to our faults. However, God doesn’t leave us condemned to a life of illusions however content they might make us. God knows that sin has power when it is left in darkness, and that’s why God sent God’s Son as a light into our world. When sin is left in darkness, it eats at us. Shame whispers to us in the night and tells us that if anyone knew the truth, it would be the end of us. 

Confession is the act of dragging the things we want no one to see out into the light, out into the presence of Jesus with trusted friends. It is staring at our sin, brokenness, and shortcomings in the face and naming them for what they are to one another. It is the death of pride. It is voluntary exposure. We love darkness because we fear what exposure will bring. Will rejection follow? Will God be angry? Will I let everyone down? Will I be relegated to public shame with a sentence of prancercising for the rest of my life? 

Yes, exposure feels unsafe. But Jesus is good, and he bore the cross so we wouldn’t have to hide in darkness any longer. He is inviting us to freedom, to live in the light. Forgiveness follows exposure, and healing and life are in the wake of forgiveness. Once we step into the light, that gnawing voice of shame is quieted at last, and Jesus gets to tell us who we really are. Therefore, there is no place for dismissing or belittling sin here. We must own it. All of it. We must confess that we have lived in darkness (and in many cases loved living there), so that Jesus may shine his light into every crevice of our being.

Prayer:
Heavenly Father, thank you for sending your Son as a light in the darkness. Search me and know me. I don’t want anything hidden from you. I don’t want any darkness in my life. Shine a light on the deep places of my heart, and give me the courage to confess what you reveal, so that I can know forgiveness and the healing that only you can offer. Amen.