Confession

In Daniel 9, one of the longest prayers in the Bible, Daniel makes a confession of sin on behalf of his people. The reason for this is that he has been reading in the book of Jeremiah about the destruction of Jerusalem (verse 2). That desolation had taken place because of the sins of his people Of Israel. In verse 10, Daniel himself sums it up this way: ‘we have not obeyed the Lord our God or kept the laws he gave us through his servants the prophets.’

Daniel confesses guilt on behalf of all his people. No one had asked him to do this. He spontaneously takes on a priestly role, as Moses did in Exodus 32. He realises that the exile in Babylon, of which he himself is a victim, is not the result of bad luck, but of God’s punishment. The words of Jeremiah and other prophets had made this connection clear to him. The sin of the people was followed by punishment from God.

In the past, many countries had national days of penance and prayer in times of wars or other disasters. Often such days were declared by a ‘Christian’ government, not by the Church. I don’t long for the return of such days. There is a risk that the followers of Jesus will then give the impression to the outside world that they are the best-behaved children in the class. Also, in our day the connection between sin and the conditions around us is not as clear as it was for the prophets of the old covenant. Incidentally, that is a question to think about.

But would it not be good if we Christians followed Daniel’s example? Let us confess that – although most of us are doing well materially – Europe and the whole Western world are not in good spiritual shape. That in most countries the Church is a shrinking minority. That conflicts in churches have made the name of Jesus an object of ridicule. That sexual abuse also occurs within the Church. That theologians have sometimes given toxic leadership. That theologians have sometimes led the way in the wrong direction and that much theology, even today, is dry and barren.

Such a prayer of confession does not take the form of ‘we’ speaking to God about ‘them’, but of ‘we have sinned’. It does not take the form of nostalgic longing for a good old time. But it takes the form of a cry for renewal and new élan. We can do this without press releases and social media posts. Just at home, in our churches, schools and academies. To the glory of the Name of our Lord.