6 October 2023

And you shall say: The Lord our God is in the right, but there is open shame on us today, on the people of Judah, on the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and on our kings, our rulers, our priests, our prophets, and our ancestors, because we have sinned before the Lord. We have disobeyed him, and have not heeded the voice of the Lord our God, to walk in the statutes of the Lord that he set before us.
From Baruch 1:15-22, NRSV

The words in today’s reading are part of a reflection by a late Jewish writer on the circumstances of the Jewish exiles from Babylon. The writer expresses the people’s great awareness of their sin and shame over their sins and their confession that they have not heeded the word of God. The people realise that all the ills that have befallen them and their ancestors were a consequence of following their own way rather than doing what was pleasing to God. Although they had no immediate prospect of deliverance, the people sent their words of confession to the priests of Jerusalem so that they could pray for them also.

• • What do you suppose would have brought the people to the point where they could confess their sins with such honesty?
  • Is it important for us to confess our sins?

Bring your own sins and failings before God – remembering that God is a God of mercy and compassion.