Unbutton My Lips

Good morning, Loved Ones,

As we draw closer and closer to Holy Week we become ever more aware of the brokenness of our world and our own hearts. We see and hear messages of hatred, war, misunderstandings and greed daily, if we are masochistic enough to watch the news. And yet, if we are honest, we see the same brokenness, the same hatred, misunderstandings and greed in our very own hearts. The folks at Alcoholics Anonymous know that certain things need to be done regularly to get and keep our lives on track. One is to confess to God and one another. David, in Psalm 51, gives us a great example.

Psalm 51:7-15 (The Message)

Soak me in your laundry and I'll come out clean,
scrub me and I'll have a snow-white life.
Tune me in to foot-tapping songs,
set these once-broken bones to dancing.
Don't look too close for blemishes,
give me a clean bill of health.
God, make a fresh start in me,
shape a Genesis week from the chaos of my life.
Don't throw me out with the trash,
or fail to breathe holiness in me.
Bring me back from gray exile,
put a fresh wind in my sails!
Give me a job teaching rebels your ways
so the lost can find their way home.
Commute my death sentence, God, my salvation God,
and I'll sing anthems to your life-giving ways.
Unbutton my lips, dear God;
I'll let loose with your praise.


Part of the confessional principle of AA is to take a fearless personal inventory of our lives. We are to be willing to look at our lives with a critical and honest eye and take note of the ways in which we have wronged others. Then we are to seek reconciliation. It is more than dificult to let loose with God's praise when our lives are crippled with the doubt and confusion of unexamined behaviors and attitudes.

1) I give thanks that today I have heard about God's forgiving love and I am free to start again.

2) I give thanks today that God hasn't thrown me out with the trash and that I am not allowed to throw others out with the trash, however they have offended me.

3) I give thanks that today I have the opportunity to help mend relationships in my life and in others' lives.

4) I give thanks today that the work of reconciliation is an urgent one, one that cannot be put off until tomorrow.

5) I give thanks that, God willing, tomorrow will come with new opportunities to forgive and be forgiven.


It's time to unbutton our lips and let loose.

Gimme cinco.

Pastor Rick