Revival. Something inside my heart gets hesitant, maybe even resistant when I hear that word. This was something that I had to sit with God and work through in light of all the conversations that were sparked on campus from the revival at Asbury University around this time last year.  

It was during this same time of revival conversations that we entered the Lent season of the liturgical year in 2023, and I went to an Ash Wednesday service at All Saints’ Anglican Church in Amesbury, Massachusetts. At the service, I was struck by the beauty of the liturgy of the confession of sin, and through it, God revealed to me a new view of revival.  

Now that it has been a year, and we enter the season of Lent once again, I want to revisit this idea of revival and reflect on this liturgy of confession line by line: 

Most holy and merciful God, we confess that we have sinned against you in thought, word, and deed, by what we have done, and by what we have left undone. 

The confession begins with the statement that we have sinned. Daily we fail and sin against God, and we need to turn towards his face in repentance. We need to be brought out of our sin to the fullness of life that God is offering us. The literal definition of revival is “to live again.” We Christians experienced revival when we first came to Christ. However, that is not the only moment of revival in the Christian walk. I realized that revival can happen daily, through these moments of confession.  

We have not loved you with our whole heart. 

The human heart longs to be its own master, instead of being a servant to the sovereign God. When we let our hearts be in control, it can lead us into sin and away from the fullness of life that is offered when God in is control.  

There seems to be a connection between revival and control. Does who has control over our lives ever change? As Christians, we believe that God is always in control. We often say we believe that, but do we act out of that belief? Revival happens when we allow Jesus to take control over our lives. Our failure to give God control of our hearts is where our need for revival comes in.  

We have not loved our neighbors as ourselves. 

We often get caught up in the busyness of our lives, and we start seeking to take control back for ourselves. We think we have a better plan than God does, so we don’t surrender our lives fully. As a result, we neglect to love our neighbors as ourselves, our priorities become disordered, and we let our spiritual life fade. We get caught up in distractions and sin. From our own point of view, we may think we are doing just fine. But something inside of us is dying — our faith and our dependence on God. We need to surrender. We need to give God control over our lives again. 

We need revival. 

We are truly sorry and we humbly repent. 

I think my hesitancy with the word revival comes from the inward belief that we should always be living in revival, through daily surrender. Revival has a history of being a major topic for a season, but then we move on and forget about it. But revival is more than a big “one-and-done” act. I believe revival is an everyday process. In my everyday life, revival comes when I throw off the distractions and honestly and vulnerably reflect on where I am and where my priorities are.  

I must humbly repent. 

For the sake of your Son Jesus Christ, have mercy on us and forgive us; 

This is where the beauty of confession comes in. If you are part of a liturgical church, confession is probably built into your weekly service. Maybe you kneel, maybe you sit, maybe you stand. The important part of confession is the posture of your heart — the acknowledgment of your deficiency. I believe that confession is powerful, and when we confess, we are surrendering our selfish control. We ask for forgiveness; we call upon God’s mercy.   

It is a step of revival.   

That we may delight in your will, and walk in your ways, 

Life is a walk, and we were created to be walking alongside God. Way back to the start of humanity, God was walking in the garden in the cool of the day with us. Even when we let go of God’s hand, God is never apart from us. God’s hand is always reaching out to welcome us back to walk in his fullness of life. May we be people who are open to God’s everyday revivals.  

To the glory of your Name. 

The Ash Wednesday service was a night of revival, even though it looked very different from Asbury. It was a night of quiet confession and turning towards God, asking Jesus to bring us to life again, through his death. As the service ended, we gathered our things in silence. A mother kissed the ash-crossed forehead of her son. Two friends found each other in the back of the sanctuary and conversed in low voices.  

As we exited the sanctuary a light snow was falling. A woman behind me whispered, “He washed it white as snow.” 

Amen.