The Irishman: Contrition, Confession, and Forgiveness...or Not?!

Life is filled with highs and lows, up and downs, good moments and challenging decisions.  As hard as we might try, staying in the lane of righteous and “holy” living is much easier said than done.  Within my Lutheran ethos we take confess and absolution seriously - it is hard for us to imagine a worship service without some form of corporate confession and absolution.  We use words like:  “I, a poor, miserable sinner…” and “we confess that we are sinful and unclean…”. We use these words because we have taken the time to examine our lives through the God’s holy and righteous Law, as expressed in the Ten Commandments and further explained through Luther’s Small Catechism.  We confess sins that we know we have done as well as those unknown to us but clearly known by our Lord who knows all, sees all…and is willing to forgive all.  

Our Roman Catholic brethren are of like mind when it comes to the priority of confession - so much so that the “private” confessional is a part of the regular spiritual practice.  Oh sure, we Lutherans have it, but most (if not all) find it to be a very uncomfortable practice at best and a Romanist intrusion at worst).  But herein lies the conundrum - what do you do when you have a sin so heavy, a mis-step so dark, a life so challenged whereupon the corporate confessional leaves you feeling empty but you fear the one on one with the pastor or priest?  Or worse, what about when you don’t feel contrite - that is, feeling or expressing remorse or penitence.  Maybe the simplest way of stating this:  There is the blatant absence of guilt.  Enter the movie The Irishman, directed by Martin Scorsese.  This 209 minute historical fiction movie follows the life of Frank “The Irishman” Sheeran (played by Robert DiNero).  A World War II veteran, Frank gets drawn from the life as a delivery man into working as a hitman for the Italian-American mafia.  

Call it what you will - Frank is a hitman.  He does the unspeakable - he kills people on demand who interfere, cross, disrupt, or otherwise mess with the desires and businesses of the Italian-American mafia.  Along the journey Frank develops what appears to be a genuine friendship with infamous head of the Teamster Union, Jimmy Hoffa (played by Al Pacino).  Through twists and turns, none of which are moral, righteous, or good, Jimmy Hoffa falls of the good graces of the mafia.  And…you guessed it…as a consequence a “hit” is ordered on Jimmy Hoffa and the man to carry out the deed is none other than “The Irishman.”  You would suspect a moral crossroads for Frank at this point - after all, he had developed a friendship with Jimmy Hoffa.  How could he possibly do it?  But he does.  Cold…calculated…simple…face to face.  And as Hoffa’s body lay lifeless on the floor, “The Irishman” wipes off the gun and places it on top of the body.  No sense of remorse or sadness - simply a job completed.

Fast forward in the movie - Frank has been sitting in jail on other charges (not the murder of Jimmy Hoffa which remains a mystery to this day).  He outlives all the other mobsters around him and he is finally released from prison - an old, withered man who is disconnected from his family.  As he sits in a nursing home a kindly priest (played by Jonathan Morris) visits Frank.  The movie is told through their conversations.  As the movie comes to a close the priest considers the conversation a “confession” of sorts and provides him with abosultion - the forgiveness of sins.  And therein lies the dilemma:  Was he contrite?  Did he recognize that what his life had become was a path littered with egregious sin after egregious sin?  Was he repentant?  The viewer of the movie is left to decide for themselves.

Which brings us back to us - confession flows out of an understanding that in the midst of our bitter wanderings from God His Grace alone prevails.  The cross of Jesus is the symbol of where the sins of the whole world - yours and mind - no matter how desperate can find their forgiveness.  There are no sweeter words than can be spoken to you than:  Almighty god in His mercy has given His Sio to die for you and for His sake forgives you all your sins…”.  We really don’t know if Frank hears those words as the sweet and personal truth they are to his life…but he’s a character in a movie.  But for you - no matter how dark or afoul you think your sin may be:  Embrace the joy of contrition, confession, and forgiveness…for in so doing, you are free.