The Lord’s Table is the place where we are to overflow with gratitude and thanksgiving. It is not a time for us to curl up into a little ball of sorrow or remorse. If there has been sin in your life, and of course there has, then there are other times to deal with that. You wash your hands before you come to the table, not at the table.
You should deal with sin in your life as it happens. When you sin, confess it immediately. Do not wait for it to accumulate in your life. Do not postpone confession until this service in order to confess in our time set-aside for confession. Confess sin during the week, and put things right with others as soon as possible.
But if you have (sinfully) postponed confession until today, then confess your sins at the beginning of the service. If something occurs to you, and you remember an unconfessed sin this morning, then do confess it at the beginning of the service.
And if you have struggled to the point where you come to this Table, and your hands are still dirty, then of course, confess your sins now. But add an additional sin that you should confess—you have disrupted a time of Eucharistic gladness and sought to make it a time of private penitence and sorrow. Such penitence is better than defiling the Supper, but at the same time, such penitence as a regular feature of this meal is itself another kind of defilement.
It is a particularly dangerous form of defilement, because people think that it is holy. This is always the case. If you have lied, or stolen, or been immoral, and then come here to partake, the whole world understands that hypocrisy. But you sought to come to this meal every time as a self-condemning head case, you would be urged on in this great sin by a good part of the Christian church. Do not do it! Christ has died, and you are forgiven. Christ has risen, and you are justified.