Between the vestibule and the altar
    let the priests, the ministers of the Lord, weep
and say, “Spare your people, O Lord,
    and make not your heritage a reproach,
    a byword among the nations.
Why should they say among the peoples,
    ‘Where is their God?’” (Joel 2:17, ESV)

It seems to be a theme this week… and should have been long before. “Dealing with sin.”

But with the horrific news of several Catholic dioceses in Pennsylvania this week and the situation at Willow Creek spilling over more last week, here is what we do not need: more analysis. Not one more committee meeting. Not one more policy manual rewrite. Not. One.

What is needed is repentance. Repentance is not sorrow over “getting caught”. Repentance is sorrow over breaking the heart of God. If we do not sense the broken heart of God on this… we may need to get our faith pulses checked. We need a cry out of the depths of our souls as the Church in America.

“Not my brother, not my sister, but it’s me, O Lord, standin’ in the need of prayer.”

Let the ministers of the Lord weep.

Could we not sense the heartbreak of God over racism?

Could we not sense the heartbreak of God over abuse of power?

Could we not sense the heartbreak of God over sexual abuse?

Don’t televise it. Don’t record it. But let the leaders of the Church stand in the place of the sanctuary… or fall to their faces in the presence of the Lord… and cry out, “Forgive us, O God!”

This isn’t a time for “action” per se as much as it is a time to mourn. To weep. To repent.