by Pastor Gretchen Mertes

Our Lenten scripture readings offer us many stories of Jesus encountering people who are seeking: 

• Nicodemus comes to Jesus in the veil of night, 
• He approaches a Samaritan woman at a well, 
• He heals a man born without sight. 

In these stories, each person is seeking a new beginning, a different life, a deeper faith. What unfolds is an exchange filled with questions and exploration. Often, an unveiling occurs—assumptions are disrupted, a new perspective is revealed, mystery grows.

And so, we’ve found a Lenten series founded on questions from “A Sanctified Art.” Many of the weekly questions feel restorative (“Can these bones live?”). Some feel like a charge or challenge (“Who will you listen to?”). Some questions are hopeful and curious (“How do we begin again?”). Our questions won’t necessarily lead to answers, but they can help us find clarity and a new perspective. Ultimately, we pray they lead to a new beginning, a restoration, a wider grace.

Like the characters in our Lenten scriptures, we are also seeking many things: clarity, connection, wonder, justice, balance. We are seeking our calling, the sacred, and how to live as a disciple. Throughout the turbulence of the past few years, many of us are asking big questions about our lives and our faith. If you are returning to church, you are probably returning with more questions and a critical lens. We hope this theme will help us unpack some of those big questions in ways that are honest and faithful. 

Throughout this season, we hope you will continually ask yourself: What am I seeking? What is God seeking?

This Lent, your invited to engage in the spiritual practice of seeking. We encourage you to stay curious, open, and nimble. We hope you will soften your assumptions and expand your perspectives. We pray that these questions will create a safe space to explore—to be drawn more deeply into the fullness of life, into the heart of God.