In the 46 days before Easter, the church has traditionally set aside the season of Lent to prepare ourselves for Good Friday and to reflect on our sins, the sins of our societies, and the weight of Jesus’ sacrifice on our behalf. Throughout this season, people might fast, abstain from certain foods (most often meat, eggs, and dairy), spend more time in prayer, and take on various other spiritual practices. Because the season is centered around penitence, it is also traditional to refrain from using the word “alleluia.” (You might notice that we will be singing a different doxology throughout Lent; that is in order to avoid singing “alleluia.”)
The season of Lent challenges us to ask ourselves how closely we are willing to follow Jesus on his journey to the cross. Will we walk alongside that kind of suffering? Will we trail anxiously behind? Will we turn our heads and talk about something more “pleasant”? Will we talk louder and faster to drown out Jesus’ words when he tries to tell us what is coming? Will we be willing to allow the journey to change us? Who or what will we find along the way?
In this season, we are once again partnering with A Sanctified Art for one of their worship series. You might remember that for the past three Lenten series, we have used their series “Full to the Brim” (2022), “Again & Again” (2021), and “Into the Wilderness” (2020). This year’s Lenten series is called “Seeking“. Here is how the Sanctified Art team describes the theme they decided on for 2023s, as they read and reflected on this year’s readings:
The lectionary for Year A offers us many stories of Jesus encountering people who are seeking: Nicodemus comes to him 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 crafted a Lenten series founded on questions. Many of our 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 series 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, we invite you 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.”