Dearly Beloved,
You may know this about me already -- I don't love the questions. Curiosity is not my spiritual gift. I like answers -- preferably the obviously right one so there's no conflict. I like certainty. I like control.
Perhaps this is why I need church so much. Because this is a place where I am invited to live with the questions. To rest in the uncertainty. To contemplate my own lack of control and give thanks for the truth that I was never in control in the first place. These are scary things, at least for me. But I have found my capacity for curiosity, uncertainty, conflict and vulnerability has grown tremendously.
And perhaps it's no wonder! Jesus embraces questions -- often responding to a question with another one. Jesus asks over 400 questions throughout the four tellings of the Gospel good news. And he not only asks questions with words, but his actions call into question all sorts of assumptions, social, religious and even legal norms. His actions call into question rules about sabbath, about work, about rest, about worthiness, about grace, about love and about God.
Lent begins 2 weeks from today, and our Lenten theme "Seeking" invites us to delve into our questions. As the creators of the theme write: "Throughout the turbulence of the past few years, many of us are asking big questions about our lives and our faith. We hope this series will help us unpack some of those big questions in ways that are honest and faithful. Throughout [the Lenten] season, we hope you will continually ask yourself: What am I seeking? What is God seeking?"
What are you seeking? What is God seeking? How is God calling us outside of the comfort of pat answers? How is God calling us beyond silence into the vulnerability of questions? Will we listen? Will we open ourselves up to the possibility that another way awaits us?
So, I haven't known or loved this congregation as long as some of you, but in my experience, I believe we will listen. I believe we will venture into that vulnerability. It may be hard. It may feel like wilderness. It may bring disagreement, conflict and even confrontation. But I am certain that it will also bring growth. It will also bring clarity. It will also shed a light on the Way ahead of us -- a way that perhaps we have not yet walked.
Maybe, just maybe, in this season of Seeking, God will call us home by another way.
With so much love and gratitude, Thandiwe
