This Lent (March 5-April 19), we follow the Sanctified Art series “Everything in Between,” an invitation to navigate the polarities in our lives, like “faith & works” or “rest & growth,” or “grief & hope.” We will continue to follow Jesus’ ministry in the Gospel of Luke and imagine together where God can meet us “in between.” In it all we acknowledge complexity in our spiritual lives, that God shows up in shades of gray, rainbow hues and everywhere in between.
Whom would you go out of your way to help rescue from harm?
Whom would you NEVER want to help, regardless of the circumstances?
When have you had opportunities to help someone in need? What caused you to say YES? or NO?
On Sunday, we’ll look once again at the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:25-37), one of the best-known parables in all of scripture. It was Jesus’ answer to a cheeky young legal scholar about how to gain eternal life.
Something that is often lost on us in a 21st-century reading is that there was great ethnic and cultural enmity between Judeans and Samaritans. The fact that a Samaritan helped a Judean was the shocker in Jesus’ story.
For a lot of us, the modern-day Samaritan might be a Ku Klux Klan member, a Proud Boy or a MAGA diehard. Think about it. The story begs the question: who is my neighbor? and who is the stranger whom I need to see as my neighbor?
Come Sunday to provoke faithfully and to remember what Jesus asks of us. I’m going to attempt to help us see the Good Samaritan in a new way.
In faith,
Kent
Lent 2025 Theme: “Everything [in] Between”
Ash Wednesday – Intention & Action
March 9 – Faith & Works
March 16 – Stranger & Neighbor
March 23 – Rest & Growth
March 30 – Lost & Found
April 6 – Righteousness & Mercy
April 13 – Shouting & Silence
Maundy Thursday – Power & Humility
Good Friday – Acceptance & Resistance
Easter Sunday – Grief & Hope
