22 February 2012

Once again we move into the season of repentance, reflection and preparation for the journey to the cross and beyond. Like Advent, Lent was a season of preparation for baptismal candidates (who were baptised on Easter Sunday). For us now, although we may not be receiving baptism in a few weeks time, the disciplines of Lent remain a profound invitation to allow God’s life and values to direct our lives. As we receive the ash on our foreheads today, may it be more than just a ritual, but a reminder that all that is not rooted in God’s Reign ultimately becomes ash, but with God’s life at work within us, we are more than just dust – we are the children of God.

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26 February 2012

We often talk about God’s Reign in human terms – what it means for us, how it affects us. This first Sunday in Lent, though, at the start of our penitent journey of preparation for Holy Week and Easter, we are invited to expand our vision of God’s Reign and recognise that it embraces all of creation, and that it whispers of a connectedness between all things that, once we embrace it, is truly world-changing.

May our worship and our penitence open our eyes to the connectedness of all creation.

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We live in a world that doesn’t particularly enjoy self-examination or facing our own shadows. There is much that would call us to think about life, our potential, and reaching for our dreams, but very little to call us to see ourselves truly and confront those thing within us that are destructive. This is why we need times like Ash Wednesday. Although it may be painful to acknowledge our brokenness, our selfishness and our capacity for destruction, ultimately life can only be found by traveling through this “valley of the shadow of death”. So, Ash Wednesday is not just a day of repentance and solemnity. It is also a day of celebration and possibility – the possibility of life in abundance.

May our repentance and honesty lead us to life as we worship this day.

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The Lenten journey has sometimes come to be thought of as a time of “giving things up”. This is a rather domesticated way of thinking of the disciplines which are the true characterisation of this season. The disciplines of Lent (fasting, prayer and giving – including giving of oneself in service) are really tools to enable us to deal with the big three temptations that we all face – sex, power and money. These were, essentially, the temptation that Jesus had to face, and the Lenten disciplines enable us to learn from Jesus how to render these temptations powerless in our own lives. This, first Sunday in Lent, gives us the opportunity to confront these temptations head on, and make the commitment to follow Jesus in the Lenten disciplines for the next few weeks.

May our worship today empower us to do the work of becoming more Christ-like.

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