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"Today we gather to receive ashes by the Cenotaph, a monument to honour those who have died in war. Pouring ashes on one’s head was once a sign of public sorrow and repentance. What does it mean to us here and now?

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Today we begin Lent, that period of 40 days that takes us on a journey through to Easter. As disciples of Jesus, our custom is to engage in almsgiving, prayer and fasting as signs that we are prepared to take seriously the next part of the journey. We hear the words, ‘Turn away from sin and be faithful to the Gospel’. Ashes remind us that on our journey together we have a common bond as we take seriously our work of transforming social reality.

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Today as we begin Lent, we take notice of where sin is in ourselves, our country, and our world. The popular media tells us of family violence, of bombings in Thailand, hunger in Mozambique, of daily deaths from war in Iraq, possible war in Iran, of the rapidly escalating environmental crisis.

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We look beyond the popular media and learn that 1/3 of all Iraqis live in poverty, that Palestinians are virtual prisoners, that war and hunger in Darfur continue at crisis levels, that low-paid workers in Aotearoa New Zealand struggle to make ends meet, that the Treaty of Waitangi does not yet mean partnership, that the media is silenced in Guinea, that the poor will suffer the most from the environmental crisis, that the ageing-in-place policy in ANZ has many gaps, that our young people are often troubled, that crime is a community problem, and that tonight the 2nd reading of the Easter Trading Bill begins in parliament.

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We have listened to the reading from Isaiah. They are hard words. Worship is not just about God and me. Worship requires us to remove chains, free the abused, share our food, home, and clothes. It is time to notice anew where sin is, how systems oppress, and to listen to what the Word of God calls us to. Isaiah says that God will always protect and guide us and make us healthy. Jesus lived out the words of Isaiah. Jesus came so that we might all have life, and Jesus always put the poor at the centre of his concerns.

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It is easy to go through life and not notice what is going on around us, not wonder what God demands of us now, not pause to assess the present. Lent is time to renew our commitment to take part in building the new kindom that God wants. We have Jesus as our model, and one another as companions. We will receive ashes – that affirms we are nothing if not God’s people.

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Let us pray in silence that we may notice the many faces of violence, that we accept the need to change, and listen to God who gifts us with a new invitation to live and love a different way, in which the harder nonviolence replaces violence."

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ENDS