Transparent - Pastor's Pen for 1st March 2026

As I run or walk through Centennial Park, I often see this image of a Wētā carved into a park bench. You can see right through it, because it is simply a hole with legs and antennae added. On our Lenten journey I invite you to consider the 'rich young ruler' we meet in several of the gospels. In his conversation with Jesus, he claimed to have kept all the commandments of God since his youth.

"Jesus, looking at him, loved him and said, ‘You lack one thing; go, sell what you own, and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me.’ When he heard this, he was shocked and went away grieving, for he had many possessions." (Mark 10: 21-22 NRSV)

Bryan Stevenson writes; "The true measure of our character is how we treat the poor, the disfavoured, the accused, the incarcerated and the condemned."

Jesus saw into this man's heart fully, he saw right through him as easily as I can look through the Wētā at the ground under the seat. And still, he loved him. As we journey to Easter, are we willing to embrace transparency with God, abandoning any facade we might present to the world? None of us are the same, each one will have something different that we would prefer to retain autonomy over, rather than give it to God. God loves us anyway, with a love wide and deep. Lent gives us permission to bring all of ourself to God, safe in the knowledge of the vastness of God's love.