Author Archives: Avril Hannah-Jones
Sermon: It’s not the Rapture
I have wondered whether it makes sense to preach hope and a God of love in such a world. But then I remember that the world has always been like this, and that the church not merely can but must preach hope and a God of love through every crisis. Continue reading
Sermon: We will not use the Bible to justify genocide
Reflection for North Balwyn Uniting Church 5th of November 2023 Joshua 3:7-17 Matthew 23:1-12 Members of this congregation have occasionally asked me why I always preach on a Bible reading from the Revised Common Lectionary. One answer is that by … Continue reading
Sermon: There is always enough
Pharoah’s world was one of scarcity, in which the people of Israel had to work without ceasing and make bricks without straw. The Lord’s world is one of abundance, in which everyone has enough, and rest is an essential part of life. Continue reading
Sermon: No peace without forgiveness
But, as always when I preach about forgiveness, I want to warn about forgiveness that is offered too easily. We know only too well that throughout history the church has demanded that victims forgive their abusers, even if those abusers continue to abuse. Continue reading
Sermon: Our God doesn’t murder children!
Christians believe that in Jesus the God who is on the side of the poor and oppressed became one of the poor and oppressed, and was executed by an occupying power in solidarity with all those tortured and killed by military dictatorships. The God who freed the slaves and led them from Egypt is the God who raised Jesus from the dead in the world’s most pointed act of civil disobedience. Continue reading
Sermon: In which Avril confesses her besetting sin
today we hear the Apostle Paul telling the Christians in Rome not to be haughty and not to claim to be wiser than they are – and ouch! If there is any sin of which I am consistently guilty it is being haughty about my intellect and my education. I do not know whether I claim to be wiser than I am, but I frequently claim to be wiser than most of the Australian population. On this count, Paul has got me bang to rights. Continue reading
Sermon: Righteous Outlaws
Together, the Hebrew midwives, Pharaoh’s daughter, the daughter of Levi who is Moses’ mother, and the girl who is the baby’s sister and his mother’s daughter, have disobeyed Pharaoh and saved Moses from death. Because of their actions, Moses will grow up to become the liberator of his people and their great lawgiver. If the Pharaoh had really wanted to destroy the Hebrews he should not have overlooked the women, because it is their acts of civil disobedience that change history. Continue reading
Sermon: Joseph’s Princess Dress
We know that God always makes use of the last and least for God’s purposes. That the nation of Israel came from the younger brother, Jacob, rather than elder brother Esau, is one example of that. What the story of Joseph tells us is that these ‘last and least’ have included someone whose gender could be described, in twenty-first century terms, as non-binary, maybe someone like the drag queens who mobs are now protesting against here in Melbourne. Among its other messages Joseph’s story reminds us that is room for everyone, of every gender, and in every style of dress, in the community that Archbishop Desmond Tutu described as ‘the rainbow people of God’. Continue reading
Sermon: In a boat battered by the wind and waves
I said that the Bible remained important to me, but I did not think I could just pick a verse, “like Matthew 14:27,” I said, making up a verse at random, and have it mean something for my life. A little later in the conversation my flatmate and I decided just to have a look and see what Matthew 14:27 said, and we found that Matthew 14:27 is the verse I just quoted. It could not have been more relevant to a discussion in which I had confessed that I was finding the one holy catholic and apostolic church deeply problematic as I learned more of its history, but that I could not bear to leave Christianity because if I did “I would miss Jesus”. Continue reading
Sermon: Wrestling with God
What does it mean to be those who struggle with God? For me, it means that I am never going to wake up one day to find that God has miraculously cured me, and I am no longer mentally ill. It does mean, though, that as I go limping through life with a brain that is sometimes broken I know that I do so accompanied by the God who also blesses me. Continue reading
Rev Doc Geek 