Author Archives: Avril Hannah-Jones

Sermon: Crazy brave hope

Posted on September 28, 2025 by Avril Hannah-Jones

It could be argued that Australia as we know it, and our presence here today, is at least partly a result of the biblical narratives of the Exodus and the Babylonian Exile; that, like modern Israel and modern Palestine, modern Australia is a product of the Hebrew Scriptures. Continue reading →

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Sermon: “Stop all the clocks …”

Posted on September 14, 2025 by Avril Hannah-Jones

Reflection for North Balwyn Uniting Church 14th of September, 2025 Jeremiah 4:11-12, 22-28 Have any of you read Richard Osman’s Thursday Murder Club series? If not, I highly recommend them. The books follow Joyce, Elizabeth, Ron, and Ibrahim, who live … Continue reading →

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Resolution on non-violent anti-genocide action

Posted on September 3, 2025 by Avril Hannah-Jones

At the eighteenth meeting of the Uniting Church Synod of Victoria and Tasmania, Rev. Alex Sangster and I presented a proposal condemning antisemitic acts in Australia, while pointing out that protesting genocide is not antisemitic and encouraging members of the Uniting Church in Victoria and Tasmania to do so. The proposal was passed without amendment. This is the text of that proposal, the rationale for it, and the words of the speech I made presenting it. Continue reading →

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Sermon: The jeremiads of Jeremiah

Posted on August 24, 2025 by Avril Hannah-Jones

There is much discussion today about the right of nation states to exist. What a difference it would make in the world if we agreed with the Hebrew prophets that only those nations whose citizens act justly one with another, those nations that do not oppress the alien, the orphan, and the widow, those nations that do not shed innocent blood, have the ‘right’ to dwell peaceably in their lands. Continue reading →

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Sermon: My great-grandfather’s “true Jewishness”

Posted on August 10, 2025 by Avril Hannah-Jones

This message is clear: to be the people of God, it is not enough to worship God. To truly belong to God, the people of God must also live out their calling in justice and in caring for those most in need. Continue reading →

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Sermon: Collective responsibility, if not collective punishment

Posted on August 3, 2025 by Avril Hannah-Jones

In Hosea’s portrayal of God, God is the good and caring parent who watches a beloved child become a difficult adolescent and make the wrong choices. Continue reading →

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Sermon: Give Gazans their necessary bread!

Posted on July 27, 2025 by Avril Hannah-Jones

It has been hard to think about daily necessary bread this week, while seeing the images of skeletal children starving in Gaza. I will not show them to you, because they are simply too graphic for church. Charities have been warning the world of this impending human-created disaster for months; now Palestinians are dying daily of hunger. More than a thousand Palestinians have been killed trying to access the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, whose name is bitterly ironic. Continue reading →

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Ilan Pappe on the weaponisation of anti-S-m-t-sm

Posted on July 23, 2025 by Avril Hannah-Jones

Are you wondering where the Special Envoy to Combat Antisemitism Jillian Segal ‘s ridiculous Report came from? (I am not going to argue whether or not the Report is ridiculous. Read Louise Chappell, Richard Flanagan, Ronni Salt, Denis Muller, Nick Feik, Nasser Mashni, the staff of the Canberra Times, and Michael West.  Why is one of the most privileged minorities in Australia now claiming to be the most vilified? (I wouldn’t dare claim that Australian Jews are a privileged minority – I will leave that up to Jewish Australian Robert Manne.)

A recent book by renowned Israeli historian Ilan Pappe, Lobbying for Zionism on Both Sides of the Atlantic (London: Oneworld, 2024) provides clues. But this excellent book is more than 500 pages long – here is what he says about the way the Israel lobby weaponises anti-Semitism.  Continue reading →

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Sermon: As I have said before, economics are theological

Posted on July 20, 2025 by Avril Hannah-Jones

I do not believe in a God who destroys nations for their wrongdoing. I do believe that the words of Amos are a warning to any nation that might believe it has God on its side, or in today’s terms, that it is a virtuously liberal democracy, and yet commits injustice against the most vulnerable. Continue reading →

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Sermon: Casting the first stone

Posted on July 6, 2025 by Avril Hannah-Jones

There are few things harder than forgiving those who have done wrong, whether they have harmed us or others. For many of us, there is nothing harder than forgiving ourselves when we know we have done wrong. I suspect that the two are connected, and that the people who judge others most harshly are those who are most unable to forgive themselves. Continue reading →

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