Author Archives: Avril Hannah-Jones
Sermon: Jesus IS a wishy-washy liberal
Reflection for North Balwyn Uniting ChurchLent 2, 16th of March 2025 Luke 13:31-35Philippians 3:17-4:1 ‘Their end is destruction; their god is the belly; and their glory is in their shame; their minds are set on earthly things.’ If you have … Continue reading
Sermon: Giving into Temptation
We all face times of trial. We are all tested. The forty days of Lent, spent in self-examination and repentance, by prayer and fasting, by self-denial and acts of generosity, and by reading and meditating on the word of God, provide us in practice not giving in to temptation. Lent trains us to resist temptation’s wheedling ways. Continue reading
Sermon: The Glorious Impossible of the Transfiguration
God alone is the Holy One, and we are called to imitate God’s holiness. God’s glory is far beyond humanity, and we are being transformed into the same image. In Jesus so many boundaries are overcome, and the greatest of them is the division between humanity and God. In the words of L’Engle, we cannot make God’s mighty actions comprehensible to our finite minds. But we can ‘choose to live by the most glorious impossibles,’ in the freedom of the Spirit, with hope and great boldness, because God is with us and we are in God. Continue reading
Baptism and the ‘Sermon on the Plain’
Reflection for North Balwyn Uniting Church23rd of February 2025 Luke 6:27-38 This is going to be a short Reflection, because today we have the joy of baptizing Cassandra and Margaret, and in the very act of baptism the gospel, the … Continue reading
Sermon: Are we trees planted by water or shrubs in the desert? Both!
Maybe the division that Jesus makes in his Sermon between the poor and the rich, the hungry and the filled, those who weep and those who laugh, those who receive praise and those who are rejected, is not just a distinction between two groups of people. Maybe this division is also within us. Maybe we are both the tree planted by water and the shrub in the desert. Continue reading
Sermon: Jesus, Jeremiah, and answering God’s call
Today the scripture has been fulfilled. That ‘today’ is still ours. How are we going to respond to the God who comes today, who calls us today, who brings liberation today? To borrow some words from Rabbie Burns, ‘Now’s the day, an’ now’s the hour’. How are we going to answer God’s call? Continue reading
The Apostles’ Creed
Reflection for North Balwyn Uniting Church Baptism of Jesus, 12th of January, 2025 The Apostles’ Creed In the Ordination Charge that ministers receive one of the things the Uniting Church tells us is: ‘You will receive the Apostles’ and Nicene … Continue reading
Epiphany: Inclusion versus Exclusion
There are two ways in which humans have responded to the certainty that they are the people of God. The first is to see this as justification for rejecting or oppressing all those not considered to be God’s people, claiming that this is God’s will. In one of Balaam’s prophecies he says, ‘God, who brings [Israel] out of Egypt, is like the horns of a wild ox for him; he shall devour the nations that are his foes and break their bones. He shall strike with his arrows.’ (Numbers 24:8) We know the damage done throughout history, the destruction still happening today, because people believe that their foes are God’s foes and that God fights in their wars. Continue reading
Christmas Reflections: Remembering Bethlehem, Seeking Peace
… as Christians we still have a duty to speak up against war crimes, racism, and injustice, even if that means we are accused of antisemitism or of being on the side of terrorists. If we are to celebrate Christmas and sing carols with integrity then we must speak up against all violence in the Holy Land, even if our calls for peace are misinterpreted or misrepresented. Continue reading
The Magnificat and Micah: Love Through Justice
It is interesting that we hear her song on the Sunday of Advent when we celebrate love, because just as it can be hard to see love in all Micah’s condemnations and warnings, it can sometimes be hard to see love in the scattering of the proud, the bringing down of the powerful, and the rich being sent away empty – especially when we are the rich. But as African American theologian Cornel West says, ‘justice is what love looks like in public’. When Micah and Mary prophecy justice, they are speaking of love. Continue reading
Rev Doc Geek 