Sermon: Our God doesn’t murder children!

Posted on September 9, 2023 by Avril Hannah-Jones

Reflection for North Balwyn Uniting Church
10th of September 2023

Exodus 12:1-14

Later this month I am going to be a guest on a podcast that will talk about a book written by comic fantasy author Terry Pratchett. If you enjoy fantasy and have never read Pratchett’s Discworld series, you are seriously missing out. They are brilliant and laugh-out-loud funny. However, the book I have been asked to read is the fourth in a ‘Science of Discworld’ series, which has alternate non-fiction chapters written by two scientists, Ian Stewart and Jack Cohen, and it is driving me mad. The theme is set by a quote at the beginning: ‘Philosophy is questions that may never be answered. Religion is answers that may never be questioned.’ Stewart and Cohen argue that religion argues for something called ‘belief’ which is based on faith, as opposed to scientific truth which is based on evidence, and say that science and religion will never be reconcilable until religions discard the supernatural.[1] They compare the scientific method with what they believe religions do: scientists accumulate knowledge by trying to prove themselves wrong, while, ‘few faith-based systems advocate self-doubt as a desirable instrument of change.’[2] Continue reading →

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Sermon: In which Avril confesses her besetting sin

Posted on September 2, 2023 by Avril Hannah-Jones

Reflection for North Balwyn Uniting Church
3rd of September 2023

Romans 12:9-21

‘Live in harmony with one another; do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly; do not claim to be wiser than you are.’

It is awful when the Bible convicts you of your besetting sin. I can read the many biblical commands in both the Hebrew and Greek scriptures to share what I have with the poor and to welcome the stranger unperturbed because I do seek to do those things. I read Jesus commanding us to love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us with some discomfort because I know I frequently fail, but at least I am trying. And I have found that pausing to pray for any misogynists and homophobes attacking me does at the least calm me down. But 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 a number (small or large) of the rest of the Australian population. On this count, Paul has got me bang to rights. Continue reading →

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Sermon: Righteous Outlaws

Posted on August 26, 2023 by Avril Hannah-Jones

Reflection for North Balwyn Uniting Church
27th of August 2023

Exodus 1:8 – 2:10

I recently had a conversation with the psychologist I see about whether she and I can break the law. She cannot. If she wants to keep her registration as a psychologist she must not have a criminal record. I, on the other hand, can. The Uniting Church Code of Ethics and Ministry Practice says that, ‘It is unethical for Ministers to deliberately break the law or encourage another to do so. The only exception would be in instances of political resistance or civil disobedience’. (Code of Ethics 6.2) This is not because the Uniting Church wants its ministers to be less law-abiding than the Psychology Board expects of its psychologists. It is because of Nazi Germany and apartheid South Africa. The Uniting Church knows that not all laws are good ones. As I have preached before, if our allegiance to God comes into conflict with our allegiance to the state, then sometimes the only God-fearing thing to do is become an outlaw. Continue reading →

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Sermon: Joseph’s Princess Dress

Posted on August 18, 2023 by Avril Hannah-Jones

Reflection for North Balwyn Uniting Church
20th of August 2023

Genesis 45:1-15

Normally when today’s readings appear in the Revised Common Lectionary, I preach on the gospel. How could I not focus on the story of the incredibly brave Canaanite woman who approached Jesus on behalf of her daughter, ‘tormented by a demon’ which I read as being mentally ill, and argued him into a wider appreciation of his mission? But last year I discovered something new about what I thought was the very well-known story of Joseph and his brothers, and decided that I must share it with you.

We only have two readings from the story of Joseph, son of Jacob and Rachel, in the lectionary, the story we heard last week of Joseph being sold into slavery by his brothers, and the reading we hear today. Let me try and summarise seven chapters of Genesis (and a two-hour musical) in a few minutes. Continue reading →

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Sermon: In a boat battered by the wind and waves

Posted on August 12, 2023 by Avril Hannah-Jones

Reflection for North Balwyn Uniting Church
6th of August 2023

Matthew 14:22-33

‘But immediately Jesus spoke to them and said, “Take heart, it is I; do not be afraid.”’

Thirty-one years ago I was studying first year law and second year history. Both those degrees were teaching me how to analyse documents, which led to me having lots of discussions with my then-flatmate, the daughter of a Uniting Church minister, about how I could possibly continue to read the Bible as ‘unique prophetic and apostolic testimony’ (Paragraph Five of the Basis of Union) rather than simply as a collection of historical documents to be scrutinised in exactly the same way that I was learning to investigate the Babylonian Enūma Eliš or Donoghue v Stevenson, the 1932 case that created the law of negligence. In one of these discussions, 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”.

I have held on to Matthew 14:27, ‘Take heart, it is I; do not be afraid,’ over the past thirty-one years, along with the awareness that I would miss Jesus if I ever gave up my faith. Continue reading →

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Sermon: Wrestling with God

Posted on August 3, 2023 by Avril Hannah-Jones

Reflection for North Balwyn Uniting Church
6th of August 2023

Genesis 32:22-31

Today’s story from the Hebrew Scriptures is one of my favourites, it was read at the service at which the Presbytery ordained me, and Jacob is one of the biblical characters with whom I most empathise. That may seem strange, I hope it seems strange, given what we know of Jacob’s life and general bad behaviour. In these weeks of Ordinary Time the lectionary leads us through this story, but I have been focusing on Paul’s Letter to the Romans instead, so here is what we have missed: edited highlights from the life of Jacob, son of Isaac.

Rebekah, the wife of Isaac son of Abraham, was barren until Isaac prayed for her and God granted his prayer. Rebekah conceived not one baby, but two, and the twins struggled in her womb until she asked: ‘If it is to be this way, why do I live?’ The Lord answered her: ‘Two nations are in your womb, and two peoples born of you shall be divided; one shall be stronger than the other, the elder shall serve the younger.’ When the two children were born, the younger came out gripping his brother’s heel, so they called him Jacob, which means ‘He takes by the heel’ or ‘He supplants’. Jacob was a trickster and a troublemaker from his conception. (Genesis 25:19-26)

Continue reading →
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Sermon: I really do love the Apostle Paul!

Posted on July 29, 2023 by Avril Hannah-Jones

Reflection for North Balwyn Uniting Church
30th of July 2023

Romans 8:26-39
Matthew 13:31-33, 44-52

‘Neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.’

I do love the writings of the Apostle Paul. Not all of them, of course; as I said last week I am not a fan of him telling women to be silent in church (1 Corinthians 14:34) but for those of us living in the ‘in-between time’, the time between the resurrection of Christ and his return, Paul offers constant encouragement. As I said last week, in Christ we have seen what God’s new world will look like when it comes, a world of love, freedom, and life over death, and so we groan inwardly when love is absent, freedom is taken away, and life is shortened. In response to our groaning, Paul reassures us that the Spirit is groaning with us and that if God is for us, it does not matter who may be against us. Continue reading →

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Sermon: Why I’m a fan of the Apostle Paul

Posted on July 22, 2023 by Avril Hannah-Jones

Reflection for North Balwyn Uniting Church
23rd of July 2023

Romans 8:12-25

“All who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God. For you did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received a spirit of adoption. When we cry, ‘Abba! Father!’ it is that very Spirit bearing witness with our spirit that we are children of God”.

A fortnight ago I said of the Apostle Paul that sometimes he seems to just get it, and all that I can say when I read him is ‘Yes!’ That was about his confession of his human sinfulness: ‘For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I do’. I still want to say ‘Yes!’ to Paul, today, but I may need to take some time to explain why. Continue reading →

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Sermon: “Hello, my name is Paul and I’m a sinner”

Posted on July 8, 2023 by Avril Hannah-Jones

Reflection for North Balwyn Uniting Church
The Sixth Sunday after Pentecost, 9th of July 2023

Romans 7:15-25a
Matthew 11:16-19, 25-30

Sometimes I read the writings of the Apostle Paul and all I can say in response to them is: ‘Yes!’ Sometimes Paul just gets it – and today is one of those days. When Paul writes: ‘I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate,’ and ‘For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I do,’ all I can do is nod my head in sad agreement. Paul is right. And he was not alone in saying this. In this part of his letter to the Romans Paul is echoing something that was a commonplace in the ancient world. The Roman poet Ovid wrote the most famous version of it: ‘I see the better way and I approve it; but I follow the worse.’ It is just part of what it means to be human. We know what we should do; but we do not do it. We want to be good and obey God’s law, but we find that we fail. It is a universal problem. Continue reading →

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Sermon: In which Avril temporarily agrees with Richard Dawkins

Posted on July 1, 2023 by Avril Hannah-Jones

Reflection for North Balwyn Uniting Church
2nd of July, 2023

Genesis 22:1-14

What on earth can we do with today’s reading from the Book of Genesis, the binding of Isaac? The Revised Common Lectionary, which leaves out other stories in Genesis like the rape of Dinah and the revenge taken by her brothers (Genesis 34:1-31), the attempt by the men of Sodom to rape two of God’s messengers (Genesis 19:1-11), and the incest between a drunken Lot and his two daughters that was the origin of the people of Moab and Ammon (Genesis 19:30-38), includes this passage of attempted child sacrifice for our instruction. The Bible has many stories that are distinctly unedifying, I am completely unsurprised that a parent tried to get it banned from a school in Utah as unsuitable for children, but the lectionary passes over most of them in silence, and we never hear them read out in church. Why is this story part of the lectionary? I would argue that child murder, even when prevented at the last minute, is at least as abhorrent as rape and incest. There is little on which I agree with celebrity atheist Richard Dawkins, but I do mostly agree with his comment in The God Delusion that: ‘this disgraceful story is an example simultaneously of child abuse, bullying in two asymmetrical power relationships, and the first recorded use of the Nuremberg defence: “I was only obeying orders”. Yet the legend is one of the great foundational myths of all three monotheistic religions.’ Where I differ from Dawkins is on the latter point. He suggests that Jews, Christians, and Muslims blithely read this story as foundational, thus accepting child abuse, bullying, and blind obedience as part of our faith. The absolute opposite is true. Continue reading →

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