Sermon: The Church – always ‘of God’ but never perfect

Posted on January 14, 2023 by Avril Hannah-Jones

This sermon refers to the sexual abuse of children by clergy. If this raises issues for you, remember that you can call Lifeline on 13 11 14.

Reflection for North Balwyn Uniting Church
15th of January 2023

1 Corinthians 1:1-9
John 1:29-42

‘To those who are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints’. Here at the beginning of the new calendar year, our lectionary readings also have a very ‘beginning’ feeling to them. We have Jesus calling his very first disciples, two of whom are initially disciples of John the Baptist, and the third of whom is Simon, renamed Peter by Jesus: emotional, committed, brave, cowardly, and profoundly human. We also have the greeting from Paul’s magnificent First Letter to the church at Corinth. If we ever feel that size, strength, wealth, or unity are necessary to show that the church is on the right path, Paul’s two surviving letters to the Corinthians remind us that the fellowship of Jesus Christ our Lord can be small, weak, poor, and divided, and still be the church of God. Continue reading →

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Sermon: Mutual epiphanies

Posted on January 7, 2023 by Avril Hannah-Jones

Reflection for North Balwyn Uniting Church
Epiphany 2023

Ephesians 3:1-12
Matthew 2:1-12

‘In former generations this mystery was not made known to humankind, as it has now been revealed to his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit’.

An ‘epiphany’ is an illuminating discovery; the sudden perception of an essential meaning; a new understanding that comes from a simple and striking event. The Epiphany, celebrated by the church after the twelve days of Christmas, commemorates the revelation of the Jewish Messiah to Gentiles from the East; the discovery by them that God is present in the child born King of the Jews; a new understanding of the mystery hidden in former generations. As God is revealed to the magi in the child they see with Mary his mother, so the magi, Gentiles, are revealed to be ‘fellow heirs, members of the same body, and sharers in the promise’ that this child’s life, death, and resurrection will bring to the world. Continue reading →

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There is no ‘war on Christianity’ in Australia

Posted on January 5, 2023 by Avril Hannah-Jones

This was going to be in this Sunday’s sermon, but there’s no room for it. But it took me ages to find the correct Synod Minute, so I’m sticking it here so that I will remember it.

There is no ‘war on Christianity’. Christianity is simply losing its privilege. Many Australians are no longer Christian and so we cannot assume that everyone is happy praying the Lord’s Prayer at the beginning of the parliamentary day, for instance. And the Uniting Church has long said that we do not want the right to discriminate against people on the basis of race, disability, age, breastfeeding, industrial activity, status as a carer, physical features, political belief or activity, parental status, pregnancy, gender identity, marital status,  sex, or sexual orientation (Synod of Victoria and Tasmania Minute 10.7.10.2.6) so laws that prevent religious schools from firing LGBTIQ+ staff or expelling LGBTIQ+ students do not worry us.

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Sermon: Christmas Day

Posted on December 24, 2022 by Avril Hannah-Jones

Reflection for North Balwyn Uniting Church
Christmas Day 2022

Psalm 98
Matthew 1:18-25

Today, Christmas Day, we celebrate the birth of Jesus to Mary in Bethlehem. Yesterday we heard Luke’s version of the story, which is the one we know best, with Joseph and Mary having to travel from their home in Nazareth to the City of David, where they found ‘no place for them in the inn’. Luke’s story has angels and shepherds and a happy ending: ‘Mary treasured all these words and pondered them in her heart. The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them.’ (Luke 2:19-20) Matthew’s version of the story[1] is less joyful. Mary and Joseph might be in their own home, rather than on the road unable to find shelter at an inn, and there might be no messy shepherds disturbing their sleep, instead Matthew later tells us that magi from the East came bringing costly gifts, but it is still a dark and dangerous tale. Continue reading →

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Christmas Eve: All hands were drunk

Posted on December 24, 2022 by Avril Hannah-Jones

Reflection for North Balwyn Uniting Church
Christmas Eve 2022

Luke 2:1-14

The first Christmas to be celebrated in Australia was in 1769, onboard Captain Cook’s ship, the Endeavour. According to the journal of Joseph Banks: ‘Christmas day: Our Goose pye was eat with great approbation and in the Evening all hands were as Drunk as our forefathers usd to be upon the like occasion’. The traditional Australian Christmas Day is older than modern Australia.

I love this story, of drunken sailors, because it reminds us that Christmas is not really the sparkly, sanitised, celebration we see on Christmas cards and in television advertisements. The first Christmas would certainly not have been like that. Birth never is; it is sweaty and messy and bloody. Whether Mary gave birth in her own home, as the Gospel according to Matthew suggests, or in a city in which ‘there was no place for them in the inn’ as Luke tells us, it would have been very unlike the placid event suggested by most Nativity scenes. Continue reading →

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Sermon: Joy Sunday

Posted on December 10, 2022 by Avril Hannah-Jones

Reflection for North Balwyn Uniting Church
The Third Sunday of Advent, 11th of December 2022

Luke 1:46b-55
Matthew 11:2-11

Rejoice! Today is ‘Gaudete’ Sunday – Joy Sunday, the only Sunday in the entire liturgical year whose colour is pink. The name comes from the Latin for ‘rejoice in the Lord always’ (Philippians 4:4) – Gaudete in Domino semper. As the church journeys through the rather sombre purple season of Advent, while the world around us starts celebrating Christmas, this third Sunday of Advent can come as a relief. Finally, we are on the same page as the rest of society; we too are celebrating. Continue reading →

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Sermon: Peace Sunday

Posted on December 3, 2022 by Avril Hannah-Jones

Reflection for North Balwyn Uniting Church
4th of December 2022

Isaiah 11:1-10
Matthew 3:1-12

‘You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?’

You know me; I want to preach sermons of love and light, talking about God’s overwhelming, unfathomable, unmerited, inclusive welcome. Give me my choice and I will always choose to preach on passages like those in the First Letter of John: ‘Beloved, let us love one another, because love is from God; everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, for God is love.’ (1 John 4:7-8) As I have said before, God’s love is my comfort zone as a preacher. And yet here we are, the second Sunday of Advent, Peace Sunday, and the lectionary has given us John the Baptist accusing people of being vipers. Continue reading →

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Sermon: Jesus’ female ancestors

Posted on November 26, 2022 by Avril Hannah-Jones

Reflection for the first Sunday of Advent
27th of November, 2022

Matthew 1:1-17

I did something quite dreadful to Kathryn, today’s Bible reader, by asking her to read the very beginning of the Gospel according to Matthew. We are now in a new church year and for the next twelve months we will be listening to Matthew’s telling of the good news of Jesus Christ, but it will not surprise you to learn, having listened to them, that the seventeen verses that Kathryn read this morning are not in the lectionary. Normally we would never hear Jesus’ genealogy read out in church, and obviously I think that is a pity, which is why we have it today.

Only Matthew’s telling of the gospel starts with Jesus’ ancestors. Luke also has a genealogy, but Luke puts it in his third chapter, after all the birth stories have been told, after John has baptised Jesus, and when we are told that Jesus is about thirty years old. Only Matthew begins with this list, which tells us how important Matthew thinks it is. The list is not historical; it is theological. Matthew is telling us that Jesus was the son of Abraham and the son of David. But Matthew also tells us that Jesus is descended from Abraham and David in unusual ways. In this boringly long list of names are some fascinating stories that tell us a lot about who Matthew thinks Jesus is. Continue reading →

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Sermon: Longer than all earthly empires

Posted on November 19, 2022 by Avril Hannah-Jones

Reflection for North Balwyn Uniting Church
The Reign of Christ, 25 November 2022

Jeremiah 23:1-6
Luke 23:33-43

‘[T]he leaders scoffed at him, saying, ‘He saved others; let him save himself if he is the Messiah of God, his chosen one!’ The soldiers also mocked him, coming up and offering him sour wine, and saying, ‘If you are the King of the Jews, save yourself!’

Today, the last Sunday in the church’s year, we celebrate the Feast of Christ the King. We end the liturgical year on a high, acknowledging that Christ rules the world. And yet the Gospel reading for the day comes from the story of the Passion. We celebrate the Reign of Christ by reading about Jesus’ final moments on the cross before his death. This is necessary. We as human beings have such a tendency to respect power, to admire strength, to appreciate success, to celebrate wealth and influence. If you think that you are beyond such temptations, ask yourself: are you excited to meet your favourite footballer, or actor, or author? Have you ever been sad at the death of a public figure whom you have never met in person? Have you found yourself defending a politician against criticism simply because they are from ‘your side’ of politics? In my case, I confess, I get a fillip whenever a ‘blue tick’ author or journalist or comedian follows me on Twitter. I am not immune from valuing the famous more than the anonymous. Continue reading →

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Sermon: The Peaceable Kingdom

Posted on November 12, 2022 by Avril Hannah-Jones

Reflection for North Balwyn Uniting Church
13th of November 2022

Isaiah 65:17-25
Isaiah 12
Luke 21:5–19

“[T]hey will arrest you and persecute you; they will hand you over to synagogues and prisons … You will be betrayed even by parents and brothers, by relatives and friends; and they will put some of you to death. You will be hated by all because of my name.”

What a cheery beginning to a Reflection! Sorry about that; Jesus can be quite confronting when he wants to be. As I have said before, here in Australia we do not face the actual persecution that Christians have experienced in other times, or are experiencing even now in other countries. But what we are doing here this morning is profoundly counter-cultural in Australia, the country I have described as ‘the place that religions come to die’. To begin with, we are gathering in community because we believe that this community is a place to encounter God. I suspect that if we asked most Australians where they encountered God, they would tell us that they found God by the sea, on the mountain, in the bush, or in the rugged red heart of the country. They might say that they encounter God in the love of family and friends; in the curl of a new-born baby’s hand around their finger; in the smile of a 90-year-old. Very few Australians would say that they encounter God when gathered with a motley crew of ordinary people in a suburban church on a Sunday morning. That is if they even believe there is a ‘God’ to be encountered at all. Continue reading →

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