Tag Archives: Abraham

Sermon: In which Avril temporarily agrees with Richard Dawkins

Let the horror that this story of the binding of Isaac provokes in us remind us that the sacrifice of children is never justified. Let our answer to every such ‘test’ be to protect the innocent, even when the powers that be tell us they must be sacrificed. That is the only responsible reading of this story, and the only way in which it can be foundational for our faith. Continue reading

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Sermon: Even if we can’t raise the dead

When we worry that our own mission is a failure, we must also remember the failures of these very first missionaries, those who walked with Jesus himself. Judas betrayed Jesus, the rest deserted him, and they later failed to convince most Jews that Christian Judaism was the best way to carry on the Jewish tradition after the destruction of the Temple. Continue reading

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Sermon: “All shall be well”

As we lament over the pain of the world, and pray for its healing, as well as doing our own small part towards caring for the vulnerable, we can hold on to the reassurance offered to us by a fourteenth-century mystic. Because we know that at the core of the universe is love, we believe that ‘all will be well and all will be well and all manner of thing will be well’. Continue reading

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Sermon: A test Abraham failed?

Sermon for Williamstown Sunday the 29th of June, 2014 Genesis 22:1-14 What on earth can we do with today’s reading from the book of Genesis, the Akedah or binding of Isaac? The Revised Common Lectionary, which leaves out other stories … Continue reading

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