When life feels out of control, does that mean God is absent? Or does it mean we are looking in the wrong place?
Rev Pam Hynd's sermon for Pentecost 9 (Ordinary 17)
Where do you go when you want to be with God? Where do you go when you want to get away from God? Where do you look for wisdom? And for hope? What is all this suffering is leading to something wonderful, beyond our imagining?
Bishop Jeremy Greaves' sermon for Pentecost 7
Rev Kathy Hammers' Sermon for Pentecost 6
Full Evensong service at St John's Cathedral, 2 July 2023. Rev Margaret's sermon on the 19th Century Author - theologian - mystic begins at around 54 minutes
So, today we do some thinking about Abraham's call to (NOT) sacrifice Isaac. Really disturbing but also foundational. God does not have needs. God does not demand sacrifice. That's a hard message to get through.
Maybe history is told from the perspective of the victors. But it is when we read from the perspective of the victims that we begin to see that God is up to.
So you thought Abraham is a hero character and his treatment of Sarah is treated as non-problematic in the Bible? Time to think again. Genesis is way too sophisticated for that!
So, this one's a little bit personal. Rev Margaret doesn't often talk about herself in her sermons, but if you are preaching about the call of Abraham and God has also called you to leave everything behind and move into an unknown future, you need to be honest about the extent to which the Bible story is your own story. This sermon was preached at St Paul's on June 11 which, as it happens, is the anniversary of Rev Margaret's ordination to the Diaconate.