good morning and welcome on this saturday morning to the dinery garden as we come to say our morning prayers yesterday in my message at the beginning of our website home page i mentioned for local people the fact that there are tomato plants we've grown in our greenhouses available for any working for the health service in any way whatsoever or care homes they're available at the mint yard gate if you simply come and ring the bell there in the bur gate the um satnav um code is uh ct12dr and the constable there will give you plants for you and your colleagues to grow they will fruit soon at the same time i mentioned the scrubs that people are beginning to make in their home so watch our website for details of that if you feel you could help as well so we come to say our morning prayers on this day it's the day when last year may the 16th 2019 the world famous architect i am pay died age 102 in manhattan his buildings are found in most of the great cities of the world we know the pyramid at the louvre we know the john f kennedy library and museum in boston we know the great bank of china tower in hong kong but one could go on and on with buildings he made the influences in his life which started in china in guangzhou and then went quite soon to shanghai where he was educated in an anglican school and learned his english from reading the bible and charles dickens but also his mother a flortist and one who loved nature in his early childhood was an enormous influence all these things fed into his architecture and we give thanks for his creativity in our cities and also how these influences distilled together as we think of god's creation and our own ability to be creative so we begin our morning prayers o lord open our lips and our mouth shall proclaim your praise in your resurrection o christ let heaven and earth rejoice alleluia blessed are you lord god of our salvation to you be praise and glory forever as once you ransomed your people from egypt and led them to freedom in the promised land so now you have delivered us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of your risen son may we the first fruits of your new creation rejoice in this new day you have made and praise you for your mighty acts blessed be god father son and holy spirit blessed be god forever the night is past and the day lies open before us let us pray with one heart and mind does we rejoice in the gift of this new day so may the light of your presence o god set our hearts on fire with love for you now and forever amen our psalm on this 16th morning of the month is psalm 80 hero shepherd of israel you that led joseph like a flock shine forth you that are enthroned upon the cherubim before ephraim benjamin and manasseh stir up your mighty strengths and come to our salvation turn us again o god show the light of your countenance and we shall be saved o lord god of hosts how long will you be angry at your people's prayer you feed them with the bread of tears you give them abundance of tears to drink you have made us the derision of our neighbors and our enemies laugh us to scorn turn us again o god of hosts show the light of your countenance and we shall be saved you brought a vine out of egypt you drove out the nations and planted it you made room around it and when it had taken root it filled the land the hills were covered with its shadow and the cedars of god by its boughs it stretched out its branches to the sea and its tendrils to the river why then have you broken down its wall so that all who pass by pluck off its grapes the wild boar out of the wood tears it off and all the insects of the field devour it turn again oh god of hosts look down from heaven and behold cherish this vine which your right hand has planted and the branch that you made so strong for yourself let those who burnt it with fire who cut it down perish at the rebuke of your countenance let your hand be upon the man at your right hand the son of man you made so strong for yourself and so will we not go back from you give us life and we shall call upon your name turn us again o lord god of hosts show the light of your countenance and we shall be saved so we come to our lesson continuing in the gospel of saint luke and starting today at verse 12 of chapter six in those days jesus went out to the mountain to pray and all night he continued in prayer to god and when day came he called his disciples and chose from them twelve whom he named apostles simon whom he named peter and andrew his brother and james and john and philip and bartholomew and matthew and thomas and james the son of alpheus and simon who was called the zealot and judas the son of james and judas iscariot who became a traitor and jesus came down with them and stood on a level place with a great crowd of his disciples and a great multitude of people from all judea and jerusalem and the seacoast of tyre and sidon who came to hear him and to be healed of their diseases and those who were troubled with unclean spirits were cured and all the crowds sought to touch him for power came out from him and he healed them all and he lifted up his eyes on his disciples and said blessed are you who are poor for yours is the kingdom of god blessed are you who are hungry now for you shall be satisfied blessed are you who weep now for you shall laugh blessed are you when people hate you and when they exclude you and revile you and spurn your name as evil on account of the son of man rejoice in that day and leap for joy for behold your reward is great in heaven for so their fathers did to the prophets but woe to you who are rich for you have received your consolation woe to you who are full now for you shall be hungry woe to you who laugh now for you shall mourn and weep woe to you when all people speak well of you for so their fathers did to the false prophets it's interesting to think first of all how jesus came to choose the twelve he spends all night in prayer by himself we've seen that before in st luke's gospel jesus going away needing time alone in prayer and then he comes down and he chooses 12 of the disciples who are following him to be the twelve the apostles we have to remember that there are many who support jesus there are many amongst those who follow him the women who support him folk like mary magdalene who will meet later in luke's gospel we find at the beginning of the acts of the apostles members of his own family and his mother with the apostles but the twelve occupy a particular place they are symbolic and the interest in them becomes important w h orden wrote a wonderful poem which was then set to music by sir william walton it's simply called the twelve and thinks about the diversity and the unexpected nature of the ones whom jesus chose here's the poem without arms or charm of culture persons of no importance from an unimportant province they did as the spirit bid went forth into a joyless world of swords and rhetoric to bring it joy when they heard the word some demurred some mocked some were shocked but many were stirred and the words spread lives long dead were quickened to life the sick were healed by the truth revealed released into peace from the jinn of old sin men forgot themselves in the glory of the story told by the twelve then the dark lord adored by this world perceived the threat of the light to his might from his throne he spoke to his own the loud crowd the sedate engines of state were moved by his will to kill it was done one by one they were caught tortured and slain the poem goes on but it gives a sense of the unexpected nature of those who were entrusted with the word and the group around them which grew and then it gives the awful nature of what they had to suffer to spread that word and that joy throughout the world the disciples were a diverse sponge it's odd to think of matthew the tax collector working for the roman authority in the same group the same 12 as simon the zealot who was pledged to destroy the occupying forces we see the kind of arguments they have on the road and jesus having to say what were you arguing about on the road but then in all things we surround ourselves by diversity the companions whom we choose are diverse the companions who choose us are diverse that's how human life goes forward it's how creative life goes forward i'm standing here in front of the herbaceous border which will gradually burst into flower and life the bananas just out of the winter covering and ready to sprout new leaves palm trees behind me and wonderful coloring flowers chosen to go together some things here already as is the case with gardening plants which complement each other in companionship they seem to help each other and in diversity they give a particular sense of creativity it's so with the architecture of i am pai it's so with the music his mother taught him to love she a flortist it's true with all the things that we do creatively whether growing tomato plants or making scrubs to help and encourage diversity but also times of quiet for prayer and that we do now as on this day we think in this particular place of nairobi in kenya and the bishop there joel mowangi of the diocese of abba ngua north in nigeria and nathan khanu and his people the diocese of ikuano in nigeria and zirim on yegboule the bishop there and his people here in the diocese of canterbury we pray for justin archbishop of canterbury rose bishop of dover tim bishop at lambeth and today pray for the parish of maidstone all saints with sin philip with since stephen tovil pray for ian parish in his ministry there and all his people so we say first the prayer for this day almighty god who through your only begotten son jesus christ have overcome death and opened to us the gate of everlasting life grant that as by your grace going before us you put into our minds good desires so by your continual help we may bring them to good effect through jesus christ our risen lord amen from the sound collect for today as we pray for those whom we love and would want to pray for in any kind of difficulty sickness or distress on this day and for those looking after them faithful shepherd of your people as we look for the light of your countenance restore in us the image of your glory and graft us into the risen life of your son jesus christ our lord amen so we pray each in our own language in whatever way we would usually say the prayer the words our savior taught us our father who art in heaven hallowed be thy name thy kingdom come thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us and lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil for thine is the kingdom the power and the glory forever and ever amen moment of silence now as we say our own prayers the god of peace who brought again from the dead our lord jesus the great shepherd of the sheep by the blood of the eternal covenant make you perfect in every good work to do his will working in you that which is well pleasing in his sight the blessing of god almighty the father the son and the holy spirit be among you and remain with you this day and always amen