good afternoon and welcome to canterbury cathedral as we say our evening prayers on this afternoon of the fifth of june which is world environment day when we give nature a chance and give it time in our thinking this lockdown has been very much a time for giving nature the opportunity to speak to us whenever we're outside for maybe daily exercise or able to come out for some fresh air but this afternoon has been an afternoon of extraordinary weather here sometimes heavy rain just for five or ten minutes and then suddenly blue skies and you feel the gardens which have been full of sunshine for the last few weeks drinking up the water around so we give thanks for that as we say our prayers we remember also that this is saint boniface day and we thought a little about him in our morning prayers this morning the apostle of germany who was actually born in crediton in devon in the closing years of the seventh century so we begin our evening prayers o lord open thou our lips and our mouth shall show forth thy praise oh god make speed to save us o lord make peace to help us glory be to the father and to the son and to the holy ghost as it was in the beginning is now and ever shall be world without end amen praise ye the lord the lord's name be praised the afternoon psalm on this fifth evening of the month which i'm using is psalm 29. bring unto the lord o almighty bring young rams unto the lord ascribe unto the lord worship and strength give the lord the honour due unto his name worship the lord with holy worship it is the lord that commandeth the waters it is the glorious god that maketh the thunder it is the lord that ruleth the sea the voice of the lord is mighty in operation the voice of the lord is a glorious voice the voice of the lord breaketh the cedar trees yea the lord breaketh the cedars of lebanese he maketh them also to skip like a calf lebanon also and syrian like a young unicorn the voice of the lord divideth the flames of fire the voice of the lord shaketh the wilderness yea the lord shaketh the wilderness of cadiz the voice of the lord maketh the hinds to bring forth young and discovereth the thick bushes in his temple thus every man speak of his honor the lord sitteth above the water flood and the lord remaineth a king forever the lord shall give strength unto his people the lord shall give his people the blessing of peace glory be to the father and to the son and to the holy ghost as it was in the beginning is now and ever shall be world without end are men in the soldiers we use from which the cathedral choir sing coral even song which is the worcester salter but the same words but a title given often over the psalms and that one is entitled the lord in the storm so now the first lesson which is written in the fifth chapter of the book job part of what we call the wisdom literature i'm beginning to read at verse 8. as for me i would seek god and to god would i commit my cause who does great things and unsearchable marvelous things without number he gives rain on the earth and sends waters on the fields he sets on high those who are lowly and those who mourn are lifted to safety he frustrates the devices of the crafty so that their hands achieve no success he catches the wise in their own craftiness and the schemes of the wily are brought to a quick end they meet with darkness in the daytime and grope at noonday as in night but he saves the needy from the sword of their mouth and from the hand of the mighty so the poor have hope and injustice shuts her mouth behold blessed is the one whom god reproves therefore despise not the discipline of the almighty for he wounds but he binds up he shutters but his hands heal at destruction and famine you shall laugh you shall not you shall not fear the animals of the earth for you shall be in league with the stones of the field and the creatures of the field shall be at peace with you you shall know that your dwelling is at peace and you shall inspect your fold and miss nothing you shall know also that your offspring shall be many and your descendants as the grass of the earth so you shall come to your grave in ripe old age like a sheaf gathered up in its season behold this we have searched out it is true here and know it for your good so we say the song of mary's obedience the magnificat my soul doth magnify the lord and my spirit hath rejoiced in god my savior for he hath regarded the lowliness of his handmaiden for behold from henceforth all generation shall call me blessed for he that is mighty hath magnified me and holy is his name and his mercy is on them that fear him throughout all generations he has shared strength with his arm he has scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts he had put down the mighty from their seat and hath exalted the humble and meek he has filled the hungry with good things and the rich he has sent empty away he remembering his mercy has opened his servant israel as he promised to our forefathers abraham and his seed forever glory be to the father and to the son and to the holy ghost as it was in the beginning is now and ever shall be world without end amen our second lesson is written in the third chapter of the epistle of sin paul to the romans beginning at the 19th verse now we know that whatever the law says it speaks to those who are under the law so that every mouth may be stopped and the whole world may be held accountable to god for by works of the law no human being will be justified in god's sight since through the law comes knowledge of sin but now the righteousness of god has been manifested apart from the law although the law and the prophets bear witness to it the righteousness of god through faith in jesus christ for all who believe for there is no distinction for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of god and are justified by his grace as a gift through the redemption that is in christ jesus whom god put forward as a propitiation by his blonde to be received by faith this was to show god's righteousness because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins it was to show his righteousness at the present time so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in jesus then what becomes of our boasting it is excluded by what kind of law by a law of works no but by the law of faith for we hold that one is justified by faith apart from works of the law is god the god of jews only is he not the god of gentiles also yes of gentiles also since god is one who will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised by faith do we then overthrow the law by this faith by no means on the contrary we uphold the law boniface left england having been sent as i said briefly this morning as an emissary from the synod of the nada which had chosen under the authority of the king of wessex at that time in 705 and he went as an emissary to the archbishop of canterbury i said also this morning that the synod of the nada amused me because in my years as rector of tisbury where the center of synod of the nada was held that area near the river nata had the most lovely quadrangle of modern sheltered accommodation for those who needed that kind of accommodation and once every month i would go there as the parish priest and take a service for all who live there in their common room we would sing hymns and i would give a little reflection much as now but they were so glad to be with one another that they would quite often interrupt the reflection to give their own viewpoint and it used to amuse me to think and there was an awful lot of country wisdom in the viewpoints being given and many years of different denominations methodists and congregationalists at that time and anglicans who would give their viewpoint it's a strong catholic stronghold as well so there was quite a lot of touring and throwing and i would think well in 705 a synod of the nada was being held but every month i was holding another and viewpoints were passed and companionship was exchanged i had for a month of my time at tisbury an archdeacon from the south of the sudan who came to spend six months living with me so that our relationship from salisbury to the sudan might be extended sudan having been in terrible civil war archdeacon bolin dolly and bulim was the name of an english bishop who had been a missionary and who had been beloved by his family so he carried that name came for the very first time to europe and the very first time to my parish and he would say things to the people in the countryside which were absolutely right on the mark for what they were doing in the fields and in their gardens and in their village communities once i said to an old farmer about this and he was standing with his hand and archdeacon bullen's hand on the back of a car with time and i said you're having a good conversation he said it's much easier for two farmers to talk about god when their hands are on the back of a cow but that's a a good piece of of knowledge for world environment day but then i took archdeacon bulim to the service i took at my synod of the nada at nada close when those who were elderly and many of them quite slow physically were sitting around the room and sharing good knowledge and waiting for their tea and i said to him at the end of the service this is good isn't it this lovely place he said it would be quite quite wrong in my culture where are their families old folk need the company of young folk and strong folk who are working and they need the company of the old folk for wisdom it seems somehow wrong that they are all in their own places and only come together in this room and there are no young folk with them because they don't live here where are their families i was challenged by that and felt that another dimension from another culture was teaching me something which was adding to my thoughts in this synod of the nada boniface went on to take good news across the channel and became the apostle of the germans but i learned much from my synod of the nada week by week and carry much country wisdom from it no culture is perfect as the epistle to the romans reminds us but at the same time we can learn from one another and adapt different truths as we sit and talk together sure it is so most of all that we all need physical companionship where the strong can help the weak the old can help the young the young can learn from the old and so on so let's pray that we can give each other that yes in this method now but also afterwards physically be glad when we meet again having learned the lessons of the lockdown we say the long to mitis the song of an old man simeon at the end of his days having received the gift of the lord's messiah in his own arms lord now let us thou thy servants depart in peace according to thy word for mine eyes have seen thy salvation which thou has prepared before the face of all people to be a light to lighten the gentiles and to be the glory of thy people israel glory be to the father and to the son and to the holy ghost as it was in the beginning is now and ever shall be world without end amen lord have mercy upon us christ have mercy upon us lord have mercy upon us so we say each in our own language our father which art in heaven hallowed be thy name thy kingdom come thy will be done in earth as it is in heaven give us this day our daily brand and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive them that trespass against us and lead us not into temptation deliver us from evil amen o lord show thy mercy upon us and grant us thy salvation the lord save the queen and mercifully hear us when we call upon thee and do thy ministers with righteousness and make thy chosen people joyful oh lord save thy people and bless sign inheritance give peace in our time o lord because there is none other that fighteth for us but only thou o god oh god make clean our hearts within us and take not thy holy spirit from us god who as at this time did teach the hearts of thy faithful people by the sending to them the light of thy holy spirit grant us by the same spirit to have a right judgment in all things and ever more to rejoice in his holy comfort through the merits of christ jesus our savior who lives and reigneth with thee in the unity of the same spirit one god world without end amen o god from whom all holy desires all good counsels and all just works to proceed give unto thy servants that peace which the world cannot give that both our hearts may be set to obey thy commandments and also that by thee we being defended from the fear of our enemies may pass our time in rest and quietness through the merits of jesus christ our savior amen lighten our darkness we beseech thee o lord and by thy great mercy defend us from all perils and dangers of this night for the love of thy only son our savior jesus christ amen the moment of silence now as the clouds gather again for our own prayers for those in difficult situations for those who need our prayers especially and we continue at this time to think of our friends in the united states almighty god who has given us grace at this time with one accord to make our common supplications unto thee and us promise that when two or three are gathered together in thy name thou wilt grant their requests fulfill now o lord the desires and petitions of thy spirit thy servants as may be most expedient for them granting us in this world knowledge of thy truth and in the world to come life everlasting amen and the spirit of truth lead you into all truth give you grace to proclaim the word and works of god and the blessing of god almighty the father the son and the holy spirit be upon you and upon those whom you love and would pray for today and always amen and as the rain begins to fall again and the earth is glad to receive it and leo has run for shelter i will join him and wish you well