good morning and welcome on this friday morning the 6th of november wherever you are in the world welcome to the deanery garden at canterbury cathedral as we say our morning prayers together on this very autumn morning there was a slight mist and dappled cloud around a very golden almost red to begin with uh sunrise and the garden is not the clear white frost of yesterday but there was a slight ground frost and now that the mist is rising from the lawns and as you see the leaves are falling now and many of the trees are already bare some like the medler tree farther down the garden keeps its leaves for much longer and others are losing them fast but giving us beautiful colors first this is a day when our prayers are still with the people of the united states as they await the results of their presidential election and also uh we in england are facing the second day of the new lockdown so we remember people in that situation and elsewhere in the united kingdom and right across the world whatever your situation please bring your prayers to this morning's occasion and feel welcome this day november that the sixth we remember the saints leonard who was very very popular in medieval times and he'd been a frankish noble in the court of clevis the first converted by remidius the bishop of reams converted at the same time as the king and he asked clavis permission when he found them needing to be released that he could have permission to release prisoners he became a hermit in the forest of limousa in france and uh he is now seen as a patron saint of all those in captivity for whatever reason we also have a st leonard's church here in this diocese at heide's so we remember them this morning today also the church here our calendar and in the united states the episcopal church remembers william temple the archbishop i don't know why this day is chosen i'm sure some of you will tell me but she died on october 26 and you'll remember me keeping him then and his funeral here in the cathedral on october the 31st was a very sad occasion because he'd only been archbishop just over two years and was the great hope for reconstruction in the united kingdom immediately after the um second world war would finish there is a wonderful sermon of him preaching as i said on october 26 uh of his vision for how things would be we remember him saying the church is the only organization that does not exist for itself but for those outside of it and we remember that as we say our prayers today so on this day also in 1856 george eliot whose real name was mary ann evans but i think she probably thought a man's name would sell more novels george eliot published her first work of fiction scenes of clerical life it's a lovely book and we know many scenes of clerical life here living in the cathedral precincts but uh her book which was later published middle march in 1872 has been described as the greatest novel in the english language bound to say my favorite is the mill on the floss the story of tom and maggie tulliva today when political life changed here in england in 1924 stanley baldwin the conservative leader became the prime minister there had been a coalition of liberals and conservatives through the great war and here was a a resettlement into political parties remember also on this day in 2003 that michael howard took over as conservative leader and still plays very active part as a statesman in national life and he and his wife sandra live their life here in kent and are good friends to all so we remember them this morning and perhaps last of all in 1861 james naismith a canadian american doctor invented basketball where we're told to take exercise at this time of pandemic and basketball is something that one can see people practicing for all by themselves in good physical exercise so let's say our prayers on this particular day oh lord open our lips and our mouth shall proclaim your praise your faithful servants bless you they make known the glory of your kingdom blessed are you sovereign god ruler and judge of all to you be praise and glory forever in the darkness of this age that is passing away may the light of your presence which the saints enjoy surround our steps as we journey on may we reflect your glory this day and so be made ready to see your face in the heavenly city where night shall be no more blessed be god father son and holy spirit blessed be god forever the night has passed and the day lies open before us let us pray with one heart and mind as we rejoice in the gift of this new day so may the light of your presence so god set our hearts on fire with love for you now and forever amen our psalm on this morning of the month the sixth morning is psalm 30 i will exalt you o lord because you have raised me up and have not let my foes triumph over me o lord my god i cried out to you and you have healed me you brought me up o lord from the dead you restored me to life from among those that go down to the pit sing to the lord you servants of his give thanks to his holy name for his wrath endures but the twinkling of an eye his favor for a lifetime heaviness may endure for a night but joy comes in the morning in my prosperity i said i shall never be moved you lord of your goodness have made my hill so strong and then you hid your face from me and i was utterly dismayed to you o lord i cried to the lord i made my supplication what profit is there in my blood if i go down to the pit will the dust praise you or declare your faithfulness hear o lord and have mercy upon me o lord be my helper you have turned my morning into dancing you have put off my sackcloth and girded me with gladness therefore my heart sings to you without ceasing o lord my god i will give you thanks forever so we return to the revelation to john and we come this morning to the last of the seven letters sent to the seven churches and uh this is to the church in laodicea verse 14 of chapter 3 and to the angel of the church in laodicea write the words of the are men the faithful and true witness the beginning of god's creation i know your works you are neither cold nor hot would that you were either cold or hot so because you are lukewarm and neither hot nor cold i will switch you out of my mouth for you say i am rich i have prospered and i need nothing not realizing that you are wretched pitiable poor blind and naked i counsel you to buy for me gold refined by fire so that you may be rich and white garments so that you may clothe yourself and the shame of your nakedness may not be seen and solve to anoint your eyes so that you may see those whom i love i reprove and discipline so be zealous and repent behold i stand at the door and knock if anyone hears my voice and opens the door i will come into them and eat with them and they with me the one who conquers i will grant them to sit with me on my throne as i also conquered and sat down with my father on his throne whoever has an ear let them hear what the spirit says to the churches it's probably my favorite letter of all so there's a little bit of warning in there to the church in laodicea we see here how that letter went round if you look at the map of the world at the time of the end of the first century or even a map of the journeys of saint paul you will you will see that in galatia in phrygia the the way those cities at the uh the western end of asia minor are set out beginning with ephesus they go round my hand will be doing it in the wrong way for you as you're looking at me but they go round in a clockwise direction so that as the the courier delivers that letter around from ephesus he goes on about 40 miles to smyrna and then to pergamum and then to thyatira and then to sardis and then to philadelphia and finally to laodicea and then back it's all about 35 miles 40 miles between all of them back to ephesus and what we've learned as we've seen the letters and read them is that in each place there are inferences of local knowledge from john's writing how important that area was to the growth of the early church we're still in asia minor we're not in greece or anywhere over that in the the sort of philippi area that's not this letter this letter is from the first visits and and we see how that goes through but also the the places like phrygia um are the ones listed in the acts of the apostles by luke when the apostles are speaking on the first day of pentecost to those who have gathered around there are phrygians there and there are people from these towns and also near to laodicea are um colossae and hierapolis and you remember how at the end of the letter to the colossians paul instructs that that letter must also be read to the laodiceans and mentions hierapolis as well so that in this place in laodicea he he he sends a greeting to nympha and the church which meets in her house that was a a bit before this particular letter was written but nevertheless we're in that area we're in real places and nowhere more so than this letter to laodicea deodor was not a fortress town wasn't like smyrna where there were a great fortification of acropolis there instead it was a very very affluent trading center which had only grown prosperous because of the peace that rome was able to give by its imperial power and you'll remember that so much of the revelation is is warning everyone against this cult of calling the state power the divinity and marking that divinity on coins well there's not so much of that here today in this letter laid asia was known for its banking cicero knew it for its banking it was known for the creation of beautiful cloth on its looms and it was known also for medicine particularly medicine for the ears and a powder of phrygia which was used for eye salve and as the letter unfolds uh john is making reference to all these things but let's see how it begins because it's powerful the words of the are men how often that word trips off the tongue are men the same in hebrew in greek in latin in english and in all the places that say prayers that end up in different languages as we say with our father and each in our own language when we come to our men we're there but it's a word that really gives total and absolute ascent to what is being said whether it be a prayer or a statement it's the word that our lord uses before saying something really important and it used to be translated then verily verily i say to you and in st john's gospel always twice as though underlining the word verily verily i say to you amen amen lego soy says jesus and this word is the definitive word saying you can believe this the words are from jesus himself because we hear the the first person singular given right at the end here and it the the amen comes through from the faithful and true witness the origin of god's creation powerful words and then he says and i know you i know you inside out and you are neither cold nor hot maybe a an uh a link there with the hot and cold springs which were nearby at hierapolis and colisei because lukewarm water is no good whatsoever for healing cold water hot water but lukewarm no that's saying not too much of an insult but it means you're ineffective you are lukewarm so you know i i don't want you in my mouth and that's what he said it's a powerful image but they're saying and it's an affluent place we're rich we prospered we need nothing again it might be an inference that in the earthquake in 60 a.d when in imperial help financial help was offered to rebuild the city they said no we don't need it it's all right we plenty enough money of our own and this kind of attitude he's he's thinking is is spilling over you think you need nothing not realizing that you are wretched pitiable poor blind and naked the real qualities are elsewhere how i wish that you were either hot or cold and words like zealous come into play meaning we want some energy from you regain that energy and get some soul from the kind of ointments that you make but he means spiritual self to anoint your eyes and then you will find yourself closed spiritually in white robes nothing like the the cloth which comes off your looms he's pointing to all of this in their daily life but then comes the very best image in the whole of the letters behold i stand at the door and knock if anyone will open the door and allow me in i will come in and sit with them and eat with them and then i will to the one who conquers grant the right to sit with me on my throne where the father has placed me after i conquered all of that there there is of course a famous painting by william hellman hunt a pre-raphaelite painting with golden colors which he found because he took a while to paint this and he said i painted it by divine command not by commission and he found the colors he needed eventually at a sunset in bethlehem when he was on a visit there and that picture shows christ wearing not only a golden circuit but the crown of thorns with a lantern in his hand and the door that he is knocking at is overgrown with ivs and and and uh thorny branches it's not been used it's not been opened and home and hunt himself said i painted it with no handle on the outside the handles on the inside and has to wait for the one inside to open it the initiative is the one to whom the lord comes i would that you were hot or cold let me in and we will eat together a sign of the church's life that um nympha whom saint paul sends his greetings to who had the church meet in her house in laodicea and here we are with this wonderful image herman hunt um had the the first one painted in about 1854 which found its way to keeble college in oxford and there is a side chapel there with that still in but when he found that people were charging to see this picture he then painted a life-size one that went on a world tour and we're told that three quarters of the population of australia saw that picture when it came there but eventually it came back to saint paul's cathedral where you can find it today the light of the world but the light of the world who is the one who is knocking on the door but it's not a powerful breaking down the door and it's not the door standing open for ministry it's the door of my life your life and the one who is knocking is waiting for you and me to open that door and be allowed in to share the hospitality of the table which is the sign of the christian sacrament well all those things and how we could go on about this lovely letter it's very short one but the image is very powerful indeed and we give thanks for it as we close the seven letters to the churches for the book the revelation to john goes on in a slightly different way tomorrow let's say our prayers then on this particular day and we remember in our prayers in our anglican communion today the diocese of rumbeck in south sudan and the most reverend alapeo man yang cooktiel rumbeck the great dinka diocese in south sudan the thinkers are great cattle people uh diocese of the bahamas and the turks and the caicos are islands uh in the west indies and laish boyd the bishop there and his people and the diocese of kwara in nigeria and the most reverend olusegun adeyem and his people there and here in this particular diocese we remember today the westbridge deanery chaplains and all who care for that area of the parishes which i read out when we first began to pray for that area dinery we shall pray for some of those again tomorrow so let's say the prayer for today almighty and eternal god you have kindled the flame of love in the hearts of the saints grant to us the same faith and power of love that as we rejoice in their triumphs we may be sustained by their example and fellowship through jesus christ our lord amen so together and ending with the common amen we say the prayer of our savior which he taught us to say each in our own language 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 are men it's a moment of silence for our own prayers on this autumn morning [Music] the peace of god which passes all understanding keep your hearts and minds in the knowledge and love of god and of his son jesus christ our lord and the blessing of god almighty the father the son and the holy spirit be upon you upon those whom you love and those whom you would pray for today and always amen [Music] foreign