[Applause] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Applause] oh [Music] [Music] good morning and welcome to the garden of the deanery in canterbury cathedral on this sunday the 26th of july we've come here early in the morning to sit under the mulberry tree in the orchard and leo's here with me this is a very different day than we had planned for the last two or three or more years this was to have been the opening service of the lambeth conference of all the anglican bishops throughout the world with many ecumenical guests and international guests so that these gardens throughout the day and throughout the next week or two would have been filled with people and because of the pandemic of course it's only us very quietly here in the garden later on we shall go into the cathedral to celebrate a eucharist with the proper distances and face coverings being used to secure one another's welfare but for the moment we say our morning prayers with you wherever you are in the world so bring your thoughts and your prayers and imagine all of those whom you would want to pray for as we read the scriptures together and say our prayers on this morning oh lord open our lips and our mouth shall proclaim your praise visit us with your salvation and sustain us with your gracious spirit blessed are you creator of all to you be praise and glory forever as your dawn renews the face of the earth bringing light and life to all creation may we rejoice in this day you have made as we wake refreshed from the depths of sleep open our eyes to behold your presence and strengthen our hands to do your will that the world may rejoice and give you praise 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 26th morning of the month is a section of psalm 119 and we are saying the verses from 105 your word is a lantern to my feet and a light upon my path i have sworn and will fulfill it to keep your righteous judgments i am troubled above measure give me life o lord according to your word accept the free will offering of my mouth so lord and teach me your judgments my soul is ever in my hand yet i do not forget your law the wicked have laid a snare for me but i have not strayed from your commandments your testimonies have i claimed as my heritage forever for they are the very joy of my heart i have applied my heart to fulfill your statutes always even to the end [Music] this is a sunday morning and so we break into our normal lessons from st luke's gospel which we use on the the weekdays of the week when there's no great saints day but today we are reading a special lesson for this sunday after trinity and we are in the fourth chapter of the first letter of saint peter and we're beginning to read at the seventh verse [Music] the end of all things is at hand therefore be self-controlled and sober-minded for the sake of your prayers above all keep loving one another earnestly since love covers a multitude of sins show hospitality to one another without complaining and as each has received a gift use it to serve one another as good stewards of god's varied grace whoever speaks as one who speaks oracles of god whoever serves as one who serves by the strength that god supplies in order that in everything god may be glorified through jesus christ to him belong glory and dominion forever and ever amen beloved do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal when it comes upon you to test you as though something strange were happening to you but rejoice insofar as you share christ's sufferings that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed if you are reviled for the name of christ you are blessed because the spirit of glory and of god rests upon you [Music] that lesson is very special to me it takes me instantly to a particular moment of the year when i'm standing seemingly alone at the lectern where i'm about to read the second lesson at evensong just in the presbytery of the cathedral and the cathedral itself is packed with people full to bursting point but i can't see them for it's the 29th of december in the darkness of a winter afternoon and this is the lesson the second lesson that i read on the feast of the martyrdom of thomas beckett the cathedral is a glow with candle light but that is beyond the great choir screens for all the people in procession have with the archbishop left the choir area and filled into the nave and the chapel of the martyrdom and the transepts and the choir isles and they are silent we're waiting for the moment when the great hammering on the door through which the four nights came will happen in the cathedral but it will happen after this lesson is read so seemingly alone but knowing myself to be surrounded by people everywhere in the cathedral save inquire where on that fateful day in 1170 the monks continued to sing the evening vespa until the act of violence began to happen i read this lesson and it says do not be surprised by the fiery ordeal that has overtaken you this letter of saint peter certainly from the chair of synthesia in rome that city which the early christians in times of persecution started to call babylon like a metaphor but this letter comes from rome to various communities in asia minor which are named by peter as he writes he talks about his companions but he seemingly and you heard it happen in the middle of that lesson which we've just shared seemingly finishes the letter and it finishes with an amen and as though suddenly other news has come through and a postscript of encouragement is necessary he starts again and he starts with the wonderful word to these communities from the one who is recognized as the leader of the church the first bishop of that city of rome in all its turmoil at that time giving them encouragement he starts with the word beloved agapetoy a wonderful word and that's the first word of encouragement those who are suffering are beloved and then he goes on don't be surprised by the fiery ordeal which is coming upon you but rejoice that you are sharing christ's sufferings and then he uses another adjective to describe them for in sharing christ's sufferings you are blessed makarioy now suddenly with that word we're in the territory of the beatitudes and those in matthew 5 right at the beginning of the sermon of the mount has verse after verse of the eight beatitudes beginning with the word describing those in each verse the word macarioi blessed blessed are the poor in heart for theirs is the kingdom of heaven blessed are those right at the end blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness sake for again theirs is the kingdom of heaven and i said paul it's poor in spirit and then blessed are the pure in heart we can go through them all blessed are the peacemakers but these blesseds are stamping them as this this epistle has said to us stamping them with not only the name blessed but also with the glory of the spirit of god resting upon them that's what peter makes clear when they are reviled and people speak false things about them or they physically suffer all those things they become macarioi those who are blessed and you remember when the eight beatitudes finished and the the next sentence takes place blessed are you when you suffer all kinds of insults and callum is for my sake for as the epistle says the glory of christ rests upon you and the spirit of god rests upon you that's how our lesson finished and we're not only in the territory of the uh of the beatitudes we're in the territory of the first book of all the scriptures the spirit of god brooded on the face of the waters and from those waters came all the life of creation telling of the glory of god now i said i was sitting under the mulberry tree for for us the mulberry is the sign of beckett's martyrdom in the mulberry tree in the archdeaconry garden the knights who killed him tethered their horses and also in the in the trough for letting their horses drink which stood underneath it they washed their hands and their swords there are mulberry trees all over the precincts but they are all scions of that tree and that the huge tree which was in the archdeaconry garden which the storm of 1987 fells took sprigs all over the precincts and there is of course a a huge tree growing still in that spot but it's really a sign of this lesson coming from the chair of saint peter all those years ago of encouragement to those who are suffering encouragement to each of us in our lonely lockdown or in whatever way we feel ourselves to be beset or even persecuted this morning rejoice and continue and that list of qualities of what we are to do for one another being hospitable without complaining keeping our lives in good order for the sake of our prayers and always expectant and watchful for the day of the lord for that in this empty garden which would have been so full of people in our human plans which are never secure for that in this garden we give thanks on this morning and we give thanks for god's blessings in whatever our situation so let's say our prayers and we first of all look to see what we're praying for in the list here and in the anglican communion well the sentence says please pray for all the bishops who would have been gathered in canterbury for the lambeth conference but are unable to do so due to the covet 19 crisis pray for them and for their people we pray for archbishop justin also who is here with us today and pray for his ministry worldwide as well as the diocesan bishop here pray also for bishop rose of dover for bishop tim at lambeth and today in the diocese for the parish of saint margaret at cliff with westcliff and east langdon with west langdon ministry vacant at the moment so we pray for the readers barbara broughton and anthony hyde and all the church wardens of those parishes so let's then pray the special connect which begins today for this week lord of all power and might the author and giver of all good things graft in our hearts the love of your name increasing us true religion nourish us with all goodness and of your great mercy keep us in the same through jesus christ our lord amen so we pray together the prayer our lord taught us to say in whichever language and when i think of moments when students from the anglican communion or bishops come in groups to stay here all of us say it in our own language and then as the sounds mingle with one another either here in the gardens or in the cathedral church or in the refectory of the lodge when they're eating together then there's a great moment when all the voices joined together at the end in amen so let's say it together now 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 moment of silence a silence of thanksgiving for all god's blessings the peace of god which passes all understanding keep your hearts and minds and 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 you would pray for today and always are men