good evening and welcome to canterbury cathedral as we come into the garden near where the water flows out of the pool here in the bastion garden and you'll probably hear it falling you've come to seek a little shade but also because our lessons this afternoon are lessons where both david and jesus and even the psalmist find themselves in a position of needing defense there's much hostility around them and so this idea of being here in the bastion is very much one of the defense of a particular position so let's say our evening prayer with that in mind so lord open thou our lips and our mouths shall show forth thy praise oh god make speed to save us o lord make haste 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 our praise ye the lord the lord's name be praised our psalm on this 14th evening of the month is psalm 73 truly god is loving unto israel even unto such as our of a clean heart nevertheless my feet were almost gone my treadings had well nigh slipped and why i was grieved at the wicked i do also see the ungodly in such prosperity for they are in no peril of death that are lusty and strong they come in no misfortune like other folk neither are they plagued like other men and this is the cause that they are so holden with pride and overwhelmed with cruelty their eyes swell with fatness and they do even what they lost they corrupt other and speak of wicked blasphemy their talking is against the most high for they stretch forth their mouth unto the heaven and their tongue goes through the world and therefore fall the people unto them and thereof suck they no small advantage say they how should god perceive it is there knowledge in the most high though these are the ungodly these prosper in the world and these have riches in possession and i said then have i cleansed my heart in vain and washed mine hands in innocency all the day long have i been punished and chastened every morning yay and i had almost said even as they but larry then i should have condemned the generation of my children then thought i to understand this but it was too hard for me until i went into the sanctuary of god then understood i the end of these men namely how thou just set them in slippery places and castes them down and destroys them oh how suddenly do they consume perish and come to a fearful end yet even like as a dream when one awakens so shalt thou make their image to vanish out of the city thus my heart was grieved and it went even through my reigns so foolish was i and ignorant even as it were a beast before thee nevertheless i am always by thee for thou has told in me by my right hand thou shalt guide me with thy counsel and after that receive me with glory whom have i in heaven but be and there is none upon earth that i desire in comparison of thee my flesh and my heart faileth but god is the strength of my heart and my portion 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 the 21st chapter of the first book of samuel beginning at the first verse david is on the run from king saul who has very much turned against him and david's gathering those who might support him around him is fleeing from saul eventually he will come to the cave of adalam but for the moment he goes to see the priest ahimalik to ask for help as they go forward help in provisions and help also in defense so david came to ahmelech the priest and the himelec came to meet david trembling and said to him why are you alone and no one with you david said to ahmelech the priest the king has charged me with a master and said to me let no one know anything of the matter about which i send you and with which i have charged you i have made an appointment with the young men for such and such a place now then what do you have at hand give me five loaves of bread or whatever is here and the priest answered david i have no common bread at hand but there is the holy bread if the young men have kept themselves pure david answered the priest truly they have kept themselves pure as always when i go on expedition the vessels of the young men are holy even when it is an ordinary journey how much more today will their vessels be holy show the priest to himmelek gave david the holy bread for there was no bread there but the bread of the presence which is removed from before the lord to be replaced by hot bread on the day it is taken away now a certain man of the servants of saul was there that day detained before the lord his name was dereg the edomite the chief of saul's herdsmen then david said to ahymenek then have you not hear a spear or a sword at hand for i have brought neither my sword nor my weapons with me because the king's business required haste and the priest said the sword of goliath the philistine whom you struck down in the valley of elah behold it is here wrapped in a cloth behind the ephod if you will take that take it for there is none but that here and david said there is none like that give it to me david has omitted to tell a himelech the priest that he is on the run from the king and has fled without weapons and arranged to meet those who might help him and now he's been furnished with bread and with a sword so we say the song of mary the magnificat my soul that magnify the lord and my spirit has rejoiced in god my savior for he has regarded the lowliness of his handmaiden for behold from henceforth all generation shall call me blessed for he that is mighty has 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 has 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 so our second lesson is written in the 11th chapter of the gospel of saint luke and beginning at the 14th verse we find jesus surrounded by crowds who are not supportive not all of them anyway now jesus was casting out a demon that was mute when the demon had gone out the mute man spoke and the people marveled but some of them said he casts out demons by beelzebub the prince of demons while others to test him kept seeking from jesus a sign from heaven but he knowing their thoughts said to them every kingdom divided against itself falls and if satan also is divided against himself how will his kingdom last for you say that i cast out demons by beelzebub if i cast out demons by bearsable by whom do your sons cast them out therefore they will be your judges but it is if it is by the finger of god that i cast out demons then know that the kingdom of god has come upon you when a strong man fully armed guards his own palace his goods are safe but when one stronger than he attacks him and overcomes him he takes away his armor in which he trusted and divides his spoil whoever is not with me is against me and whoever does not gather with me scatters lord now let us out thy servant 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 let us pray lord have mercy upon us christ have mercy upon us lord have mercy upon 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 lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil amen o lord show thy mercy upon us and grant us thy salvation lord save the queen and mercifully hear us when we call upon me 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 fighters for us but only thou o god oh god make clean our hearts within us and take not thy holy spirit from us the calling for this sunday oh god the strength of all them that put their trust in thee mercifully accept our prayers and because through the weakness of our mortal nature we can do no good thing without thee grant us the help of thy grace that in keeping of thy commandments we may please see both in will and deed through jesus christ our lord amen of 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 i said this morning that there were several anniversaries today and one i would leave till this afternoon and that is that this is the year's mind the day on which he died in 1936 of the writer and parrot g k chesterton later on i'll read one of his poems which we use as a hymn it's a hymn of warning about the values a nation should hold to but chesterton rather like jesus loved ways of teaching where there were pictures little stories little cameos or turning things round back to front he was the master of paradox and jesus himself in the gospel of saint luke this afternoon chapter 11 says who he who is not for us is against us it's only two chapters since he has said to the apostle john when they said we saw someone casting out demons in your name but he doesn't follow with us jesus says leave him alone those who aren't against us are for us back to front different situations different needs and chesterton was full of that it's well worth looking at his quotes sometimes humorous quotes he said the bible tells us to love our neighbors and love our enemies and for many people that's exactly the same thing he was joking of course but all these things become memorable but one of his sayings that i do like is his saying about humility if you stand in the valley you look up and see great things if you stand on the mountain top you see only small things again simply something to make us think but of course he's best known without any doubt at all for his 53 father brown stories which he wrote between 1910 and 1936 people have found them enjoyable puzzling instructive and informative ever since the detective priest who unlike sherlock holmes before him was more intuitive than analytical and father brown in one of the stories when someone is asking him but how can you work all this out you who are a priest to know so much about the evil that's going on and he answers but as a priest i am there to hear so many secrets confessed and people being sorry for them so how should i not know about the evil which is in the heart and how should i not know also about the forgiveness and the love that is in the eternal dimension father brown became a great companion to so many in reading not just because of the puzzle but also because of a deep faith which trusted in so many things and one of the things he said about fairy tales fairy tales don't tell children that there are dragons they don't need to be told they know that already what fairy tales tell them is that our dragons can be slain much deeper truth than just fairy stories and we slay them by grace or with the sword of goliath as david went off to use from a himalay the priest a story which jesus himself references in the gospels david taking the holy bread because his men had need of it here's the chesterton hymn which i'm going to read as a poem and it's a hymn about the quality of life in our nation oh god of earth and altar bow down and hear our cry our earthly rulers falter our people drift and die the walls of gold in tumus the swords of scorn divide take not thy thunder from us but take away our pride from all that terror teaches from lies of tongue and pen from all the easy speeches that comfort cruel men from sale and profanation of honor and the sword from sleep and from damnation deliver us good lord tie in a living tether the prince and priest and straw bind all our lives together smite us and save us all in ire and exaltation a flame with faith and free lift up a living nation a single sword to thee we use that prayer at this time of crisis not only for our own nation of the whole world and we remember in our prayers this evening on this anniversary of the grenfell tower the 72 people who lost their lives now tonight on this third anniversary at six o'clock like so many church bells our own bell will ring out 72 times one for each life to be followed by two minutes of silence and then three strokes to mark the years we couple with those names any whom we have known and loved and we shall light a candle later on at compliment to remember them but for the moment we hold ourselves silent and give thanks for the strong defense of the grace of the holy spirit in all that we do as individuals and as communities and nations almighty god who has given us grace at this time with one accord to make our common supplications unto thee and thus promise that when two or three are gathered together in thy name i will grant their requests fulfill now o lord the desires and petitions of thy servants that may be most expedient for them granting us in this world knowledge of thy truth and in the world to come life everlasting amen 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 the blessing of god almighty the father the son and the holy spirit be upon you on those whom you love and those you would pray for tonight and always amen