good morning and welcome to canterbury cathedral on this mid-summer's eve 23rd of june tomorrow we shall be celebrating the feast of st john the baptist but this morning tiger and i have come out to this point in the garden to enjoy the early morning sunshine the sun at its farthest point in this direction and from now on it will begin to move once again from north to south as it rises and so we're enjoying the morning with the sun coming just here over the wall at this point in the year we've come also to enjoy this little carob tree an important tree at this time of year for its fruit for reasons we'll talk about later is known as st john's bread but for today we not only remember that it's in john's eve it's the feast day of saint etheldrider a 7th century abbess of ely an important person in the religious life of this nation so we begin our morning prayers o 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 faith 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 and as we rejoice in the gift of this new day so may the light of your presence oh god set our hearts on fire with love for you now and forever amen our psalm on this 23rd morning of the month is psalm 111 i will give thanks to the lord with my whole heart in the company of the faithful and in the congregation the works of the lord are great sought out by all who delight in them his work is full of majesty and honor and his righteousness endures forever he appointed a memorial for his marvelous deeds the lord is gracious and full of compassion he gave food to those who feared him he is ever mindful of his covenant he showed his people the power of his works in giving them the heritage of the nations the works of his hands are truth and justice all his commandments are sure they stand fast forever and ever they are done in truth and equity he sent redemption to his people he commanded his covenant forever holy and awesome is his name the fear of the lord is the beginning of wisdom a good understanding have those who live by it his praise endures forever so we turn to our reading from the gospel of saint luke jesus still on his way to jerusalem and going through the villages of judea today we've reached verse 10 of chapter 13. now jesus was teaching in one of the synagogues on the sabbath and behold there was a woman who had had a disabling spirit for 18 years she was bent over and could not fully straighten herself when jesus saw her he called her over and said to her woman you are freed from your disability and he laid his hands on her and immediately she was made straight and she glorified god but the ruler of the synagogue indignant because jesus had healed on the sabbath said to the people there are six days in which work ought to be done come on those days and be healed and not on the sabbath day then the lord answered him you hypocrites does not each of you on the sabbath untie his ox or his donkey from the manger and lead it away to water it and ought not this woman a daughter of abraham whom satan bound for 18 years be loosed from this bond on the sabbath day and as he said these things all his adversaries were put to shame and all the people rejoiced at all the glorious things that were done by him jesus said therefore what is the kingdom of god like until what shall i compare it it is like a grain of mustard seed that someone took and sowed in the garden and it grew and became a tree and the birds of the air made nests in its branches and again he said to what shall i compare the kingdom of god it is like leaven that a woman took and mixed in three measures of flour until it was all leavened it's a lovely lesson for today first it's a lesson of freedom jesus is about his regular devotional deuces on the sabbath we so often find him in synagogue on the sabbath day and one of the signs of the kingdom of god among them the good news is not only the way in which he helps people be freed from any kind of situation from the past which is overweighing them but also from physical ailments which are overweighing them and really these 18 years have ruined this woman's life i so much remember in the 1950s that there were so many people in old age who were going around then double now so often you see that less because our methods of treating that kind of ailment have become so much more sophisticated but the story is there for dr luke to rejoice in and also for jesus to say to the ruler of the synagogue you do things to help your creatures on the sabbath day have a fulfilled life i have helped this woman have a fulfilled life and the signs of not only his work on earth but of the kingdom of god are there amongst them and in that tiny little section afterwards about the small seed well here's the carob which was a small seed brought back and grown in the greenhouse it's very young this tree it will grow into something really big and its seeds its nut sourness as you look at them are actually called carrots not carrots as in c-a-r-r-o-t-s carrots that we eat in salads and boil but carrots that we measure gold with c-a-r-a-t because their weight is so standard that right across the middle east their weight was used to weigh gold and the the carrot became the way in which this this little tree with its its pods which are like a cocoa pod and can be used instead of cocoa or coffee and is much more healthy for you those pods become great feed for animals as well and so when this tree grows up it becomes very precious and like you trees in england if you've got one on your property or in your garden you you don't chop it down it's good and healthy to have carob trees around you and as i said they are known because they come to full fruition with their pods at this time of year as st john's bread because of the way that they feed the people signs of the beneficence of heaven of the feeding of the people the second part of this little parable concerns the leaven which the woman mixes with much flour in order to create the bread that she wants and that reminds us of one of our friends andrew mcgowan the dean of berkeley divinity school at yale who is a great scholar of foods of ancient times and becomes very annoyed when any translation translates the word yeast for yeast is an english concept made from a completely different material from brewing the hops into beer of course it quickens the process but leaven is part of the flower itself which given time regularly day by day ferments and then is mixed with the bread it's a great parable itself of the way in which we develop our inner life and mix it with everything outside to make all things wholesome and all these parables feed together to help us understand what jesus is telling us about the good news of the kingdom on this day so we say our morning prayers and today we are praying for the diocese of nui in nigeria and for godwin izundu the bishop there and his people the diocese of amar in ireland and the diocese of johannesburg in south africa and pray for stephen moreyou and all his people and we pray today for in the diocese for justin our archbishop for tim bishop of bishop at lambeth for rose bishop of dover and for the six as parishes particularly newington today and julian staniforth and amanda lane in their ministry there with the cure at simeon neville and the readers george hume and liz wilmet we pray for our own communities and all that they mean to us and those whom we need to pray for we also pray for the diocese of ely on this st etheldreda's day and give thanks for the religious life here's the colic force in etheldreda eternal god who bestowed such grace upon your servant etheldreda that she gave herself holy to the life of prayer and to the service of your true religion grant that we like her may so live our lives on earth seeking your kingdom that by your guiding we may be joined to the glorious fellowship of your saints through jesus christ our lord amen almighty god you have broken the tyranny of sin and have sent the spirit of your son into our hearts whereby we call you father give us grace to dedicate our freedom to your service that we and all creation may be brought to the glorious liberty of the children of god through jesus christ our lords amen so as the sun rises higher we say the prayer which jesus taught us to say whenever we pray in whatever language you like to use 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 say a moment of silence for your own prayers on this 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 and upon all those whom you love and would pray for today and always amen [Music]