good morning and welcome on this saturday morning of our bank holiday weekend following ascension day we've come to say our morning prayers and the lesson for this morning from the gospel of saint luke takes us to john the baptist again standing in wild places and calling the crowds out to him well we've come to probably the most wild place in the deanery garden it's the place that we keep as a refuge often for hedgehogs that have been rescued or slow worms as a conservation area of the garden no real wild creatures but uh we do have two friends here who i like to come and see who are a little bit different from the normal run of our our dinery creatures um and you can see them here probably uh on my left is winston and on my right is clemmy you may wonder why they're called that but uh our favorite film about winston churchill is the lovely film the gathering storm about the years when he wasn't in office and was almost in an exile at chartwell and sometimes was in areas of depression and at a lunch party clemmy played by vanessa redgrave can't find him so she says to the agent go go and find him and the agent goes down and finds winston at the pigsty and winston played by albert finney and he says why are you here and he said i i like talking to the pigs that they're friendly creatures and they're different from other creatures the a cat looks down on you and a dog looks up to you but a pig looks you in the eye well i find that and here's winston over there eyeing me out of your range probably and kept me having a morning rest after quite a big breakfast but uh they'll be our companions for this little bit of our morning prayers oh lord open our lips and our mouth shall proclaim your praise send your holy spirit upon us and clothe us with power from on high alleluia blessed are you creator god to you be praise and glory forever as your spirit moved over the face of the waters bringing light and life to your creation pour out your spirit on us today that we may walk as children of light and by your grace reveal your presence 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 o god set our hearts on fire with love for you now and forever amen our son today on this 23rd morning of the month is psalm 111 alleluia 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 hand 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 of those who live by it his praise endures forever so we come to our lesson which is taken from the seventh chapter of the gospel of saint luke and we are at the time following the raising of the widow's son which we read yesterday and we come back to the character of john the baptist in the wilderness the disciples of john the baptist reported all these things to jesus and john calling two of his disciples to him sent them to the lord saying are you the one who is to come or shall we look for another and when the men had come to jesus they said john the baptist has sent us to you saying are you the one who is to come or shall we look for another in that hour he healed many people of diseases and plagues and evil spirits and on many who were blind he bestowed sight and jesus answered them go and tell john what you have seen and heard the blind receive their sight the lame walk lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear the dead are raised up the poor have good news preached to them and blessed is the one who is not offended by me when john's messengers had gone jesus began to speak to the crowds concerning john the baptist what did you go out into the wilderness to see a reed shaken by the wind what then did you go out to see a man dressed in soft clothing behold those who are dressed in splendid clothing and live in luxury are in king's courts what then did you go out to see a prophet yes i tell you and more than a prophet this is he of whom it is written behold i send my messenger before your face who will prepare your way before you i tell you among those born of women none is greater than john yet the one who is least in the kingdom of god is greater than he when all the people had this and the tax collectors too they declared god just having been baptized with the baptism of john but the pharisees and the lawyers rejected the purpose of god for themselves not having been baptized by him to what then shall i compare the people of this generation said jesus and what are they like they are like children sitting in the marketplace and calling to one another we played the flute for you and you did not dance we sang a dirge and you did not weep for john the baptist has come eating no bread and drinking no wine and you say he has a demon the son of man has come eating and drinking and you say look at him a glutton and a drunkard a friend of tax collectors and sinners yet wisdom is justified by all her children john the baptist is in a measure of doubt and sends the disciples of his own those who are still with him we know that some had gone to follow jesus he sends them and says to jesus are you the one who is to come are you the messiah there is a thought that what jesus was doing didn't have enough stridency in terms of authority and a contention against maybe the roman occupying force or the jewish authorities or who knows but jesus answers not by a definite answer of his own but by showing the fulfillment of that passage from isaiah which he set out in the synagogue at nazareth as his vision of the ministry of the messiah [Music] the graces of the kingdom of heaven are being given to those who need them most [Music] sight is given to the blind freedom to those who are captives and the good news is preach to all that's a most wonderful message but he doesn't do it by saying it but by in the presence of john the baptist disciples acting this out and then he says so go and tell john what you hear and see and that is his answer a demonstration of how he is with the people in a ministry of healing and good news and compassion and god's forgiveness [Music] john the baptist was certainly someone who looked too straight in the eye we saw that at the beginning of saint luke straight in the eye to those who were soldiers when they said what shall we do straight in the eye to tax collectors straight in the eye to those who had come the rich from jerusalem just to look as spectators from afar but here is jesus not afraid to look people in the eye but not in confrontation at this time but in noticing what their needs are as he observed them it's the whole tenor of the gospel of saint luke it's i think what is most attractive to luke about jesus yesterday afternoon's lesson that even was a lesson of god is light and in him there is no darkness at all it's a lesson of the epistle of saint john here's the gospel of saint john of saint luke and in the gospel of saint luke the evangelist gives the sense of the light being given by the ministry of jesus we need that kind of ministry at all times but we now are the hands and voice and eyes of jesus noticing where compassion is necessary noticing where help and encouragement is necessary noticing also where a word of triding or an indication that maybe forgiveness is needed all of those things and receiving the same messages from others in this as this time of watching and waiting these nine days between ascension and the feast of pentecost with the giving of the spirit lead us today into the wilderness and the creatures of the wilderness all around john the baptist we ask for the graces of heaven in our own life through the gifts of the holy spirit so that we may be the person of jesus the body of christ as his church on earth at this particular time when humanity needs so much care and so much encouragement so now let's say our prayers for this morning we are praying in the anglican communion for the diocese of nasik in north india at present vacant of a bishop so we pray for the people there and we pray also for the diocese of athikpo in nigeria and paul udogu the bishop there and his people the diocese of elesa in nigeria and samuel alubayou sawali the bishop there and his people and also the the neighbouring diocese of elesa southwest in nigeria and the bishop sanyo samuel egg babunmi and his people we remember justin archbishop of canterbury in our prayers pray for rose bishop of dover tim bishop at lambeth and also the parish today of saint michael and all angels made stone pray for neil bryson in his ministry there and for the readers elizabeth bryson and eleanor rel all the people that they serve and look after so we say the prayer at this ascension [Applause] tide grant we pray almighty god that as we believe your only begotten son our lord jesus christ who have ascended into the heavens so we in heart and mind may also ascend and with him continually dwell who is alive and reigns with you in the unity of the holy spirit one god now and forever amen and the son collect from our psalm 111 gracious god you are full of compassion may we who long for your kingdom to come rejoice to do your will and acknowledge your power alone to save through jesus christ our lord our men jesus looking around at the people at his time liking them to children playing in the marketplace it was never satisfied according to other children saying we played at weddings we piped for you you wouldn't dance and then we played at funerals and you wouldn't weep and mourn you won't join in our games in any way at all and he likens that to the fact that when god's gift of john the baptist came to the people then the people rejected that and when the gift of jesus came the authorities rejected that and grumbled and complained he fasts and doesn't eat it must be a demon inside him john the baptist he eats and drinks with all kinds of people he must be a wine bibber and a glutton but nevertheless wisdom is justified by her deeds and here is jesus calling us to the same acts of compassion and love in his world today let's say the prayer he taught us to say in whatever language in whatever way you would normally say it 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 so in a moment of silence we make our own prayers for this day and pray for any whom we love or whom we know to need our prayers [Music] the christ the king of glory exalted at this season to the heavens fill you with the graces and gifts of his holy spirit 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 this day and always amen