[Music] good morning and welcome to the deanery garden at canterbury cathedral on this wednesday in passion week wednesday the 24th of march wherever you are in the world please feel welcome as we gather together for our morning prayers on a lovely morning here as spring is really making itself felt here in england and i've come here by the magnificent uh magnolia tree the ulan denudata which is in absolute full flower here once again we we thank wendy white thompson and her husband ian all those years ago for planting them and wendy will be watching this i'm sure this morning with ray so uh thank you wendy for this beautiful tree it's the first of the big five ones that she and ian planted and the others will bloom sequentially but this is always the first and a great harbinger of spring days still to come the herbaceous border behind me also is full of flowers that are about to bloom and some already in bloom showing us that spring is very near this is a day when we remember across the world some situations which are tense and and tragic we think of the people of bristol once again here in england we think also of the people of boulder colorado and we also think of the people in australia facing devastating floods at present all those who are suffering there and in other parts of the world of course and those who are attempting to help them we are at that point which we remembered with two minutes of silence here standing with the cathedral staff around the cathedral of what this year of pandemic has meant in the loss of lives but also in a heartbreaking separation of people one from another during these months of lockdown and social distancing in that context we say our prayers for passion tides this morning and you will have many intentions of your own and concerns to bring to those prayers o lord open our lips and our mouth shall proclaim your praise let your ways be known upon us your saving power among the nations blessed are you lord god of our salvation to you be praise and glory forever as of man of sorrows and acquainted with grief your only son was lifted up that he might draw the whole world to himself may we walk this day in the way of the cross and always be ready to share its weight declaring your love for all the world 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 does 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 son on this 24th morning of the month is part of psalm 118 oh give thanks to the lord for he is good his mercy endures forever let israel now proclaim his mercy and yours forever let the house of aaron now proclaim his mercy endures forever let those who fear the lord proclaim his mercy endures forever the lord is my strength and my song and he has become my salvation joyful shouts of salvation sound from the tempts of the righteous the right hand of the lord does mighty deeds the right hand of the lord raises up the right hand of the lord does mighty deeds i shall not die but live and declare the works of the lord the lord has punished me solely but he has not given me over to death open to me the gates of righteousness that i may enter and give thanks to the lord this is the gate of the lord the righteous shall enter through it i will give thanks to you for you have answered me and have become my salvation the stone which the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone this is the lord's doing and it is marvelous in our eyes this is the day that the lord has made we will rejoice and be glad in it so we turn to the gospel of saint john yesterday we came to the end of chapter 11. so today we begin chapter 12 and as we said yesterday jesus knew within himself that his vocation as the anointed one the christ the messiah must happen in jerusalem and now that journey begins towards jerusalem from the quietness of the place to which he and his disciples have retreated almost as a preparation for this stealing himself nerving his humanity to face what must be the conclusion the hour when that vocation is fulfilled chapter 12 of saint john verse 1 six days before the passover jesus therefore came to bethany where lazarus was whom jesus had raised from the dead so they gave a dinner for him there martha served and lazarus was one of those reclining with jesus at table mary therefore took a pound of expensive ointment made from pure nard and anointed the feet of jesus and wiped his feet with her hair the house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume but judas iscariot one of his disciples the one who was about to betray him said why was this ointment not sold for 300 nre and given to the poor judas said this not because he cared about the poor but because he was a thief and having charge of the money bag he used to help himself to what was put into it but jesus said leave her alone so that she may keep it for the day of my burial for the poor you have always with you but you do not always have me when the large crowd of the jews learn that jesus was there they came not only on account of him but also to see lazarus whom he had raised from the dead so the chief priests made plans to put lazarus to death as well because on account of him many of the jews were going away and believing in jesus all sorts of undercurrents but also in the midst of it the most beautiful cameo scene and also a a clue that john the evangelist here is assuming that there are some things you know already which must come from other accounts the other gospels the three what we call synoptic gospels matthew mark and luke there's an assumption that you know because we've already been told right at the beginning of chapter 11 this was the mary who anointed the feet of jesus it hasn't happened then it happens now and then once again there are clues here about the the facts of what go on and an assumption that some of those you will know already so the interconnection of the four gospels becomes something that we shall never solve of course but we do actually see connections between them and one story sheds light on another i love the opening verses of john chapter 12 because it speaks of the three separate qualities of the siblings two sisters and a brother who live in the bethany household it was clearly a household with resources and those resources were plentifully at the disposal of jesus and his disciples it was a house that was well known although in saint john's gospel we don't come across it until chapter 11. but probably the most famous cameo picture of that house is in st luke's gospel which we looked at back in the summer when mary and martha are there with jesus and martha is the busy one and mary is kneeling at the master's feet and really soaking in with understanding of heart and mind and spirit of what she is saying and is full of empathy for what that will mean in terms of pain to him and his humanity we shall explore that in the three hours which i shall do on good friday and and share with you in in six different episodes uh so that you can either watch them right through from 12 to 3 on good friday or use them whenever you would like to reflect on these verses but for the moment let's look at this little scene today and i'm always taken back to two of my great aunts and my great uncle aunt fanny aunt rachel and uncle george great on fanny great aunt rachel great uncle george which reminds me that this morning the queen and the duke of edinburgh have had their 10th great-grandchild born to zara and mike as a little boy and uh that's a a lovely thing for them so we we say happy birthday to a new child for uh the queen and and prince philip which is lovely um and uh so let's go back to what i was saying it reminds me of the house and it was a house on nags head hill which looked out over the uh road to bath the old roman road to bath and the when i knew them of course his great aunts and great uncle the house was going along in the rhythm of those who were really senior in years but it was a lovely thing to go i'd take my bike and go and sit and talk to great uncle george and and here great aunt fanny great aunt rachel every morning on sundays at uh about half past seven they would set off arm in arm looking as though they'd come from a completely different generation not only before the second world war but before the first world war i think as they would walk to the parish church for the eight o'clock communion and then walk back to have breakfast together and father used always to say time stands still at nags head hill it was always the same the same hospitality and the same uh lovely conversation and the the same sense of being there at a place where time did seem to stand still and the the grandfather clock here that i brought to the deanery which was made for the family uh long long ago in the the late 18th century used to stand in that house and chime out the hours as it had done so many many years and i think of them because here we have two sisters and a brother and jesus comes there to find three kinds of comfort first of all we see in this little story let me do it in the order which said john's gospel gives it martha served those two words are wonderful because we complement them with looking back to the story in luke's gospel of martha preparing wonderful meals and looking after the resources of human knees the hunger of the disciples and no doubt they were they were really glad to be there in the bethany household martha served and the scent i mean the smell of her cooking no doubt was pervading the house and then secondly a different kind of meeting of jesus's needs human companionship understanding and the the love that he had for those three siblings lazarus reclined in the way that that meals were taken in those days reclined with jesus at table and then thirdly mary well a completely different kind of meeting of jesus's needs for if anyone understood the heartbreak of his messiahship which and the struggle that was going on in his humanity it was mary and in order to show that she takes the pot of nard very expensive we're told and the story is told in all the gospels of this happening and the also the the way in which it was not received well by some and this is put into the voice of judas um why was this not sold and given to the poor and jesus saying leave her alone and in one of the other gospels she has done a beautiful thing for me and you have the poor always with you this is part of your vocation to care for the poor as part of jesus's vocation to raise the poor part of the magnificat that that mary the mother of jesus sings but at the same time this pot of nard is the expensive and costly outpouring of mary's spiritual and heartfelt understanding of what jesus is going through and speaks of the desperate nature of the the tomb beyond the bethany household is a little cameo of the way that we can support one another body mind and spirit body let's think of masa now i'm sure all three had a degree of understanding in all three areas but let's see masa as the one to provide human resources so many of the the the um folk in my whole ministry who've come along have sort of said i'm not very good at contributing to the conversation in study groups or something of that kind but i'm very good at you know providing the coffee and washing up and enjoying the conversation of others well those people in the the the martha role shall we say vital to the way things go forward and then the mental understanding the lazarus reclining at table he who has received the best gift of all the gift of life from jesus but also the conversation between jesus and lazarus unrecorded and yet there's that mental understanding which is going on which complements the physical resources being provided and then finally most deep of all and most difficult to describe the absolute kinship and understanding at a spiritual level a deep spiritual level of mary represented by the pot of nard and at that moment the fragrance of the nard this isn't figurative this is real and yet it's speaking of deep things which are going on at a much deeper level both planes being involved in st john's gospel that which is finite on earth that which speaks of the gifts of the kingdom of heaven the fragrance filled the house no doubt overcoming the wonderful sense of martha's cooking and silencing for a moment the conversations of the people around having a a time of of kinship and hospitality no social distancing needing there and it's that that we yearn for again this is a sense of the hospitality and the coming together that we we need but meanwhile of course as i keep saying we have to do it with imaginative encouragement with the ways we can use at the moment and particularly at this time for sometimes the last lap of a journey and who could have told 12 months ago when lockdown began for three weeks it was said to start with that this would go on so long but there's some of the journey left when we have to be faithful to one another and jesus has the last lap of the journey still to make for everything that has to happen next has to happen in the city of jerusalem it's only a walk away and during the days of holy week jesus and his disciples will return to bethany backwards and forwards but for the moment they're there in the bethany household with the three siblings for whom we give thanks this morning mary martha and lazarus and let's think of those who support us in our daily life and give thanks for them this is an interesting day in terms of dates in the past on this day in 1603 queen elizabeth the first died after 44 years on the throne the elizabethan age and when we look back on on that there is a sort of aura about it it was a day when this kingdom she was only queen of england not queen of scotland uh but uh that was about to change with the the next monarch but the elizabethan age was a time when things developed mostly because of the wisdom and counsel of the queen she was a great scholar a great theologian but above all else a wise discerner of people who would never let her emotions get in the way of the judgment of a leader and the decisions that have to be made however hard one can think of her hand signing the death sentence for the isle of essex and the heartbreak that his rebellion against her must have caused the difficulty of knowing which way to turn with mary queen of scots when people were trying desperately to to put her forward as someone who would take elizabeth's place all of those things listening to the right counselors are problems for political leaders but we give thanks for the reign of elizabeth the first and the building block that was put into our nation at that time elizabeth died in 1603 i'm talking about the end of a rain but of course it began another reign of james the first who was also king of scotland but he ruled as a king of scotland and of england as separate kingdoms it took this day march 24 1707 for queen anne to sign the act of union which has been in place ever since so that it became then the united kingdom 1733 joseph priestley theologian and chemist who was credited with the discovery of oxygen and um that is seems so sort of natural now but he was born in 1733 1829 the roman catholic relief act allowed catholics for the first time to serve in parliament see the sort of loosening of the the way in which people gradually are are accepted through but sometimes it takes a very long time for people who are afraid let's look at the chief priests and pharisees back afraid of something to allow something else to happen and then in 1834 william morris was born on this day designer of furniture fabric stained glass wallpaper revolutionize victorian taste so if one thinks of all the artists poets musicians of the elizabethan age and prime amongst them of course william shakespeare and one never forgets judy dench's portrayal of uh of uh queen elizabeth watching romeo and juliet for the first time and so all of that but william morris on the other hand stamped the style of victorian england and his house at kilmscott manor epitomized this in 1946 aleister cook read his first letter from america on the radio and that continued for over 50 years until the late 1990s extraordinary one remembers his voice so well just uh 10 minutes or so of giving news from across the other side of the atlantic on the radio and we give thanks for that long long and urbane way of describing news from over the other side of the atlantic 1953 queen mary died the wife of george v she had been but she lived long to be 85 years old and certainly my parents remembered her because in the war she had the second world war she had been placed for safety at badminton house the home of the duke of beaufort which was near near us and um father and mother would say they remembered her being driven around in a huge uh rolls royce on what would be a little bit of daily exercise getting out of the house and and speaking to the people on the way through she had lived just to have the sadness of seeing her son george c sixth die but she never lived long enough sadly to see queen elizabeth although she was already queen of course from the moment her father died but the coronation was in june 1953 and queen mary died on this day march the 24th in 1953 and then 1964 stansted was chosen as london 3rd airport today and in 1992 the magazine punch britain's oldest satirical magazine many cartoons of fame ceased publication after 151 years the end of its life what else can we say in 2015 united kingdom inflation fell to naught percent for the first time ever not that now but uh it was on in that year uh six years ago and then again 2020 day one of lockdown this was we were only allowed for the first time to shop for basic necessities and go out for our exercise and for medical needs so let's say our prayers on this day with all your intentions and your concerns as we enjoy the spring sunshine here which is developing in the garden it's the 24th of march so we're praying for the diocese of ballarat in the anglican church of australia in the victoria province and then here in this diocese we're praying for justin our archbishop and for rose bishop of dover and for tim bishop at lambeth and for the parishes of the romney and tentadon area deanery today we're praying for all those clergy with permission for to officiate so many of them will be retired clergy helping out in the parishes when churches are open the list is too long for me to read but uh i'm i'm thankful there are so many of them to help out there and i know it's a very fruitful ministry let's then say our own prayer for this morning with the collect for passion tide bring your intentions to this most merciful god who by the death and resurrection of your son jesus christ delivered and saved the world grant that by faith in him who suffered on the cross we may triumph in the power of his victory through jesus christ our lord amen so each in our own language we say the prayer our savior taught 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 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 now as we say our own prayers on this wednesday of passion week christ crucified draw you to himself to find in him a sure ground for faith a firm support for hope and the assurance of sins forgiven 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 are men well leo if you've been very quiet and active today johnson breakfast here you are that's good news i think we all deserve breakfast nourishment of body mind and soul but body comes first this morning okay good boy [Music] you