good morning and welcome to the dinery garden at canterbury cathedral on this morning of wednesday the 13th of april the wednesday of holy week bring your prayers and intentions across the world as we say our prayers together and it's here in england the most lovely day the sun has risen up as it has through the trees on the last few mornings and it's a very mild morning we were caused to see the garden rather early this morning because both of us were awakened by uh the uh kerfuffle in the in the chicken run uh an enormous kind of squawking and and we thought a fox had come down so i looked out of my bedroom window i was already working it at what we are going to do this morning and saw that our two pigs guardians of the chickens were there and uh their mane at the back of their head had was was standing up in a war-like posture but i could see no fox we both came downstairs having been uh warned by this noise and and also um we went into the the walled garden to see what was happening no sign of a fox and and the chickens totally protected of course by their wiring closure but the pigs also had been making a noise most unlike them at that time in the morning and i think they had seen off a fox who had come round on the off chance of maybe finding the the chicken um door open or something of that kind foxes are chances as they as they go around the garden but no damage done and what it did was cause us to realize that already now the mornings being light are times of enormous and intense beauty in the garden and a a guide to the garden suddenly appeared beside us and began to lead us round and leo when things are exciting his tail fluffs out and just as the pigs uh whatever you called it that the the main on the back of their their their head was standing up with with the uh whatever they had been defending the chickens from so leo was showing that he too was had been alarmed but was now going to show us the garden and with mugs of tea in our hand he walked us all the way around the garden and we it just exhausted in the lovely light at that time of morning as the sun just began to break through with its golden light with a thin layer of cloud and now this morning it's rising much higher and coming through the trees and we're sitting here in the orchard at the table and it's woody wednesday so we've got trees all around us in the wood at this part of the the orchard is is the the woody part and of course we come here because we were watching the bluebells develop well my goodness they have they are spanish bluebells and we allow spanish bluebells to grow here even though they are beginning to swamp english bluebells fletcher calls them the blue bell armada but we plant english bluebells and they're later in flowering and much sweeter scented and we shall see some of those in a week's time or something i would i would guess but for the moment we've got this sea of blue around us developing many more to come and even a white one there too and uh they're set off by the lovely yellow what we call dead nettles they're normally white but these are a patch of yellow dead nettles and if you know dead nettles then as children we would pick the flowers mostly white flowers and then put a bunch of them onto our tongue and suck and you get that honey flavour of the honey at the base of the flower as you go along and of the trees well the mulberry is above me but not leafing yet and the sycamore tree is above me and not leafing yet and the ash tree and the oak tree not leafing yet but the elder yes is leafing and the horse on yes it's leafing and also uh out of your sight at the moment the the chestnut is leafing and the rowan is leafing really well it's interesting to see which trees come out first and which keep their leaves for a safer time in a week or two's time and there's always an old saying if the oaks before the ash you're in for a splash not much rain this summer if the ash is before the oak then you're in for a soak lots of rain this summer well we can't tell yet because oak and ash are not leafing but we'll watch to see which comes out first enough of country law we must get on with our prayers this morning and of course we begin with a prayer for the people of ukraine wherever they are in their own country and facing such danger or else being given hospitality in other other lands and our prayers continue for them and at the same time we were going to remember the city of new york for reasons we'll see in our reflection but we remember the city of new york because of the uh shooting in the brooklyn subway station at rush hour time and i think someone is still critically wounded from that and 20 people were wounded in that way and police are still looking for the one who did that but it that kind of thing causes fear throughout a human community especially at a rush time so let's think of the people of new york on this day and let's say our prayers together as the sun actually rises high enough to come right onto me thank you son to give a nice light to the books this morning oh lord open our lips and our mouth shall proclaim your praise let your ways be known upon earth your saving power among the nations blessed are you lord god of our salvation to you be praise and glory forever as a 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 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 psalm on this 13th morning of the month is psalm 68 it's a long psalm and as we usually do we'll read sections of that now let god arise and let his enemies be scattered let those that hate him flee before him as the smoke vanishes so may they vanish away as wax melts at the fire so let the wicked perish at the presence of god but let the righteous be glad and rejoice before god let them make merry with gladness sing to god sing praises to his name exalt him who rides on the clouds the lord is his name rejoice before him father of the fatherless defender of widows god in his holy habitation god gives the solitary a home and brings forth prisoners to songs of welcome but the rebellious inhabit a burning desert oh god when you went forth before your people when you marched through the wilderness the earth shook and the heavens dropped down rain at the presence of god the lord of sinai at the presence of god the god of israel you sent down a gracious rain oh god you refreshed your inheritance when it was weary your people came to dwell there in your goodness oh god you provide for the poor blessed be the lord who bears our burdens day by day for god is our salvation god is for us the god of our salvation god is the lord who can deliver from death sing to god you kingdoms of the earth make music in praise of the lord he rides on the ancient heaven of heavens and sends forth his voice a mighty voice ascribe power to god whose splendor is over israel whose power is above the clouds how terrible is god in his holy sanctuary the god of israel who gives power and strength to his people blessed be god we're returning now to our reading from st john's gospel and this morning we've reached chapter 14 we are still in that upper room where supper is being shared by jesus and now by the 11 who are left after judas has departed and at that time when jesus knows that his course is now set he gives glory to god the one who sent him that he has been enabled in his human strength as well as spirit and heart to start these steps towards his destiny and the time when he will be lifted up with his arms outstretched for the whole world that in this account is now only hours away but for the moment around the supper table with the 11 he continues to share things with them and the whole of chapter 14 is a sharing of that and there is a dialogue between the 11 and jesus some of which is remembered and set down here by the evangelists i'm going to read the whole of chapter 14. jesus said to the eleven let not your hearts be troubled believe in god believe also in me in my father's house are many mansions if it were not so would i have told you that i go to prepare a place for you and if i go and prepare a place for you i will come again and will take you to myself that where i am you may be also and you know the way to where i am going thomas said to him lord we do not know where you are going how can we know the way jesus said to thomas i am the way and the truth and the life no one comes to the father except through me if you had known me you would have known my father also from now on you do know him and have seen him [Music] philip said to him lord show us the father and it's enough for us jesus said to philip have i been with you so long and you still do not know me philip whoever has seen me has seen the father how can you say show us the father do you not believe that i am in the father and the father is in me the words that i say to you i do not speak on my own authority but the father who dwells in me does his works believe me that i am in the father and the father is in me or else believe on account of the works themselves truly truly i say to you whoever believes in me will also do the works that i do and greater works than these will they do because i am going to the father whatever you ask in my name this i will do that the father may be glorified in the son if you ask me for anything in my name i will do it if you love me you will keep my commandments and i will ask the father and he will give you another helper to be with you forever even the spirit of truth whom the world cannot receive because it neither sees him nor knows him you know him for he dwells with you and will be in you i will not leave you as orphans i will come to you yet a little while and the world will see me no more but you will see me because i live you also will live and in that day you will know that i am in my father and you in me and i in you whoever has my commandments and keeps them they are the ones who love me and those who love me will be loved by my father and i will love them and manifest myself to them judas not iscariot said to him lord how is it that you will manifest yourself to us and not to the world jesus answered him if anyone loves me they will keep my word and my father will love them and we will come to them and make our home with them whoever does not love me does not keep my words and the word that you hear is not mine but the fathers who sent me these things i have spoken to you while i am still with you but the helper the holy spirit whom the father will send in my name will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that i have said to you peace i leave with you my peace i give to you not as the world gives do i give to you let not your hearts be troubled neither let them be afraid you heard me say to you i am going away and i will come to you if you loved me you would have rejoiced because i am going to the father for the father is greater than i and now i have told you before it takes place so that when it does take place you may believe i will no longer talk much with you for the ruler of this world is coming he has no claim on me but i do as the father has commanded me so that the world may know that i love the father rise up then let us go from here [Music] well that chapter 14 i read it all because first of all it shows the dialogue and questioning way that jesus allowed his teaching to be heard and later through the gift of the spirit remembered remembered quite clearly and sometimes as we've seen in this gospel remembered as a prophecy of what might be and here they are sitting at the supper table on the eve but that means that when it became dark and we know that when judas went out it was night the day had already started the day of preparation for the passover not pass every day itself for the very reasons that we've discussed in the last couple of days jesus will hang on the cross on the day of preparation as the lamb of god slain outside the city for the sins of the whole world as the passover lambs are being sacrificed at the self same time in the temple itself within the city but for the moment they are at this supper which is shall we say an ordinary supper is festive for them because they're in the holy city of jerusalem and their countrymen and they've all come together and it's a little bit of a a festive occasion almost a holiday for them and yet at the same time there's a certain sense of nervousness judas has now gone out and left the eleven with them and we see how jesus teaches but they interrupt with questions and those questions which are coming from the disciples three of them are remembered in the evangelist account the first one is from thomas lord we don't know where you're going how can we know the way and jesus replies with his i am statement to thomas i am the way and the truth and the life that statement for thomas will be received but not understood until we get to the scene afterwards in the upper room maybe the same upper room when thomas is convinced of the risen lord's presence and utters a wonderful statement of belief but for the moment he's asking a question and it's he doesn't get a a a a second question it's as though the answer is left with thomas to ponder but remembered and remembered by the others too and by the evangelist who writes this down and then philip when he jesus is saying as he said over and over again the message is not mine the word is not mine it's the word of the one who sent me the word of the father who sent me and from now on you do know the father and have seen him and philip says lord show us the father and it's enough for us and then jesus on this occasion actually naming philip as so to give emphasis to the fact that he is asking philip a question have i been with you so long and you still do not know me philip it's quite a reproach but afterwards by the gift of the spirit they will remember philip will remember but for the moment here's the question and it's as though they're asking for us around the supper table and jesus is giving the answer for us i am the way the truth and the life or to philip whoever has seen me has seen the father and then we go on a little while and after that judas not iscariot this is jude of since simon and saint jude on the feast day says to jesus lord how is it that you will manifest yourself to us and not to the world and jesus answers obliquely because through them and through us in the present day he will manifest himself to the world and people will see the glory of the creator in that manifestation of the word made flesh in the body of christ generation after generation and judas not his carriers and once again there's the evangelist just making sure we're on the right page with this judas not iscariot lord how is it that you will manifest yourself to us and not to the world jesus answers in that way but he also opens wide the kingdom of heaven to eternity with everything that he is saying and then promises them a comforter a counsellor spelled with an s c-o-n-c-o-u-n-s-e-l-l-o-r meaning in the same way one who will give us knowledge and understanding a comforter a counselor and an advocate sometimes the holy spirit is called because the words when they are facing those who are persecuting them are given by the advocate the holy spirit another revelation of the father in in totality giving us then that sense of the holy trinity of the father and the savior the son and of the holy spirit the advocate the counselor the comforter so many different words but at the same time for the moment it's too much for them to understand until that gift of the spirit is given and that gift will come but for the moment i was going to say that chapter 14 is the end of the conversation at the supper table rise let us go from here it says jesus at the end of the chapter and if i go to william temple the archbishop of canterbury who was so much loved and so well respected during the days of the awful conflict in the second world war he he died far too early but he wrote wonderful reflections on the gospel of saint john and one of the loveliest insights that he gives and i absolutely believe it is that at this point jesus gets up from this supper table and they go outside into the darkness remember it's passover the next day so there will be a full moon and they are going back in the disciples mind they're going back to bethany in the normal way nothing much that is going to happen now they've had a nice supper together and they talk along the way and jesus continues teaching and the way from the upper room to the mount of olives to start with is there through the outer courtyard of the temple where jesus has taught so many times and the temple in all its glory for really the temple is a new creation of king herod and the temple in all its glory is inlaid over its porch with pure gold in the pattern of a golden vine trailing across the walls and william temple imagines the moonlight of the full moon shining onto that vine and chapter 15 beginning as they enter the temple courtyard with jesus saying i am the true vine and my father is the vine dresser well those chapters 15 and 16 will come back to but not now we'll leave that for easter itself and the way in which those gifts are remembered and the giving of the spirit but i would want to think about those two chapters chapter 15 16 and then 17 all of those are crucial and important to our understanding of what's going on and it makes all the sense in the world to think of them being spoken in the outer courtyard of the temple which jesus himself had been devoted to from earliest times when he was a little boy of 12 my father's house and the father is the one who sent him and now he is teaching the father's gift to those who have been given to him as they walk and no doubt pause and even sit in the temple courtyard late on that eve of the day of preparation and the moon in temple's imagination very likely a full moon shining down on that golden vine and on the teaching that jesus is giving to them which they're not quite understanding yet and in chapters 15 and 16 we get the promise of the work of the holy spirit giving them that understanding but they've much to go through yet but this probably is for them is still an ordinary way that jesus would teach them walking along sitting down letting them ask questions the questions actually have stopped in those two chapters the dialogue was stopped but the memory is all there in the evangelist because jesus has promised that the spirit will give them powers of recollection of the teaching that he's given and then one gets to chapter 17 which is normally known as the high priestly prayer of jesus where he consecrates himself and temple would actually william temple would put that still in the courtyard of the temple which to jesus is being consecrated also as a place of prayer for all nations as he consecrates himself before the sacrifice his own offering of himself it's very near now and he knows that for he set the ball rolling as he told jesus judas to go and do what he had to do quickly and they're going along um to the point where they will leave the temple following jesus's high priestly prayer to the father and then go down into the valley to cross the brook kidron and go to a garden which they're used to go to in terms of maybe stopping again where jesus would pray and then climbing climbing the mount of olives to where um the disciples have grown used to looking back on the city of jerusalem and then going on to bethany questions and conversation a detailed glimpse of how jesus taught his disciples an absolute glimpse of or more than a glimpse of their lack of understanding and jesus's promise that they will understand and that understanding will come when the gift of the spirit is given but they've some little way to go yet and jesus is feeling very affectionate towards his little children as he calls them as he gives lovely promises in verses in my father's house so many mansions and then peace i give to you my peace i give to you the message is not his but the father who sent him and it's the strong message of the fourth gospel that everything that jesus says and everything that jesus does all the works he actually uh performs are from the father who sent him he is the one that jesus is glorifying and honoring and now that he is accomplishing that vocation in our flesh the word may flesh who dwelt among us and we beheld his glory now he's accomplishing that he knows that the father will glorify him and yet there's still time for human flesh to feel nervousness as he goes on moving from the supper table eventually to the garden gethsemane through the outer courtyard past the golden vine and then consecrating himself in prayer in that temple courtyard well let's think of things today which are dates of significance and the first one i wanted to talk about is the metropolitan museum of art in new york city founded sorry founded on this day certainly not built on this day founded on this day in 1870 and this is a day of intention to found one of the largest museums that wasn't the intention it was to found a a museum of art in new york it has become the most enormous museum in different sections not only there on fifth avenue standing there looking in the other direction onto central park but also at the cloister museum farther to the north standing there in great beauty and looking across the the hudson and those were founded and later given many many benefactions in the cloister museum itself we think about our friends the rockefeller family and and and um think of of allison and and peter this morning and and the three children and lilly whom we've had been much in touch with recently who now is sensing a vocation to ministry um we think of all the benefactors of this wonderful place because it is so big that you can actually stand in whole rooms especially saying i should drink some of the robin tea to stop me coughing on you we'll get that there we are it'll help a bit uh it's so big that even whole rooms from other houses have been taken there and you can actually sit in those rooms or stand and look at those rooms and see how the house was for the family who lived there in other nations i think of the dining room of lansdowne house which was in london and when a road took that part of lansdowne house off the whole dining room and all its equipment was taken to the metropolitan museum in new york so that you can stand in there and feel the atmosphere whole rooms dedicated to the art of different civilizations beautiful chinese hangings in some japanese art in others of vast size and then galleries of roman and greek and egyptian and african and asian sculptures of great beauty there are even whole houses in some of the areas of the museum it is an astonishing place with its many floors and its lovely roof garden also looking out over the uh central park but there's one place particularly i wanted to mention this morning which we love going to and it's called the chinese scholars garden the garden court and there has been reconstructed by a a benefactor from the astor family a chinese scholar's garden where the scholar and it's oopsie dropping my paper i'll just pause and get that sudden breeze or i shall give you all kinds of of wrong information here we are retrieved uh it's set in the 17th century ming dynasty style and it's showing a peaceful courtyard where a scholar could sit and think and all the equipment for that thinking but also the furniture for that scholars garden is there a scholars wisdom comes from ample leisure we're told in the book of ecclesiastes chapter 38 i think verse 24 it's a wonderful sentence and leisure is a hard thing to find for thinking has to be done very early in the morning as far as i'm concerned and then the busyness of the day takes over but the sense of being there reminds one of the way in which the mind and the spirit are fed in the same way as we nourish our bodies with breakfast which follows and that is carried still further if in the city of new york you go across to staten island another favorite place to snug harbor where the new york botanical gardens have set up a much bigger scholars garden and there in uh staten island you can walk in the garden of a chinese scholar of a different period and the proportions and the water and the little bridges are all set up so that reflection can take place now why am i saying all this well not only because of the date of the the wonderful museum of art being founded today but also because jesus himself had tended each evening to go to that garden of gethsemane and there to reflect sometimes we see jesus going up onto a mountain to pray but obviously in jerusalem busy busy city with much conflict he had found this garden gethsemane they're amongst the olive trees and the disciples were used to going there and that caused judas to know exactly where jesus and the disciples would be so that he could betray his friend and so it is on this night of the eve of the preparation when the day has in the jewish sense of a day beginning at sunset already begun jesus and his disciples as was their wound came to the garden and the disciples were used to it being a place of sort of relaxation as well as thinking and praying and jesus going on to pray but on this occasion it was going to be a place of betrayal by a friend and one thinks of the psalmist in psalm 55 we walked in the house of god as friends was not an open enemy that betrayed me it was you we walked in the house of god as friends so then there's another day today that i wanted to think about and that date is the premier in dublin on april the 13th 1742 of handel's oratorio messiah he'd composed it in 24 days and moved over to dublin for a first performance and took singers from the cathedrals there in dublin and at the same time other singers and orchestral players and he worked really hard and the city was a stir with the fact that this oratorio was going to be performed and uh on the it was going to be such a crowded place it wasn't a church it was a music hall there and there's a plaque there still in in and i think also uh on this day april the 13th an outdoor concert takes place on the site of that that hall but at the time they knew it was going to be crowded and there's an an amusing instruction to say that ladies must not wear hoops in their dresses so they could get as many people as possible into this wonderful performance and it was massively well received now we sometimes think of messiah as being a christmas thing to hear and of course sarah solos about the the for unto us a child is born and there were shepherds abiding in the fields keeping watch over their flocks by night and the angel of the lord came unto them the glory of the lord shone round about them and the angels gloria in heaven all of that is there in part one but essentially messiah is a sweep of the whole christian gospel from prophecy comforti comforti my people says our god speaking comfortably to jerusalem all the way through and right through to the words of revelation uh which is is uh the worthiest the lamb that was slave and the great are men at the end and essentially the whole heart of it in the middle is of this week of passion when jesus gives himself up to those who are to crucify and raise him on the cross and if you think of that central section was that that caused beethoven to say of handel he is the greatest composer that ever lived i would uncover my head and kneel before his tomb that's quite something coming from beethoven but when one thinks of the script which charles jenning provided from the king james version of the bible and also the book of common prayer psalms we get that sense of the scriptures being opened up to us in a way of reflection such as one would find in a garden with reflection and reading now here in a music hall everyone is silent to receive these words in music behold the lamb of god that taketh away the sin of the world part two begins and beautiful arias he was despised and rejected of men a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief he gave his back to the smiters and with his stripes we are healed surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows and all they that see him laugh him to scorn he looked for some to have pity on him but there was no man neither found he any to comfort him behold and see if there is any sorrow like my sorrow he was cut off out of the land of the living for the transgressions of thy people was he stricken all those words as i say them are full of music from handel's messiah which was first performed in a public place and charles jennings and handel wanted that so that the people would receive the gospel and they wouldn't have to be corralled into church they would receive it almost uh unwittingly because the music was so captivating then and it always has ever since that those words then stay in the head it's an oratorio of the gift that god gave through the coming of the word made flesh and we give thanks for its first performance on this day april the 13th in dublin at that time 1742. well in our garden of many reflections let us begin to say our prayers this morning on this wednesday of holy week here is the connect for today we are praying today for the diocese of kumai in the church of the province of uganda and actually only being given general prayers by our diocese but we do pray for archbishop justin and bishop rose of dover and also bishop emma of lambeth here's the colleague for this week almighty and everlasting god who in your tender love towards the human race sent your son our savior jesus christ to take upon him our flesh and to suffer death upon the cross grant that we may follow the example of his patience and humility and also be made partakers of his resurrection through jesus christ our lord amen the collect for lent itself almighty and everlasting god you hate nothing that you have made and forgive the sins of all those who are penitent create and make in us new and contrite hearts that we worthily lamenting our sins and acknowledging our wretchedness may receive from you the god of all mercy perfect remission and forgiveness through jesus christ our lord amen so we say each in our own language 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 sound 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 reflection in our little wood on woody wednesday our garden of reflection and remembrance with the spirit giving us promptings so [Music] oh [Music] [Applause] [Music] let's see [Music] hello [Music] oh is oh [Music] is foreign [Music] so here [Music] 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 we're surrounded by the songs of the birds this morning and we've heard warblers for the first time this morning so migratory birds are beginning to arrive which is a lovely thing you will hear more and more different bird songs as we go on but our friend the robin is here but he's a little bit wary of where leo has placed himself so we'll see whether he's brave enough to come now let's look at our riddle and see what was being asked yesterday i think yesterday i asked i am an ant that is good at maths or math if you're on the other side of the atlantic and that is accountant which we think is a fairly poor answer and the other there is one in every corner and two in every room and the letter o is the answer to that one o in the word corner and two o's in the word room so today um i am as old as the earth but i'm renewed every month what am i and you have one but others use yours more than you do what is it so if we go now to the book we find ourselves today with the most beautiful bird we don't have them in the garden they tend to be in different places this is the lark or the skylark and it's just given the four words lark as the acrostic down the side little astronaut where have you gone and how is your song still torrenting on aren't you short of breath as you climb higher up there in the thin air with your magical songs still tumbling on right now i need you for my sadness has come again and my heart grows flatter so i'm coming to find you by following your song keeping on into deep space past dying stars and exploding suns to where at last little astronaut you sing your heart out at all dark matter well the skylark is and the song of the skylar and they're surrounded by cow slips with plenty of cow slips here um the song of the skylark is of course um made absolutely famous by born williams is the lark ascending i know you're getting jealous of the lark mr robin are you you can't touch it um and uh so that hearing that violin thor and soren saw reminds us of how when a lark rises particularly from a field up into the air straight up singing singing singing all the way so let's put the book down and go on to something else tomorrow so as we um as we sit here uh let me wish you a wonderfully good holy wednesday uh and um hope too that all kinds of reflections will come to you in this holy week i remind you that tonight bishop rose of dover and i will carry out the the reflection with music together and we're going to stand on uh hello you've even come to the teapot you really are bright in the sunshine this morning aren't you um uh we're going to do it with two lecterns as you remember monday night bishop rose gave the reflection last night i gave the reflection and tonight we're going to do this together from two completely different um lecterns and and have a dialogue across the way so that's at seven o'clock but all this is online from both nights as well so you can tune in to that our our lovely friend is i think feeding uh young now and so he is carrying back the things he picks up to his wife and to the little ones and that's going to become something we see with many birds in the trees here so happy woody wednesday so you