good morning and welcome to the dinery garden in canterbury cathedral as we come together on this tuesday the 15th of september to say our morning prayers welcome wherever you are in the world on this day as usual we look back at what this day meant in times gone by it is actually the day we commemorate since cyprian of carthage who was the bishop of carthage in north african he himself a north african and was born around about the year 200 but was executed as part of the persecution of the emperor valerius on this day in september in the year 2058 he had already been through the the the decean uh persecution and had survived that but on this day he was publicly executed as the bishop of carthage and his writings survive in in great measure and also uh the description of that early martyrdom in the year 258 well on this day also uh this is the day that has been designated battle of britain day because it was this day when the battle turned and it seemed that this was the day that convinced adolf hitler that it wasn't worth attempting the invasion of these little islands he could turn his his face towards more more important things in the east and then come back and deal with these islands later and this prompted of course the the statement by churchill which was in his august speech never in all the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few we could say that also perhaps about alexander fleming who on this day in 1928 almost by accident when he was studying influenza discovered penicillin and that drug was able to defeat scourges like what was then called consumption tuberculosis all those diseases which penicillin uh as the antibiotic which was followed of course by many many others but that that discovery was again something which we remember on this day when we ourselves are desperately as a human race trying to find a vaccine for the coronavirus well this day too was the birth of agatha christie in 1890 who's given much pleasure by her 66 detective novels one of which a short story which we never allowed to be published until the play of that which was originally called three blind mice and then the mouse trap until the play came off in the west end the little story that it was based on was not allowed to be published less people hear the end of the story well of course it never has been published because the play went on and on from 1952 until march the 16th 2020 when as with all things the lockdown ended that run but we do give thanks and we shall think in a way about her a bit later on when we're remembering also the death in 1859 of isimbard kingdom brunel the great engineer who who did so many things but we'll come back to that when we come to our reflection later on for the moment let's uh start our morning prayers together on this again lovely september day and feel welcome here wherever you are oh lord open our lips and our mouth shall proclaim your praise may christ the true the only light banish all darkness from our hearts and minds blessed are you creator of all to you be praise and glory forever as your dawn renews the 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 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 this morning is psalm 77 one of the psalms for the 15th morning of the month i cry aloud to god i cry aloud to god and he will hear me in the day of my trouble i have sought the lord by night my hand is stretched out and does not tire my soul refuses comfort i think upon god and i groan i ponder and my spirit faints you will not let my eyelids close i am so troubled that i cannot speak i consider the days of old i remember the years long past and i commune with my heart in the night my spirit searches for understanding will the lord cast us off forever will he no more show us his favor has his loving mercy clean gone forever has his promise come to an end forevermore has god forgotten to be gracious has he shut up his compassion in displeasure and i said my grief is this that the right hand of the most high has lost its strength i will remember the works of the lord and call to mind your wonders of old time i will meditate on all your works and ponder your mighty deeds your way o god is holy who is so greater god as our god you are the god who worked wonders and declared your power among the peoples returning to the acts of the apostles and we are finding paul and barnabas still in antioch of paisidia not the antioch they set off from but the antioch in the middle of what was in asia minor now turkey and they have been asked to go again to the synagogue the following sabbath to explain this good news of which they speak the next sabbath almost the whole city gathered to hear the word of the lord but when the jews saw the crowds they were filled with jealousy and began to contradict what was spoken by paul reviling him and paul and barnabas spoke out boldly saying it was necessary that the word of god be spoken first to you since you thrust it aside and judge yourselves unworthy of eternal life behold we are turning to the gentiles for so the lord has commanded us saying i have made you a light for the gentiles that you may bring salvation to the ends of the earth and when the gentiles heard this they began rejoicing and glorifying the word of the lord and as many as were appointed to eternal life believed and the law the word of the lord was spreading throughout the whole region but the jews incited the devout women of high standing and the leading men of the city and stirred up persecution against paul and barnabas and drove them out of their district but they shook off the dust from their feet against them and went to iconium and the disciples were filled with joy and with the holy spirit now at iconium they entered together into the jewish synagogue and spoke in such a way that a great number of both jews and greeks believed but the unbelieving jews stirred up the gentiles and poisoned their minds against the brothers so they remained for a long time speaking boldly for the lord who bore witness to the word of his grace granting signs and wonders to be done by their hands but the people of the city were divided some sided with the jews and some with the apostles when an attempt was made by both gentiles and jews with their rulers to mistreat them and to stone them they learned of it and fled to lystra and to derby cities of like aeonia and to the surrounding country and there they continued to preach the gospel well a kind of pattern is being set up by the way in which paul and barnabas work at that time early in the first missionary journey let's continue to wonder at the energy and their progress in journeying across completely different landscapes to very foreign territory now cyprus was home to barnabas but they've crossed to the sea and now they've come deep inland to antioch in paisidia and from there now when they face danger and persecution they're traveling a little distance to the east and as they travel eastwards they come to other cities first to iconium and there they do the same thing here is the pattern at that time they start in the synagogue for there are their roots at the moment there are no christian communities for them to visit they have come now to form those communities and they think that that will be a development of the synagogue and of the faith that they always knew but they are sadly mistaken for this is not accepted by those who rule the synagogues this is one step or many many steps maybe too far and the result is and the word is here used for the first time really persecution there is danger this all began when stephen was stoned to death in jerusalem and one saw how the blood of that martyr spread the seed of the church and it developed through samaria and on to caesarea and on to antioch the original antioch and we've seen the journey but the same thing is happening again there's a quotation from the prophet isaiah this morning i will make you a light to lighten the gentiles a light for all the nations of the world from isaiah but also in luke's gospel something quoted in simeon's nunc dimittis but at that time it comes with a prophecy to the mother of our lord the blessed virgin mary a sword will pierce your own soul also and that sword is the sword of persecution notice it doesn't stop the joy in the holy spirit which the apostles feel and experience which gives them strength to endure persecution as they go from one place to another and in iconium exactly the same thing begins to happen but they stay there for a while until the threat of their death and their stoning becomes too strong and then they go on to other cities maestra and derby where we will find them tomorrow it's a long journey but the energy and the power given to them to give that good news is from the gift of the holy spirit and that gift is the gift which still infuses the church today and in many places people face the same kind of persecution but in hardship and in suffering we are asked to give thanks for all our opportunities and also to know the joy of the holy spirit when that spirit fills us let's think for a moment about this day in 1859 when isambard kingdom brunel died he was an engineer who was determined to improve communication by taking almost no notice of water and hills and valleys in his way i was brought up near bristol and the name of brunel was of course attached to the bristol suspension bridge crossing the avon gorge a beautiful bridge but also a connection spanning what seemed to be unspannable before and we could walk across it and enjoy it on both sides cross and look back but at the same time his great western railway gwr god's wonderful railway and drove through from paddington station right through the south west across his royal albert bridge which crossed the river tamar and then opened up cornwall all the way to penzance it was the most amazing ride and uh as we went on it the the voice of the uh of the porter i think probably at exeter uh in a demonstra action accent used when we were going on holiday to newquay shout change here for nookie which made people laugh because it had a different meaning to them as well and then there was a solemnity which followed when it was known that the laughter was in somehow improper but accidents actually are sometimes things which give us different meanings as as i said ismart kingdom brunel also built great ships which crossed the atlantic the great western he built the great eastern these were early days and yet that railway cutting through hills crossing valleys crossing rivers which before had been insurmountable is a sign of the kind of journeys that those early apostles had to take and yet also brunel was intrepid in what he did nothing seemed to stand in his way there was it bristol temple meads a wonderful black and white photograph of those who had quarried through hills they were line layers massively so they were dusty and they weren't smart to look at and they had about them the gritted teeth of those who laid railway lines and then on the station itself very smart indeed and even top-hatted the station master when a royal visit came were those who kept the stations kept the trains running gave comfort to the passengers and i once read a a a kind of reflection on how all of us have within us if we have vocations and capacities the ability some to be line layers i would see paul as a line layer cutting through not minding what he disturbed having enormous energy on the way through quite scary to some but forming the lines which went through and after people like cyprian of carthage who very much was the quality of those who kept the stations and formed the churches which would form in the wake of the line layers we give thanks for the vocation of both but the dangers involved for both were exactly the same paul and barnabas faced stoning and death as did so many early christian missionaries but at the same time bishop cyprian of carthage in north africa after many years of peace there in north africa faced the same danger and was executed publicly facing death in the same way joy in the holy spirit a light to lighten all nations but at the same time the sense that persecution was always there and that also had to be embraced even for some unto death we give thanks for all that this morning as we say our prayers on this day we are praying in our anglican communion for the diocese of awari in nigeria and for the bishop there chuckwuma opara and his people the diocese of central ecuador in the episcopal church of the united states and for victor scantlebury the bishop and his people and the diocese of kitakanto in japan and the the bishop there's a rubbable herota and we give thanks for his ministry and pray for his people here in this diocese we pray for a neighbouring parish to this cathedral church at sandington the church is the church of saint nicholas and faith and we pray for the ministry there which at present is vacant and pray for those looking after that ministry so on this day bring your own prayers as we use the collect for sinciprion bishop of carp carthage in north africa and a native that area himself who was martyred in 258 holy god who brought cyprian to faith in christ made him a bishop in the church and crowned his witness with a martyr's death grant that after his example we may love the church and her teachings find your forgiveness within her fellowship and so come to share the heavenly banquet you have prepared for us through jesus christ our lord amen so whether we sense ourselves to be line layers or those who keep stations comfortable and quiet and open for use let us pray for the life of christ church throughout the world and for courage when christians face persecution as we say the prayer that jesus taught us in our different languages 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 power in the glory forever and ever amen moment of silence for our own prayers on this day [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 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 amen [Music] ah