good afternoon and welcome to canterbury cathedral on this afternoon of trinity sunday as we come to say our evening prayer and we remember the difficulties of our whole world not only in combating coronavirus but the situations in all the nations around the world that need our prayers and we continue to pray for our friends in the united states of america on this day so we begin our evening prayer oh lord open thou our lips and our mouth shall show forth thy praise oh god make speed to save us oh lord make haste to help us glory be to the father and to the son and to the holy ghost as it was in the beginning is now and ever shall be world without end amen praise ye the lord the lord's name be praised our son this afternoon is the beginning of psalm 37 fret not thyself because of the ungodly neither be thou envious against the evildoers for they shall soon be cut down like grass and be withered even as the green herb put thou thy trust in the lord and be doing good dwell in the land and verily thou shalt be fed delight thou in the lord and he shall give thee thy heart's desire commit thy way unto the lord and put thy trust in him and he shall bring it to pass he shall make thy righteousness as clear as the light and thy just dealing as the noonday hold thee still in the lord and abide patiently upon him but grieve not thyself at the one whose way does prosper against the one that doeth after evil counsels leave off from roth and let go displeasure fret not thyself else shalt thou be moved to do evil glory be to the father and to the son and to the holy ghost as it was in the beginning is now and ever shall be world without end amen our first lesson from the sixth chapter of the book of the prophet isaiah beginning at the first verse in the year that king uzziah died i saw the lord sitting upon a throne high and lifted up and the train of his robe filled the temple above him stood the set of him each had six wings with two he covered his face and with two he covered his feet and with two he flew and one called to another and said holy holy holy is the lord of hosts the whole earth is full of his glory and the foundations of the thresholds shook at the voice of him who called and the house was filled with smoke and i said woe is me for i am lost for i am a man of unclean lips and i dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips for my eyes have seen the king the lord of hosts then one of the seraphim flew to me having in his hand a burning coal that he had taken with tongs from the altar and he touched my mouse and said behold this has touched your lips your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for and i heard the voice of the lord saying whom shall i send and who will go for us then i said here i am send me so we say the song of mary's obedience the magnificat my soul doth magnify the lord and my spirit hath rejoiced in god my savior for he hath regarded the lowliness of his handmaiden for behold from henceforth all generations shall call me blessed for he that is mighty has magnified me and holy is his name and his mercy is on them that fear him throughout all generations he hath shared strength with his arm he has scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts he hath put down the mighty from their seat and hath exalted the humble and meek he has filled the hungry with good things and the rich he has sent empty away he remembering his mercy hath opened his servant israel as he promised to our forefathers abraham and his seed forever glory be to the father and to the son and to the holy ghost as it was in the beginning is now and ever shall be world without end amen the second lesson is written in the 16th chapter of the gospel of saint john beginning at the fifth verse jesus is speaking to his disciples at the last supper i did not say these things to you from the beginning because i was with you but now i am going to him who sent me and none of you asks me where are you going but because i have said these things to you sorrow has filled your heart nevertheless i tell you the truth it is to your advantage that i go away for if i do not go away the helper will not come to you but if i go i will send him to you and when he comes he will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment concerning sin because they do not believe in me concerning righteousness because i go to the father and you will see me no longer concerning judgment because the ruler of this world is judged i still have many things to say to you but you cannot bear them now but when the spirit of truth comes he will guide you into all the truth for he will not speak on his own authority but whatever he hears he will speak and he will declare to you the things that are to come he will glorify me for he will take what is mine and declare it to you all that the father has is mine therefore i said that he will take what is mine and declare it to you our first lesson from the prophet isaiah is an extraordinary one because it takes place early in the young man's life and he's standing at an act of worship in the temple we even have the date it was the year that king josiah died and at an act of worship in the great temple in jerusalem suddenly within the temple he has a vision of purity and glory of the lord himself high and lifted up surrounded by millions of angels and the young guy's eye is struck with a sense of his own utter unworthiness in that vision of purity and he cries out surrounded by the train of the lord his angels and the smoke which was filling the temple from the incense being burned in the temple offering up to god he cries out woe is me for i am a man of unclean lips and mine eyes have seen the king the lord of hosts his vision continues as one of the seraphim takes a burning coal from the altar and touches his lips with it and says see this has touched your lips your iniquity is taken away and your sins are toned for so that the young isaiah finds himself as pure white as the vision he sees of glory in the temple the total purity of that is now his as well just for an instant in his vision but that's not enough for then the voice of the lord is heard saying whom shall i send and who will go for me and because of what has happened to him the young isaiah is able to say here am i send me he has been given a gift of being enfolded into the glory of heaven and lifted from earth but his mission is on earth and his prophetic vision comes from that moment it's a gift if you like but it's a gift that requires a response which takes us to our second lesson where jesus himself is ready to give that gift to his disciples who feel themselves all unworthy but the holy spirit in which we saw jesus rejoicing in his prayers this morning uniting the creator with our redeemer in the power of the spirit and in his prayers that gift is now to be given to the disciples who will be the beginning of his mission of giving good news to a world so much in need of it it's a gift that becomes very apparent in the reading this afternoon and that gift just as it was for isaiah has to be used this is what trinity sunday is all about it's not a question of understanding first and foremost it's a question of being enfolded in the love of heaven's mystery and taking it from there wanting to give a creative response which will benefit life here on earth and the understanding will gradually follow the experience that's how it is in a world of faith and the gifts of the spirit and the ability to be surrounded and embraced in god's love and rejoice in it as the disciples had seen jesus do to give him strength in his vocation but now it's up to them no wonder this is a climax of our christian year for all the gifts that we have been learning about through the life the earthly life of jesus and we'll go on learning about it now become ours and we live that life so that an act of worship in the temple or a sudden prayer in a situation prompted by something here on earth something troublesome something beautiful any of those things suddenly become opportunities to give that good news which jesus hands on to us as a gift and we give thanks for that there is the most wonderful hymn describing that vision which i and perhaps you know well bright the vision that delighted once the sight of judas seer sweet the countless tongues united to entrance the prophet's ear round the lord in glory seated cherubim and seraphim filled the temple and repeated each to each the alternate hymn lord thy glory fills the heaven earth is with its fullness stored unto thee be glory given holy holy holy lord let's say that song of release which comes next in our evening prayer the song of simeon having received the gift of the messiah into his very arms and feeling a sense of total fulfillment lord now let us thou thy servant depart in peace according to thy word for mine eyes have seen thy salvation which thou has prepared before the face of all people to be a light to lighten the gentiles and to be the glory of thy people israel glory be to the father and to the son and to the holy ghost as it was in the beginning is now and ever shall be world without end amen let us pray lord have mercy upon us christ have mercy upon us lord have mercy upon 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 forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us and lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil amen our lord share thy mercy upon us and grant us thy salvation o lord save the queen and mercifully hear us when we call upon me endure thy ministers with righteousness and make thy chosen people joyful o lord save thy people and bless thine inheritance give peace in our time o lord because there is none other that fighteth for us but only thou o god oh god make clean our hearts within us and take not thy holy spirit from us almighty and everlasting god who has given unto us thy servants grace by the confession of a true faith to acknowledge the glory of the eternal trinity and in the power of the divine majesty to worship the unity we beseech thee that thou would keep us steadfast in this faith and ever more defend us from all adversities who livest and rainist one god world without end amen oh god from whom all holy desires all good counsels and all just works to proceed give unto thy servants that peace which the world cannot give that both our hearts may be set to obey thy commandments and also that by thee we being defended from the fear of our enemies may pass our time in rest and quietness through the merits of jesus christ our savior amen light in our darkness we beseech thee o lord and by thy great mercy defend us from all perils and dangers of this night for the love of thy only son our savior jesus christ amen so a moment for our own prayers and as we pray for those whom we love pray for those in any kind of difficulty this afternoon and pray for the good intentions of one towards another across the nations and in all societies so we complete the hymn for trinity sunday heaven is still with glory ringing earth takes up the angels cry holy holy holy singing lord of hosts the lord most high with his seraph train before him with his holy church below thus unite we to adore him bid we thus our anthem flow lord thy glory fills the heaven earth is with thy fullness stored unto thee be glory given holy holy holy lord and 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 ghost be amongst you and remain with you those whom you love and those you have played prayed for now and always amen