good morning and welcome to the dinery at canterbury cathedral on this morning of tuesday the 5th of october as we come to say our morning prayers we've come together into the deanery just at the beginning of this morning's prayers to visit the tudor deans here the three that the three portraits you can see uh as you look are the first three deans of canterbury since the reformation and every dean since the reformation had their portrait here hanging on the wall somewhere in the deanery so i have plenty of people to help me do my job as they look down at me from all the walls but we've come here for a special reason this morning and that is that as we finish our reflections on the book of genesis which we'll do in the garden in a few moments we are coming to the time when the children of israel represented by joseph's brothers after jacob has died the children of israel begin their exile it's according to the book of exodus an exile of 430 years and just to get perspective i thought we'd see how that worked out in english history and that length of time would take us back to the year 1591 in the years of the reign of queen elizabeth the first three years after the spanish armada so that's why we've come to visit the tudors because it gives you a perspective about how long that exile was said to last from the book of exodus when we get that figure of 430 years a very long time and yet so little is written about it in the scriptures but here we've much information about the elizabethan age because it was a great creative age in the 16th century and we spoke yesterday of course of of uh of the the bible of miles coverdale the first to be published in 1535 and then given royal authority in uh 1537 and the first dean came here after the reformation dean nicholas wooten who's the nearest portrait to you in the year 1540 and he remained as dean up to 1567 say the first years of the reign of elizabeth the first but he had been through troubled times as the dean held the ship steady and even recruited some of the monks and the prior from the past to ensure continuity on his chapter but he was a diplomat who traveled in royal service and was sent all over europe even while he was deen here and then he passed that mantle over to the one you see next and the one you see next is thomas godwin and thomas godwin came here having been dean of christchurch in oxford and when he became dean of canterbury he came and remodeled this ancient house so that it would have bigger public rooms the house is about a thousand years old but for its first 500 years it performed monastic functions and eventually became the priors lodging but now when thomas godwin came he found he needed much larger function rooms and so that the interior of the house completely remodeled by thomas godwin in fact he looks a much more tudor henry viii type character in his portrait than the renaissance figure of uh of nicholas wootton who with his clipped beard for all the world looks like cervantes or a or a portrait of shakespeare or someone like that and seems almost more modern but then we come along to the next one here richard rogers now richard rogers was already the bishop of the suffragan bishop of dover when he was brought here he didn't stop being suffrage bishop of dover but also added to his task uh in i think 1584 the deanery of of canterbury so he took over that mantle and then when he died in 1597 the title of bishop of dover suffragan bishop of dover to assist the archbishop simply lapsed and there was no bishop of dover until the early years of the 19th century so here's someone doing two jobs at once and it shows that the tudor progression here as we think of that time when the first english bibles were being produced and and uh thanks to people like miles coverdale the lovely miles coverdale bible in our archive and library here has an amazing frontiers piece with pictures there and you see how people are beginning to get interested in the bible in their own language if you want to read some of the words of coverdale who was very poetic then the psalms as they're held in the book of common prayers still and in very often the books of common prayer across the anglican communion the older books of common prayer those words are coverdale not king james and so read the 23rd psalm or psalm 84 or something in the book of common prayer and you're reading coverdale's poetry there are in our library of course anglo-saxon manuscripts of bibles and scriptures much earlier than that but we remember the tudor period as a time of creativity and then a long time from 1591 to now 2021 430 years the time of the exile of the children of israel in egypt so we've come outside now to say our morning prayers and i'm sitting outside in the back little back courtyard of the deanery as we've said so many times throughout our morning prayer with the garden congregation both the house and the houses of the precincts and the cathedral tell the story of this nation in stone and brick and other materials different styles but it's telling the story as we look at the wall and we've been talking about the tudor deans and now here one sees traces of tudor building some of the the building has been restored but the the brickwork is very much a tudor activity uh it's based on one and a half meter thick stone walls from 1070 but nevertheless it's been faced in different ages and there are always telltale signs about where you are in the centuries we'd only been looking back 430 years but that's long enough but you could go back much farther but the bricks tell a tail and in the bricks there are black bricks here creating a letter w um i don't know what the w stands for it's certainly not my name but uh it's it's a a w which has been put there in black bricks which were an accidental feature of tudor architects baked in a kiln by order of cardinal woolsey for hampton court but one batch was baked for too long they're expensive bricks so they were used and they were put into patterns and it became a feature then of english tudor architecture and architecture from then on from time to time in a tudor style and here are black bricks on this particular wall so let's think how we are surrounded by signs of the past wherever we are in the world telling of different cultures sometimes years and years of stability but often the years when there was instability were the years of creative culture and that's certainly so with the stories that we shall be telling now this morning in the book of genesis and tomorrow when we go on into the book of the exodus 430 years later that's longer than the whole roman occupation of britain and it it is something that is forgotten simply because the writings of that period just aren't there in the scriptures we shall we shall skip 430 years till we get to tomorrow morning but for now we're still with joseph and his brothers let's begin our morning prayers o lord open our lips and our mouths shall proclaim your praise reveal among us the light of your presence that we may behold your power and glory blessed are you sovereign god of all to you be praise and glory forever in your tender compassion the dawn from on high is breaking upon us to dispel the lingering shadows of night as we look for your coming among us this day 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 oh god set our hearts on fire with love for you now and forever amen the fifth morning of the month gives us three different and lovely psalms you could read them for yourselves if you wanted because if they started 24 which is very much an ascension tied psalm and then 25 which is a personal meditation and and shall we call it a petition i'm going to read 26 this morning and this also is a an individual russell has arrived an individual prayer give judgment for me o lord for i have walked with integrity i have trusted in the lord and have not faltered test me o lord and try me examine my heart and my mind for your love is before my eyes i have walked in your truth i have not joined the company of the false nor consorted with the deceitful i hate the gathering of evil doers i will not sit down with the wicked i will wash my hands in innocence oh lord that i may go about your altar to make her the voice of thanksgiving and tell of all your wonderful deeds lord i love the house of your habitation and the place where your glory abides sweep me not away with sinners nor my life with the bloodthirsty whose hands are full of wicked schemes and their right hand full of bribes as for me i will walk with integrity redeem me lord and be merciful to me my foot stands firm in the great congregation i will bless the lord so we turn then to our our last reading from the book of genesis it's genesis chapter 50 the last chapter and i'm starting where we left off at verse 15 when joseph's brothers saw that their father was dead they said it may be that joseph will hate us and pay us back for all the evil that we did to him so they sent a message to joseph saying your father gave this command before he died say to joseph please forgive the transgression of your brothers and their sin because they did evil to you and now please forgive the transgression of the servants of the god of your father joseph wept when they spoke to him his brothers also came and fell down before him and said behold we are your servants but joseph said to them do not fear from for am i in the place of god as for you you meant evil against me but god meant it for good to bring it about that many people should be kept alive as they are today so do not fear i will provide for you and your little ones thus joseph comforted his brothers and spoke kindly to them so joseph remained in egypt he and his father's house joseph lived for 110 years and joseph saw ephraim's children of the third generation the children also of machia the son of manasseh were counted as joseph's own and joseph said to his brothers i am about to die but god will visit you and bring you up out of this land to the land that you swore to abraham to isaac unto jacob then joseph made the sons of israel swear saying god will surely visit you and you shall carry up my bones from here so joseph died being 110 years old they embalmed him and he was put in a coffin in egypt so ends our reading of the book of genesis and it ends in a good way there's a rather silly lie which the brothers tell for their own safety because they're nervous of the power of joseph their brother who is master of all egypt under the pharaoh and they think that now their their father jacob has been removed joseph may now exact vengeance on them they're thinking of themselves what they would do in his position to take vengeance for what they did to him and so they concoct a lie i am sure that joseph saw straight through that and he weeps when he hears the lie because they put the lie into his father's mouth but he knows they're afraid and when they say our father said that you you're to look after us and forgive the transgression that we did against you because we really are very sorry and joseph i think knows that this is one of those uh shall we say fibs that are told in order to put us in a better position and joseph actually engages with the lie as though it's a truth because it is a truth that he's going to look after them they are his family and he believes very firmly that the evil done to him was turned to good by the will of god and the the the vocation given to him was for the benefit of many people for their sustenance not just those like his own family who've come but all the egyptians too for here is joseph in the land of egypt still supreme and now between now and tomorrow's lesson 430 years pass think of that wherever you are in the world in your own nation and and think back that is an exceedingly long time and much must have happened to the children of israel in the land of egypt during that time until we come to the time when they find themselves to be slaves and god visits them but that promise must still hold that when the exodus happens when they travel joseph wants his bones to be with them as a sign that god's will can turn any evil act into good and joseph very much believes that of his life let me just say that we're very excited to hear ducky's sound this morning because last night again in pouring rain and we've had torrential rain this morning as well but ducky never came home to the chicken shed and we are very very we were very worried we looked and searched but uh i think she hid herself very very very carefully and at that time one guinea fowl and ducky with the guinea fowl of course flew right up into the top of a tree but ducky in the rain went somewhere and we were nervous so to find her this morning bright and shining and all set with the gang again is a happy noise for us so let's just think of various things that we want to be reminded of as we we look at dates for today and i want to be reminded now of how a situation can change in a culture and there can be years of stability and then years of a stirring up doesn't generally take 430 years and i'm sure many stirrings up occurred in egypt with the children of israel during those years but we don't know about them but at the same time what we do know is that in our own cultures often it's the years of the stirring up the years of danger the years when the nation seems to be journeying in a particular way it's those years that are the most creative and sometimes provide the literature or the images which people look at and say oh yes that very much speaks of the culture of that time two periods of exile for example for the the israelites themselves the the exodus is going to give us the end of the period of exile of the first exile that we've been reading about in the book of genesis the second exile to babylon we shall be thinking about often the psalmist speaks about that but we can think about that later on when we do different sections of the old testament but for the moment we remember that in that second exile all those words we've been reading of on sunday mornings from the prophet isaiah a prophet the second part of isaiah when the writer is clearly talking about a time of exile and it's a time which our lord himself obviously focused on with his own vocation and the way in which god uses the suffering of his servant for good so that joseph and the way in which he thinks of his own suffering becomes a type of something which will happen later to the lord's servant which prophesied by isaiah but then taken up in the prophecy which jesus reads in the synagogue in his own people in galilee still a time of occupation in the middle of the roman empire which we said here in britain lasted for less time than the exile of the people in egypt i wanted to look at some dates i'll i'll call them through quite fast because i want to speak about how it goes and if i go early i'm talking about the late 1950s and then through the 1960s which became known here in england as the swinging 60s because lots of stable things were overturned in a completely different culture and the prime minister in that era of the 60s harold wilson the labour prime minister called it the white heat of a technological revolution all of that excitement but the culture reflected that uh i'm starting in 1958 when cliff richard and the shadows had their first game together then in 1961 on this day all of these are october the fifth date so 1958 for cliff ridges in the shadows 1961 the film breakfast at tiffany's a very favorite film with its beautiful tune of moon river going through it and at the same time the exasperating audrey hepburn as holly golightly and the way in which uh her mind changes in a moment and uh i'm afraid she's a massive icon for fletcher here the minute i say breakfast at tiffany's then that film comes into mind but it's a film of 1961 1962 the beatles first hit was really was released love me do and of course that was going to be the beginning of a complete cult speaking again of the culture of that time turning so many things over and seeming to be different at that time and then in 1962 on this date and here i'll stop because i want to dwell on this a little bit the first james bond film was released on this day it was dr no and james bond was played by sean connery and that was to be should we call it a foundation stone of a whole culture going not only through the 60s the 70s the 80s the 90s and then right through the millennium and through up to our own time when only last month the latest james bond film was released with a great and splendid premier night with the two royal couples we did this quite recently in the royal albert hall and that film no time to die we're told is the last time that daniel craig will appear as james bond well there'll be many changes all the way through but it was the 60s that started it started an era so that the moment the music of a james bond film starts to play you know exactly where you are and the first films of course with sean connery have iconic names and when they're said you sort of think oh yes that was that one looking back if of course you were there at that time but then since then people who become keen on ian fleming's great character james bond 007 have looked back at those and enjoyed the whole sequence of all the films that were made 25 films made in in that particular way there are two others that were made separately but the james bond played first by sean connery gave us stockton no from russia with love goldfinger thunderball you only live twice on her majesty's secret service and diamonds are forever and we learned to know the characters as they came through and it sort of didn't matter that over all those decades that i've just quoted those characters were played by others think of m for example at the very beginning the head of the secret service m was played in a different way from the years that dame judy dench played m and made m her own in a wonderful way a really wonderful way until one got to the time at 2012 and skyfall when she took her exit from that very very sadly but if we think of skyfall in 2012 which was a daniel craig film of course what comes to mind is james bond entering the queen's study and the queen the queen the real queen elizabeth ii turning to him saying something like are you ready mr bond and daniel craig who admitted he was it was the most nervous moment of his life and uh they walk off together the queen wearing a particular dress and then we go to the olympic stadium uh and there in the olympic stadium at the opening ceremony of the olympic games the queen seemingly in the same dress with james bond arrives by parachute and then uh the real queen in in that dress enters the royal stadium it was a classic moment but it showed how james bond had entered into the culture but we changed with him and the cultures changed with him and all the characters in it and the style changed as those films went through sean connery in the sixties roger moore in the 70s and 80s timothy dalton in the late 80s pierce brosnan in the 90s and over the millennium i'm only mentioning the ones that did it for a significant time and finally daniel craig from 2006 to 2021 just the last film and i'm sure that legend will go on but it shows how a culture in its images can portray itself i'd forgotten to mention miss money penny because money penny the secretary to m again is a constant character on the way through and q played by desmond luellen in the beginning but played by many others after that so he made the part very much his own and his exasperation with james bond when he's trying to explain something about the gadget that he's going to use and his uh james bond's attention span is quite short and q keeps keeps saying look pay attention i'm trying to show you something really important here and so all of those things are a part of the the character building up and the ways in which when we go to something which is a series going through in culture wherever the series are we look for signs to think ah yes this is a james bond film and here's m and here's q and these are the ones that we would expect and um it's a it's a lovely thing to give thanks for because it's a sign of creativity developing but also let's go back to those 1960s because it was a time when all sorts of things which have developed on and on and on began to happen and when human society began to move very fast indeed and inventions began to come so that nowadays we take for granted things which simply weren't there at the end of the 1950s the way we contact each other the way in which we perceive things and also the individual cultures which gives us machines which can make us seem to be self-sufficient and hardly in need of one another in a physical way but my goodness the pandemic showed us how much we were in need and are in need of one another physically in these days so that i'm sure there will be much literature of the pandemic there will be all kinds of things that we look back to remember we've come across our human world to a point where we've realized how important to us the the planet is and this morning and perhaps i should should mention this too this morning we hear news of a vast oil spill off the beautiful californian coast between huntington beach and laguna beach it's one of our favorite parts of the states driving up and down there and looking out onto the pacific nothing like a sunset on the pacific but those beautiful beaches at the moment threatened by a crude oil spill coming from a pipeline which looks as though it was damaged by a ship's anchor and now there's hastening and hastening to help but the the oil is already washing onto the beaches which have now been closed and it's not just beaches but the the great territory of anaheim bay which is an area of subtitle tidal and inter-title area of conservation salt marshes um higher land where all kinds of birds and creatures of the land and sea creatures are in a protected environment now desperately threatened by this huge oil spill it's another reminder of how we have to take care of the planet and if one thinks of those species which are being protected there which are critically in danger of extinction with wonderful names birds like the light footage clipper rail clapper rail the bird i've never heard of before that's why i'm reading it light-footed clapper rail now critically in danger of extinction the california least turn critically endangered of extinction eastern pacific sea turtle a sea creature critically endangered and now surrounded by this huge oil spill so god bless the the the efforts of all those that are trying to contain that but it's another another reminder of our stewardship of this planet and the way the generations change and how short a time 430 years can seem in our biblical narrative just turning the page from genesis to exodus and also how shorter time in a human life three four five six decades might seem as one looks back and how much can happen in those decades to change society yet in our morning prayers as a garden congregation the psalm talks about the great congregation well this is a great congregation it's worldwide and we're sharing all our endangered thoughts as we think of the planet and also those societies around us so um let's begin to say our prayers on this morning when we've had so many different images and when torrential rain really torrential rain um about an hour ago has now changed into once again blue sky shining on the leaves of the the garden here we're going to pray this morning in the anglican communion for the diocese of gambia in the church of the province of west africa and in the diocese of canterbury we've been asked this week to keep in our minds the theme of focusing on the harvests well we we do that day by day out in the open air so we shall pray then just for our archbishop justin and rose the present african bishop of dover and then also emma a bishop at lambeth and all the parishes of our diocese as they focus on the concept of harvest here's the collect for today almighty and everlasting god increase in us your gift of faith that forsaking what lies behind and reaching out to that which is before we may run the way of your commandments and win the crown of everlasting joy through jesus christ our lord amen so we say the prayer our savior taught us in whatever language we like to use 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 amen time for your own prayers on this morning so okay so oh so 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 spirit be upon you upon those whom you love and those whom you would pray for today and always are men this morning is extraordinary because from dark gray skies and torrential rain we've now turned into a totally blue sky and the sun is rising over the garden wall over the wisteria but already shining on the wet leaves of the house and the passion flower leaves and everything behind me here there's even a passion flower blooming behind me and every raindrop is reflecting the sun it shows how in equinox times of year seasons come and go and change quite quickly and even through the day you can have a pattern of weather which shows you quick changes and we have to respond to them we've responded to several changes in history today but it's been a lovely time to be here in the garden now the sun has come up oh you