good morning and welcome on this morning of sunday the 9th of august as we worship here in the dinery garden at canterbury cathedral welcome wherever you are in the world england has been so scorchingly hot for the last few days that early in the morning like this we seem to have developed our own pacific lair rather reminding us of friends in churches in california but above me is a thin grey cloud which will be dispersed by the sun later on i'm sitting in the orchard here which has been streamed but it's also showing signs of autumn fruitfulness with crabapples lying around me here and the short grass will soon grow up and provide cover again for those creatures like hedgehogs and snow worms and things which which thrive here beneath the trees we are full of the thought and prayer of people in beirut this morning already i've had a conversation earlier with archdeacon imad zurob who is the archdeacon at the church of all saints the anglican church in beirut whose halls and premises have suffered severe damage but he told me um at the moment they like ourselves are in a state of lockdown and had been but they are surrounded by the devastation and the horror of all that had happened in beirut following the massive explosion and he told me that their church miraculously with its stained glass is untouched in the middle of all that and is open for people's prayers they're not open yet for formal acts of worship but we can pray for them and we shall this morning and we remember also the episcopal care of archbishop suhail and the new commander bishop hossam naom has been a great friend of ours for the years that he's been dean of st george's in jerusalem they have the episcopal care of the lebanon at this time and our hearts will remain with them over these coming days and with all the citizens of beirut so let's begin our prayers o lord open our lips and our mouth shall proclaim your praise visit us with your salvation and sustain us with your gracious spirit 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 does 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 ninth morning of the month is psalm 46 god is our refuge and strength a very present help in trouble therefore we will not fear though the earth be moved and though the mountains tremble in the heart of the sea there the waters rage and swell and though the mountains quake at the towering seas there is a river whose streams make glad the city of god the holy place of the dwelling of the most high god is in the midst of her therefore shall she not be removed god shall help her at the break of day the nations are in uproar and the kingdoms are shaken but god utters his voice and the earth shall melt away the lord of hosts is with us the god of jacob is our stronghold come and behold the works of the lord what destruction he has wrought upon the earth he makes wars to cease in all the world he shatters the bow and snaps the spear and burns the chariots in the fire be still and know that i am god i will be exalted among the nations i will be exalted in the earth the lord of hosts is with us the god of jacob is our stronghold our reading is a special one on sunday mornings so we have left the territory of sin luke and we are reading from the second letter of saint peter the third chapter beginning at the eighth verse do not overlook this one fact beloved brothers and sisters that with the lord one day is as a thousand years and a thousand years are as one day the lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness but is patient towards you not wishing that any should perish but that all should reach repentance but the day of the lord will come like a thief and then the heavens will pass away with a roar and the heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved and the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed since all these things are thus to be dissolved what sort of people ought you to be in lives of holiness and godliness waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of god because of which the heavens will be set on fire and dissolved and the heavenly bodies will melt as they burn but according to his promise we are waiting for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells that letter of saint peter is largely thought to be quite a late work in the books of the new testament and obviously the writer is trying to combat the constant question when is the lord returning hence he goes to the psalmist a thousand years in your sight our butters yesterday seeing as they pass like a watch in the night on ninety and as he says that he is imagining the way in which things will come to an end we don't know exactly when that was written but in 1870 the whole city of jerusalem was a conflagration as the roman army destroyed the temple and burned the city and terrible things happened to the inhabitants and psalm 46 about be still and know that i am god is set in the middle of a stilling of the warfare of the nations well the situation in beirut was not one of warfare it seems to be one of catastrophic negligence yet what happened was something that completely devastated life in a moment and talks about in its images the fragility of life and the unexpectedness of all things the descriptions which the writer of the second epistle of saint peter gives are descriptions which are of the fragility of life on earth and he uses words of waiting we wait for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells in in talking to archdeacon iman on the telephone earlier this morning and they of course were three hours in front of us his worship virtual worship was about to begin but that was to happen in people's homes and the church itself as i said earlier miraculously preserved becomes a protected place of prayer miraculously in the middle of that he talked about even their beautiful stained glass windows utterly untouched and that becomes the place of prayer for all beirut very much an international place and we pray for the archdeacon and all worshipping there but we pray for every citizen this morning and archdeacon iman said of course prayer is the only thing that we can do and that we were doing across the telephone line but that we are doing this morning here in our prayers and that we shall do inside the cathedral church at canterbury when we worship at our eucharist later in the morning there we wait for a new heaven and a new earth in which righteousness dwells well some people have not been satisfied with waiting they've been determined to create a new heaven and a new earth here and now today august the 9th is the day on which our calendar remembers mary sumner mary sumner was the wife of george sumner who later became bishop of winchester but was the director of old oldsford in hampshire i have a particular connection with old author because it was in old oldsford house now not the rectory that i was selected to begin training for the priesthood in december of 1968 and at that time uh it was a freezing meeko day and i remember old oldsford having a little heating downstairs but certainly none in the bedrooms but it was a place where a little community of sister as well but it is the place that we remember a specific event for mary sumner in 1876 nervously began a movement which was to become worldwide for the encouragement of family life marriage and family life that movement has developed into something which is a worldwide mother's union organization with millions of members across the anglican communion and it's an organization which strengthens the multi-configurations of family life i have belonged to extended families in south sudan in tanzania in new zealand in the islands around new zealand with all sorts of people and been embraced into their family units and around them were working officers and members of the worldwide mothers union indeed at that time in the city of juba when i was working there in 1979 the only good prison services of food and medicine were the mothers union there was nothing provided they would go bravely in with their teams to look after prisoners and in hospitals hospital patients who had no family to care for them and that work still goes on i found exactly the same with the energy of the mothers union in tanzania we're told that when mary sumner began the work in her own rectory she gathered together the people of that little community the mothers of that little community to express what she believed could be helpful for them this is 1876 and she was so nervous that when they gathered together at the first meeting she was too nervous to speak and her husband george had to come in and speak for her a week later she steeled herself and she herself spoke and by 1897 the movement had grown to 170 000 members and queen victoria in her diamond jubilee year became the royal patron well now it's millions of members across the world not content to wait for a new heaven and a new earth where righteousness dwells but by prayer and action to create it here and now i so rejoice that all saints church beirut is there this morning standing and open for prayer but that prayer is something which needs no distance rather like time in god's hands a thousand years about as yesterday distance in the life of prayer is as nothing wherever we are we can pray for one another we can pray also with thanksgiving for those we have known and loved in the past we can pray with intention for those whom we love and would pray for for their welfare for the future and that praying of those we know to be in so much need like the citizens of beirut today needs practical work from the prayer too that distance may stop but those around us we can reach and those around us beyond prayer we can encourage with physical activity and also the kind of knowledgeable contact that we can give to give strength for their activity wherever they are may god bless the citizens of beirut all those who will make decisions and be practical in their assistance for the lebanon at this time and god bless the ministry of archdeacon imad and archbishop sue hale and bishop hosanne this morning as we pray for them here in the garden but also across the world with you and also in the cathedral later as we offer the eucharist let's say our prayers and we remember in course the diocese this morning of the province to legalizat rwanda the major language there is french and we pray for the um primate there long banda and his work in rwanda and as bishop of shiera and all the people there here in this diocese we pray for archbishop justin for bishop rose of dover for bishop tim at lambeth and today for the parish of holy trinity folkston the clergy there bob weldon roger smith kate mcneese and the whole life of that place and we offer the citizens of beirut and the life of the anglican church in all saints there on this sunday morning in our prayers we give thanks for the work of the worldwide mothers union and pray that their work prosper in the strengthening of communities and the building of a new heaven and a new earth in which righteousness dwells here is the prayer for this sunday after trinity the tenth sunday after trinity let your merciful ears o lord be open to the prayers of your humble servants and that they may obtain their petitions make them to ask such things as shall please you through jesus christ our lord amen the prayer at the end of our psalm lord god of hosts when the earth shakes and the nations are in uproar speak and let the storm be still through jesus christ our lord so we say the prayer that our lord taught us in whatever language and in whichever way you would like 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 the moment of silence now for our own prayers the peace of god which passes all understanding keep your hearts and minds in the knowledge and love of god and if 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 amen [Applause] you