good morning and welcome to the deanery garden at canterbury cathedral on this friday the 18th of june it is a day of pouring rain uh nice rain coming straight down not a breath of wind really and so i'm sitting just at the entrance to the gardener shed and the reflection this morning and the gospel from st matthew is all about the sea of galilee and the the sea and the sky and everyone in the open air but peter standing in the water um and uh so we thought we'd come here and show you blue delphiniums and white dahlias to remind you of sea and surf and sky and we'll talk about that when we get to our reflection it feels very fresh and it smells very fresh this morning these are all outside flowers the lupines and delphiniums and the poppies and everything else but and even the camellia leaves here beside me but um we've brought one uh guest from the greenhouse and that's another of our friends the epi fighter who has been brought out to enjoy the rain on this only morning really of its flowering life it will go back into the greenhouse afterwards having been flowering beautifully all evening and all through the night so all these things to cheer us on a wet day and i ask you to bring your own prayers and intentions from across the world as we say our prayers on this friday morning oh lord open our lips and our mouth shall proclaim your praise visit us with our salvation with your salvation and sustain us with your gracious spirit oh come let us sing to the lord let us heartily rejoice in the rock of our salvation let us come into his presence with thanksgiving and be glad in him with psalms for the lord is a great god and a great king above all gods come let us worship and bow down and kneel before the lord our maker for he is our god we are the people of his pasture and the sheep of his hands 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 and 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 18th morning of the month is psalm 90. lord you have been our refuge from one generation to another before the mountains were brought forth or the earth and the world were formed from everlasting to everlasting you are god you turn us back to dust and say turn back o children of earth for a thousand years in your sight are butters yesterday which passes like a watch in the night you sweep them away like a dream they fade away suddenly like the grass in the morning it is green and flourishes in the evening it is dried up and withered for we consume away in your displeasure we are afraid at your wroteful indignation you have set our misdeeds before you and our secret sins in the light of your countenance when you are angry all our days are gone our years come to an end like a sigh the days of our life are three score years and ten or if our strengths endures even for score yet the sum of them is but labor and sorrow for they soon pass away and we are gone who regards the power of your roth and your indignation like those who fear you so teach us to number our days that we may apply our hearts to wisdom turn again o lord how long will you delay have compassion on your servants satisfy us with your loving kindness in the morning that we may rejoice and be glad all our days give us gladness for the days you have afflicted us and for the years in which you have we have seen adversity share your servants your works and let your glory be over their children may the gracious favor of the lord our god be upon us prosper our handiwork oh prosper the work of our hands that's a psalm psalm 90 which the great hymn writer isaac watts turned into a fine metrical sound with regular lines and rhymes that could stay in our head and which we know well oh god our help in ages past our hope for years to come our shelter from the stormy last and our eternal home so we're turning back to saint matthew and we come to the point where we left jesus yesterday having healed the boy with the demon and then they go on and we're starting from verse 22 of chapter 17 and reading to the end as they were gathering in galilee jesus said to his disciples the son of man is about to be delivered into the hands of men and they will kill him and he will be raised the third day and they were greatly distressed when they came to capernaum the collectors of the two drachma attacks went up to peter and said does your teacher not pay the tax peter said yes and when he came into the house jesus spoke to him first saying what do you think simon from whom do kings of the earth take toll or tax from their sons or from others and when peter answered from others jesus said to him then the children are free however not to give offence to them go to the lake and cast a hook and take the first fish that comes up and when you open its mouth you will find a shekel take that and give it to them for me and for yourself a short lesson but full of huge interest because something is beginning and this is the preparation for it all they have come down from the mountaintop they have come down through caesarea philippi and they have come all the way back to galilee they've come to the place that the fishermen know as home peter and andrew and james and john and others also this is home ground and it's been capernaum has been home for jesus during his galilean ministry these things we glean from the three gospels matthew mark and luke particularly mark as the foundation stone but it's evident also within the gospel of saint john but here is matthew now bringing them back to the sea of galilee they're gathering who are gathering well the disciples are gathering but others are gathering too for this is the preparation for the beginning of the journey to jerusalem this is going to be different we're leaving home territory and jesus has tried to warn them that in his humanity he will never be back this is the end of the galilean ministry he gives that in warning in the other gospels as they go along but they find it hard to understand what they do here in this sentence that is given to them what will happen to the son of man it matthew is straightforward is that he will be killed that they can understand and they don't like it they begin to be distressed and on the third day he will be raised well that is absolutely beyond their knowledge beyond their imagination beyond anything they understand but for someone to be killed know that they understand and they know themselves to be surrounded by the dangers of violence and they keep hearing these warnings from jesus and here they are in capernaum making ready for the journey and others will come with them the women who out of their resources will support them on the way people are gathering in a great group there on the lakeside to go to jerusalem but when they've gone to pilgrimages in jerusalem and this would be so for the fishermen in their childhood for there were many connections with jerusalem and and as they were growing up they would come back but not anymore there's this sense of this being the ending of what might be called home for the disciples who will be the apostles and certainly in a human ministry for jesus himself there will be a lakeside scene after the raising from the dead but essentially now the journey has gone on to jerusalem and then well beyond and we with hindsight of course know what happens to the members of the apostolic band we know because we read it in not only the acts of the apostles and in the writings of the early church but in the traditions of the church also we hear the echoes of so much violence this is a day when in our calendar we remember bernard mizeki and he is the apostle if you like the evangelist of the meshona people now zimbabwe who was murdered i think in 1896 and became a christian martyr then and we give thanks for him but he's just a sign of all that that is being said by jesus at this time but he doesn't load them with too much at once he is gentle with his disciples but as they come back home then the collector of the temple tax which is not an obligatory tax there's no legal punishment if a person doesn't pay it but it was the custom of all the jewish people wherever they were in the world to pay the temple tax of half a shekel or as it's said in the translation this morning which was giving it in the greek two drachmas and that was something that was given for the support of the life of the temple and it was gladly given and the questioner is of simon does your master pay the temple tax and jesus and peter says yes and then when he enters the house they're at home one can imagine all the preparations around the house of packing to go to jerusalem the sense of dislocation and disruption as they gather together things that they need to take for the journey and i'm sure the the fussing of so many saying do we need this do we need this and jesus is there and he's ready to make a completion and he says to uh peter about the tax and ask the question and it's a question saying do we need to pay it and uh and the answer that jesus gives also is the children are free we don't need to pay this but jesus through his ministry respects the temple did you not know that i would be in my father's house or um the the way in which he is zealous for the holiness of the temple so the tax needs to be paid as a sign of that they don't want to give offences jesus certainly on not on this matter for he's come to fulfill the law and the prophets and where someone's welfare is is at stake he doesn't mind giving offense but on this occasion he wants to show respect to what the temple stands for and he is going to make a journey there and so he says to peter now this is the interesting one um certainly this legend which comes through about peter going to the lake and uh finding the first fish and opening its mouth and finding there the silver coin which was uh for drachmas which was enough for pay for him and for jesus and uh in the parish church that we go to in provence in southern france in cassie which is very much a a small town dedicated to fishing and the parish church there which is dedicated to the archangel michael but is is full of pictures of the fishing because that is what the the little community is about and although it stands above the harbour you walk down the hill and there are the fishing boats and the fish are brought up each morning and laid out it's a fishing place but what i was going to say was as we worship there sunday by sunday and enjoy the worship there because it's a relaxed time of year normally and we couldn't go last year and i it won't happen this year either but it's there waiting for us and there are many pictures around the walls but there is one favorite painting of mine and it's this story jesus is standing on the shore and peter is standing ankle deep in the water and holding aloft the coin which will pay the temple tax you can take it like that as a straightforward miracle it only ends in matthew's gospel or you can take it in another way if you'd rather that jesus is saying to jesus to peter we will pay this tax so do a day's fishing and with that we can we can pay the tax go back to your human work and use it so that we have the four drachmas to pay the tax and that too um is a a way of thinking about this story the painting shows peter very much taking the coin from the fish's mouth and it's a glorious picture because there's the sky and the sea and jesus and peter and i like to hold that image in my mind but also there's the image of peter and all the others leaving their fishing nets for the last time except for the time when they become so distressed after the crucifixion that peter says to them i'm going fishing again on the lakeside and it's the risen jesus who calls them back to their vocation as apostles which will send them away from this area for ever to their vocation which will know violence and and suffering all those things this morning as the blue of the delphiniums and the white of the dahlias not a blue sky a gray sky but the falling rain makes a watery scene for us and this is very much a watery scene that we're thinking about and a lovely scene but also there's a a sense of loss that as they leave home we know the kind of journeys they're going on and what their vocation will call them to at this time out of interest fletcher is sitting in the same place taking with the camera this morning as we used for the beachside resurrection narrative back in easter time but he is facing in a completely different direction towards this path rather than the other path which led to the beach this path is representative of their foreboding on leaving everything familiar at home and going towards jerusalem with the prophetic warnings that jesus is giving so the delphiniums are still speaking of the sea and the water and the rain but then this path is leading them away from home so let's think of some other dates uh other years when this date was significant um first of all we want to say on this day happy birthday to support mccartney who was born on this day in 1942 so i hope he has a happy birthday we remember also with thanksgiving on this day dame vera lin who died in 2020 last year age 103 but her music like paul mccartney's resonates with so many different messages of of hope and also of thoughtfulness deep thoughtfulness this is the the day um in 1815 when the battle of waterloo happened and in 2015 we remembered the news being brought here and had a a ceremony on that double centenary of the battle of waterloo what i wanted to say was that the battle of waterloo ended a whole period of war 26 years of war the french revolutionary wars and then the napoleonic wars it ended the era of napoleon and all that that had done to europe and europe had to put itself together again it was a new beginning and people had been traumatized by war and got used to war right across this continent and so those who were making decisions had to make some hard decisions war was costly and also resettlement when so much had been upset and so much had been destroyed which could never be recaptured beginning times like that and dislocation we've been thinking of the apostles dislocation from their homes on the sea of galilee are hard times they're hard times for everyone there's certainly hard times for those who have to make decisions coincidentally on this day in 1769 castle ray was born and he was the foreign secretary here in in the united kingdom from 1812 to 1822 he was a person of immense influence a shy man but of immense diplomatic influence across the continent but was really hated for domestic policies which the government were bringing in only because the isle of liverpool the prime minister was safe in the house of lords and castle ray who was vikant castle reign later on the marquis of londonderry was in the irish peerage so he could sit in the house of commons and he did so he led the house of commons in all the political debates and all the reconstruction and the measures that government had to take and his face became the face that although it was respected and and and given enormous uh what should we say a reputation in european councils if the congress of vienna and the congresses which followed that nevertheless here he became a hated figure and the the the weight you bear with that kind of constant not only criticism but hatred is so great and castle ray in 1822 was really seen to be suffering from enormous mental distress and the king the king king george iv found him one day when he came for a a a royal visit as the foreign secretary as weeping and and then he himself took his own life soon after in 1822 it's always a difficult thing at those days because open razors lay around in any person who was shaving bedroom when they got up or their dressing room and castle ray ended his life but we remember him as one of those who had to make decisions at a crucial time in european history and we remember also what the nation had to do afterwards i don't mean with castle ray i mean how do you how do you then get used to peace when you've had 26 years of war so many people being decommissioned and coming back into the landscape and i wanted to mention someone else who was important at that time and he was a person called william cobbitt who died on this day in 1835 it's difficult to say whether he was a radical or an extreme tory he was certainly someone who loved the ways of the path but eluded definition and it was quite difficult to say well he belongs to that party this party he was an mp for a time but but uh in a way he went to farm in america then he came back but he loved the old agricultural ways and he made great stands on behalf of agricultural workers against those who were setting up new ways because of the industrial revolution now i mentioned him because also so that he could understand what the countryside and the rural scene and the life of people caring for one another was like he set about a series of rides on horseback across southeast england and in the midlands later on and in southeast england he would publish and he was a wonderful describer of scenes he would publish what it was like in kent in 1822 as he went around or in hampshire or in surrey or in sussex and people would read that in episodes in a periodical but at that time also um he decided he would publish the books and they are so compelling that they're still published in two volumes there's still a penguin classic you can even download the whole thing from google and it gives a picture of rural life which would disappear and he was trying to hold on to those things which were good not only for the people working that he wanted fairness for all but also was looking back to say look we've lost this bit of life and it's not good for our nation for our planet and we've also lost this kind of respect for one another so kobet becomes someone whom we recognize today as as someone who is causing us to care for the planet care for the countryside and know that change can be a good thing and not always a foreboding thing but it has to be managed in a way which is is is giving welfare for all all those things so i want to celebrate william cobbit a great eccentric and died too young but uh his and and his rural rides today as we say our prayers bring your own intentions and prayers from across the world and uh we are praying in the anglican communion today on this 18th of june for the diocese of chicago in the episcopal church and on this day when we remember bernard menzeki we pray for the church in zimbabwe and the zimbabwean people and in this diocese for archbishop justin for bishop rose for bishop tim but also the parish of holy trinity margate and the ministry of clifford stocking and his current john huffman so that we we give thanks for them so at this time let's say the prayer for today and bring your own intentions and your concerns lord you have taught us that all our doings without love are nothing worse send your holy spirit and pour into our hearts that most excellent gift of love the true bond of peace and of all virtues without which whoever lives is counted dead before you grant this for your only son jesus christ's sake amen prayer that our savior taught us in whatever language you like to use and as we do so we pray for all who have to make hard decisions and also those who sometimes know that they've made bad decisions and are ready to repent of them and do what they can to change those decisions it's the lot of any statesman or states woman as they go through and it shows a big heartedness too 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 moment of silence now for your own prayers on this wet morning here [Music] [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 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