good morning and welcome to canterbury cathedral to the dinery garden on this friday the 3rd of july and this is of course the feast of st thomas the apostle which we shall be remembering in our prayers and in our reading welcome from wherever you are throughout the world and bring your your prayers in your hearts and minds with you as we spend some time in reflection and prayer early on the morning of this feast of saint thomas remembering other anniversaries on this day there's quite a coincidence in the people who have a an anniversary of their birth there are three folk from the czechoslovakia area as was and before that even bohemia um franz kafka and the composer janacek and the english playwright tom stoppard uh quite a a trio of of skills uh we've recently enjoyed tom scott stoppards uh adaptation of um ford maddox ford's novel parades end and uh his skills in in setting that in into into film is are quite amazing so we're actually giving thanks for the creativity of that trio of of of folk from the same area of europe this morning but also it's an anniversary of the birth of robert adam the architect who gave form and light and proportion to georgian architecture the scottish architect and uh so i think it's a morning for giving thanks for those who by their interpretation or in words or music or or architecture give us god's creation but also our capacity to be creative an intensely important aspect of our humanity and also for me the the birth of w h davis the welsh welsh poet uh at the same sort of time as edward thomas in all of those uh before and after the first world war i remember him best because he wrote my father's favorite couplet of poetry which goes what is what is this life if full of care we have no time to stand and stare how often i've heard my father uh say that in the days when i was being too hasty so we remember all that but essentially this is the feast of the apostle thomas as we say our prayers o lord open our lips and our mouth shall proclaim your praise your faithful servants bless you they make known the glory of your kingdom blessed are you sovereign god ruler and judge of all to you be praise and glory forever in the darkness of this age that is passing away may the light of your presence which your saints enjoy surround our steps as we journey on may we reflect your glory this day and so be made ready to see your face in the heavenly city where night shall be no more 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 morning psalm on this third morning of the month is psalm 15. lord who may dwell in your tabernacle who may rest upon your holy hill whoever leads an uncorrupt life and does the thing that is right who speaks the truth from the heart and bears no deceit on the tongue who does no evil to a friend and pours no scorn on a neighbor in whose sight the wicked are not esteemed but who honors those who fear the lord whoever has sworn to a neighbor and never goes back on that word who does not lend money in hope of gain nor takes a bribe against the innocent whoever does these things shall never fall this morning is a feast day and so our lesson is a special one we're not turning to the gospel of saint luke as we normally would on a regular ordinary morning we're turning to the gospel of saint john and we are given the first 16 verses of chapter 11. jesus and his disciples are not so much in hiding for there are many many people around them but they have escaped the violence of what was happening in judea near to jerusalem where the crowds had picked up stones to stone jesus to death and she escapes them with the disciples they cross the jordan and go to a place of safety and there at the end of chapter 10 they find rich ministry in the place where john used to baptize and the crowds hear jesus gladly and are supportive in all that they are doing that period becomes a happy one in shelter in a good place and then something happens which causes an end to this time in relative safety so we begin chapter 11. now a certain man was ill lazarus of bethany the village of mary and her sister martha it was mary who anointed the lord with ointment and wiped his feet with her hair whose brother lazarus was ill so the sisters sent to jesus saying lord he whom you love is ill but when jesus heard it he said this illness does not lead to death it is for the glory of god so that the son of god may be glorified through it now jesus loved martha and her sister and lazarus so when he heard that lazarus was ill he stayed two days longer in the place where he was then after this he said to the disciples let us go to judea again the disciples said to him rabbi the jews were just now seeking to stone you and are you going there again jesus answered are there not 12 hours in the day if anyone walks in the day he does not stumble because he sees the light of this world but if anyone walks in the night he stumbles because the light is not in them after saying these things he said to them our friend lazarus has fallen asleep but i go to awaken him the disciples said to jesus lord if he has fallen asleep he will recover now jesus had spoken of lazarus's death but they thought that he meant taking rest in sleep so jesus told them plainly lazarus has died and for your sake i am glad that i was not there so that you may believe but let us go to him so thomas called the twin said to his fellow disciples let us also go that we may die with him short sentences can be read in many many different ways i always feel that it's one of the difficulties of a text if you send it quickly someone can put different emphases on different words and get entirely the wrong impression of you of what you meant of the mood you were in when you sent it and with a click of a button you you can have done much damage because of that a short phrase a short sentence the inflection of the voice and exactly how that is interpreted and it's exactly the same with short sentences in the scriptures and we certainly have one here it's the first time that thomas has spoken and we learn that he's a twin but he amongst the disciples and they are all very scared they're scared of judea for there the true violence of the situation that jesus has been preparing them for has become absolutely apparent when horrifyingly crowds pick up stones to stone jesus and stoning was a method of execution not just an insult but stoning to death that's what they meant and they had escaped and were now safe and enjoying fruitful and lovely ministry with crowds who appreciated all that jesus was saying to them and we're back in the area of temptation again for jesus for that was the kind of temptation that peter had set before him way way up beyond the north of galilee when jesus had explained what this journey was going to mean in terms of cost to him in suffering and cruel treatment and death and peter had said oh you don't need to do that lord desert and remember jesus had turned on him and said get behind me satan here's the same temptation now with these frightened disciples their vocation is his vocation they are the twelve and he has looked after them but they must come with him or cease to be part of that vocation thomas's statement when jesus says we must go back to judea and the disciples say that they've just been seeking to stone you the implication is stay here this is good and fruitful ministry you're doing great good but jesus knows that the great good of his messiahship is for the whole world and it doesn't lie around the area beyond the jordan which is safe and full of encouraging people it lies in jerusalem which is anything but safe here is thomas saying one sentence let us also go that we may die with him you can read that as a a cynical shrug of the shoulders that us also go we shall die with him or you can read it and this is what i believe it is as an awakening from someone who was a realist as to what this ministry actually meant this journey actually meant it's a statement of courage let us also go that we may die with him and that encourages them with their master to make the journey he's the one who voices the sentence of fearful determination thomas is the master of short sentences as we shall see later in the day of this feast in gospel and we'll come back to it at evening prayer but this morning the short sentence is let us step by step go with him back to the area of danger for his true vocation he doesn't say any of this he's a man of few words thomas his true vocation we're perceiving is beyond that area of suffering and if we don't go through it we never arrive at the place that jesus must get to mentally spiritually and in suffering physically so we give thanks for thomas because he gives us also an area of determination for situations we would avoid or deal with in the wrong way and there are many of those in our human lives and certainly in our following of jesus if we follow him in spirit and in truth step by step guided by the holy spirit we give thanks for all of that this morning and it's not wrong to be fearful for the disciples were fearful as they left that place of safety but we give thanks also for the respite that jesus and the disciples have known in the place beyond the jordan before they set out for bethany where dangers lay in judea let me go back to that couplet of my father i remember him often saying to me don't be so impatient if i'd written an angry letter you would say just just leave that overnight in the morning tear it up and write it again and the the poem the couplet returns at the end of the of the uh of the whole poem and then the couplet is slightly changed and says a poor life this if full of care we have no time to stand and stare to reflect as we've been doing this morning it's essential for the journey onwards let's say our prayers on this morning at the end of our reflection we're praying this morning in our anglican communion cycle for the diocese of north kigesi in uganda and for ben and magazi the bishop there and his people and the diocese of awail in south sudan and abraham yell niall the bishop there and all his people pray to for the city of chennai in india where the mountain and shrine of st thomas who traditionally was seen as the one who went to take the gospel to india finds itself and pray for the life of that holy place so wonderful to stand on that mountain many of you will have done it and look out onto the ocean and we pray for spurgeon the chaplain of the madras christian college there and all his people at this time we remember in this diocese that the um parish of hawkhurst in lawrence with all saints and pray for rodney dreyer in his ministry there to that community and also of course we pray for justin our archbishop who will be with us this weekend as we reopen the cathedral for the eucharist on sunday morning and for rose bishop of dover and tim bishop of la of lambeth in their episcopal ministries so we say first of all the prayer for this sin thomas's day almighty and eternal god who for the firmer foundation of our faith allowed your holy apostle thomas to doubt the resurrection of your son till word and sight convinced him grant us who have not seen that we also may believe and so confess christ as our lord and our god who is alive and reigns with you in the unity of the holy spirit one god now and forever amen and the psalm collect give to us lord christ the fullness of grace your presence and your very self for you our portion and our delight now and forever are men so we say the prayer lord taught us in whatever language and in whichever way you like to say it 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 so a moment of silence for our own prayers at this time of day god give you grace to follow his saints in faith and hope and love and the blessing of god almighty the father the son and the holy spirit be upon you upon those whom you love and would pray for today and always amen foreign