good morning and welcome to canterbury cathedral to the dinery garden on this morning of wednesday august the 12th as we come to say our morning prayers wherever you are in the world feel welcome with us and bring your own prayers in heart and mind this is international youth day in 2020 and the theme for this year is youth engagement for global action we pray god's blessing upon that intention and it also causes us to remember that in this country many young people today are receiving examination results after a particularly difficult academic year when so many have had to be taught online because of the lockdown so we think of them this morning as they receive results there are other anniversaries and in 1964 the novelist ian fleming died here in canterbury he gave us much pleasure in his james bond novels but he also wrote the children's novel chitty chitty bang bang there's a canterbury connection there too because kant zabrovsky was a legendary figure driving around canterbury and the lanes of kent in his enormous sports car the car was kept in a garage here which is now part of a school boarding house of our cathedral school the king school in canterbury but the car was used during the film of chitty chitty bang bang and there are pictures of that car if you click on to the t.s eliot uh film about canterbury below on the website you can find it there and you will find the titty titty bang bang car as well so there is another very important anniversary today but i'm going to leave that for our reflection we're going now to begin our morning prayers oh lord open our lips and our mouth shall proclaim your praise may christ the day star dawn in our hearts and triumph over the shades of night blessed are you sovereign god creator of all to you be glory and praise forever you founded the earth in the beginning and the heavens are the work of your hands in the fullness of time you made us in your image and in these last days you have spoken to us in your son jesus christ the word made flesh as we rejoice in the gift of your presence among us let the light of your love always shine in our hearts your spirit ever renew our lives and your praises ever be on our lips 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 so god set our hearts on fire with love for you now and forever amen our morning psalm on this 12th morning of the month is psalm 62 on god alone my soul in stillness waits from him comes my salvation he alone is my rock and my salvation my stronghold so that i shall never be shaken how long will all of you assail me to destroy me as you would a tottering wall or a leaning fence they plot only to thrust me down from my place of honour lies are their chief delight they bless with their mouth but in their heart they curse wait on god alone in stillness so my soul for in him is my hope he alone is my rock and my salvation my stronghold so that i shall not be shaken in god is my strength and my glory god is my strong rock in him is my refuge put your trust in him always my people pour out your hearts before him for god is our refuge the peoples are but a breath the whole human race the deceit on the scales they are altogether lighter than air put no trust in oppression in robbery take no empty pride their wealth increase set not your heart upon it god spoke once and twice i have heard the same that power belongs to god steadfast love belongs to you o lord for you repay everyone according to their deeds we return to our reading of st luke's acts of the apostles as he tells the story of the beginnings of the early church we begin this morning at verse one of chapter two when the day of pentecost arrived they were all together in one place and suddenly there came from heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind and it filled the entire house where they were sitting and divided tongues as of fire appeared to them and rested on each one of them and they were all filled with the holy spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the spirit gave them utterance now there were dwelling in jerusalem devout jews from every nation under heaven and at this sound the multitude came together and they were bewildered because each one was hearing them speak in their own language and they were amazed and astonished saying are not all these who are speaking galileans how is it that we hear each of us in our own native language parthians and medes and elamites residents of mesopotamia judea and cappadocia pontus and asia phrygia and pamphilia egypt and the parts of libya belonging to cyrene and visitors from rome both jews and proselytes cretans and arabians we hear them telling in our own tongues the mighty works of god and all were amazed and perplexed saying to one another what does this mean but others mocking said they are filled with new wine but peter standing with the eleven lifted up his voice and addressed them men of judea and all who dwell in jerusalem let this be known to you and give here to my words for these people are not drunk as you suppose since it is only the third hour of the day but this is what was uttered through the prophet joel and in the last days it shall be god declares that i will pour out my spirit on all flesh and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy and your young men shall see visions and your old men shall dream dreams even on my male and female servants in those days i will pour out my spirit and they shall prophesy and i will show wonders in the heavens above and signs on the earth below blood and fire and vapor of smoke the sun shall be turned to darkness and the moon to blood before the day of the lord comes the great and magnificent day and it shall come to pass that everyone who calls upon the name of the lord shall be saved this is very much a new beginning the waiting is over and for luke something marvelous is happening barriers and walls are being broken down physically as they break out of the upper room and mentally as they begin to speak in a way that all can understand it's a festival day it's the day of pentecost the jewish feast of harvest but people gathered once again at jerusalem around the temple for the activity of the liturgical worship of the feast people had traveled and traveled to be there and the city just as it passed over was alive with people and pilgrims they break out of the upper room for luke this is very different from the speaking in tongues which saint paul speaks about later where interpreters are needed if people are speaking in a language which is of heaven and we have an enormous amount of that in his letters to the various churches particularly to the corinthians for luke this is very much the speaking in a language which all can understand he would later himself benefit not only from the safe traveling afforded by the roads and law of the roman empire across the mediterranean region but also from the use of the common greek language the koine greek language which everyone in those regions spoke spoke a bit of many spoke it well and they had to to trade and get in touch with each other so that it's hardly surprising that the early church used that language in its writings in its speeches and even in the translation of the old testament that was used the greek old testament known as the septuagint because here was a common language which everyone could hear and peter and the 11 were probably not terribly conversant in it but they had to be and so this is a sign of the breaking down of barriers but also it is a sign as peter points out of the fulfillment of prophecy that the lord's spirit would be poured out to give that freedom and it was be to be poured out for all nations they would begin in jerusalem but this was only the beginning from now on the 12 would disperse and find themselves speaking to people of the marvelous acts of god and the good news of jesus christ wherever they went there would be dangerous times but there would also be happy and fulfilled times and luke himself during the progress of that across the mediterranean found himself caught up in it and as we said yesterday the one thing he wanted to do as a physician was to see humanity healed and its humors balanced this is a wonderful moment and he expresses it well he also talks about signs on the earth and in the heavens divided into 12 sections by their astronomers and their astrologers at the time but those were in the hand of god there will be signs on earth and jesus kept pointing them out in his ministry as we saw as we went through the gospel of saint luke and there will be signs in the heavens but these signs would be giving the clue that god was at work in his spirit well now i said there was another anniversary today and it is the anniversary of one of england's finest poets william blake who died on the 12th of august in 1827 he was an extraordinary man who fitted into no categories a magnificent engraver and artist but also a magnificent and curious poet whose visions even from childhood were full of angels and the heavens uniting with the earth in pictures of innocence often known to children when i was first ordained my sister in 1972 i was being made a deacon and she gave me a hardback copy of william blake's songs of innocence and songs of experience i think she thought in my ministry i would find both but i hope she felt that the innocence and the experience would be mixed throughout the years even to old age for in the prophecy of joel the young men see visions the old men dream dreams may they be dreams of innocence and experience blake is best known to us for his great poem jerusalem set to music by sehubert parry and did those feet in ancient times walk upon england's mountains green and was the holy lamb of god in england's pleasant pastures scene we know that well but when he wrote it down he put beneath a quote from the 11th chapter of the book of numbers where moses when joshua comes to him saying there are two men prophesying and they're out of order shall i shut them up and moses said do not silence them would that all the lord's people were prophets and that the lord's spirit rested on them and blake certainly comes into the category of a prophet of earth and of heaven his words point out so many messages of jesus as he looks at what happens to vulnerable innocence but also the way in which truth can be expressed and barriers can be broken down not only by his words but by his very powerful engravings we thank god for him this morning and we continue to thank god for luke whose intention is that we should know the spirit of god breaking down barriers and every day to be a new start in that new creation to which god calls us in jesus christ with the gospel of good news here's the poem of william blake as the introduction to the songs of innocence the first poem i read as i opened my sister's book in 1972 piping down the valley's wild piping songs of pleasant glee on a cloud i saw a child and he laughing said to me pipe a song about a lamb so i piped with mary cheer piper piped that song again so i piped he wept to hear drop thy pipe by happy pipe sing thy songs of happy cheer so i sung the same again while he wept with joy to hear piper sit thee down and write in a book that all may read so he vanished from my sight and i plucked a hollow reed and i made a rural pen and i stained the water clear and i wrote my happy songs every child made joy to hear let's say our prayers on this morning and we pray in our anglican communion for the diocese of ogi river in nigeria and for archbishop amos madhu there and also the diocese of british columbia in canada and for logan mack mcnamee the bishop and his people pray for archbishop justin and bishop rose of dover bishop tim at lambeth and today here in the diocese of canterbury for the parish of saint peter and saint paul saltwood and since stephen lim for barry knott in his ministry there the hospital chaplain there tricia hill and all there as i say we pray for youth the world over for those receiving exam results today and also as we pray for those who are sick and in desperate need we continue to remember the citizens of beirut and the lebanon bring your own prayers as we pray the prayer for this week of the year almighty god who sent your holy spirit to be the life and light of your church open our hearts to the riches of your grace that we may bring forth the fruit of the spirit in love and joy and peace through jesus christ our lord amen so each in our own language breaking down the barriers we pray the prayer our lord taught us in whichever way we 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 moment of silence for your own prayers this morning 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 the blessing of god almighty the father the son and the holy spirit be upon you upon those whom you love and those you would pray for today and always are men [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] you