good evening and welcome to canterbury cathedral we're coming to the university garden to say our evening prayers at the evening of this sunday following the ascension day we are in the middle of nine days of prayers in preparation for pentecost as we watch and wait for the gifts of the holy spirit o lord open thou our lips and our mouth shall show forth thy praise oh god makes speed to save us o lord make haste to help us glory be to the father and to the son and to the holy ghost as it was in the beginning is now and ever shall be world without end amen the psalm on this afternoon of the month the 24th evening is psalm 119 and i'm going to say the first and third sections of it blessed are those that are undefiled in the way and walk in the law of the lord blessed are they that keep his testimonies and seek him with their whole heart for they who do no wickedness walk in his ways thou has charged that we shall diligently keep thy commandments oh that my ways were made so direct that i might keep thy statutes so shall i not be confounded while i have respect unto all thy commandments i will thank thee with an unfeigned heart when i shall have learned the judgments of thy righteousness i will keep thy ceremonies oh forsake me not utterly oh do well unto thy servant that i may live and keep thy word open thou mine eyes that i may see the wondrous things of thy law i am a stranger upon earth oh hide not thy commandments from me my soul breaketh out for the very fervent desire that it has alway unto thy judgments thou hast rebuked the proud and cursed are they that to earth from thy commandments oh turn from me shame and rebuke for i have kept thy testimonies princes also did sit and speak against me but thy servant is occupied in thy statutes for thy testimonies are my delight and my counselors glory be to the father and to the son and to the holy ghost as it was in the beginning is now and ever shall be world without end amen our old testament lesson is taken from the 23rd chapter of the second book of samuel the section is headed the last words of david now these are the last words of david the oracle of david the son of jesse the oracle of the man who was raised on high the anointed of the god of jacob the sweet psalmist of israel the spirit of the lord speaks by me his word is on my tongue the god of israel has spoken the rock of israel has said to me when one rules justly over one's people ruling in the fear of god he dawns on them like the morning light like the sun shining forth on a cloudless morning like rain that makes grass to sprout from the earth for does not my house stand so with god for he has made with me an everlasting covenant ordered in all things and secure for will he not cause to prosper all my help and my desire here ends the first lesson you say the magnificat the song of mary my soul thus magnify the lord and my spirit hath rejoiced in god my savior for he hath regarded the lowliness of his handmaiden for behold from henceforth all generations shall call me blessed for he that is mighty hath magnified me and holy is his name and his mercy is on them that fear him throughout all generations he has shared strength with his arm he has scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts he had put down the mighty from their seat and hath exalted the humble and meek he has filled the hungry with good things and the rich he has sent empty away he remembering his mercy hath opened his servant israel as he promised to our forefathers abraham and his seed forever glory be to the father and to the son and to the holy ghost as it was in the beginning is now and ever shall be world without end amen our new testament lesson is taken from the first chapter of sin paul's letter to the ephesians beginning at the 15th verse for this reason because i have heard of your faith in the lord jesus and your love towards all the saints i do not cease to give thanks for you remembering you in my prayers that the god of our lord jesus christ the father of glory may give you the spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him having the eyes of your hearts enlightened that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power towards us who believe according to the working of his great might that he worked in christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places far above all rule and authority and power and dominion and above every name that is named not only in this age but also in the one to come and he put all things under his feet and gave him as head over all things to the church which is his body the fullness of him who fills all in all he ends the second lesson lord now let is thou thy servant depart in peace according to thy word for mine eyes have seen thy salvation which thou has prepared before the face of all people to be a light to lighten the gentiles and to be the glory of thy people israel glory be to the father and to the son and to the holy ghost as it was in the beginning is now and ever shall be world without end amen i believe in god the father almighty maker of heaven and earth and in jesus christ his only son our lord who was conceived by the holy ghost born of the virgin mary suffered under pontius pilate was crucified dead and buried he descended into hell the third day he rose again from the dead he ascended into heaven and sitteth on the right hand of god the father almighty from thence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead i believe in the holy ghost the holy catholic church the communion of saints the forgiveness of sins the resurrection of the body and the life everlasting amen let us pray lord have mercy upon us christ have mercy upon us lord have mercy upon us our father which art in heaven hallowed be thy name thy kingdom come thy will be done in earth as it is in heaven give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive them that trespass against us and lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil amen o lord share thy mercy upon us and grant us thy salvation o lord save the queen and mercifully hear us when we call upon thee endure thy ministers with righteousness and make thy chosen people joyful oh lord save thy people and bless thine inheritance give peace in our time o lord because there is none other that fighteth for us but only thou o god o god make clean our hearts within us and take not thy holy spirit from us collect for the sunday after the ascension day o god the king of glory who has exalted thine only son jesus christ with great triumph unto thy kingdom in heaven we beseech thee leave us not comfortless but send to our sign holy ghost to comfort us and exalt us unto the same place whether our savior christ has gone before who lives and reigneth with thee and the holy ghost one god world without end amen o god from whom all holy desires all good counsels and all just works to proceed give unto thy servants that peace which the world cannot give that both our hearts may be set to obey thy commandments and also that by thee we being defended from the fear of our enemies may pass our time in rest and quietness through the merits of jesus christ our savior amen lighten our darkness we beseech thee o lord and by thy great mercy defend us from all perils and dangers of this night for the love of my only son our savior jesus christ our men we've come out here into the garden to say our evening prayers as the sun begins to set and i've chosen to stand in front of this astonishing rose which is growing behind me on the cherry tree which finished flowering right up over the top and up into the ash tree as well and it is nowhere near in full flower yet received it as a gift 19 years ago when i first came here and i went to address the inner wheel and lots of societies were saying you know come and speak to us now because we don't know you yet so i went to their lunch and then talked to them about myself and about the ministry of the cathedral here in canterbury as i saw it in those early days and after it the chair of the in a wheel that year sheila craig her name was later on her husband harry became the lord mayor of canterbury and i got to know her as the lady brs but that day i hardly knew her and she came up and said thank you so much for coming and here is a gift to say thank you it's a rose and i noticed on the label it was called rambling recta and i wondered whether it had anything to do with the things that i had been saying to them but anyway i came back here and chose to plant it here on this cherry tree well i hardly knew what i was doing here we are all these years later and it has grown and prospered and risen right up through in a cloud of glory every year and for the next couple of weeks we shall see it burst into full flower like a great cumulus cloud high up in the tree 30 feet or so or even higher each year a wonder and then a whole snowfall confettis of its petals which scatter around the garden on windy afternoons but at the moment it's just new in growth so even the strong wind which we're enjoying this afternoon in the sunshine is doing nothing to it we have lessons this afternoon the last words of david the psalmist and the words of sin paul the writer of the ephesians right at the beginning of that epistle which themself in their use by their poetry flowered and like this tree grew more and more and more rich in their imagery for human words can do that they are powerful for good they are powerful to influence they are powerful to move people and they are powerful to do harm it's something that we need to realize what power of good our words can do if we use too many and become rambling like the rose then we begin to lose the power of what we're trying to say if we use too few at certain times people aren't quite clear what we're meaning if we use them in poetry if we use images if we use metaphors and similes then it makes what we're saying easier to remember all these things our lord used himself when jesus was going from place to place he would always say the kingdom of heaven is like and then he'd use a picture his words become very powerful sometimes they are absolutely straight forward and at other times he uses a parable that people can go and think about later but all the time it shows the power of human words to flower and take root in other people's hearts and minds and maybe later on sometimes years later on something someone says will remind you of something that was said to you in words years and years ago and those words will form a picture in your mind i still have a picture of sheila craig giving me that rose in my nervousness at not knowing the city of canterbury or the cathedral very well at all i just arrived and now here's the rose flowering and flowering behind me and the picture of all that is still in my head we can do that we are very powerful we're at a loss when we don't know people's language and then we have to make physical gestures of welcome or happiness in seeing them there are languages which speak across that music can do that which doesn't use words but at the same time oftentimes our words when they are understood can do great things and the more we rehearse the words of the scripture and the more we read the words of jesus the more they take root in our lives and they begin to flower and grow and develop and change us change us so that we become more like the image of jesus whom we desire day by day to follow and as the last words of david say when that happens when god's spirit is truly in us then it seems that the sun begins to shine on others for our words can bring light where before there was darkness they can bring fruitfulness and flowering when before there was no gross these are the things we wait for in these days leading up to pentecost as we say our prayers let's keep silence for a moment now and think of all those people we would want to pray for this evening ourselves there will be areas of flowering and joy in their lives at this difficult time for them you will be in different areas of the world but keep a picture of those you would want to pray for as we keep silence now in the evening sunshine with the flowering rose behind us [Music] almighty god who has given us grace at this time with one accord to make our common supplications unto thee and us promise that when two or three are gathered together in thy name thou wilt grant their requests fulfill now o lord the desires and petitions of thy servants as may be most expedient for them granting us in this world knowledge of thy truth and in the world to come life everlasting amen in the grace of our lord jesus christ and the love of god and the fellowship of the holy spirit be with us all evermore amen