good morning and welcome on this lovely mid-summer day it's a day which is relevant of shakespeare and his great images of the greenwood but i've come out at the very uh gate of the orchard in the hawthorne hedge here and found myself in the morning sunshine still early but the sun is high because it it rose about five o'clock or bit before that this morning and i've got by me this magnificent spray of the true valerian which is scented in a wonderful way of vanilla and all sorts of scents and on the other side a spray of feverfew one of those herbal drugs which has so many qualities and has been used over the years it's in john the baptist day the nativity of saint john the baptist and we give great thanks for that the herald of the coming of the messiah the christ and we think not only of john but of course on this day of his parents zechariah and elizabeth a day of uh rejoicing for them and for us as the herald of our savior is born so we say our morning prayers be welcome from wherever you are in the world and please feel that our prayers are for you in your particular situation we at present have had the notification that on the 5th of july we can return to some kind of worship in our cathedral church and that will be a lovely day but that's a week and a half away yet so this morning here we are out in the sunshine worshiping together on midsummer day oh 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 the 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 psalm on this 24th morning of the month is a part of psalm 118. i'm beginning at verse 14. the lord is my strength and my song and he has become my salvation joyful shouts of salvation sound from the tents of the righteous the right hand of the lord does mighty deeds the right hand of the lord raises up the right hand of the lord does mighty deeds i shall not die but live and declare the works of the lord the lord has punished me solely but he has not given me over to death open to me the gates of righteousness that i may enter and give thanks to the lord this is the gate of the lord the righteous shall enter through it i will give you thanks for you have answered me and have become my salvation the stone which the builded builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone this is the lord's doing and it is marvellous in our eyes this is the day that the lord has made we will rejoice and be glad in it come o lord and save us we pray come lord send us now prosperity blessed is the one who comes in the name of the lord we bless you from the house of the lord the lord is god he has given us light link the pilgrims with cords right to the horns of the altar for you are my god and i will thank you you are my god and i will exalt you oh give thanks to the lord for he is good his mercy endures forever we interrupt the regular reading of st luke for this great feast day this nativity of st john the baptist and we stay with luke we've got a a mixture of lessons across these days even song last night the eucharist today morning prayer this morning even song this afternoon and what has been given us at morning prayer in the lectionary is written in chapter three john is already a grown man and begins his ministry as we read this selection the fifteenth year of the reign of tiberias caesar pontius pilate being governor of judea and herod being tetrarch of galilee and his brother philip tetrak of the region of ituria and trachonitis and lysanias tetrarch of abilene during the high priesthood of anas and caiaphas the word of god came to john the son of zechariah in the wilderness and he went into all the region around the jordan proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins as it is written in the book of the words of isaiah the prophet the voice of one crying in the wilderness prepare the way of the lord make his paths straight every valley shall be exalted and every mountain and hill should be made low the crooked shall become straight and the rough places shall become plain and all flesh shall see the salvation of god john said therefore to the crowds that came out to be baptized by him you brood of vipers who warned you to flee from the roth to come their fruits in keeping with repentance and do not begin to say to yourselves we have abraham as our father for i tell you god is able from these very stones to raise up children for abraham even now the axe is laid to the root of the tree every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire and the crowds asked john what then shall we do and john answered them whoever has two coats is to share with the one who has none whoever has food is to do likewise tax collectors also came to be baptized and said to him teacher what shall we do and john said to them collect no more than you are authorized to do and soldiers asked him and ask what shall we do and john said to them do not extort money from anyone by threats or by false accusation and be content with your wages as the people were filled with expectation and all were questioning in their hearts concerning john whether he might be the christ john answered them all saying i baptize you with water but he who is mightier than i is coming the strap of whose sandals i am not worthy to untie he will baptize you with the holy spirit and with fire the accomplishments of all that began on this day the nativity of saint john the baptist and where did it begin god's new activity god's new beginning did it begin from somewhere else as an utterly radical organization storming in and doing something new well no it didn't it began right in the center of what already was and what had been and it began with the faithfulness of two old people about their duties both were of priestly descent zechariah was one of the 24 divisions of the priesthood the eighth division of abijah as it was called and his wife elizabeth was a descendant we're told by st luke of aaron well that sets them right in the heart of the faith of their own community and geographically zechariah is even more in the center of things for this is his turn it's a very special day for him his turn to burn incense on the order of incense as the sun rises over the mount of olives and the shofar horns blow to proclaim a new day he was to burn incense and the crowds waited outside for the priest whose task it was to burn incense to come outside and give them his blessing and we well know that all alone at the altar of incense he had the massive vision and change to his life and the life of elizabeth for in old age they had never had children and the angel gabriel comes in that vision to zechariah and tells him that elizabeth is to bear a son and the import of that son and that he is to name that son john and in his wonderment and utter disbelief at the impossibility of all this for the two of them in their faithfulness but in extreme old age zechariah doubts the angel's word you remember he's made his struck dumb at that time he can't speak so when he comes outside to the people because he's notioning it's as though he's had a stroke almost that that he he just can't speak and they take him home and there shall we say in seclusion in lockdown he and elizabeth find themselves what she made of all this he can only communicate with a writing tablet but she finds herself to be with child and it's at that time also she's visited by mary who is another strange person in her girlhood for the angel to announce a new beginning from but also on this day the child john the baptist is born and it's an act of obedience that causes zechariah once again to begin to speak because the neighbors will say to him you must call the boy zechariah after after you this is traditional customary and zechariah motions for a writing tablet and writes no his name must be john an act of faithfulness and obedience right in the middle of things it's just as if a stone has been thrown into a still pond of water and from that moment from the little splash it makes the rings go out and out and out but to take another image the lens was on zechariah but today in the reading that we read and that would be 30 years later that beginning bursts into flame in the ministry of john the baptist and he proclaims the coming then of the christ the strap of whose sandal he's not worthy to stoop down and tie well it has many many lessons for us about expectations of people and expectations of new beginnings and expectations of what should we call it rhythmic faithfulness day after day can suddenly engender it's as though all of mid-summer blooms in the faithfulness of zechariah and elizabeth and later of mary and joseph faithful people to the faith of their own folk but the little stone which will cause the circles as we've been seeing in the gospel of saint luke to widen and widen across not just the whole land but on beyond into gentile lands right up to the city of rome and beyond to reach the whole world what a lovely new beginning in the quietness and solitude of zechariah at the altar of incense the nine months of seclusion at their home while they ponder on the wonderful works of god and then suddenly the bursting force of the ministry of this amazing son whom they have born who is the herald of the coming of christ and still says to us in our societies prepare the way of the lord make his paths straight see to the welfare of each other for that was his message to everyone who asked him it was a message of preparation expect wonderful things of all those around you and never cease to expect them of yourself at any stage of life let's say our prayers on this lovely morning and today we're praying in the anglican communion for the diocese of nord kivu in the congo and for bishop mohindo isisomo and his people and also the diocese of army dale in australia and for richard lewis the bishop there and his people here in this diocese of canterbury we pray for justin our archbishop pray also for rose bishop of dover for tim bishop at lambeth and today the parishes of tunstall with bredgar and for alan pinaga and the readers kevney groans pat tattrell and john vaughan we pray for all the folk that they care for and look after so we use first of all the prayer for this st john the baptist day as we pray for each other and for the world's needs almighty god by whose providence your servant john the baptist was wonderfully born and sent to prepare the way of your son our savior by the preaching of repentance lead us to repent according to his preaching and after his example constantly to speak the truth boldly to rebuke vice and patiently to suffer for the truth sake through jesus christ our lord amen and the psalm collect saving god open the gates of righteousness that your pilgrim people may enter and be built into a living temple on the cornerstone of our salvation jesus christ our lord our men [Applause] so as we say the prayer our savior taught us in whatever way and in whichever language you like to use we hold in our hearts and minds all those whom we would pray for 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 just a moment of silence for our own prayers god give you grace to follow sin john the baptist and all 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 this day and upon those whom you love and would pray for now and always are men [Applause] foreign