good morning and welcome to the dinery garden at canterbury cathedral on this sunday morning the 24th of october we've come today into the backcourt chad of the deanery because the leaves here are turning autumnal colors as you'll see in a moment or two but first i wanted to say this is united nations day this year it falls on sunday itself in 1945 this is the day october the 24th when the charter of the united nations became active was put into interforce we saw a bit back how that that idea and that vision was explored by representatives of the nations at jumbarton oaks those beautiful gardens in georgetown just near to washington but today in 1945 it came into force and each year now october the 24th becomes a time when we give thanks for and pray for the work of the united nations and this year last year the the celebrations for that were rather toned down because of the pandemic but this year the theme and we shall explore that with the united nations we also have a at even song tonight at 5 30 a united nations service based on even song itself but with that theme and the theme this year is building back together for peace and prosperity and the uh secretary general of the united nations antonio gutierrez has uh made given a message of that now the concert which is always performed at this time of year at the united nations headquarters in new york some pre-recorded some live took place on thursday and as one of the center pieces of that there was a beethoven symphony and one always expects that when beethoven symphonies are played on on that kind of occasion for the world and for the uniting of nations it's beethoven's ninth that huge symphony created as his last symphony in 1824 and with the last movement having the great coral uh a song the the hymn of joy shilla's hymn of joy in fact this year not so this year the one that the concert chose to use played by a south korean orchestra was beethoven symphony number six and in our reflection we'll we'll think about that and think about why and it it suits our need very well this morning it's a beautiful morning this morning and again we can let you see pictures of the most glorious sunrise and how it not only was a glorious sunrise in the east but also how it touched the cathedral and the cathedral tower as the sun in all its golden glory rose in the east and once again the the lessons this morning will refer to the sunrise as a great image of joy for each of us each morning and all of that we will concentrate on in our reflection but let's begin our prayers on this sunday morning and wherever you are in the world please bring your own concerns and intentions as we say our prayers together o lord open our lips and our mouth shall proclaim your praise bless the lord all you works of the lord sing his praise and exalt him forever bless the lord you heavens sing his praise and exalt him forever bless the lord you angels of the lord sing his praise and exalt him forever bless the lord all people on earth sing his praise and exalt him forever o people of god bless the lord sing his praise and exalt him forever bless the lord you priests of the lord sing his praise and exalt him forever bless the lord you servants of the lord sing his praise and exalt him forever bless the lord all you of upright spirit bless the lord you that are holy and humble in heart bless the father the son and the holy spirit sing his praise and exalt him forever the night has passed and the day lies open before us let us pray with one heart and mind 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 24th day of the month the morning psalm a third of the morning psalms is psalm 118. it's a long one and because the lesson is long that i'm intending to read this morning i'm going to shorten the psalm so uh the first four verses and then from verse 14 oh give thanks to the lord for he is good his mercy endures forever let israel now proclaim his mercy and yours forever let the house of aaron now proclaim his mercy endures forever let those who fear the lord proclaim his mercy endures forever the lord is my strength and my song and he has become my salvation joyful shouts of salvation sown 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 sorry 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 thanks to you for you have answered me and have become my salvation [Music] the stone which the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone this is the lord's doing and it is marvelous 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 he who comes in the name of the lord we bless you from the house of the lord a psalm with two verses which seem to help us this morning when we come to our lesson in a moment this is the day that the lord has made we will rejoice and be glad in it and blessed is he who comes in the name of the lord those words are tuning with the prophet isaiah in chapter 59 now the lectionary gives us most of chapter 59 but not all of it i find the chapter makes better sense if you read all of it so having shortened the sound here is the whole of chapter 59 of the prophet isaiah and it's full of resonances as you will see as we go through [Music] behold the lord's hand is not shortened that it cannot save nor is his ear dull that it cannot hear but your iniquities have made a separation between you and your god and your sins have hidden his face from you so that he does not hear for your hands are defiled with blood and your fingers with iniquity your lips have spoken lies your tongue mutters wickedness no one enters suit justly no one goes to law honestly they rely on empty pleas they speak lies they conceive mischief and give birth to iniquity they hatch adder's eggs they weave the spider's web he who eats their eggs dies and from one that is crushed a viper is hatched their webs will not serve his clothing humankind will not cover themselves with what they make their works are works of iniquity and deeds of violence are in their hands their feet are swift to run evil and they are swift to shed innocent blood their thoughts are thoughts of iniquity desolation and destruction are in their highways the way of peace they do not know and there is no justice in their paths they have made their roads crooked no one who treads on them knows peace therefore justice is far from us unrighteousness does not overtake us we hope for light but behold darkness and for brightness but we walk in gloom we grope for the wall like the blind we grope like those who have no eyes we stumble at noon as in the twilight among those in full vigor we are like dead men we all growl like bears we moan and moan like doves we hope for justice but there is none for salvation but it is far from us for our transgressions are multiplied before you and our sins testify against us for our transgressions are with us and we know our iniquities transgressing and denying the lord and turning back from following our god and speaking oppression and revolt conceiving and uttering from the heart lying words justice is turned back and righteousness stands far away for truth has stumbled in the public squares and uprightness cannot enter truth is lacking and the one who departs from evil makes themselves a prey the lord saw it and it displeased him that there was no justice he saw that there was no one and wondered that there was no one to intercede then his own arm brought salvation and his righteousness uphold him the lord put on righteousness as a breastplate and a helmet of salvation on his head he put on garments of vengeance for clothing and wrapped himself in zeal as a cloak according to their deeds so will he repay roth to his adversaries repayment to his enemies to the coastlands he will render repayment so they shall fear the name of the lord from the west and his glory from the rising of the sun in the [Music] for he will come like a rushing stream which the wind of the lord drives and a redeemer will come to zion to those in jacob who turn from transgression declares the lord and as for me this is my covenant says the lord my spirit that is upon you and my words that i have put in your mouth shall not depart out of your mouth or out of the mouth of your offspring or out of the mouth of your children's offspring says the lord from this time forth and forevermore arise shine for your light has come and the glory of the lord has risen upon you it is the most wonderful lesson but it shows the lord saying as we might on occasions when all our plans are coming to nothing because those who are promising to effect them are not carrying out their promises or are ineffectual in their works or are simply getting it wrong and we might say oh well i suppose i'll have to go and do it myself you will all have been in those positions and here we see our god in the same position our little robin has come here to be with me this morning as well from the orchard uh and as from the heavens he looks down on the lack of righteousness and the lack of justice which is often the same word translated in different ways in the ancient languages he decides salvation has to come from his hands and we see the marvelous image of the eternal word putting on the breastplate of righteousness and the helmet of salvation you could translate that if you wanted the breastplate of justice and the helmet of healing and the promise given that the redeemer will come in human form the anointed one will come to his people to effect the work himself those concepts the breastplate of righteousness and the helmet of salvation are very well known to us but we think of them really as being part of the sixth chapter of the letter to the ephesians put on the whole armor of god and in that armor is the breastplate of righteousness and the helmet of salvation and the sword of the spirit which the lord promises here in isaiah 59 to give himself as the promise not only to his people but to their children and their children's children this is my covenant so arise shine jerusalem for your light has come it's a magnificent lesson but it's full of warning truth has stumbled in the public squares what images and those who conceive iniquity are hatching adders eggs what a wonderful image and the sound of of people growling like bears or moaning like dubs these prophets knew how to give images and use metaphors and their images of the countryside and their images of the growth of this wonderful planet which our creator has given us as our home which we must look after all of those things are there and feeding as we've said point by point looking back to other scriptures focusing on scenes of created life of the sunrise of the sunset of the winds representing the spirit of streams flowing and of birds doves singing and of animals growling all of those things helping us to understand that the lord is not deceived by lies when we deceive ourselves by lies nor is he deceived by the fact that work is not being done and at the same time he's not got a deaf ear to the pleas of those who are calling from a position of truth and a desire for justice and righteousness and healing and salvation so let's turn then to that vision of a united nations which on this day in 1945 after the biggest conflict in human history in terms of weapons and the appalling consequences to humanity which was wandering all over the world across europe all of those things on that day in 1945 this vision was held out of a united nations an organization which would break down barriers to maintain international peace and security to protect human rights to deliver humanitarian aid wherever it was needed physically wherever it was needed to promote sustainable development and to uphold international law what a vision and we will know that there are now 17 goals i won't read them all this morning but they begin with no poverty zero hunger good health and well-being quality education gender equality and so they go on but the later ones are dealing more with climate action life below water life on land peace justice and strong institution and the partnership that has to be built up with all kinds of organizations and communities across the world and that's become more possible now with the virtual world as well now i'm having a partnership at the moment not with moaning doves but our little gang our community of guinea fowl who have come here to make their noise and we'll talk about bird noise in a moment when we're talking about the concept with the united nations but meanwhile let's think of how that united nations organizations have grown over the holding of the office of secretary general by nine different people at the moment as i say the portuguese politician antonio gutierrez and he took over from ban ki-moon whom we had the opportunity of meeting in the united nations building and talking to about the way in which holy places can be places of safety and shall we say neutral ground for people to fear all the holy places throughout the world and i felt that so so much when a mao came into the cathedral church and i was able to greet her there on the compass rose which is the sign of our anglican communion unity across the world with its motto there in the greek letters of st john's gospel meaning the truth shall set you free truth has stumbled in the public squares says the prophet isaiah and he could be speaking really of any time in human history when people are believing their own deceptions and working for aims which are not those which are to the welfare of humanity and the life of the planet so we think of the way in which those those uh organs of the united nations organs like the united nations educational scientific and cultural organization unesco we know it as and we at this holy place are a unesco world heritage site so we have a stake in all this a real and physical stake in all this and the stone proclaiming that is showing a united nations stamp as it stands there beside the pilgrim stone the first steps on the via francis which takes pilgrims all the way to rome across all the holy sites of the the track as it goes through just as pilgrim roots do across europe and across the world and at the same time the high commission for human rights and the high commission for refugees all these things holding out good promises to effect those goals maintaining international peace and security protecting human rights delivering humanitarian aid physically promoting sustainable development and upholding international law those aims are a vision like this morning's golden sunrise which isaiah himself mentions the sunrise twice we have that in isaiah 59 and i just dipped over into the first verse of isaiah 60. arise shine jerusalem for your light has come there was no doubt about that in the east this morning here in canterbury and all of those images remind us day by day of the way in which god gives gifts the gift of this new day we say every morning as a garden congregation and in lovely psalm 118 this is the day the lord has made we will rejoice and be glad in it but also that verse which is a reminder of the eternal word strapping on the breastplate of righteousness the helmet of salvation and taking the sword of the spirit himself to live our human life blessed is he that comes in the name of the lord those words that jesus said over the city of jerusalem henceforth you will not see me until you say blessed is he that comes in the name of the lord and realize it that here is god's gift being given not only of the new day but of himself in the anointed one all of those things let's go back to the concert which was uh which was performed on um thursday this year and that concert had many contributors from many nations but the centerpiece as i said was that beethoven symphony and not the ninth nor even the fifth which with its hammering noises famous yes and used so many times and that drum tap was used during the second world war as a signal but at the same time this year it was chosen to be the sixth symphony and normally we call that the pastoral symphony it's beethoven rejoicing beethoven was known to love the countryside and to love nothing more than a walk outside vienna into the countryside and this is the only symphony where he gives little titles at the head of each of the five movements on the score so that there's a painting of pictures in our minds but beethoven said no i'm not trying to paint pictures with my music i'm trying to express feelings but he does paint pictures and as he paints those pictures then we respond with pictures in our own minds and the pictures are wonderful pictures movement one is given and i'm giving it in translation of course the awakening of cheerful feelings at arriving in the countryside movement two by the brook by the brook begins with rippling sounds of um if it was a hot afternoon a a shadowy place beside the willies or whatever trees are growing beside the water and the sound of a quiet stream babbling through and there are noise of birds singing towards the end singing like this lovely guinea fowl with their own song or the chicken's egg song beginning next door just over the wall here and and the the the sounds only on the uh the the lawn but there's even better even uses night angle nightingale a quail and you we've opened the the french windows here so that you might even hear the song of our quails because we have two quails there kept in safety for the moment and uh they're saying that the male song is quite a sharp sound sound and uh sorry i've startled the guineas um but it is unmistakably quail and then finally the the most unmistakable sound of any bird at all beethoven gives us the cuckoo rather like delius gives us the cuckoo on hearing the first cuckoo in stream all right i won't make that noise again guinea pile don't worry um and then um we we remember that we're standing beside the brook uh to us i think that that there was one moment and i think i'd been to to shrewsbury to preach there it's in charge a sunday afternoon and we were driving down to stay at krakow in wales beautiful places there and stopped at clone which houseman the poet calls the quietest place under the sun it was a blazing hot afternoon in mid-summer really really hot and we as we stopped we walked just for uh time to get out of the car and get some refreshment we walked along a brook under the trees there and castle had come down to drink and there was a sound of them drinking there by the brook and that to me and i i said to fletcher this morning i remember that and he said yes and that's that's a that's a picture i remember too there by the brook well beethoven gives it to us in musical form and all of us as i say that will be thinking of times when we were standing in the countryside besides streams or lovely rivers beneath the trees beethoven gives us that followed by a merry gathering of country folk in a wonderful country dance that's movement three and then the thunderstorm a natural happening everyone runs for shelter there's the rumbling of thunder and the sense of rain falling and finally and this is what they focus on in the united nations concert the shepherds song and feelings of thanksgiving after the storm that storm could be something natural or it could be something like the end of the second world war but after a really big storm there's an awful lot of mending and recreation to do and you have to have a vision as to how you would do it and i think that's why beethoven 6 is being used this year when that theme building back together for peace and prosperity is used as the theme for the united nations day this year so thanks be to god for all that and all the story of the united nations and its organizations attempting to give those aims real flesh and bones in human life and also in the life of our planet and at this time we know what the dangers are we know what the dangers are for those who are wandering the world like little amau we know what the dangers are for all of us if we don't take heed of what is happening to our beautiful home which we give thanks for the gift of together with the gift of life morning by morning as a garden congregation but know that all this is a sign as the sun is rising each morning of the light of life who comes to promise not just finite life but eternal life as all that vision breaks out into an eternal splendor within the hands of a loving god who offers peace and righteousness justice and mercy and calls us to do the same for one another on this united nations day let's say our prayers on this morning were praying this morning uh for the extra provincial churches of the anglican communion who are under the care of the archbishop of canterbury and we pray for the ministry of of all these extra provincial churches we also pray in this diocese for justin himself of course and for rose bishop of dover who is here this evening with us for the united nations service and also for emma bishop at lambeth and for the elam deanery and its clergy and people that's in the lovely valley of elam quite near here and the village is round about and once again day by day we shall go through those villages through the week to come but today we're praying for the whole area deanery and their area dean jane weeks in her ministry in that lovely elam deanery so let's say the college for the last sunday after trinity next week we shall begin again and counting up the sunday to advent the year is moving on but for the moment let's forget that and look at the lovely colors of the autumn now this collect is giving thanks for the holy scriptures and those of you who are used to the book of common prayer will think of it oh gosh this is the second sunday in advent well it isn't uh it's been moved to this sunday to give thanks for the holy scriptures but you will know it i think well we'll say it and possibly say it together because you will know it as well as i do and think of it now and if you're using the other book on the second sunday in advent in december blessed lord you have called all holy scriptures to be written for our learning grant that we may in such wise read them mark learn and inwardly digest them that through patience and the comfort of your holy word we may embrace an ever hold fast the blessed hope of everlasting life which you have given us in your son our savior jesus christ amen that colic we'll use day by day throughout this week so let's say the prayer that we say each in our own language that our savior taught us 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 but thine is the kingdom the power and the glory forever and ever amen moment of silence for our own prayers on this sunday morning [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] during that silence you would have heard the sound of the quail the guinea fowl have now moved off as they realized i wasn't quite ready to give them their breakfast but the robin is is regaling us with a beautiful robin song so that beethoven's happy noises of birds in the countryside are plentiful 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 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 are men [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] time [Music] [Applause] [Music] so [Music] [Music] so [Music] [Music] you