[Laughter] good morning and welcome to the deanery garden in canterbury cathedral on this monday morning the 30th of august it's what we call in england a bank holiday a public holiday the last month monday in august so things are a little more silent today from working going on in the city but here we are in the meadow as we generally are on a monday morning surrounded by these tall niger flowers which grow from some of the tiniest seeds that you can imagine we'll talk about those in the reflection a little bit but they were part of the mix that were put around and i think now fletcher regrets that he wasn't aware of how they would take because they were so tiny and yet as plants rather like our lords image of the mustard seed have grown up into the tallest ones of the garden i've got a huge sunflower beside me but its days of flowering brightly are over and it's now turning into rich seeds which will be very useful in themselves very big seeds but these tiny little seeds which are beloved of goldfinches are now yellow flowers of this kind all around us and they've taken over so the predominant color of the garden is yellow although i can see many other little plants hiding beneath them next year no doubt um we can alter the mix but even if we don't you'll find that nature itself takes its course on the way in which one wild flower takes over from another year by year you can hear the song of the early morning egg song of the hens as we call it in the background we've kept the covers on today because this is going to be a wet day and there's a tradition in england that bank holidays are very often wet sadly because people have a holiday and they want sunshine but here we are on a wet day so you may hear the flapping of the car the covers over the hens here but hens hate wet weather and it causes them to have a dry spot to come out and have their morning breakfast we are of course thinking of areas of terror disaster people fleeing for their lives for various different reasons throughout the world but let's focus just first on the citizens of new orleans for 16 years to the day since hurricane katrina caused devastation in that city and severe flooding hurricane ida has struck that coast and loss of power and loss of electricity but such an ocean surge that the mississippi river is flowing backwards on its course in certain areas that huge river and we think of these citizens they're buttoned down pray for their safety pray for all who are looking after them at this particular time let's not forget the situation of war in afghanistan and all the people there that we are thinking of thinking of those who have come away from the country leaving folk behind and then let's think of other areas of pandemic even in australia the the lockdown there which is going on that pandemic is still very much with us areas of fire we can go on with areas of earthquake in haiti it's easy to forget from day to day scenes which are so strong when another scene which seems even stronger comes into our mind but we keep all in prayer on this particular day let's begin our monday morning prayers o 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 creator of all to you be praise and glory forever as your dawn renews the face of the earth bringing light and life to all creation may we rejoice in this day you have made does we wake refreshed from the depths of sleep open our eyes to behold your presence and strengthen our hands to do your will that the world may rejoice and give you praise 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 son on this morning of the month is psalm 140 blessed be the lord my rock who teaches my hands for war and my fingers for battle my steadfast help and my fortress my stronghold and my deliverer my shield in whom i trust who subdues the people under me oh lord what are mortals that you should consider them mere human beings that you should take thought for them they are like a breath of wind their days pass away like a shadow bow your heavens o lord and come down touch the mountains and they shall smoke cast down your lightnings and scatter them shoot out your arrows and let thunder roar reach down your hand from on high deliver me and take me out of the great waters from the hand of foreign enemies whose mouth speaks wickedness and their right hand is the hand of falsehood o god i will sing to you a new song i will play to you on a ten-stringed harp you that give salvation to kings and have delivered david your servant save me from the peril of the sword and deliver me from the hand of foreign enemies whose mouth speaks wickedness and whose right hand is the hand of falsehood so that our sons in their youth may be like well-nurtured plants and our daughters like pillars carved for the corners of the temple our barns be filled with all manner of store our flocks bearing thousands and ten thousands in our fields our cattle be heavy with young may there be no miscarriage or untimely birth no cry of distress in our streets happy are the people whose blessing this is happy other people who have the lord for their god a song which talks about all kinds of dangers but sings a new song about what life might be like and gives thanks for that but also gives thanks for the lord's help during the day we're going now back to the book of genesis and today i'm reading part of chapter 25. the story as the story of the patriarchs and matriarchs evolves becomes a very long story so i shall read parts of it but here is chapter 25 and i'm reading verses 7 to 11 and 19 to 34. these are the days of the years of abraham's life 175 years abraham breathed his last and died in a good old age an old man and full of years and was gathered to his people isaac and ishmael his sons buried him in the cave of machpila in the field of ephron the son of zohar the hittite east of mamrie the field that abraham purchased from the hittites there abraham was buried with sarah his wife after the death of abraham god blessed isaac his son and isaac settled at beer lahai roy these are the generations of isaac abraham's son abraham fathered isaac and isaac was 40 years old when he took rebecca the daughter of bethul the aramaian of padan aram the sister of laban the aramaian to be his wife and isaac prayed to the lord for his wife because she was barren and the lord granted his prayer and rebecca his wife conceived the children struggled together within her and she said if it is thus why is this happening to me so she went to inquire of the lord and the lord said to her two nations are in your womb and two peoples from within you shall be divided the one shall be stronger than the other but the older shall serve the younger when rebecca's days to give birth were completed behold there were twins in her womb the first came out red all his body like a hairy cloak so they called his name esau afterwards his brother came out with his hand holding esau's heel so his name was called jacob isaac was 60 years old when rebecca bore them when the boys grew up esau was a skillful hunter a man of the field while excuse me jacob was a quiet man dwelling in tents isaac loved esau because he ate of his game but rebecca loved jacob once when jacob was cooking stew esau came in from the field and he was exhausted and esau said to jacob let me eat some of that red stew for i am exhausted therefore his name was called edom jacob said sell me your birth right now esau said i'm about to die of hunger what uses a birthright to me jacob said swear to me now so esau swore to him and sold his birthright to jacob then jacob gave esau bread and lentil stew and he ate and drank and rose and went his way thus esau despised his birthright a fascinating story with little pictures and signs throughout but perhaps the greatest thing for us to realize is the fact that the active one in this story of what has traditionally been called the patriarchs is not isaac so much as rebecca and we shall find that on the way through it's rebecca who takes the decisions it's rebecca who has a plan and a strategy and it's rebecca who loves her son jacob just as isaac who in all this is rather a passive figure as he grows older and older it's isaac who loves esau because esau is a hunter and out in the field and isaac loves the game that he brings back in to eat himself that will become important later but for the moment let's notice rebecca and it becomes a rather uh what should we call interesting thing to see the way in which rebecca's plan begins to develop but for the moment it develops on that little incident the twins are very different we're back with sibling rivalries and the two brothers he saw the elder really by uh only a few minutes if jacob came out holding the heel of his brother he saw the elder and jacob the younger but here we have this little story when they've come of age where jacob who is someone who is quiet beloved of his mother and here he is making a stew and esau comes in from a tiring day's hunting absolutely exhausted and uh it's it's the sort of i'd give anything for a pot of that stew because i'm i'm dying of hunger i'm completely exhausted it's the only thing that matters now we say that sometimes i i would die for something or other in terms of food um or or a a drink of water sometimes but at this point it's esau coming in and saying that to his brother and jacob clearly has inherited some of his mother's coveness for he looks at esau and sees the import of what he's saying and he looks at his brother and in in fact he's saying really are you prepared to sell your birthright for traditionally it used to be called a mess of possage pottage and now a bowl of stew of lentil stew bread and lentil stew and esau just brushes all that aside he's a man who lives for the moment and his appetite is great and his body is craving not only food but i'm sure soon after sleep but here is jacob and jacob says swear to me what what could that matter to esau at that time he's all suarez and jacob gives him the bowl of lentil stew as it's now translated the mess of pottage and at the end thus esau despised his birthright yet and drank and rose and went having despised his birthright well there are moments when things which are massively important seem not important at all when our appetites are so great or our exhaustion is so great that they seem not to matter they recede into the distance they have mattered maybe in the past they will matter in the future but for the moment decisions are being made in a particular way and that becomes hugely important but at the same time as we come to our prayers and reflections and ponder on what really is important then small things tiny things which may grow later of to things of great importance might for the moment seem completely irrelevant um i've got here the little pot it's in a glass so you can see it it's a pot of niger seeds they are so tiny they feel oh less than than well they feel like grains of sand to be honest as you as you pick them up and they'll hear but the minute you scatter them on the ground the birds absolutely love them and particularly the goldfinches we find this exactly the same with american goldfinches because fletcher has sent the special feeders with tiny slits for the bird's bills to get into these tiny seas the special feeders that niger seeds need to feed those birds to friends in new haven in connecticut and also in virginia and in california and the same thing happens where before there were no goldfinches then american goldfinches and here english goldfinches come down and find these seeds but they're tiny and you can almost discount them until you see what they grow into and here's a whole field of gold of the niger seeds well selling your birthright for a mess of pottage might have seemed utterly irrelevant and nothing at all but what will grow from it in terms of the royal line of david and the genealogy of jesus becomes crucial so that little story about a bowl of lentil stew and a a seemingly irrelevant promise to the one who is giving it becomes a crucial tiny seed like the niger seed which will grow into something which gives a a golden light to the whole world through the royal line of david later on well now this is a day in our calendar when we remember john bunyan he died in 1688 and is best known of course he's best known for his book the pilgrims progress i've got my copy here which was given to me as a sunday school prize in 1958 and it's a book i've treasured because it's full of wonderful allegorical symbols and pictures and people who have names of qualities which their character actually demonstrates in the way that they behave but essentially and let's give it the whole title the pilgrims progress from this world to that which is to come and john bunyan wrote the beginning of all of that in a 12-year imprisonment in the darkness of the county jail in bedfordshire from 1660 to 1672 and then having written part 1 completed it by 1677 it became instantly very popular indeed and was translated into many languages quite quickly part two was completed by 1684. but the the images of that story stay in our head and most of you will know some of them it's a story that contains the misery of the shall we say the hero the wayfarer the pilgrim in part one christian in part two the pilgrims are christiana his wife and his children but here in part one it's christian and he's wandering heavily burdened by his sins in the city of destruction and you'll remember how evangelist shows him the light and towards that light he begins to run and it's the story of his reaching the wicked gate and finding the way through and a story of many helpers on the way through and much companionship but also people like mr worldly wise man who give him wrong advice this is a story for christians of all denominations and none because the images there and we were talking about how it was a companion to rayform williams the composer and his desire to write an opera which he completed in the end of his life simply about the pilgrims progress it was his companion with the authorized version of the bible the king james version of the bible throughout his long life as a composer and it's been a kind of companion for me in in 1970s my friend richard shepherd who you remember died and that he was a great composer but he he died recently and uh he and i wrote a children's opera for the boys as they then were only um in the salisbury cathedral school and the choristers and the whole school were involved and it was the pilgrims progress and it was easy to pick scenes out from that and write words and songs of dialogue because the book is constantly dramatic and the way evil is presented and the way good is presented and the way that the journey is presented is a wonderful one and as you read it you have to take into account that you're reading a book of the 17th century and of a of a a person who is of a particular ecclesial tradition it might might not be yours but at the same time no one can can doubt that those images are wonderful and uh the the sign of of of the companionship which faithful gives to christian as they walk along the road talking and how they get to vanity fair and their faithful meets a martyr's end and christian thinks he's going to have to go on alone um but hopeful one of the citizens of vanity fair goes along with him i wanted to read a bit of of pilgrim's progress and i i could have read so many areas of the book so many scenes in the book when the burden falls off christian's back and he's armed and given gifts but at the same time he is going on now from vanity fair with hopeful and hopefuls now his companion and as it turns out hopeful rather admires christian and the qualities that he's shown in vanity fair and also when they face the valley of shadow together and and find uponions straddling their way all of those things but they are going on and they come to a little byway and they turn aside because it looks easier than the road they're on and looks like a shortcut there are no shortcuts on the way called but they've they've gone they've crossed the style and gone over there and they don't know that they've wandered into the lands which belong to giant despair of doubting castle and the giant finds them asleep in one of his meadows exhausted and catches them unaware and puts them in the dungeon of doubting castle and beats them ferociously to within an inch of their life and tries in his doubting castle as despair to say to them why don't you end your life here's poison take that she has a a knife take that end this miserable life every day they face this until the morning that they know the next day that he will come and and end them it's a saturday and i'm going to go on i'm shortening it all terribly but i'm going to read a little bit quite a lengthy bit because the language is wonderful well on saturday about midnight christian and hopeful began to pray in the dungeon in their sorry state and continued in prayer till almost break of day now a little before it was day good christian as one half amazed break out into this passionate speech what a fool question am i to lie in a stinking dungeon when i may as well walk at liberty i have a key in my bosom called promise that will i am persuaded open any lock in doubting castle then said hopeful that's good news good brother pluck it out of thy bosom and try then christian pulled it out of his bosom and began to try at the dungeon door whose boat as he turned the key gave back and the door flew open with ease and christian and hopeful both came out then he went to the outward door that leads into the castle yard and with his key open that door also after that he went to the iron gate for that must be opened too but that lock went damnable hard yet the key did open it then they thrust open the gate to make their escape with speed but that gate as it opened made such a creaking that it waked giant despair who hastily rising to pursue his prisoners felt his limbs to fail for his fits took him again so that he could by no means go after them then they went on and came to the king's highway again and they were safe because they were out of the giants jurisdiction now when they were gone over the style they began to contrive with themselves what they should do at that style to prevent those that should come after from falling into the hands of giant despair so they consented to erect there a pillar and to engrave upon the side thereof this sentence over this style is the way to doubting castle which is kept by giant despair who despises the king of the celestial country and seeks to destroy his holy pilgrims many therefore that followed after read what was written and escaped the danger so christian and hopeful went till they came to the delectable mountains which mountains belong to the lord of that hill of which we have spoken before so they went up to the mountains to behold the gardens and orchards the vineyards and fountains of water where also they drank and washed themselves and did freely eat of the vineyards now there were on the tops of these mountains shepherds feeding their flocks and they stood by the highway side the pilgrims therefore went to them and leaning upon their staves as is common with weary pilgrims when they stand to talk with any by the way they asked whose delectable mountains are these and whose be the sheep that feed upon them and the shepherds answered these mountains are emmanuel's land and they are within sight of his city and the sheep also are his and he laid down his life for them is this the way to the celestial city ask christian you are just in your way how far is it this are too far for any but those who forget that indeed it's the way safe or dangerous safe for those for whom it is to be safe but transgressors shall fall therein is there in this place any relief for pilgrims that are weary and faint in the way the shepherds responded the lord of these mountains has given us a charge not to be forgetful to entertain strangers therefore the good of the place is before you i saw also in my dream that when the shepherds perceived that they were wayfaring men they also put questions to them to which christian and hopeful made answer as in other places as whence came you and how got you into the way and by what means have you so persevered therein for but few of them begin to come hither to show their faces on these mountains but when the shepherds had their answers being pleased there was they looked very lovingly upon christian and hopeful and said welcome to the delectable mountains you'll remember that later on when they're refreshed and rested the shepherds take them to a place where they can see in the distance the celestial city to which they journey but the shepherds say as augustine said in the quote i gave one thing to see the passage from a woody ridge another to walk it the shepherds say your way though is down there and they set them on their way and it's not long before they're challenged once again with all kinds of dangers well we give thanks for that wonderful book and i remember well richard shepard always had a way of of in a few bars conjuring another scene up from a different opera or some other place i remember when christian remembers the key of promise that has been given to him richard used for hopeful song of joy that uh passage of notes in the valkyrie when suddenly a light shines onto the sword which is in the oak tree there and it was it's a very simple wagner progression [Music] simple progression on a trumpet and the light shines and riches gave hopeful song no weapon of evil or dungeon of doubt and we were instantly with the light shining those who knew that opera on the sword which gave hope so we remember all of those things and many of us will have so many memories about this this wonderful book but mostly they are of images though bunyan puts hymns and songs here and there uh the shepherd's voice song he that is down need fear no fall but i'm thinking the one that we know best of all of course is the pilgrim song who would true valasi to be a pilgrim is generally called and who wrote the tune for that why vaughn williams of course in the his english hymnal gave a wonderful tune for bunyan's words of pilgrimage right let's say our prayers on this particular day the rain's not falling yet and the golden flowers of the niger is all around us they're all around us creating a field of gold we're praying today for the diocese of ekiti kuwara in the church of nigeria the ibadan province and praying for justin our archbishop and rose bishop of dover tim bishop at lambeth praying for the parish of christchurch parkwood and as this month end we will go on to the various parishes around that area so let's give thanks for all that writers like bunyan can give us to assist our spiritual reflections and imaginings but also let's give thanks on this meadow monday morning for the glories of creation and growth all around us from the very smallest seeds and pray for grace to spot moments which we ought not to discount taking us back to esau saying well what does my birthright matter at this point i'm starving hungry give me the stew you can have what you like and all those things in in as we say our prayers grace of perception and also strengths to give thanks for this day and use this hour as well here's the collect for this day when we remember john bunyan god of peace who called your servant john bunyan to be valiant for truth grant that as strangers and pilgrims we may at the last rejoice with all christian people in your heavenly city through jesus christ our lord amen so we say each in our own language the prayer 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 for thine is the kingdom the power and the glory forever and ever are men moment of silence now for your own prayers so the peace of god which passes all understanding keep your hearts and minds in the knowledge and love of god and if 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 well these precious niger seeds we can use in two completely different ways we could scatter them and they might sprout and grow and certainly would sprout and grow by all the golden flowers around me or we can feed them to those who most want them and that will be the goldfinches but they'll be put to good use causes us to remember that giant despairs inability to follow after christian and hopeful is because the sunshine caused his doubting castle and his own powers to veil and he was a creature of the darkness and the rising light of christ is the great defense for christian and hopeful [Music] oh [Music] is [Music] um [Music] is [Music] foreign [Applause] is [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] foreign [Applause] um um