[Music] good morning and welcome to the dinery at canterbury cathedral as on this monday morning the 7th of september we say our morning prayers together now i'm in this unusual place looking out of the window in one of the elizabethan gables of the house because although this house dates in its archaeology and and uh foundations to roman times and then was built up during the years of the monastery it became eventually the priors house and then was converted into the deanery but in elizabethan times early elizabethan times richard rogers the dean here then reconfigured it inside and also built in brick the elizabethan parts of the house to make it into a house for hospitality with bigger rooms that could give the hospitality it now can give to all who come here and to many members of the anglican communion when they come to stay here so we give thanks for all of that and i'm doing that because on this day in 1533 queen elizabeth the first was born and we remember her there is a huge panoply of english monarchs and archbishops on the west face of the cathedral and three of the greatest of our monarchs queen elizabeth ii queen victoria and queen elizabeth the first their pride of place because of the both the length of their reigns and the importance in the history of these islands of those reigns so we shall come back to her when we come to our reflection because she becomes a very interesting person to help us but let's think of some other things which happened on this day if we go back to 1630 on this day the city of boston was founded in the united states and we have many connections there particularly with the brothers of the monastic order the society of sin john the evangelist in england they were called cowley fathers so we send our greetings to them and also pray for their community life at this time then if we go to 1813 this is a bit of trivia really the name uncle sam was coined on this day in 1813 for the united states of america simply because sam wilson was a meat packer in the in new york who would send the meat to the united states army and so they were called parcels from uncle sam and we've kept that name or the americans have kept that name as an affectionate name for the united states and then we go on through time and remember that we do times of destruction and sadness times of creation and and joy but there is a time of sadness this is uh the day in australia which is kept as national threatened species day because in 1936 on this day the very last tasmanian tiger the last of his species benjamin died alone in hobart zoo all these creatures which become the last of their species and go become extinct are a lesson to us in our world of today in the care of god's creatures and creation we come to 1940 and on this day the blitz began in london london was bombed from september the 7th for 57 consecutive nights in 1940 40 000 men women and children died in those blitzes and so many homes were completely destroyed yet it did not break morale even bucky himself its buckian palace itself was was bombed and the queen mother indomitable who had visited the east end many times said i'm glad we were bombed i can now look the east end in the eye and then we remember the uh that the fact that this also is a zero waste week and youth mental health day so many things we have in our mind too the city of birmingham in england after the terrible knife incident in which someone was killed and many others wounded but were praying for a city in shock there at this time also and connected with this house on today in 1887 the rather eccentric uh poet uh and writer edith sitwell was born i say connected with his house because there is a description in hewlett johnson's letters of the baptism of one of his daughters where edith sitwell was a god parent and he describes the party in the garden and it was the last of those parties that took place before the house itself was bombed in 1940 and partly destroyed in the front section of the house so we remember all of that um i like edith sitwell's writings i remember her facade to william wharton's music being performed here and the lovely words uh being recited by liz pidu the house mistress of luxmore next door here the girls house next door lily o'grady silly and shady longing to be a lazy lady a long burst and the lovely rhythms of of walton's music going on behind but she also said in 1940 in a poem still falls the rain dark as the world of man black as our loss blind as the 1940 nails upon the cross the bombs raining down on london death and destruction and she likening it to each a nail put into the cross each year of of uh time since time in its new state uh anno dominic she'd call it the year of our lord began 1940. all those things we remember as we say 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 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 and as 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 oh god set our hearts on fire with love for you now and forever amen our morning psalm on this seventh morning of the month is psalm 36 sin whispers to the wicked in the depths of their heart there is no fear of god before their eyes they flatter themselves in their own eyes that their abominable sin will not be found out the words of their mouth are unrighteous and full of deceit they have ceased to act wisely and to do good they think out mischief upon their beds and have set themselves in no good way nor do they abhor that which is evil your love o lord reaches to the heavens and your faithfulness to the clouds your righteousness stands like the strong mountains your justice like the great deep you lord shall save both man and beast how precious is your loving mercy o god all mortal flesh shall take refuge under the shadow of your wings they shall be satisfied with the abundance of your house they shall drink from the river of your delights for with you is the well of life and in your light shall we see light oh continue your loving kindness to those who know you and your righteousness to those who are true of heart let not the foot of pride come against me nor the hand of the ungodly thrust me away there are they fallen all who work wickedness they are cast down and shall not be able to stand so we return to the acts of the apostles on this monday morning and we are taking the story up in chapter 10 when peter begins to speak to the family and friends of the roman centurion cornelius peter has already taken a risk by going there and now he begins to speak so peter opened his mouth and said truly i understand that god shows no partiality but in every nation anyone who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him as for the word that he sent to israel preaching good news of peace through jesus christ who is lord of all you yourselves know what happened throughout all judea beginning from galilee after the baptism that john the baptist proclaimed how god anointed jesus of nazareth with the holy spirit and with power he went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil for god was with him and we are witnesses of all that he did both in the country of the jews and in jerusalem they put him to death by hanging him on a tree but god raised him on the third day and caused him to appear not to all people but to us who had been chosen by god as witnesses who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead and he commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that jesus is the one appointed by god to be judge of the living and the dead to him all the prophets bear witness that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name while peter was still saying these things the holy spirit fell on all who heard the word and the believers from among the circumcised who had come with peter were amazed because the gift of the holy spirit was poured out even on the gentiles for they were hearing them speaking in tongues and externally god then peter declared can anyone withhold water for baptizing these people who have received the holy spirit just as we have and he commanded them to be baptized in the name of jesus christ then they asked him to remain for some days this is an immensely significant step and we hear peter preaching for the first time to the gentiles to cornelius and to his family and his friends whom he's gathered together the centurion of the italian cohort and peter tells them i'm breaking the law even by being with you and accepting your hospitality but he's already taken that step and he's done so because of the dream which we read about and saw all the diversity of creatures whom god called clean and peter was not to call unclean so now here the diversity of humanity in that room at the hospitality of cornelius is the same but let's have a degree of sympathy with peter he is making this up as he goes along not the truth he believes about jesus for we've already heard him preach these things and also declare himself and the others the members of the twelve to be the witnesses the eyewitnesses of everything that happened at that time but what he's making up as he goes along is is this gift also for the gentiles for these greek speaking people from different nations is it for them and the holy spirit is saying to them to him it is for them luke must have enjoyed writing this passage so much it's a hinge passage in the acts of the apostles but all the time peter knows that he's going to have to go back and answer to the church in jerusalem who are going to find it hard to accept these truths whereas circumcision and the matters of the law will count for nothing and he continues and preaches the gospel the good news that he knows so that the prophecy of isaiah is fulfilled a light to lighten all the nations a prophecy which luke in his gospel has given in the dimities of simeon a light to lighten the gentiles well we give thanks for that as this is going to be a huge step for the good news going forward but before peter finishes speaking the underlining of that truth is given by the holy spirit for the gift of the spirit is given to that group of gentiles before ever the speech is over and the recognizable signs of them having received the holy spirit are there for peter to see said that he asks the question i suppose he's asking it of the people of the circumcision who are standing around him from a traditional upbringing and he's asking the question also of himself how can we possibly deny water to baptize these people who have received the gift of the holy spirit just as we did on the day of pentecost and so he goes forward and then he takes the step to accept the offer of hospitality to tell them much more but he's only putting off the day when he must go back to jerusalem and make this case to the church there well i said that this was the date on which elizabeth the first was born she like our present queen was born not knowing that she would be queen for elizabeth the first had not only an elder sister mary whose claim to the throne was before hers but then a brother born edward said that it seemed quite a remote possibility she was brought up as a princess a very clever princess for were told by the age of 11 she could speak many languages and went on learning them latin and greek and spanish and flemish and french and italian she was an intelligent lady and she had plenty of time to study for not only as a princess was she kept a little bit out of sight though she was a popular figure whenever crowd saw her but also at one stage when mary feared for elizabeth being a danger to her throne she was kept in prison there was much time for reading and also writing and thinking about theological things and we have that little verse written about the holy communion from prison which john dunn borrows and re-scribes later on but princess elizabeth in prison had written about the eucharist it was god the word that spake it his were the hands that break it and what he says i take it so all of that what that word does make it that i believe and take it the words actually were all of that is part of her thinking and then suddenly she comes to the throne and her main aim is to unite the nation this nation which has been divided by all kinds of things during the late reigns the later years of the reign of henry viii through the troublesome years of the reign of edward vi the troublesome years of the reign of mary who married the king of spain philip and then elizabeth her main aim to unite the nation and she really did do that for at that time a new elizabethan age was created an amazing age another of her mottos this not one in rhyme simply three latin words video i see and i keep silent she was a queen who valued silence and thought but knew when to speak witness her speech before they faced the spanish armada in 1588 and people like francis drake whose prayer we used at compliant last night made the safety of the nation secure it was a time of art and literature and the performing of plays remember yesterday we saw how the parliament in 1642 banned the performance of page but here in the elizabethan reign this is the age of shakespeare this is the age of marlow this is the age of so much art and music and a sense of new beginning because elizabeth above all else made her decisions in order that the nation may be united and go forward they were dangerous decisions no doubt she had doubts too well let's go back to peter in all this way he makes a snap decision who is to deny water for these to be baptized the holy spirit having fallen upon and from then on the barriers are down and the diversity of the church is assured but there's a little way to go yet with everyone accepting anything like that and no doubt elizabeth at the beginning of her reign face faced exactly the same things but we give thanks for anyone who is brave enough to make a new creative beginning and to fashion a community full of diversity where the barriers have been broken down and creation rather than destruction is the order of the day well let's say our prayers for this morning and we pray today from this elizabethan gable for the church of canterbury all saints which i can practically see from here from the window and for the priest sir phil greg for gavin netherton for lucy henderson in all their work there and we pray in our anglican communion for the diocese of oro in nigeria and for jeffrey chukwuan menye the bishop there and his people and the diocese of canberra and gulbarn in australia and for mark short and his people there in australia and we of course pray for justin our archbishop for rose bishop of dover and for tim bishop at lambeth and their episcopal care of this diocese of canterbury here is the prayer for this week almighty god who called your church to bear witness that you were in christ reconciling the world to yourself help us to proclaim the good news of your love that all who hear it may be drawn to you through him who was lifted up on the cross and reigns with you in the unity of the holy spirit one god now and forever are men so we say the prayer that our lord taught us uniting all our languages and ways of saying it in the same prayer and breaking down the barriers between 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 amen a moment of silence as we make our own prayers and bring our own intentions and think of the citizens of birmingham in shock after the violent attacks of the weekend 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 amen