[Music] my [Music] [Laughter] [Music] um [Music] good morning and welcome to canterbury cathedral on this sunday morning the 16th of august and it's the tenth sunday after trinity we're beginning a little adventure this morning because uh we start in our lessons each sunday gets different lessons from our regular reading of the acts of the apostles and we start the story of jonah and we shall enjoy that story it's a warning tale about vocations but it's also a great act of our responsibility for god's creation as we shall see we have three sundays when the story of jonah and actually unfolds in front of us and to help our thinking about god's creation we've come down to be the guests of kemi here and winston and their newborn piglets so let's begin our morning prayer in the spirit of thanksgiving for god's creation wherever you are in the world please join us and bring your own prayers on this sunday morning oh 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 and as 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 psalm on this 16th morning of the month is psalm 80. here o shepherd of israel you that led joseph like a flock shine forth you that are enthroned upon the cherubim before ephraim benjamin and manasseh stir up your mighty strengths and come to our salvation turn us again o god show the light of your countenance and we shall be saved o lord god of hosts how long will you be angry at your people's prayer you feed them with the bread of tears you give them abundance of tears to drink you have made us the derision of our neighbors and our enemies laugh us to scorn turn us again o god of hosts show the light of your countenance and we shall be saved you brought a vine out of egypt you drove out the nations and planted it you made room around it and when it had taken root it filled the land the hills were covered with its shadow and the cedars of god by its boughs it stretched out its branches to the sea and its tendrils to the river why then have you broken down its wall so that all who pass by pluck off its grapes the wild boar out of the wood tears it off and all the insects of the field devour it turn again oh god of hosts look down from heaven and behold cherish this vine which your right hand has planted and the branch that you made so strong for yourself let those who burnt it with fire who cut it down perish at the rebuke of your countenance let your hand be upon the man at your right hand the son of man you made so strong for yourself and so will we know not to go back from you give us life and we shall call upon your name turn us again o lord god of hosts show the light of your countenance and we shall be saved so on this sunday morning we turn to the book of jonah and begin reading from chapter 1 at the first verse now the word of the lord came to jonah the son of amitayai saying arise go to nineveh that great city and call out against it for their evil has come up before me but jonah rose to flee to tarshish from the presence of the lord he went down to joppa and found a ship going to tashish so he paid his fare and went down into it to go with them to tashish away from the presence of the lord but the lord held a great wind upon the sea and there was a mighty tempest on the sea so that the ship threatened to break up then the mariners were afraid and each cried out to his god and they hurled the cargo that was in the ship into the sea to lighten it for them but jonah had gone down into the inner part of the ship and had laid down and was fast asleep so the captain came and said to him what do you mean you sleeper arise call out to your god perhaps the god will give a thought to us that we may not perish and the mariners said to one another come let us cast lots that we may know on whose account this evil has come upon us so they cast lots and the lot fell on jonah then they said to him tell us on whose account this evil has come upon us what is your occupation and where do you come from what is your country and of what people are you and he said to them i am a hebrew and i fear the lord the god of heaven who made the sea and the dry land then the men were exceedingly afraid and said to him and what is this that you have done for the men knew that jonah was fleeing from the presence of the lord because he had told them so they said to him what shall we do to you that the sea may quiet down for us for the sea grew more and more tempestuous and jonah said to them pick me up and her me into the sea and then the sea will quiet down for you for i know it is because of me that this great tempest has come upon you nevertheless the men rode hard to get back to dry land but they could not for the sea grew more and more tempestuous against them therefore they called out to the lord o lord let us not perish for this man's life lay not on us innocent blood for you o lord have done as it pleased you so they picked up jonah and hurled him into the sea and the sea ceased from its raging then the men feared the lord exceedingly and they offered a sacrifice to the lord and made vows that the lord appointed a great fish to swallow up jonah and jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights this is a story referenced by jesus himself in his teaching in the gospel of saint luke which we've been reading before we began the acts of the apostles in 1980 i found myself taking a parish group to see the passion play of oberamagao i had no idea what i was going to and we travelled in a bus it was a very companionable group all from the same parish and we arrived in uber amaga some of you perhaps will have been there to witness the great passion play and on the appointed day before we had arrived at one night and were given good lodging all of us in different houses i found myself with a father who was in the orchestra there and a mother and two children all of whom were in the play and we were guests of the village and we were allowed to stay two nights the night before and the night after so the next morning after breakfast with the family who all were ready to take their part we set off and went to the great theatre with its open vista on the snow-capped mountains beyond for this was in may and the play began with the orchestra playing magnificent music which had been written in the early 18th century by the village schoolmaster and is the musical score of the passion play the wonderful thing is that in the passion play every new testament scene of the passion which is acted out and spoken in the most dramatic ways shall i ever forget the way in which when jesus overturned the tables of the money changers the flock of white doves flew up into the air and their color joined the snow-capped mountains against the blue sky beyond for everything there was in the open air and we undercover in our hundreds but before every new testament scene was acted an old testament tableau was simply there in silence and the choir sang for us to meditate on that old testament scene i remember that well and i remember for example abraham in the tableau loading the wood on isaac's back as the cross was put on the back of jesus in the scene which followed and was acted out if we turn to our 12th century stained glass windows so many of them in the cathedral very often with a new testament seen right in the middle around are like the tableau's old testament signs and this story of jonah is one of them and the fish is portrayed most marvelously as the mariners put the body of jonah over the side of the ship and into the fish's mouth this is a parable you can read it in so many different ways but it is a parable first and foremost of someone who is trying to wriggle free from the vocation which god has given them god has said for the sake of the citizens of nineveh and later on in chapter three it's not just the citizens it's the animals it's the herbage it's the beauty of that city that community all that god has created jonah is to go and cry out against that which is damaging it in their behavior and their way of life and the word comes to jonah who clearly is having a fairly comfortable time doing things that he has decided he will do and the word comes and says you must go to nineveh and cry out in words i shall give you what does he do he thinks well i think if i go down and get a ship to tarshish across the sea i shall be free from the presence of this troublesome lord god of israel and he is actually thinking about the power of the creator himself and as we know from the psalmist and we take the verses of the psalms very much as prophecy and truth when they hit us like that as we read them day by day we know from the psalmist that there is a psalm which says whether then shall i flee from thy presence where shall i go to escape you and the psalmist concludes if i go down to hell you are there also if i go to the depths of hades you are there too i say the night will cover me you make the night as clear as the day there is nowhere that one can flee from that for the message the intention the destiny the vision is within you and implanted by god and when his will and your own vocation connect there's no escaping it will come to you again and again in different situations and tranquility only comes when you say oh well this is for me this is mine but jonah is in the habit of thinking he can get away and the sea rises around him and even the mariners who clearly are from other nations and prey to other gods realize that something is going on in this story i don't need to tell it again it's too dramatic to tell but in the end jonah knows he's the cause of all this and he asks to be thrown into the sea these men are brave they work hard to save him but in the end there's no way in this story and we come back to the old testament tableau that jonah is going to be thrown into the sea in his mind that will be the end of things in the mariners mind it will be the end not only of jonah but of their trouble but in god's mind there's much more left in this parable for now by being asked by by asking to be thrown into the sea jonah is bowing his head before god's will next week we come to chapter two which is a meditation and then three and four will complete this story but it is a wonderful story and when i stand at the very east end of canterbury cathedral and see that wonderful piece of stained glass then i'm always challenged by the sense of what task and what vocation is god giving me to do because if i can understand it then i can't go anywhere in the world and be free from it for that will be my task and mine alone let's say our prayers on this sunday morning and we remember in our prayers this morning the episcopal church of scotland in our anglican communion and pray for the primate there mark strange primus of the scottish episcopal church and bishop of moray ross and keith ness and all the people he looks after in this diocese we continue to pray for the villages and community covered by the romney and tenterdon area deanery pray today for all who act as chaplains within those communities to different organizations and residential care communities and hospitals so we think of them we bring our own prayers on this sunday morning and all those in heart and mind that we would pray for as we say the prayer for this week let your merciful ears oh lord be open to the prayers of your humble servants and that they may obtain their petitions make them to ask such things as shall please you through jesus christ our lord amen so each in our own language and in our own way we say the prayer our savior taught us to say whenever we come together 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 for you to bring your own prayers and intentions in heart and mind on this sunday 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 the blessing of god almighty the father the son and the holy spirit be upon you upon those whom you love and those you would pray for today and always are men [Music]