good morning and a warm welcome to the dinery garden at canterbury cathedral on this tuesday the 24th of november as we come to say our morning prayers we've come on this lovely autumn morning to the tree fern part of the garden and they're looking very good without wind blowing them around but the garden is full of autumn leaves so whatever season you are enjoying across the world please bring your prayers as as we join together let's just think as we generally do about 24th of november in other years on this day in 1642 abel tasman became the first european to discover what's now called after him tasmania and uh many of you may have friends there we have an aunt elizabeth there who's recently been widowed and is now very poorly herself so we send her a greeting and wish her well on this morning and recently well a few years ago we sent a new canterbury cross to put into the wall of hobart cathedral by their request and a smart qantas pilot took that away to uh the other side of the world to be a bit of canterbury stone in hobart cathedral and so many of the cathedrals throughout the world have a canterbury cross built into their walls made of the stone of this cathedral so in 1815 uh grace darling was born who became a huge victorian heroine rowing herself in a storm to rescue she was a lighthouse keeper's daughter blowing herself in a storm to rescue people from a shipwreck which we saw she saw from her father's lighthouse window and became an amazingly famous person although she she sadly died quite young of tuberculosis and that act of of bravery is is still remembered in 1877 anna sewell published black beauty and in 1849 francis hodgson burnett was born who later became famous for her secret garden and the the book she wrote about mary lennox and then in 1864 toulouse-lautrec was born and in 1868 scott joplin born many of us love playing the entertainer on the piano it's a robust piece and and has a good rhythm and i noticed that in 1940 the first blitz took place on the city of bristol i've spoken before about my mother and father telling of how they would see the city of bristol burning just a glow in the distance to the west of our house 10 or so miles away and this must have been the first time that that terrifying site was shown to them because the city was really very badly bombed so we also remember on this day the death of one of our great friends and a great friend to the county of kent robin lee pemberton lord kingstown who was also governor of the bank of england and the lord of tennant here across the county and he died on this day central of this cathedral which is the senior lay officer and his wife rose who still is a friend to us all has carried on that wonderful work with the family for this county of kent and uh we might just mention the cricket club because she is a she's been president of that um two years running and that's quite a quite a record really and so we wish the family well today they're coming to terms with the results of a really tragic car accident involving family members recently so we think of them all on this day so let's say our prayers and bring your own concerns to the prayers this morning 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 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 son this morning on this 24th morning of the month is psalm 118 and i'm going to begin 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 thanks to you for you have answered me and have become my salvation 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 the lord is god he has given us light link the pilgrims with cords right to the horns of the altar 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 and yours forever so we turn to the revelation to john with all its pictures and visions and today we are in chapter 14 and we're beginning at verse 14 taking up from where we left yesterday then i looked and behold a white cloud and seated on the cloud one like the son of man with a golden crown on his head and a sharp sickle in his hand and another angel came out of the temple calling with a loud voice to him who sat on the cloud put in your sickle and reap for the hour to reap has come for the harvest of the earth is fully ripe so he who sat on the cloud swung his sickle across the earth and the earth was reaped then another angel came out of the temple in heaven and he too had a sharp sickle and another angel came out from the altar the angel who has authority over the fire and he called with a loud voice to the one who had the sharp sickle put in your sickle and gather the clusters from the vine of the earth for its grapes are ripe so the angel swung his sickle across the earth and gathered the grape harvest of the earth and threw it into the great winepress of the roth of god and the winepress was trodden outside the city and blood flowed from the winepress as high as a horse's bridle for 1600 stadia then i saw another sign in heaven great and amazing seven angels with seven plagues which are the last for with them the wrath of god is finished and i saw what appeared to be a sea of glass mingled with fire and also those who had conquered the beast and his image and the number of its name standing beside the sea of glass with harps of god in their hands and they sing the song of moses the servant of god and the song of the lamb saying great and amazing are your deeds so lord god the almighty just and true are your ways o king of the nations who will not fear o lord and glorify your name for you alone are holy all nations will come and worship you for your righteous acts have been revealed after this i looked and the sanctuary of the tent of witness in heaven was opened and out of the sanctuary came the seven angels with the seven plagues closed in pure bright linen with golden sashes round their chests and one of the four living creatures gave to the seven angels seven golden bowls full of the wrath of god who lives forever and ever and the sanctuary was filled with smoke from the glory of god and from his power and no one could enter the sanctuary until the seven plagues of the seven angels were finished well a multitude of different images and a multitude of different references in the old testament but let's think that this falls into two parts the first which was the end of chapter 14 is about harvest time and our lord never used the image of harvest without linking with it the image of judgment assessing the fruitfulness it comes again and again in his parables and that image is one of judgment for eventually every person who plants a crop however beautiful it is in its growing will be looking for the fruitfulness and the yield and so often that image is used of the way in which our service as servants of christ is assessed and judged so much for the wheat fields but also harvested is the vine and this is a very different image for the vine of course in new testament terms is the sign of the life of the church and the fruitfulness of that is the fruitfulness of the body of christ but all that john could see with the imperial might of rome stacked against the christian church and persecutions happening everywhere and people suffering terrible things all he could see but the blood of the martyrs and it's that that he wants to value see how the harvest is taken outside the city that too is a new testament sign for our lord was crucified outside the city wall and here his servants the martyrs giving their life blood for the ongoing of the proclamation of the eternal gospels the angels said yesterday those martyrs give their own blood for the life of the church and the life of others and that is precious but when we then begin chapter 15 quite short i read it all then we are thinking of the new israel prefaced by plagues before their freedom just as the old israel was prefaced in egypt by plagues going through the sea a sea of glass we're told and singing a song like moses sang in the end and that lovely song which we sometimes use as a canticle in our worship and after that coming to the tabernacle of testimony or in this version the tent of witness where the law is set out and given just as it was on mount sinai and then the smoke of the holiness and the prayers which surround that goes up john is tumbling over himself with images but each of them is anchored in the journey of the church towards eternal life and the desire that everyone all peoples and tribes and nations and languages shall be gathered in to that coming together towards the holy city new jerusalem we're step by step each day going in that direction and eventually we shall get to that after advent sunday those beautiful visions of the new jerusalem and at that point we will realize where john is leading us well that's a a fine look at the images of how we're going forward but at the same time let's let's remember one or two of the things which happened today not just those terrible bombings and and the the sense of things burning but the courage of the lifeboat keeper's daughter who at risk to her own life and with her father set out rowing in a boat because they thought it was too rough to signal for the lifeboat and they went and saved people from the rock to which they were clinging from the wreck of the paddle steamer for fascia we remember acts of courage like that and we remember acts of not only courage which survives but acts of martyrdom the giving of one life for another and really from our reflections we need to take a leaf out of the book of um the composer hubert parry it's a story that i always love so chh parry had a a lovely gloucestershire garden and um he when he was teaching in london with music or away oftentimes he would ask his gardener very early in the morning to cut a rose from the garden and put it on the earliest train and then have it delivered to him in london so he could wear it in his coach and simply be reminded of the scent of that garden i said that francis hodgson burnett was is best known these days for her book the secret garden it's a wonderful image and i think we want to think of our reflections rather like that whatever they bring us in the mornings in our silences and at other times of day we need those times of going into the secret place in our secret garden and before we leave it then maybe we like um sir child parry we we pluck one of the thoughts and have it there to refresh ourselves as the day continues i always find in the psalm that we read this morning psalm 118 there is a verse i would want to take with me on the 24th morning of the month and that is verse 24 this is the day that the lord has made we will rejoice and be glad in it and that kind of image is like the rose plucked from the garden that we might go on with so let's uh say our prayers this morning on this particular day and see first of all whom in the anglican communion we are praying for 24th of november we're praying for sao paulo a diocese in brazil and for francisco cesar fernandez the bishop there and his people and the diocese of east carolina in the episcopal church of the united states and bishop robert skirving and his people we pray for justin our archbishop for rose bishop of dover for tim bishop at lambeth and for the parish today of saint paul maidstone and all the people there the parish priest is listed as vacant here and so if if that's been filled since my list was printed then i apologize but for the moment we pray for their whole community in saint paul's maidstone let's then say the prayer for this week which is an easy one to remember stir up o lord we beseech you the wills of your faithful people that they plenteously bringing forth the fruit of good works may by you be plenteously rewarded through jesus christ our lord amen together in whatever language you like to use we say 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 our men moment while the thrush sings and the magpie things as well for our own prayers with 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 upon those whom you would pray for today and always are men you've come up to a higher step leo got a nice big view of the garden here yes i'm going down now you