good morning and welcome to the dinery garden on this saturday of easter week as we come together from all over the world to say our morning prayers this is a day when the hearts and minds of this nation and many other nations of the commonwealth and many other peoples throughout the world have mixed emotions of intense thanksgiving for the long life of prince philip and also sadness because it feels to so many that we have lost a companion who has always been there and thousands and thousands of people who've never even seen him will have seen so many things about his life and as the newsreels unfold on the television showing what immense amounts he did and how he carved a completely new role then there is that sense of both thanksgiving and loss it's a mixture of emotions on this day and our heartfelt prayers are of course for her majesty the queen and members of the royal family on this day we shall come back to all of this in our reflection and our reflection in saint john's gospel is an easter tide reflection this is a time of year when the promise of eternal life is held out to us by the easter stories and the sense of new life burgeoning amongst the early disciples as their new commission begins we're in the same part of the garden as we were in yesterday but the breakfast fire has died down now and the breakfast things have been pushed aside because there's something new ahead and we shall think of all those things too when we come to our reflection in st john's gospel i want you to say a prayer also this morning for the people of northern ireland because this is the anniversary in 1998 of the signing of the good friday agreement between the irish governments the british government and most political parties in northern ireland which brought an era of peace after the troubles of the years which led up to that agreement and because we are seeing a sense of tension returning to the streets of northern ireland our prayers are that the good friday agreement will still be a beacon of light and peace as the both the politicians and the peoples of northern ireland come together in the weeks ahead so let's say our prayers on this morning and we begin in our normal way oh lord open our lips and our mouth shall proclaim your praise in your resurrection oh christ let heaven and earth rejoice hallelujah blessed are you lord god of our salvation to you be praise and glory forever as once you ransomed your people from egypt and led them to freedom in the promised land so now you have delivered us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of your risen son may we the first fruits of your new creation rejoice in this new day you have made and praise you for your mighty acts 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 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 our men already on this day although it's very early several things have happened because we've had radio crews here wanting to broadcast live and and hear comments from different people about what this day means to us both in terms of worship and in terms of the death of his royal highness prince philip and then i celebrated a communion in the cathedral before coming across and found fletcher here having set the scene for you and for me and he said that uh during his preparations suddenly in all the activity he was aware of of music and it was very distant and he thought that choristers were rehearsing for tomorrow morning's service when the archbishop will preach in the cathedral and give tribute to prince philip but then realize there are no choruses here at the moment because they're still on their holiday and the music was only on the air and he suddenly realized it was actually a hen having laid an egg singing the kind of song that they sing following the laying of an egg and the music of creation and new life seemed to to blend in with everything that was going on it's a nice thought and the creatures are all around us here in the garden of course and prince philip's care of creatures wildlife and the encouragement he gave us oh so early with the world wildlife fund uh early on in his life and films that he made gave a dimension to life we'll think about those things as i say in our reflection but i thought you'd be interested to hear the song of the singing hen this morning um we're going to say our son now not sing it and it's psalm 50 on this tenth morning of the month the lord the most mighty god has spoken and called the world from the rising of the sun to its setting out of zion perfect in beauty god shines forth our god comes and will not keep silence consuming fire goes before him and a mighty tempest stares about him he calls the heaven above and the earth that he may judge his people gather to me my faithful who have sealed my covenant with sacrifice let the heavens declare his righteousness for god himself is judge hear o my people and i will speak i will testify against you o israel for i am god your god i will not reprove you for your sacrifices for your burnt offerings are always before me i will take no bull out of your house or he got out of your foals for all the beasts of the forest are mine the cattle upon a thousand hills i know every bird of the mountains and the insect of the field is mine if i were hungry i would not tell you for the whole world is mine and all that fills it do you think i eat the flesh of bulls or drink the blood of goats offer to god a sacrifice of thanksgiving and fulfill your vows to god's most high call upon me in the day of trouble i will deliver you and you shall honor me part of that lovely psalm of creation which gives us that sense of the sacrifice of thanksgiving the offering of life and we'll come across that so much in the lesson we're about to read the offering of life but always with thanksgiving the healing balm of giving thanks so let's turn to our reading from st john's gospel we're in chapter 21 as you will remember and we're still on the beach but things are very different now and we'll continue from verse 15 of chapter 21. [Music] when they had finished breakfast jesus said to simon peter simon son of john do you love me more than these simon said to him yes lord you know that i love you jesus said to him feed my lambs he said to him a second time simon son of john do you love me he said to him yes lord you know that i love you he said to him tend my sheep he said to him the third time simon son of john do you love me peter was grieved because he said to him the third time do you love me he said to him lord you know everything you know that i love you jesus said to him feed my sheep truly truly i say to you when you were young you used to dress yourself and walk wherever you wanted but when you are old you will stretch out your hands and another will dress you and carry you where you do not want to go this he said to show by what kind of death simon peter was to glorify god and after saying this he said to him follow me peter turned and saw the disciple whom jesus loved following them the one who also had leaned back against him during the supper and had said lord who is it that is going to betray you when peter saw him he said to jesus lord what about this man jesus said to him if it is my will that he remain until i come what is that to you you follow me so the spray saying spread abroad among the brothers that this disciple was not to die yet jesus did not say to him that he was not to die but if it is my will that he remain until i come what is that to you this is the disciple who is bearing witness about these things and who has written these things and we know that his testimony is true [Music] breakfast is over and our fire is simply smoldering now the breakfast things have been pushed aside you can do that on the beach after a picnic there's no great washing up to do and the remains of a really enjoyable and happy meal have happened but there is still some shall we call it unfinished business between simon peter and jesus and now jesus turns to him and in three questions he names him fairly formally remember how in the old translation it was simon barjona giving him his family name not the should we call it a nickname that jesus called him peter the rock he fasts but his family name do you do you love me now in the english these three questions sound as though they're the same all the way through one two three do you love me more than these he's of course referring back to peter's huge boast that even he has to die with him he would never forsake him and then the three-time denial and the crowing all that is in our minds and you can go back to the good friday narrative in the three-hour service to find all of that by the brazia in the courtyard of the high priest house now the fire of breakfast is simply smoldering they've had their meal together and jesus asked three times in the english the same question do you love me it's not so in the greek two different words are being used for the word love we have the word agapeo from which we get our agape the love feast of the christian church and that word is very much connected with a depth of willing the well-being of absolutely everyone it's the love which jesus speaks of which is a committed love for the welfare of humanity and particularly for those that you come across in your particular journey there's a depth there of good intention and a depth there of mind and body and spirit all being involved this is the deep christian word for the love of the brothers and sisters and all those beyond we could do a complete analysis of that but jesus jesus uses for his first two questions that verb for love and peter responds with the verb filio which is much more the kind of love at different levels of commitment and intention which springs up naturally and can happen all at once when you meet someone it happens in the gospel several times it can it can give a sense of both friendship but it's spontaneous these are people that you like these are people that you feel tuned to and these are people that you take great delight in sometimes at an intense level and peter responds with that verb jesus gives the commission nevertheless feed my lambs and then he asks again still jesus using the word for the agape kind of love that depth of body mind and spirit which is in intention is involved there and commitment but it's not always well this isn't a natural kind of companion for me but my intention is well-being it's a commission peter responds with the other verb philip oh yes lord you know that i love you and then jesus gives the commission again but this time it's different tend my sheep and finally jesus himself uses the filio word said do you love me he's content for the moment to let it be there and peter says lord you know all things you know that i love you but we're in the the philippo word not the agape word and philia is that emotional uh being drawn to another person and and of course simon peter has that in spades for jesus because they are companions and friends and heartfelt friends and but jesus wants it to go deeper and that that intention has to grow so that peter be the leader of the new body of christ which will give the evangel the good news to all people and will the good of all but that will come and jesus knows that so he's content to use peter's word for now and gives the last commission feed my sheep and then we have as they walk together away from the fire notice the nets have been pushed aside now that was the old life this is going to be the new life and jesus makes a prophecy and says this is what is going to be your vocation and this is how it will end it will not be your wish they will lead you where you won't want to go and as the evangelist says this he said to show in what way peter would give his life a sacrifice of thank giving at the fullest sense give his life for his lord for whom he's professing his love three times but this is of course forgiveness for the three times denial which had happened very recently in the high priest courtyard beside the brazier not the breakfast fire we shall come across the fire again on pentecost sunday but for the moment peter turns to um to jesus and looks round at the disciple that is following the disciple that jesus loved and this time the word is actually by the evangelist the agape word and peter says so what's going to happen to him [Music] and here's another lesson from for us from the resurrection narratives the lesson is it's absolutely no business of yours what their vocation is i've called you follow me said the temptation to look around and judge ourselves by others is a temptation that this resurrection narrative sets aside completely and says no that's not your business at all it really isn't your business is to keep your eye on your vocation and make that love so deep for humanity and more than that for god's world that when you break bread together then there is that depths of willing the welfare of another and this we have to do of course at the moment by virtual means well let's just think for a moment first of his royal highness prince philip duke of edinburgh because our hearts are filled with that today we spent last night looking at some of the documentaries of his life which were being put before us on television and i think our minds and hearts were opened up by the vast amount that prince philip managed to achieve in a particular and unique role that he carved for himself the only role model that he'd had and he sent for books about all of this when he found himself the husband of the queen he sent for books about prince albert who had been the prince consort to queen victoria and albert was a creative and energetic man who faced all kinds of opposition but let's say first that one of the great qualities of prince philip was that he valued in a huge way tradition but he knew that there had to be changed and he wasn't frightened of radical things for the benefit of all and for the benefit of the monarchy to which he'd given his life in his love for queen elizabeth we think of all that today with enormous thanksgiving [Music] he was a person who loved practical things the engineering answers and new ways of going forward and that energy was put at the service of first of all his wife in her vocation as our queen but also of the family which he loved and cared for and also the family of the nation and the commonwealth and all those throughout the world that he could influence in the right way for care of each other and care of this planet and he was earliest off the mark to give us the lessons of caring for this planet president of the world wildlife fund and at the same time and i think of so many occasions in my ministry where a group of young people at ordinary schools in my villages around that i knew well knew their families were being encouraged through what they called dmv the duke of edinburgh awards scheme where they would go for their bronze medals and go for their silver medals and go for their gold medals and groups of them when they got to that stage will be invited to the palace as guests of prince philip and just as he did whenever he came here we've been thinking of those times too he would be the one who was not particularly looking out for those in the official lineups of whom her majesty was greeting but was looking for those who were standing just a little bit back and he'd say now why are you here what's your role here we think of the time when he and the queen came in in uh 2015 i think it was to unveil the statues of themselves on the west front it was the tribute of the cathedral for the diamond jubilee year but prince philip was there amongst our work staff and their families and making them laugh and at no time was the arrow of of of uh fame and honour pointing towards him he was conscious of lifting people forward and at the same time would be asking difficult and insightful questions about just everything you had to be on your toes really uh and uh so he would he would uh ask the stonemasons about the the difficulty of carving him uh and also uh make them laugh by saying that quite often the difficulty when you're trying to cover my ears or something they all raw with laughter and i kept looking around to see where the laughter was coming from it was always around him and that kind of valuing of someone else and not really wanting to be the center of attention was a hallmark but at the same time he could put forward radical suggestions from his love of tradition and his faith his really deep faith which he shares with her majesty the queen and that deep faith meant that he was longing to bring faith together to break down barriers all those things will be remembered when the archbishop speaks tomorrow he will have personal memories as we do here which are treasured but across the world he seemed to be a friend of so many and was always there almost 100 years old june the 10th would have seen him at his 100th birthday so he's deep in our memories and the stories of his childhood show just how difficult a time he had and then onwards we could spend the morning telling the stories of him but we give thanks for him and in our prayers we feel sorrow at the loss of prince philip and and sorry for her majesty and the royal family at this time i just wanted to say also that this morning on the 10th of april 1966 the novelist evil in war died and his novels um are favorites but what i love about evil in war and this has been said by so many is the way in which he uses the english language he writes perfectly and there is in him a deep yearning for scenes which seem to be disappearing and this is around the 1930s and beyond through the second world war and so many of his novels involve sort of ordinary people who get caught up in things if you think about them in in decline in fall you've got paul pena feather ordinary young man who is a theological student who gets caught up in all sorts of things or tony last in the handful of dust uh a tragic figure and william boot the journalist in scoop with with the the the guy who always in the office will not say no to lord copper who owns the newspaper and so he will say if he wants to say yes definitely lord copper and if he wants to say no well up to a point lord copper is as far as you can go and that becomes a catch word when you read it but probably the the most famous thing that that war wrote and this because of the magnificent way it was televised in a long series in 1981 brideshead revisited with beautiful music and there the ordinary person is charles ryder he's almost like a passive narrator and yet it's all happening to him and uh this this sense of of uh of um the the longing for a tradition and something that seemed to be disappearing and the yearning for that now let's go back to prince philip because in fact he had that enormous love of tradition you can see it in all the things there was an enjoyment in all of that and a solemnity and just walking as he carved his role a pace or two behind the the the monarch his wife whom he loved dearly in that marriage of 73 years is an extraordinary example of faithfulness on both their parts but he was not somebody who thought well we've got to keep it like this he was someone who thought let's change this and the tradition will be guarded even better well here we are with the disciples on the beach at a new beginning the nets have been carved are being cast aside this fire is is just dampening down a new fire is going to be lit many traditions will be kept others will be transformed and changed and all those things we think of in this new beginning on the beach as jesus takes them for a walk along the beach and gives them their commissions but first he has to make sure his senior disciple is going to be the foundation stone of the new spreading of the gospel and good news throughout the world he's got to make sure that he knows that he's forgiven and also there's there's almost an amusing thing when jesus turns the verb round in in the greek and uses peter's word it's as if it's saying okay that's all right for now let's start there and later on it will grow and grow and we'll see that in these 40 days well as we go up to pentecost let's say our prayer this morning a prayer of thanksgiving at this time of resurrection and a prayer which covers our sorrow at this time at a parting with someone that so many throughout the world will feeling is a great loss at this time lord of all life and power who through the mighty resurrection of your son jesus christ overcame the old order of sin and death to make all things new in him grant that we being dead to sin and alive to you in jesus christ may reign with him in glory to whom with you and the holy spirit we praise and honor glory and might now and in all eternity amen on this day we're praying in the anglican communion of course for archbishop justin at this time he will be coming here tomorrow to celebrate the communion at 10 30 and also to preach and in that communion there will be much tribute paid to his royal highness and then in our anglican communion were praying for the diocese of bethlehem in the episcopal church of the united states i said yesterday how many places in the states are named after biblical towns and this is this is one such case and we pray for the bishop there and the people and at the same time we pray for rose bishop of dover tim bishop at lambeth and the parish of st george the martyr at deal and for sheila porter chris spencer and ben forbes in their ministry there and all the people who worship there let's say the prayer our savior taught us in whatever language you would like to use 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 for ever and ever are men a moment of silence now for your own prayers and intentions at this time the god of peace who brought again from the dead our lord jesus christ that great shepherd of the sheep by the blood of the eternal covenant make you perfect in every good work to do his will working in you that which is well pleasing in his sight 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 i think we're going to try and include one or two photographs this is a time for memories of some of the occasions when prince philip and the queen have been here in this community and that can just help us show prince philip pointing out people and talking to them and making them laugh which is a role for us all to notice those who are maybe just a piece or two back which is where he like to be himself [Music] [Music] is [Music] is 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