good morning and welcome to canterbury cathedral to the dinery garden on this saturday morning of the 21st of november as you probably know if you've been with us before saturday morning is the time we come to join the animals for breakfast and that has to happen straight away because they're very expectant of nourishment and breakfast on this saturday morning so let's feed them first and then we can begin to think of this particular day we'll start with the boys on that side and then feed the girls on this side here we are boys put the food down for the girls [Applause] there we are let them out and enjoy their breakfast boys are already on and the girls are set to come come on come on here we are come on when nourishment appears instantly there is peace and we give thanks for this day wherever you are in the world please be uh feel welcome here and bring your own concerns because each nation will have different problems each culture will have different problems and each family and individual will have different problems bring all the things that you are in your heart and mind as we say our morning prayers together here is a still and lovely day and much less cold than yesterday but your weather will be different across the world we still have some lots of leaves on the wisteria and on the mulberry and on the bay tree behind me which of course is not going to lose its leaves at all it's not deciduous so here we are as we remember this particular day and it is actually full of anniversaries the 21st of november in 1695 the composer the english composer henry purcell died and he was only 36 years old when he died but he's seen as the greatest native-born english composer until uh others began to achieve the same kind of status in the in the 20th century but he stands alone there and we'll think a little bit about him later he's well known for his hymn tune which is now called westminster abbey which we sing to a blessed city heavenly salem um and for his opera dido and aeneas with the great solo when i am laid in earth the tune of which is is really in all our hearts but we'll say more about that a bit later on and then also we remember if we go way back that on this day in 164 bc judas maccabees restored the temple in jerusalem and each year that is commemorated with the jewish feast of hanukkah and we remember also that in 1824 the first jewish reform congregation in charleston south carolina was formed i say that because when the cathedral church grace church in charleston was being restored that congregation at the at the synagogue there gave them hospitality to celebrate their own services at that time and so one gives thanks for that kind of ecumenical and interfaith hospitality this is a day in the episcopal church calendar in the united states when three english church musicians are remembered bird marbeck talis and so we remember those together with henry purcell there's a wonderful set of windows in our cloister here with all those musicians in each panel and so we give thanks for the creativity of music 1977 the first concord flight took place we remember the beauty of that plane now not not in use anymore and also that in 1915 on this day sir ernest shackleton's ship exploring the antarctic sank through being crushed in ice it's it's captured by one of his people on black and white film but it left them stranded for months in the antarctic and then the the boat journey in the lifeboat to save them really rivaled that of captain bligh because it was a feat of endurance in itself and endurance of course is a word that the revelation uses quite a lot remember in 1974 the ira exploded two bombs in birmingham pubs killing people and wounding people there i remember it because as we prepared for christmas i was in salisbury at the time in salisbury cathedral we had to announce that for the first time the presents that were brought to lay at the christmas tree to take to a nearby children's home had to be unwrapped so that no explosives could be inside them we've never we had never been through that sort of situation before but we've known it well since as as of many nations well let's begin to say our prayers on this particular morning and we start of course with the traditional acclamation of christ 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 do 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 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 as 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 psalm on this 21st morning of the month is psalm 105 it's a long sum and so i'm reading some verses of that now oh give thanks to the lord and call upon his name make known his deeds among the peoples sing to him sing praises and tell of all his marvelous rejoice in the praise of his holy name let the hearts of them rejoice who seek the lord seek the lord and his strength seek his face continually remember the marvels he has done his wonders and the judgment of his mouth he brought out his people from egypt with silver and gold there was not one among their tribes that stumbled he spread out a cloud for a covering and a fire to light up the night they asked and he brought them quails he satisfied them with the bread of heaven he opened the rock and the waters gushed out and ran in the dry places like a river for he remembered his holy word and abraham his servant so he brought forth his people with joy his chosen ones with singing he gave them the lands of the nations and they took possession of the fruit of their toil that they might keep his statutes and faithfully observe his laws hallelujah so we're returning to the revelation to john to the terrifying pictures he draws and we'll try to shed some light on them as we look back also to the prophecies of the old testament and even the words of our lord when he was telling his disciples what kind of things might happen hereafter i'm starting at verse 11 of chapter 13 and we read to the end of the chapter then i saw another beast rising out of the earth it had two horns like a lamb and it spoke like a dragon it exercises all the authority of the first beast in its presence and makes the earth and its inhabitants worship the first beast whose mortal wound was healed it performs great signs even making fire come down from heaven to earth in front of people and by the signs that it is allowed to work in the presence of the beast it deceives those who dwell on earth telling them to make an image for the beast that was wounded by the sword and yet lived and it was allowed to give breath to the image of the beast so that the image of the beast might even speak and might cause those who would not worship the image of the beast to be slain also it causes all both small and great both rich and poor both free and slave to be marked on the right hand or the forehead so that no one can buy or sell unless he has the mark that is the name of the beast or the number of its name this calls for wisdom let the one who has understanding calculate the number of the beast for it is the number of a man and his number is 666. well that's probably that last verse one of the most famous verses in the whole of the revelation to john it was common practice to use the letters of the vocabulary whether greek or hebrew or even latin as numbers and make codes out of them and here's a case in point we won't get too far if we start exploring all the numbers and like the times and seasons which our lord warns us warned us against uh on in his last words on the mountain of ascension not for you to know the times and seasons but what we do know is that it is quite clearly a symbol of the imperial power which was forcing christians to renege on their total faithfulness to their lord jesus christ and to their god and therefore every christian was under sentence of death who would not bow down before statues and temples of the imperial cult notice that the first beast yesterday came from the sea and we liken that with the annual arrival in asia minor where this uh was written well i mean the island of patmos just off asia minor but but uh we liken that to the coming annually across the sea of the provincial governor who was there to establish the authority of the emperor who demanded godlike observance today the beast comes out of the earth we're talking about local authorities who answer to the provincial governor and these local authorities were represented by the commune of the imperial cult who would enforce the imperial cult the jewish nation and their religion as they spread across the world were exempt from having to worship the emperor but christians were a suspect sect and therefore any provincial governor and any local authority had the power to execute in really desperate ways and persecute and threaten and blackmail all those who would not bow down to the image of the emperor in one of the temples built for him across asia minor and there was as we said yesterday the great thought and it was a rumor but it persisted that the emperor nero who had committed suicide after his horrendous reign uh was actually not dead at all but it escaped to the parthian empire to the east and would come again and many people think that that 666 number was the number for that particular man well we can't be certain and as i said it's it's a vain quest to go searching for that so many scholars have what we do know is that is a sign of that imperial cult rather than the worship of almighty god through the gospel message of his son jesus christ as lord of lords and king of kings and john is giving it in code because if it was found out that he was in any way writing against the imperial power then that's why he uses words like babylon and and all the code language that we've had he is speaking about desperate persecution and the need for endurance and the marx i think but again this is this is a code language that the coinage which had to be used at all times bore the head of the emperor with the word sebastos meaning worthy of worship and to christians that was an horrendous thing to hold in their minds or in their hands and therefore it was a sign of the blasphemy of all that was going on by earthly powers claiming the divine power well this is really such code language but the message is clear it needs endurance and people often have to be faithful to death and the agents of satan again as we say masquerading as angels of light in governors who might say oh just do this and but just it just needs an act of worship a nod towards the worship of the emperor and you can then be be released and martyr after martyr met their death affirming the faith in its totality that's what this is about and all these images and pictures taking strength from the colorful images of the prophets in the past were code language that people might understand as the journey is foretold towards the kingdom of god in eternity which the revelation to john will get us to on this day as i said um henry purcell was died and his music gave inspiration to people to be faithful many of his works were anthems and even cantatas and and music which spoke of people's ability to create wonderful things gerald manley hopkins wrote a sonnet simply called henry purcell and at the beginning of the sonnet this isn't the sonnet it's his introduction he says the poet wishes well to the divine genius of purcell and praises him that whereas other musicians have given utterance to the moods of man's mind he has beyond that uttered in notes the very maken species of man has created both in him and in all men generally so we remember beautiful anthems which are in the repertoire of choirs rejoice in the lord alway or my beloved spake and said unto me rise up my love my fair one and come away or they they go down to the sea and ships a multitude of things and it's lovely to see the window in the cloister to that creativity but all that comes but goes from faithfulness endurance and the response to it being inspired by one another to endurance as as things go through and also um the date today it's it's united nations television day well many of us have watched much television during lockdowns um but one remembers it in 1980 it was the day that jr was shot in dallas and the the the question who shot jr became a question that is like what does 666 mean and uh so people like to puzzle at questions as they go through but it was also the day that voltaire was born he died in 1778 and was born in 1694. the voltaire was an icon of the age of enlightenment and some of his quotes are significant in this quest for endurance and also of journey of faithfulness on the way through judge of a man by his questions rather than by his answers said voltaire think for yourself and let others enjoy the privilege of doing so too and then a lovely one the mirror is a worthless invention the only way to see yourself is in the reflection of someone else's eyes and appreciation is a wonderful thing it makes what is excellent in others belong to us as well and perhaps one to take to heart the more a man knows the less he talks everything you say should be true but not everything true should be said and finally give me the patience for the small things of life courage for the great trials of life help me to do my best each day and then go to sleep knowing that god is awake all those things might be lessons from the revelation itself in terms of faithfulness and holding on in dark times and gaining encouragement from one another with the eternal vision that god is awake as we say our prayers i'm going to crave a little indulgence this day november the 21st in 1992 was a day in which i was installed as dean of hereford and so it's 28 years ago that i began a vocation as a dean of a cathedral for nine years in hereford and then since then here in canterbury and so many memories come back at that time of the friends who were there to support me on that day many have gone on to glory and i remember them well and many are still very much here and i'll contact some of them today but i don't forget that day my nervousness but also the love of friends around me and i show my appreciation so that all the qualities of their life might be mine as well and i might enjoy that experience over over again in reminiscence but also it's a day for me to commit myself further still in this particular ministry so let's say our prayers today we are praying in the anglican communion for the diocese of san joaquim and the episcopal church and david rice the bishop there and his people the diocese of dutsa in nigeria and marcus johanna dan minter and his people the diocese of kyoto in japan and stephen takashi kochi and his people here we pray for archbishop justin and also for bishop rose of dover for bishop tim at lambeth and we pray also for the parish of saint martin maidstone on this day for joyce addison in her ministry there and all the people of that particular community so let's for the last time say the the prayer for special to this week heavenly father whose blessed son was revealed to destroy the works of the devil and to make us the children of god and as of eternal life granted we having this hope may purify ourselves even as he is pure so that when he should appear in power and great glory we may be made like him in his eternal and glorious kingdom where he is alive and reigns with you in the unity of the holy spirit one god now and forever amen so we say the prayer our savior taught us in whichever language we normally 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 forever and ever are men so a moment of silence now for us to say our own prayers 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 are men i'd said a day or two ago that the robins had taken over from the thrushes and blackbirds for a season but in fact this morning we've noticed that the thrushes have begun to sing again and that's a lovely thing they sing with a song which is rather different from the duck who has her own particular song on these saturday mornings but breakfast is being enjoyed and so hope you will have a good day too right very pretty bad aren't you okay