good morning and welcome on this sunday the 16th of may the sunday after ascension day not often we come to the same place twice but we didn't yesterday managed to coax the little piglets out and now this morning we've gently say you must be very very quiet had more luck and here are three of them in front of me and we hope that they will all begin to come out and show themselves on their first outing outside their particular enclosure and pen and the place which being full of straw where they were born which you were used to seeing um is has been their home until now so we remember in our prayers this sense of needing places of safety for folk today is a day when we remember the disciples themselves watching and waiting and we'll do that in our reflections but at the same time we're praying for the peace of the holy land and all those who are striving so hard at international level and those locally trying to create a sense of peace and reconciliation in that place where jesus himself wept over the city of jerusalem and all that he saw in terms of the hostilities which were even then at in evidence in that city as he went there so let's say our prayers on this day not only for the peace of the holy land but also for the areas where the pandemic is still raging and here in england we're waiting tomorrow for a measure of reopening and including visitors to the cathedral itself but definitely within limits of great safety for one another and all kinds of restrictions as we try step by step to shall we say beat this this danger to our humanity this pandemic let's say our prayers on this sunday morning as the rain falls oh lord open our lips and our mouth shall proclaim your praise send your holy spirit upon us and clothe us with power from on high alleluia blessed are you creator god to you be praise and glory forever as your spirit moved over the face of the waters bringing light and life to your creation pour out your spirit on us today that we may walk as children of light and by your grace reveal your presence 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 psalm on this 16th morning of the month is psalm 80. hear 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 strength 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 share 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 no 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 not 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 sunday so special lessons for this sunday a sunday of watching and waiting as we'll reflect on and we're going to send john's gospel today and in saint john's gospel to chapter 16 and i'm reading from the beginning of that chapter jesus and his disciples the 11 for judas has left the supper table and gone out into the night and here at chapter 16 jesus is talking to the disciples the 11 around the table and this is what he is saying to them in chapter 16. i have said all these things to you to keep you from falling away [Applause] they will put you out of the synagogues indeed the hour is coming when whoever kills you will think they are offering service to god and they will do these things because they have not known the father nor me but i have said these things to you that when their hour comes you may remember that i told them to you [Applause] i did not say these things to you from the beginning because i was with you but now i am going away to him who sent me and none of you asked me where are you going but because i have said these things to you sorrow has filled your heart nevertheless i tell you the truth it is to your advantage that i go away for if i do not go away the helper will not come to you but if i go i will send him to you and when he comes he will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment concerning sin because they do not believe in me concerning righteousness because i go to the father and you will see me no longer concerning judgment because the ruler of this world is judged i still have many things to say to you but you cannot bear them now when the spirit of truth comes he will guide you into all the truth for he will not speak on his own authority but whatever he hears he will speak and he will declare to you the things that are to come he will glorify me for he will take what is mine and declare it to you all that the father has is mine therefore i said that he will take what is mine and declare it to you and verse 22 so you have sorrow now but i will see you again and your hearts will rejoice and no one will take your joy from you they're in the upper room [Applause] and that place is a place that we visit again and again during these weeks from the moment that they sit there together at what we call the last supper [Applause] right up to the day of pentecost when the full gift of the spirit is given and the doors of the upper room burst open and it becomes at that point like a seed husk the plants having developed from it and grown in all fruitfulness by the life-giving gifts and energy of the holy spirit [Applause] they came there first as we know when jesus sent two of his disciples in holy week the thursday of holy week to find the place where they would sit down together to share that meal in luke we're told that those two disciples were peter and john but jesus himself has made the preparations there is a sense in jesus of needing to tell them much longing to share much with them but they're not ready for it yet nevertheless he's made this preparation with others in the city of jerusalem these things aren't described for us they are simply evident by what's going on you go into the city he says to peter and john in luke's gospel you'll find a man there with a water pitcher and then he will lead you upstairs to a large upper room all set out and there we will share that meal he has made the arrangements but there are arrangements to enter in together to that upper room most of the time we think of jesus's teaching in the open air in luke in the sermons on the plane as he walks about teaching and the evangelists luke and matthew and mark to a degree gather together the sayings of jesus into in what we call instant matthew where we're studying at the moment week week by week and day by day discourses the sermon on the mount which we did the week before last and then into last week and at the same time those discourses are given to the crowds and i think we've reflected that he must have used those stories and discourses in many different ways with different images again and again because only a few could hear at that point in the open air and normally he was walking through the villages in different groups or sitting in the boat speaking to the crowds on the beach all these things these pictures but outside in the fresh air in god's good air well now we become enclosed and there are times in creation in every living creature and even plants life and in our human life when enclosure and waiting and rest and patience is absolutely necessary for the next step to unfold or for the power of the creative spirit to give that next step burst we're sitting here in front of clemmy's enclosure we've had two of those for the first time she had piglets you remember we had a different enclosure but clammy knows instinctively when it's time to shall we say time to nest [Music] and surrounded herself with straw in a protected area and we provided the straw but in the wild that would still be happening and we can think also not only of the protection that she needed to give birth but with some creatures and one thinks of polar bears in the arctic um that they know when to go into deep hiding for winter so that the cubs can be born in protection and at the same time other creatures know when to go into deep hiding because the climate conditions change even plants know when to rest and some plants like ordinary apple trees can't grow in very hot countries because there's no cold time when they can have that particular kind of rest that they need it's the most natural thing in the world but here is a different kind of rest sometimes the rest is needed because i'll just put this down but i have to be really careful not to frighten the piglets as i scared leo with it and he ran away um the rain has gone off for a bit i didn't know for how long we may need it again in a minute it's one of those days when it's going to rain and rain for a bit i'll just put this by me or they might start chewing on it okay so we have this sense of creatures knowing when to do all these things chloe don't eat the umbrella that's there we are we we have a little uh little girl cat called lily as as you know and uh she has had two litters in her time and in the second liter of course leo was one of her babies and has now grown bigger than she is and she still has that kitten-like quality but there are times now when she has a sense of needing to to nest we don't give her material she finds it in copies of the newspaper and makes confetti of them and has such a wonderful time tearing them up and then we have to to allow that to happen and make the the mess tidy but not too soon because you'll only do it with something else and you have to be very very careful that it's not some important agenda because her agenda with it would be not my agenda with that piece of paper which is fallen onto the floor maybe all of these things are part of human life but here we are with jesus and his disciples but he is then beginning to tell them what this watching and waiting period is going to mean and he says to them in the farewell discourses which they're remembering back on and we're remembering back on on these days when our minds and hearts are in the upper room together watching and waiting for the gifts of the holy spirit now these gifts are particular gifts and the word for the holy spirit which is given and there are many many words just the ordinary words holy spirit is given in the greek many times but here parakatos is given the one who will come to be and it comes partly from the law courts our advocate many um many translations call it our counselor spelled with an s not a scene or like a city councillor but an s a wise advisor someone who speaks for us comforter consoler strengthener all sorts of ways of translating that word parakletos but it's a word of encouragement and jesus says you've not needed this yet because i've been with you he's sheltering and shielding his little flock fear not little flock he says in cindy's gospel it's your father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom and that kingdom is about to be brought to birth by as jesus says the defeat of the ruler of this world the power of evil by his being raised up on the cross he knows what she has to suffer they're about to go together to the garden of gethsemane and beyond but these farewell discourses give things that they will remember and the promise of the coming of the holy spirit that spirit has been active in every massive birth of creativity right at the beginning of our sacred scriptures in the book of genesis we read the spirit of god brooded on the face of the waters before god said let there be light and there was light a birth affected by the spirit of god the creative spirit and the word let there be light and there was light and the division of the water into seas and dry land and the creativity that that chapter expression expresses in so many different ways well let's go farther forward and see right at the beginning of luke's gospel that the holy spirit is announced to the blessed virgin mary by the archangel gabriel the holy spirit will come upon you and the power of the most high will overshadow you and that is how gabriel describes that the troubling news for mary to which she responds with obedience but it will be a painful time in body mind and spirit for her times of misunderstanding as we see in st matthew's gospel when joseph is reassured that this is how things must be the working of the spirit in the births of the eternal word in our human form the manger at besley him and then move on to this point where jesus has in a sense nested with his disciples in the upper room and their hearts and minds stay there and they return back to it and they lock the doors from time to time in all of that there are moments when he's with them again in the resurrection narratives and they're out in the open air but when he's not the upper room seems to be the time and place where they want to be is where we'll find them next sunday morning when we keep the feast of pentecost the doors being shut for fear of the jews but i don't think it's just for fear of the jews i think it's because they're frightened of the next step you have sorrow now says jesus in that verse but i will come again and your hearts will rejoice and your joy no one will take from you it's a wonderful sentence it's a spirit of reassurance but for the moment they can't accept it for a new birth is about to take place a birth which unites the gifts of this world and the next or shall we say that eternal dimension in which the spirit our spirit is at home the body and the mind are troubled by it and often need time to pause before that can go forward but when it goes forward it's the spirit's energy that bursts open the seed pod bursts open the doors of the upper room and effects new birth so that our little friends this morning are just about feeling brave enough to be out here with us in the fresh air when before the nesting place has been their home and no doubt when night begins to fall they will return there with clemmy and find that life will move them on the creative spirit will move them on but we transfer that into so many situations that we have and look back on they may have been situations of pain may have been situations of sorrow and when we look back on them often they were situations when we would move on some people find moving on in new things easier than others federer is hopeless whenever it's suggested that we do something new go to a new place at a particular time of year a different routine and then the moment we're there completely deny ever having felt that and say no i didn't i didn't say that i was very keen to come and others are longing for new things all the time but when huge things are happening painful things are happening and there is passing from those that we love or from scenes that we love or something new is expected of us then we look back on those occasions in our life and say thank god i was given the energy and the vision and the power to do that but i don't know where it came from because i really was not very keen to go forward in that way well here are the disciples and we're thinking back with them in these days up to the day of pentecost at that point the doors will burst open and peter will find himself speaking in a way he couldn't have dreamed of and yet for the moment we are remembering that all this was given birth in the seed pod of the upper room these times of watching and waiting and obedience to the will of the spirit are absolutely necessary before new energy as we're seeing this morning when this place becomes not a place of fear but a place of games and race track for new life growing up there is in brahms german requiem which is a a piece that brahms wrote with the the death of his own mother in mind and he made his own script for it from quotations from the scriptures not the normal latin requiem at all but words from the scriptures in german and one of the most beautiful choruses of course which has sung as anthems here very often how lovely are thy dwellings our lord of hosts it's a chorus which speaks of that which is beyond the eternal dimension but for me the peace that i wait for which is the most beautiful of all and it ranks very high in my list of favorite pieces is non-traurik kite you now have sorrow but i shall see you again and your heart shall rejoice and your joy no one shall take from you when i was thinking about this this morning i did what we're able to do now and just touched the telephone and got that song up with kirita kanawa singing it oh so beautiful and the soft chorus behind and beautiful orchestral music giving the sensation of the beauty of the words you now have sorrow but i shall see you again and your heart shall rejoice and your joy no one shall take from you heartening words but sometimes we have to wait to accept them because we find it hard to leave the nesting place the upper room becomes an icon of that it's necessity at different times of life when things have to move forward but also the consciousness that we who return again and again to the words of jesus must know that the spirit's energy will give new birth new life to dimensions that are unthought of here and now and day by day but in the end to the breaking open of the seed pod of this world into that eternal life where the gifts of the spirit are our natural breathing space and the creator longs to give that to us fear not little flock for it is your father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom and for that we watch and wait during these days between ascension tide and pentecost let's say our prayers on this sunday morning and we're praying for archbishop justin and also for bishop rose of dover for bishop tim at lambeth the life of this diocese and for the cathedral church as tomorrow we open our doors again to visitors for the first time in that kind of way for some long time the lockdown eases slightly but all restrictions have to be kept in place and for those of you who live nearby and want to come do look at the website to find out how to come here um safely and at the right times and everything else to be once again enjoying the inner spaces and the outer spaces of the cathedral for the rest are online services uh like this one will continue because we're certainly not through this time of watching and waiting for healing yet today in the anglican communion we're praying is praying for the diocese of bhutari in the anglican church of rwanda and pray for the people there as i said at the beginning our hearts overflow with prayer and sorrow for the peoples of the holy land and also for those suffering so much in india and other places where the pandemic is really raging so let's bring all our own concerns as we say the prayer for this day the sunday following the ascension day o god the king of glory you have exalted your only son jesus christ with great triumph to your kingdom in heaven we beseech you leave us not comfortless but send your holy spirit to strengthen us and exalt us to the place where our savior christ has gone before who is alive and reigns with you in the unity of the holy spirit one god now and forever amen so we say each in our own language the prayer that 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 amen moment of silence now as we watch and wait together in prayer the spirit of truth lead you into all truth give you grace to proclaim the word and works of god 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 now i'm not going to risk walking over there to frighten them all to death i want them to enjoy this as a safe space and uh gradually they'll enjoy the day out here we've conjured the sun by our prayers which is lovely come on chloe come on very proud mother aren't you hey hey hmm