good morning and welcome to the dinery garden at canterbury cathedral on this thursday morning of the 15th of july wherever you are in the world feel welcome it is the most beautiful day here but i'm sitting under the largest of our fig trees which is full of fruit which to you will be mostly hidden by the leaves and that will be an illustration which helps us in the reflection on the gospel of saint matthew which we'll be reading this morning a little later in the service today the 15th of july is since swithen's day who was a ninth century bishop of winchester so we send out our prayers for our sister cathedral at winchester and also for the diocese of winchester sweden is mostly famous for a kind of legend he'd asked to be buried uh in the uh under the air so that the rain would fall on his grave and uh about a century after his his uh burial he was moved inside at which point the rain began to fall for 40 days it was this day that it started and that that's the legend so the legend is that if it rains on since whithern's day and i don't want to tempt any kind of fate at all but there's not a cloud in the sky it's the most beautiful summer morning um if it rains today it will rain for 40 days i don't know how many years that's happened but it's certainly in in the turn of the year it it's it's a turn of seasons at this time well we've had rain and rain and rain as you well know and so maybe now we'll have some sunshine and since switzerland's this year will turn upside down in the right way but we give thanks as i say for the life of winchester cathedral on this day of since switzerland bishop of winchester here in canterbury cathedral this morning in the crypt we're preparing for the funeral of our friend graham sinclair whom i mentioned died from cancer a long struggle and she was an inspiration to us aldi he'd been the head of drama here and his wife charlotte and the two boys toby and charlie have prepared the most wonderful service for him which is almost a a reflection on the life of graham he gave us so much wonderful drama particularly shakespeare in the precincts in the open air and right to the end was a real tower of of honest and honest thinking and of of uh and would inspire us all as he he dealt with the the terrible pain but also with the the lack of um shall we say energy in his body but his mind never lost that in his capacity to encourage us all was there right to the end so we shall be having that tribute to him this morning at the funeral service in the crypt i say this morning one o'clock at uh in the crypt we're still under restrictions and so things will be very intimate there with just uh uh 40 or 50 of of their close friends i know that the school later on in the autumn will want to give the the most uh robustuous memorial service with music and readings and everything else but for the moment today we do this in reflective quietness and give thanks bring your own intentions and prayers and concerns from wherever you are in the world and from your own communities as we say our prayers on this day oh lord open our lips and our mouth shall proclaim your praise may christ the true the only light banish all darkness from our hearts and minds blessed are you creator of all to 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 oh god set our hearts on fire with love for you now and forever amen our psalm on this 15th morning of the month is psalm 77 i cry aloud to god i cry aloud to god and he will hear me in the day of my trouble i have sought the lord by night my hand is stretched out and does not tire my soul refuses comfort i think upon god and i groan i ponder and my spirit faints you will not let my eyelids close i am so troubled that i cannot speak i consider the days of old i remember the years long past i commune with my heart in the night my spirit searches for understanding will the lord cast us off forever will he no more show us his favor has his loving mercy clean gone forever has his promise come to an end forevermore has god forgotten to be gracious has he shut up his compassion in displeasure and i said my grief is this that the right hand of the most high has lost its strength i will remember the works of the lord and call to mind your wonders of old time i will meditate on all your works and ponder your mighty deeds your way o god is holy who is so great a god is our god you are the god who worked wonders and declared your power among the peoples with a mighty arm you redeemed your people the children of jacob and joseph the waters saw you o god the waters saw you and were afraid the depths also were troubled the clouds poured out water the skies thundered your arrows flashed on every side the voice of your thunder was in the whirlwind your lightnings lit up the ground the earth trembled and shook your way was in the sea and your paths in the great waters but your footsteps were not known you led your people like sheep by the hand of moses and aaron a reflective and meditative psalm at a time when god seems to be absent and the psalmist thinks well let me remember times past and take hope from those and reflect on that so that going forward i can rekindle faith by the power of god's spirit and reclaim all that god intends me to be we're turning to the gospel of saint matthew and we're in that passage that fifth discourse that we were talking about yesterday we read a good part of it and we saw how matthew interpreted the words of jesus and his prophecies about the violence that he found in the temple of jerusalem and all around him at that time and now we're going to continue and we come to the uh verse 32 of chapter 24. it's just where we left off yesterday jesus said from the fig tree learn its lesson as soon as its branch becomes tender and puts out its leaves you know that summer is near so also when you see all these things you know that he is near at the very gates truly i say to you this generation will not pass away until all these things take place heaven and earth will pass away but my words will not pass away but concerning that day and hour no one knows not even the angels of heaven nor the son but the father only for as were the days of noah so will be the coming of the son of man for as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking marrying and giving in marriage until the day when noah entered the ark and they were unaware until the flood came and swept them all away so will be the coming of the son of man then two men will be in the field one will be taken and one left two women will be grinding at the mill one will be taken and one left therefore stay awake for you do not know on what day your lord is coming but know this that if the master of the house had known in what part of the night the thief was coming he would have stayed awake and would not have let his house be broken into therefore you also must be ready for the son of man is coming at an hour you do not expect who then is the faithful and wise servant whom the master has set over the household to give them their food at the proper time blessed is that servant whom the master will find so doing when he comes truly i say to you he will set that servant over all his possessions but if that wicked servant says to themselves my master is dead or delayed and begins to beat the fellow servants and eats and drinks with drunkards the master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect and at an hour he does not know and will cut him in pieces and put him with the hypocrites in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth well some severe lessons there about human and divine expectations but the one important lesson is that jesus is taking parables from human life and from the creator's gifts in creation and one of his loveliest sentences there is learn a lesson from the fig tree for when its branch grows tender then it puts out its leaves and you know he's talking to people who are used to fig trees around them you know that summer is on the way throughout most of the year this great fig tree that i'm sitting under with its huge leaves is bear and the great branches span along the old flint wall here at the end of the herbaceous border and then slowly as spring becomes warmer and the year goes on it does just what jesus says it puts out its leaves and fruits appear i wish you could sit with me under here because looking up it's full of fruit this year the rains we've had and that the pace of spring and summer coming on have made all things more leafy more full of foliage and more full of fruitfulness and here it is with the pig tree i won't pluck any off they're not ripe yet i'm reaching up to a little branch a little spray of one two three four five of them just over my head and they're hard and and green and will go on as the summer becomes warmer and warmer and if since switzerland's right we should have some warm days ahead then these fruits will begin to swell and in the end grow soft enough to eat but meanwhile fig trees are wonderful places for shade and it needn't surprise us that in the gospel of saint john then nathanael is seen by jesus under the fig tree no doubt taking shade and shelter and reflecting but when nathanael you remember says to jesus how do you know me and jesus says i saw you under the fig tree that intuition about the character of nathaniel under the shade of a fig tree and in that hot climate what a grateful thing for nathaniel the shade would be at the same time do you remember the parable which becomes very much a story in this the three gospels of matthew mark and luke of jesus going to the fig on his way to the temple where he will find not the fruits that he expected but a baroness and let's say a violence because we've been looking at that and a sense of conflict all around him and again the fig tree is the symbol because it's it's just not bearing fruit and he speaks about really the temple he's saying no one will eat fruit from you again prophesying what all this violence will come to and let's go back to the historic time that in a.d 70 all of that was destroyed we thought about that yesterday but today let's think more about the way in which throughout the gospels jesus points to ordinary things just in a sentence maybe today is the turn of this beautiful tree the fig tree but also he takes two lessons from it one is that one has to be patient and read the signs of the times as he's done in jerusalem sensing that such bitter controversy which we've been seeing and also such potential to violence is going to end in a really disastrous way yesterday he used the image of the hen gathering chicks under her feathers as his desire for jerusalem all of that and the fruitfulness of the fig tree which is expected looking around saying be patient as the seasons are for everything happens in its seasons but meanwhile and here's the third lesson of this morning not only the looking at the fig tree but at the same time the reading of the signs and the patient waiting the third lesson of this morning is never cease to watch and pray for things that are expected and then you grow tired of waiting for because you think this is never going to come to fruit suddenly happen and what does he use there he uses first of all the the image of someone keeping their house safe and then sleeping at the time that the thief was least expected because that's when the thief would come human practice again people watching patterns of behavior to see people when they're not watchful and then lastly he looks at a household where the one who was put in charge of giving the owner of the households resources to the other servants was behaving in a wicked way thinking he'll never know he's miles away he's you know he's out of mind out of sight out of mind the owner will return at the time that servant least expects it's simply an image but it's an image that all the people around jesus would have been nodding about and nowadays you could say it about any community with people set in charge of them with responsibilities for stewardship i spoke about ourselves as stewards of this holy place this community these precincts where people find some kind of solace and we hope inspiration and reflection on the way through all of that is contained but open eyed to the dangers in which we all walk let's think about one or two of the the dates today i say one or two some days when one thinks about what happens on this particular day there's very few things that you can say and the choice is easy today there's a mountain of dates which speak of interesting things and so i've been selective there are creative dates and um i'm going to go first to the birth of rembrandt the dutch painter in 1606 on the 15th of july 17th century painter now this isn't a seminar on rembrandt and i think many of you will know many of his paintings but it is a link with the fact that rembrandt looked around and was expert at painting what he saw paintings like the night watch and paintings of characters in his life whom he knew even self-portraits telling a story stories sometimes from classical legends but most of all the scriptures he found them fruitful for painting huge scenes taken directly from human life parables almost in painting just as our lord gives us parables in words sometimes in stories and we're just about to come to chapter 25 of matthew in the days ahead and there are three huge stories in there special to matthew but for the moment parables in just one word or an action kneading dough or throwing grain as it it is sown or a victory or a scene at home when someone needs to be watchful for all that they've been entrusted with and do their duties properly day by day and never give up because time is something which sees to itself in the kingdom of heaven and we reflect that on earth it's not for you to know the times and seasons it's another thing which comes out of of the day but but you can be intuitive about certain things and one of them is always be watchful and another is sometimes creation gives you the sign all those around do that well rembrandt was one who took that and painted it the list of the the scenes in scriptures old and new testament and even the apocryphal books susanna and the elders and the drama he brings into them the the painting of the storm at sea which used to be in the isabella stuart gardner museum in boston it's a museum we we love because it was the inspiration of one person it's like the frick in new york you feel that here is the the passion of one person collecting it sadly uh the sadly the um the the the the the uh um painting that i was talking about the storm at sea is no longer it was in the isabella stewart garden museum it was stolen and no one knows where it is but there are many photographs of it and the drama of that they're all over the world these paintings and there are paintings of joseph telling his dreams the stoning of stephen a judas's repentance and the casting down of the pieces of silver the returning of the penis the blinding of samson belshazzar's feast with a hand writing on the wall all full of enormous drama there's a portrait of the prodigal son in the tavern enjoying himself and spending his father's money but most of all there's a portrait of the return of the prodigal son that is now in the hermitage museum in sin petersburg but the spiritual writer henry nauen whose writings i was most influenced by at at one stage and and helped um wrote a book which he called the return of the prodigal son and based himself on that magnificent painting which concentrates on the father and the father is standing there if you know the painting the father is standing there dressed in in the the dignity of the of the the household that he is the steward of as well as the father there are people around but in front of him not naked but but skimpily closed with his hair shawn on his knees and with his back to us so we can't see his face but with the father's hands on his shoulders as a sign of embrace and reception back at home is the prodigal son who has returned about to say those words father i have sinned against heaven and against you and are no more worthy to be called your son and he's not even allowed to say what was coming next make me as one of your hired the father says bring the best robe and clothe him with it put a ring on his finger shoes on his feet all that in that rembrandt painting but it's the moment of the father sorrowing over all that his son has been through to learn the lesson and then suddenly to be embracing his son again in the son's penitence and his destitute state being restored all of that so we give thanks on this day for rembrandt in the way that he gives us parables in the paintings that he does and chooses the people around him as models and he's been called the the the dutch caravaggio and rhoda said don't compare me with rembrandt in any way he was the master of us all so we give thanks for that i wanted to to mention also on this particular day that in 1919 iris murdoch was born and her books too are wonderful books of perception to read she was very much a philosopher with a wonderful mind i remember reading i think probably the first book that i read of hers was the bell but uh robert runcie used to bring her into constant to to just talk to us so that that we could gain from her thinking and her perception about human life when we were training to be clergy i wanted to mention though the film that was made simply called iris in which she is suffering from alzheimer's and that wonderful mind has gone and she's played by judy dench and the husband who is john bailey is played by jim broadbent and it's a really touching and wonderful film based on her husband's book about her an elegy for iris and there's so much to learn from that film and it can be easily accessed so just simply iris uh there are many more i could mention but i want to mention just one because we've got time to do much more and that is gavin maxwell who was born on july the 15th 1914 and gavin maxwell is best known for his book the ring of bright water which he was a scottish naturalist and he uh had led a life of action and had wartime experience in the scots guards but but most of all he was a naturalist and he bought an island of soy of sky in the inner hebrides in 1944 when he returned from from service and then in 1956 he toured the reed marshes of southern iraq with wilfred thessider and that is all portrayed in in the book a reed shaken by the wind but it's not that book i want to talk about it's the ring of bright water for foreign maxwell always wanted an otter as a pet and uh thessider uh and and any of you who know watching otters playing they're they're a creature that that communal and just love to play even with stones we've got a little film uh taken in the washington zoo of an otter simply playing with stones and enjoying it and or otters sliding down and and enjoying all of that but at that time in the reed marshes of southern iraq festive found a small otter kitten and brought it home and this otter was not a european otter it was a smooth coated otter and the the designation given to it because it hadn't been designated in that had a long latin name which included maxwell's own name so this otter who was called midgeville but mostly known as midge became absolutely part of his life and the ring of bright water tells the story of that now that was made into a film and the film is a happy um story with uh a tale going on um watch the film and think that's a nice story about otters but don't don't liken it to the ring of bright water for the ring of bright water is a heart-wrenching tragedy it talks about the the turmoil of maxwell's own life but also what happens if you teach a creature not to have any fear of human beings at all whether they know them or not and midge's end is a really tragic one for that reason and it caused from that time onwards maxwell's um ability to to to to concentrate on things to disintegrate and one project after another and the collection of different otters and the way in which and so that that things are not happy with that but with midge the story is wonderful and the pictures of midge and there's even a a little piece of sculpture showing image on the site on the the western coast in scotland uh where maxwell's cottage stood which burned down and where the desk was there's still on the rocks there uh a little sculpture of midge the otter but uh midge would go wandering now the cats go wandering but they're canny and they know the dangers and they've always been wondering they can come and go whenever they like in that way but mid should only ever met humans who were kindly and and good now i'm not going to say the end of the story but but don't don't expect a happy ending but do expect to find wonderful passages and also to find your your heart rung by what's going on during that book what our lord teaches us is that we must face everything head-on without fear as the psalmist says and as we said yesterday because god is our rock and his love for us extends and his gifts for us extend from here in body and mind and the spirit's capacity the human spirit's capacity to receive the gift of the divine spirit and reach out into eternity and receive the gift of the father think of the prodigal son encompassing someone coming almost destitute or broken by things that have happened to them and that sense of being received home it can happen here but it can also happen in the beyond and all of those things we give thanks for with the signs around us and particularly this morning the fruitful fig tree as it grows around us so let's say our prayers on this particular morning this 15th morning of the month and we have the diocese of cyprus and the gulf to pray for which is within the compass of the episcopal church of jerusalem in the middle east and we pray also for archbishop justin and bishop rose of dover bishop tim at lambeth and this is one of our listening and discerning on the way mornings from the diocese so um we can in our hearts and minds continue to pray in parish terms for the area deanery of why the parishes of which we've been talking about and prepare tomorrow to go on to the maidstone deanery and it's life but for today we're giving thanks for the whole diocese and praying for insight on the way forward at this crucial time of beginning to open up again but we shall talk about that next week so let's say the prayer for today and again it's one of those colics which stays in the mind a god you have prepared for those who love you such good things as pass our understanding pour into our hearts such love towards you that we loving you above all things may obtain your promises which exceed all that we can desire through jesus christ our lord amen so we say each in our own language 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 amen memory of silence now for our own prayers under the fig tree like nathaniel on this lovely morning yes okay i'm sure you like us have found that when you're traveling in very hot countries shall we say around the mediterranean region that you'll find fig trees growing out of the most extraordinarily unexpected landscapes of hot stone and no shelter nearby or finding places where their roots are trying to twist in to delve down for moisture and yet they seem to thrive better in those conditions of difficulty and almost tortured roots this is the best place in the garden for this wonderful fig tree which is being very fruitful it's a south-facing flint wall which gets the hottest part of the garden and yet it won't fruit as well as the ones in the the really difficult climbs sometimes here's another lesson from the fig tree it's hardship and things that we can hardly face which produce within us or in others the best gifts of the spirit and so we give thanks for that that it causes our roots to look further down for the water of life and refresh ourselves with it daily as we try to reading the gospel together or the scriptures together and thinking about it with the help of others in history too 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 amen