Gates of Paradise

*Sermon alert*  Today's blog sketches out the inspiration for my sermon today.  Those not wanting to be 'preached at' may prefer to skip this and wait for a more light-hearted topic tomorrow.

I was preaching in St Mark's this morning (this is what they wanted in exchange for my free flat).  A family from Pensacola had flown 5000 miles especially to have their baby girl baptised at the service, so at first sight the readings for Sunday (Jesus healing a crippled woman & Hebrews 12 ending with "indeed our God is a consuming fire") didn't look too promising

I was saved by Lorenzo Ghiberti, a Florentine artist who made some new doors for the city baptistery in 1425.  The first two sets of doors for this impressive building in the heart of the city had already been made with Gothic style images of the lives of John the Baptist & Jesus.

For this third set Ghiberti chose a series of Old Testament stories and cast the bronze reliefs in a new style with perspective, depth & realism which led many to see them as the first pieces of Renaissance art.  They were so beautiful, and such an inspiration for the artists of the age that Michaelangelo described them as "The Gates of Paradise"

Thankfully for me, these Old Testament images also correspond to the stories of faith cited in Hebrews 11.  To put them on the doors of a baptistery made the point of the letter to the Hebrews that only together with us (who have been baptised) do these heroes of old receive salvation.  Moreover their lives did not run smoothly and only by persevering with God, as Hebrews 12 urges us, did they prevail.

And so the letter to the Hebrews, looking back to God's people of old for lessons about God's future promise, the Renaissance, looking back to the wisdom of old in order to discover new promise and baptism, remembering God's work of old and receiving God's grace for the future all start to come together.  Even traveling to Florence to have your baby baptised begins to make sense and a sermon is born!

Thanks to Cheryl for the photo tonight.  Technical problems persist so her phone camera came to the rescue.  The panel illustrated tells the story of Moses :

 

The Baptistery itself is the white building on the left in front of the cathedral: