oh [Music] yes [Music] [Music] so [Music] foreign oh [Music] [Applause] oh [Music] is [Music] oh [Music] is [Music] [Applause] is [Music] oh [Music] oh [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] ah [Music] good morning and welcome to the deanery garden at canterbury cathedral on this morning of sunday the 9th of january we keep today the feast of the baptism of jesus the bell is ringing for one of the early services in the cathedral but out here in the orchard the sun has not crested the wall yet but it is on the tops of the trees a golden sunlight under a clear blue sky and we are thinking of people in areas of the world where there is danger and difficulty we think of these scenes from the snowfall in pakistan where innocent people going up simply to see the snow which was at record levels got trapped and many died and we think of those helping them and those who have been bereaved and those who have narrowly escaped death by being rescued we think of the scene in brazil and many of you may have seen the appalling cliff claps onto a boat of people again innocently sightseeing and in great danger all signs of human fragility other areas like kazakhstan we continue to remember areas of nigeria where people are in danger but you will have your own things to pray about please bring them from whatever part of the world you are in as we gather together for morning prayer on this first sunday after the epiphany the feast of the baptism of jesus and we've come here by the running water in the orchard as a sign of that river jordan which jesus entered to be baptized by saint john the baptist oh lord open our lips and our mouth shall proclaim your praise your light springs up for the righteous and all the peoples have seen your glory blessed are you sovereign god king of the nations to you be praise and glory forever from the rising of the sun to its setting your name is proclaimed in all the world as the sun of righteousness dawns in our hearts anoint our lips with the seal of your spirit that we may witness to your gospel and sing your praise in all the earth 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 are men are some on this morning of the month the ninth morning of the month i'm going to read psalm 46 psalm 45 and indeed psalm 44 are all psalms for the morning of the ninth morning and 45 might have been a good one to read it starts my heart is a stir with gracious words as i make my song for the king my tongue is the pen of a ready writer you are the fairest of men full of grace are your lips for god has blessed you forever it's a song of praise to the anointed one but it's also a prophecy and it goes on through its verses with many signs which sound like epiphany signs but i'm going to read psalm 46 because it speaks about the waters that we are considering as our particular epiphany sign today god is our refuge and strength a very present help in trouble therefore we will not fear though the earth be moved and though the mountains tremble in the heart of the sea though the waters rage and swell and though the mountains quake at the towering seas there is a river whose streams make glad the city of god the holy place of the dwelling of the most high god is in the midst of her therefore shall she not be removed god shall help her at the break of day the nations are in uproar and the kingdoms are shaken but god utters his voice and the earth shall melt away the lord of hosts is with us the god of jacob is our stronghold come and behold the works of the lord what destruction he has wrought upon the earth he makes wars to cease in all the world he shatters the bow and snaps the spire and the spear and burns the chariots in the fire be still and know that i am god i will be exalted among the nations i will be exalted in the earth the lord of hosts is with us the god of jacob is our stronghold our lesson naturally enough is one of the gospel narratives of the baptism of jesus and i'm using the gospel of saint mark the first chapter and beginning at the first verse better scene without spectacles on the beginning of the gospel of jesus christ the son of god as it is written in isaiah the prophet behold i send my messenger before your face who will prepare your way the voice of one crying in the wilderness prepare the way of the lord make his paths straight john appeared baptizing in the wilderness and proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins and all the country of judea and all jerusalem were going out to him and were being baptized by him in the river jordan confessing their sins now john was clothed with camel's hair and wore a leather belt around his waist and at locusts and wild honey and he preached saying after me comes he who is mightier than i [Music] the strap of whose sandals i am not worthy to stoop down and untie i have baptized you with water but he will baptize you with the holy spirit in those days jesus came from nazareth of galilee and was baptized by john in the jordan and when he came up out of the water immediately he saw the heavens being torn open and the spirit descending on him like a dove and a voice came from heaven you are my beloved son with you i am well pleased the spirit immediately drove jesus out into the wilderness and he was in the wilderness 40 days being tempted by satan and he was with the wild animals and the angels were ministering to him but after john was arrested jesus came into galilee proclaiming the gospel of god and saying the time is fulfilled and the kingdom of god is at hand repent and believe in the gospel here the word is translated the evangel is translated with the word the gospel it could equally say the good news that jesus is bringing not only with his words but his human being as he enters into his ministry at first in galilee but notice how after the experience of baptism he is surrounded by temptations and is driven into the wilderness that of course we remember during the days of lent the early days of lent but for the moment we're concentrating on the signs of this season of the epiphany and there are three major signs and those three used all to be commemorated on the feast of the epiphany itself that was on thursday and the signs are set out magnificently in an antiphon a sentence which would be sung before or after a canticle and very often in the old latin breviaries which were seasonal the antiphons were points which gave you a hint of how to think of that canticle on the day they were being sung there's a christmas one which begins oh mania mysterium and talks about the animals being the first to receive the birth of jesus christ in the stable there and we've heard that sung as a magnificent anthem during the christmas season but today there's another antiphon and i brought the old latin breviary here this is the winter volume here malice of the winter and on the epiphany day here we have the antiphon the sentence which goes before and after the magnificat when it's sung magnificats the song of mary is sung every day but the antiform gives it point for a particular day so here's this antiphon in its latin tribus miraculous ornatum dm sanctum colimas jordier stella margos duxit ad prysapium hodier venom x aqua factum estad nuptias which means in english we observe this holy day ornamented with three miracles or marvelous signs if you like today that's the word hodier today a star led the magi to the manger today wine was made from water at the wedding today in the jordan christ desired to be baptized by john so that he might save us alleluia same in every language and that sentence was sung before and after the magnificat since then those three signs have been separated onto different days because each one is a marvel in its own way yet still there are wonderful pieces of music written by the composers uh through particularly in renaissance times about the tributes miraculous the three wonders the three miracles of the epiphany and we looked in detail at the first of those the adoration of the magi and we are today looking in detail at the second of these the baptism of jesus now a young man in the river jordan and we're here by the water it's icy cold this morning and uh at the same time uh on sunday next our reading will be the story of the wedding at cana in galilee each of those has a different meaning and it comes to us in a very particular way in the sentence about today in the jordan christ desired to be baptized in matthew's gospel john says to him i should be being baptized by you and jesus says let it be so for now we do well to conform ourselves in all obedience to what should be and so john baptizes him in the river jordan and notice then there is that period still of struggling with the vocation of the anointed one in the wilderness alone before following the arrest of john jesus comes into galilee and begins to proclaim the gospel the good news which he himself embodies in his life and his his message and his death and resurrection beyond that baptism becomes another beginning just as the nativity was a beginning but the baptism another beginning and next week we shall see how the wedding at canaan of galilee becomes another beginning and water is involved there too of course but this morning let's think of the baptism before jesus enters down into the river jordan and john baptizes him and notice how mark sets it out mark the earliest of the gospels by common consent and and very direct in everything that he's saying doesn't waste a word uh and he uh mark says when he came up out of the water now all of this is in mark's gospel the perception of jesus himself he sees the dove which descends on him as a sign of the spirit being confirmed on him and he hears the voice as he comes up out of the waters like a new creation for in the book of genesis the the life appears from the waters and this is the new covenant as jesus says with the cup at the last supper this is my blood of the new covenant as he rises from out of the waters he hears the voice you are my beloved son in whom i am well pleased and from that high point of a spiritual moment this so often happens in our own lives he descends into a time of of almost torment holding on during the wilderness but ministered to by the creatures of the wilderness in terms of companionship and also by the sense of angels ministering to him and upholding him as he goes through to that moment when after john's arrest he goes into his own province of galilee and goes from nazareth to capernaum to make the headquarters and calls friends and companions to share this sharing of the good news with everyone else all of those things still to come as the year unfolds but today we give thanks for this gift of the water which allows us every time a baptism takes place this water which allows us to enter into that new life for the water is the sign of the spirit and notice how the psalmist in psalm 46 gives us that lovely sentence there is a river whose streams make glad the city of god it's as though the river flows from the throne of heaven itself as a sign of the spirit and baptism becomes absolutely that to our physical nature and the spirit becomes absolutely that to our own uh spirituality within our life as people united as a a human being of body mind and spirit all these signs and wonders of the epiphany and i wanted to take us back this morning as we think about the signs not just this one but the three signs um i wanted to take us back to something that we were looking at yesterday and that is this gravini chapel in padua which is 25 miles from venice and there there is an absolute gem of italian art in fresco form and scrovenia is the name of the family that built the chapel and in one of the frescoes you see the younger scovini who is trying to make reparation in his mind for the uh worldly greed and activity of his father now departed and he does so by building a chapel and commissioning giotto who was still only in in his his younger years in his mid 30s um he commissioned jotto to come and make frescoes on the walls of this chapel the walls and the ceiling joshio brought with him 40 work staff and estimated that it would say take 625 work days to paint the chapel and a work day is the time that the portion of each fresco that could be painted could be painted before the plaster dried and was still fresh and the word fresh of course is italian fresco so what it means the plaster had to be painted while it was fresh and being so near venice giotto and he was a marvelous master painter but had a spiritual imagination second to none could get his tinctures uh from venice because they would come in from the east with the venetian boats and if you wonder the wonderful colors that he produces and consolidates those colors almost like the the stained glass master the methuselah master with the stained glass of the 12th century in the cathedral here the way he consolidates those colors and gives us real pictures remember that jotto is painting 200 years before michelangelo who is the other unesco world heritage site of huge frescoes in the sistine chapel giotto was painting this in between the sort of 1305 and 1308 and the sistine chapel ceiling was between 1508 and 1512 200 years later it is a marvelous first step of the renaissance reality of how pictures can show personality and human emotion and also show us faces that we think oh i know someone who looks just like that or i recognize that kind of emotion that's being shown even by the physicality of the gestures of sorrow or puzzlement or or affection all those things joshua created in beautiful paintings and today we think of two of them and next week we shall think of another but the first of them this morning we might just uh look at and that is the uh painting of the adoration of the magi because they're not only are we shown the personalities almost of the of the three kings and two of them wearing crowns and one has laid his crown aside to kiss the baby being offered by the virgin mary with great tenderness but at the same time you have and you so often do in joshua not only angels but creatures around and there is the lovely image outside almost having a conversation with each other the faces of the camels and there is a modern quality about all this in expression but let's leave that one and go to today's because that is the baptism of christ in the river jordan by john and this is intensely dramatic because it combines heaven and earth and jesus standing in the river very unusual and from then on very very unusual to have a naked body and the water comes up to his waist in the water he comes shall we say unwrapped from the swaddling bands of his manger existence when his nakedness was wrapped for warmth and care by his mother and now presents his totality of humanity in the waters of baptism and there beside him is john the baptist and they're looking at each other with recognition not only recognition because of their knowledge of each other but also recognition of the moment and its significance and as you look at the painting on the left hand side are angels with fine robes and clothes to welcome jesus back into shall we say that heavenly state symbolically where he is honored and treasured and cared for and on the other side are human figures which represent that which he will step towards when he goes out of the river should he accept that vocation which he does and in the heavens you have the sign of the voice of the creator you are my beloved son in whom i am well pleased and the spirit descending like a dove all of that but as so often in the uh giotto uh frescoes and there are 39 of them setting out in one sequence around the whole life of incidents of jesus and also in another the earlier scenes of annunciation uh or and the visitation of the blessed virgin mary herself well on this occasion we have the sense of humanity looking on not really understanding but john the baptist understanding what it's going to cost and also that this is the one whom he has been preparing the way for as his herald and angels who later in the jotto frescoes show their distress in passion tide but for the moment they are they're honoring the figure of the lord who is stepping away from that and into the limitations of our own humanity so we give thanks for this second of the tripus miraculous as the anthem begins and the three signs of wonder given to us in the epiphany which root themselves for joshua in the ordinary people the ordinary life of the early 14th century very early 14th century and joshia was a friend of dante because dante also from florence and dante was living in exile for many years at the end of his life because he had belonged to the wrong political party in florence so his beloved florence was closed to him but in exile just as jotto not in exile but moving from place to place from commission to commission dante created his divine comedy which justice giotti's work is a work of wonder in italian art so dante's divine comedy which has many of the scenes which jotto painted in the later part of his uh his work um the the the divine comedy very much one of the wonders of italian literature and world literature of course but like so many wonderful things created in suffering and exile and a sense of being outcast from one's own home well let's then say our prayers on this day which is rich with imagery here in the garden with the waters with the sun rising over the wall as and also a sign of freshness because around me new bulbs are springing up everywhere daffodil bulbs which will fill the orchard with with their gold later in the year and the shining green leaves are already coming up in this strange year which has been so warm up to now and is now beginning to feel some cold days so we've no idea what will come next let's uh say then the special prayers for today but first we are thinking of those that we shall pray for in the anglican communion and we are praying today in the communion for the anglican church in chile in south america and the diocese has given us a general day to discern and listen so i want to go back to the bridge benefits which we were on two days ago because i wanted to give honour to all the villages involved there and those villages are nackington upper hards bridge patrick's born and beeksborne and we pray for estella last in her ministry there and miriam hinksman the assistant curis and the life of that benefits with those lovely villages now nackington has a special part in our life this week because a great friend of ours a dear friend of ours uh judge nigel vanderbilt died before christmas and his funeral is on wednesday and after the funeral in the cathedral i shall be going to the the peaceful church yard at nackington for his burial with the family and we think with thanksgiving of nigel and all the quality he brought she was the recorder of the city and a judge and also a great classical scholar but most of all for us a dear friend as his lober his wife and his uh two children alex and antonia and we still we think also and pray for nigel's mother who is still active and strong so let's uh say our prayers bring whatever prayers you would like to bring whatever intentions you would like to bring with you to our prayers this morning here is the college the special prayer for this feast eternal father who at the baptism of jesus revealed him to be your son anointing him with the holy spirit grant to us who are born again by water and the spirit that we may be faithful to our calling as your adopted children through jesus christ our lord amen so in our own way and each in our own language we say 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 moments now for reflection for you and we then are going to appear one of the hymns most associated with st john the baptist on jordan's bank the baptist cry announces that the lord is nigh draw near and hearken for he brings glad tidings of the king of kings it's a hymn that we often sing at advent but john the baptist figure over arches so much of the christmas story with his mother and father elizabeth and zechariah but at the same time over arches advent with the proclamation of the coming of christ and the need to prepare for it but at the same time this time of year when jesus goes to the river jordan to be to ask john for baptism so let's say our prayers in on this morning um [Music] is [Music] is is [Music] [Music] oh [Music] is [Music] is [Music] epiphany is a time when we ourselves are encouraged to explore signs and wonders in prophecy and psalms in the law and in the poetry of the old testament the wisdom literature the book of job who points us to the stars and to orion and the pleiades all these things natural signs around us in the heavens and the uh green growth of the earth as we remember the queen of sheba coming to solomon and saying to him can you answer my questions about these things and we're told that solomon was full of wisdom well all those things are there for us to see and catch as the year begins to open up and each morning the sun rises and one has that sense of a new day beginning so that that sentence giving thanks for the gift of this new day is one of the great epiphany signs because that freshness which the waters of baptism which we can always claim from our own baptism day by day that freshness given is uh a freshness that the the courts of heaven themselves are given us freshness with there is a river whose streams make glad the city of god the holy place of the dwelling of the most high said our son this morning and for all of that freshness the fresco the italian word uh let's give thanks and creativity such as giotto and dante had but each of us using our creative gifts at the beginning of a new year to explore the signs and wonders plentifully around us and given by the creator's hand christ the son of god perfect in you the image of his glory and gladden your hearts with the good news of his kingdom and the blessing of god almighty the father the son and the holy spirit the upon you upon those whom you love and those whom you would pray for today and always are men well now leo's long gone for his breakfast but we've had the robin hopping about here on the trees and singing to us but i think he is keeping to the sunny side of the treetops and will come down later for breakfast on the ground so enjoy your day this sunday of the baptism of jesus and tonight we have our epiphany carol service which will be online and which will one after the other explore all three wonders of the epiphany in music and readings [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] you