On September 20th, Jason Smith continued a series on the fruit of the spirit. He references Galatians 5:14-27 — and weaves together his introduction to the art of Kehinde Wiley and his inclusion of art outsiders in his portraiture, the life of Paul and his inclusion of outsiders in Galatia and an invitation to the grace — or new creation — of God, and the model of Jesus.
Jason’s sentences can be mesmerizing, so since the first sentence of his sermon was cut-off in the recording in true PMC fashion, it’s included here:
“At the close of the 1980s, an American found freedom inside the Soviet Union. This poor boy from South Central Los Angeles (no more than 12 years old) wandered amongst the gilded white walls of the Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg, Russia. When it was originally the winter home of the Russian czars the city’s name was Petrograd, but while this young boy named Kehinde Wiley attended an art camp held there, it had been renamed Leningrad by the current communist rulers.”
Jason loves connections and wordplay as well, so listen as he references the fleshtones of Wiley’s portraits and the nature of the flesh that Paul references in Galatians, as well as the skin of circumcision being debated by the early Christians that Paul is addressing.
Another quote: “Gaining the inheritance of the kingdom of God is a process restricted only to those who are God’s children. These are the poor, meek and persecuted. These are the ones who daily forsake the works of the flesh. These are the children who resemble their brother Jesus. And Paul believed that those included ones whose skin didn’t fit the formerly preferred parameters.”
Follow this thread as Jason moves from Kehinde’s portrait of Obama as the leader of the free world, and bestows that as a more fitting title for Jesus in his invitation to the freedom of the Spirit. And throughout this sermon, follow the thread of joy.
Watch the video below as Jason shares his screen and Kehinde’s art, and his insights into his passage in Galatians.
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