A little over three years ago, I preached a sermon series entitled, “Faith and Art.” It was a series designed to connect different passages of scripture with pieces of art hanging in local art museums here in the Triangle. Since then, several folks have mentioned to me that they’d enjoy doing a series like that again. So, I spent some time in the North Carolina Museum of Art and the Ackland Art Museum and I found six new pieces I’d like for us to talk about as we move into autumn.
I’m not going to list out all six in this article—you’ll need to come to worship or tune in to see which pieces we talk about—but in looking over the six pieces as a whole, I realized there were some common threads connecting them all. I didn’t mean to pick pieces that seemed so connected, but art has a tendency to resonate with whatever we’re feeling when we view it. And so, I suppose these pieces all stirred up similar things within me. They connected with me at this particular time, in this particular place, for their own particular reasons.
In looking these pieces over, there’s a consistent theme of appreciating life for what it is and living in that moment. Artists, so often, try desperately to capture one moment, one idea, one dream and communicate it to the rest of us. These pieces speak to that message from the artists—live now; life is precious. There’s also a consistent theme of choosing to do the right thing in the moment. Art often seeks to encourage our better angels, empowering us to do right by others, and challenging us to value things like truth and beauty and grace.
So, starting on October 5th—with a break on the 19th for a guest preacher—we’ll be looking at these works of art and asking ourselves, “What do these pieces stir up in me? And how do they connect to my Christian faith? How can I take the lessons of these artists, filter them through the lens of scripture, and find faithful ways to live and express myself?” I’m looking forward to this series!
Grace and peace,
Pastor Ben