Ordinary time
07/01/16 04:30
We often think of the Christian calendar in terms of festivals and holidays. We go from Advent to Christmas to Epiphany to Lent to Easter to Pentecost. There are, of course, many days that fall between the festivals in which we are invited to live our faith in our daily journeys. There are two large blocks of time that have come to be called ordinary time. The season of Epiphany is marked by festivals at both ends: The baptism of Christ is celebrated on the Sunday after Epiphany and the transfiguration of Christ is celebrated on the Sunday before Ash Wednesday. Both of those festivals are occasions for white vestments and paraments in churches. Between those festivals are weeks that we call ordinary time. Our paraments and vestments are green during ordinary time.
Ordinary time returns again after Pentecost as well. 50 days after Easter we celebrate the birthday of the church at Pentecost. Pentecost Sunday is a time for red vestments and paraments, The rest of the season of Pentecost, until Reign of Christ Sunday just before the beginning of Advent is also treated as ordinary time and our green vestments and paraments return.
As a liturgical practice, ordinary time is the discipline of living as a disciple of Christ in each day of one’s life, seeing Christ in the small things, practicing love of neighbor and following Christ in the small things of life.
I am thinking of ordinary time today because our lives return to ordinary today with the departure of our children and grandchildren to their homes. After a glorious week of visiting and enjoying each other, it is time for them to return to their homes and jobs and school and the everyday activities of their lives. We, too, need to return our attention to the business of being pastors of a busy and exciting church.
Of course, there is little that is “ordinary” or “routine” about the vocation of a minister. Today we have a very significant funeral in the life of our church. The nominating committee is ending its annual task of securing leadership for the next year of the church’s life. We have an annual meeting with reports that need to be prepared. We are commissioning our missionaries for their annual trip to Costa Rica. There is a baptism on Sunday. The church is continually filled with surprises and wonderful opportunities to respond to the ever-changing nature of the congregation.
Part of what makes the special events of our lives meaningful, however, is that they aren’t our everyday diet. Today’s funeral is an example. Yes, we have plenty of funerals throughout the year in a congregation of our size. I have notes from hundreds of funerals at which I have officiated. But today is a unique, once-in-a-lifetime experience for the immediate family who have lost a wife, mother and grandmother. It is different from other funerals for the close friends of the woman who has died. It is different from all other funerals in the history of our church because of the uniqueness of this particular member. There is nothing routine about what we do today. It is the contrast between this event and the other events of our lives that makes it stand out.
It is not quite the same thing, but part of the depth of joy when our family is together is that we know that the experience is limited. For much of our lives, we live in three different states with different types of jobs and different responsibilities. We participate in different communities and worship in different locations. Occasionally, however, we are able to come together and share the same house and have common meals and worship together. When that happens it stands out from the other experiences of our lives.
Today is one of many days in our lives, when we are invited to embrace the ordinary. We will say goodbye at the airport and trust the judgment, intelligence and capabilities of our children to live their own independent and meaningful lives. We will turn to the tasks of this day and the coming weeks with energy and enthusiasm for the life and work of the church. We will remain close and continue to contact each other, but we also will pursue independent interests and activities.
The process of church growth and the sharing of faith is dependent upon ordinary time. Yes, it is nice to have a full sanctuary for the festivals of Christmas and Easter. Yes, we enjoy showing off the beauty of our music programs and the joy of our celebrations. But the real business of keeping the church healthy comes from us doing the best we can at being a healthy congregation in ordinary time. The Sundays which are not special occasions when some of our members are tempted to sleep in and skip a worship service are as important to our life of faith as are the holidays when we put up special decorations and expect the church to be full.
The real faithfulness of our congregation is shown when we are scattered as much as it is when we are together. Ordinary acts, such as kindness to a neighbor or helping a stranger - ordinary acts, such as honesty in the workplace and generosity ini civic life - ordinary acts, such as responding to others’ grief and listening with care - these are expressions of our faith that make a difference in the world. We are Christian every bit as much in the ordinary times of our lives as we are in the festivals and celebrations.
There is still one more day of festival before we enter ordinary time. We celebrate the baptism of Christ on Sunday and we’ll have another baptism in our congregation, a wonderful addition to a string of baptisms with which we have been blessed in recent weeks. Even after the celebrations of Advent, Christmas and Epiphany, this service will be deeply meaningful to our congregation.
But we will be filled with joy on the ordinary weeks as well, when we don’t have a baptism or a reason for special vestments. May we blessed with joy in the ordinary.
Ordinary time returns again after Pentecost as well. 50 days after Easter we celebrate the birthday of the church at Pentecost. Pentecost Sunday is a time for red vestments and paraments, The rest of the season of Pentecost, until Reign of Christ Sunday just before the beginning of Advent is also treated as ordinary time and our green vestments and paraments return.
As a liturgical practice, ordinary time is the discipline of living as a disciple of Christ in each day of one’s life, seeing Christ in the small things, practicing love of neighbor and following Christ in the small things of life.
I am thinking of ordinary time today because our lives return to ordinary today with the departure of our children and grandchildren to their homes. After a glorious week of visiting and enjoying each other, it is time for them to return to their homes and jobs and school and the everyday activities of their lives. We, too, need to return our attention to the business of being pastors of a busy and exciting church.
Of course, there is little that is “ordinary” or “routine” about the vocation of a minister. Today we have a very significant funeral in the life of our church. The nominating committee is ending its annual task of securing leadership for the next year of the church’s life. We have an annual meeting with reports that need to be prepared. We are commissioning our missionaries for their annual trip to Costa Rica. There is a baptism on Sunday. The church is continually filled with surprises and wonderful opportunities to respond to the ever-changing nature of the congregation.
Part of what makes the special events of our lives meaningful, however, is that they aren’t our everyday diet. Today’s funeral is an example. Yes, we have plenty of funerals throughout the year in a congregation of our size. I have notes from hundreds of funerals at which I have officiated. But today is a unique, once-in-a-lifetime experience for the immediate family who have lost a wife, mother and grandmother. It is different from other funerals for the close friends of the woman who has died. It is different from all other funerals in the history of our church because of the uniqueness of this particular member. There is nothing routine about what we do today. It is the contrast between this event and the other events of our lives that makes it stand out.
It is not quite the same thing, but part of the depth of joy when our family is together is that we know that the experience is limited. For much of our lives, we live in three different states with different types of jobs and different responsibilities. We participate in different communities and worship in different locations. Occasionally, however, we are able to come together and share the same house and have common meals and worship together. When that happens it stands out from the other experiences of our lives.
Today is one of many days in our lives, when we are invited to embrace the ordinary. We will say goodbye at the airport and trust the judgment, intelligence and capabilities of our children to live their own independent and meaningful lives. We will turn to the tasks of this day and the coming weeks with energy and enthusiasm for the life and work of the church. We will remain close and continue to contact each other, but we also will pursue independent interests and activities.
The process of church growth and the sharing of faith is dependent upon ordinary time. Yes, it is nice to have a full sanctuary for the festivals of Christmas and Easter. Yes, we enjoy showing off the beauty of our music programs and the joy of our celebrations. But the real business of keeping the church healthy comes from us doing the best we can at being a healthy congregation in ordinary time. The Sundays which are not special occasions when some of our members are tempted to sleep in and skip a worship service are as important to our life of faith as are the holidays when we put up special decorations and expect the church to be full.
The real faithfulness of our congregation is shown when we are scattered as much as it is when we are together. Ordinary acts, such as kindness to a neighbor or helping a stranger - ordinary acts, such as honesty in the workplace and generosity ini civic life - ordinary acts, such as responding to others’ grief and listening with care - these are expressions of our faith that make a difference in the world. We are Christian every bit as much in the ordinary times of our lives as we are in the festivals and celebrations.
There is still one more day of festival before we enter ordinary time. We celebrate the baptism of Christ on Sunday and we’ll have another baptism in our congregation, a wonderful addition to a string of baptisms with which we have been blessed in recent weeks. Even after the celebrations of Advent, Christmas and Epiphany, this service will be deeply meaningful to our congregation.
But we will be filled with joy on the ordinary weeks as well, when we don’t have a baptism or a reason for special vestments. May we blessed with joy in the ordinary.