Some judge one day to be better than another, while others judge all days to be alike. Let all be fully convinced in their own minds. Those who observe the day, observe it for the Lord. – Romans 14:5-6
Dear Sister and Brothers,
There is nothing Ordinary about ordinary Time! In the Planning Guide and Calendar that I use on my office desk, published by the Chalice Media Group, the Liturgical Calendar between May 26th and November 24th counts each week as so many “after Pentecost.” Sunday November 24th is the 27th Sunday after Pentecost; and the Liturgical color for this period between Pentecost and Lent is Green. The other season of the church year when we display Green vestments and banners is the period of weeks between Christmas and Lent. Lent and Advent are Purple, the weeks of Christmas and Easter are White, and on Pentecost we switch to Red for one Sunday only.
SO, for the great bulk of the year, (33 or 34 weeks) our sanctuary displays green. These are counted in my calendar as “weeks after Epiphany” and then “weeks after Pentecost.” In the Catholic Church, and the Lutheran Church that I grew up in*, these Green seasons are referred to as Ordinary Time. Growing up as a boy in the church, and becoming an acolyte (altar boy) whose duties included seasonal ceremonial switching of the altar vestments, I always assumed that we were switching back to “plain-old ordinary time” in these green seasons; as if we were admitting that nothing special would be going on during the next season. It was almost like giving people permission to slack off in attendance and to check back in with us during a more interesting time in the church calendar. It was, in my mind, as if we were encouraging people to be “CEO Christians” (Christmas and Easter Only).
But I was WRONG (imagine that.) Ordinary Time doesn’t mean plain, normal, or uneventful, but rather ordered, counted, marked, and chronicled, in the way that we mean when we say that we are “counting the days.” We are meant to think of these green weeks as time when we are building our anticipation of and laying the groundwork for the solemn preparatory seasons of Lent and Advent and the joyous celebratory seasons of Easter and Christmas. A seminary professor explained that, in her mind, ordinary time is when we do our homework of studying the life, teachings, and example of Christ and practice putting those teachings and examples into play in our own lives.
As the days of summer come upon us, I encourage us all to not spiritually slip into the doldrums that can so easily accompany the next few hot months. Let’s not coast through until Fall. Let’s not make my mistake of thinking of this as a season of “plain-old ordinary Sundays” that we must wait through until something exciting comes along. Each week we will have another of the teachings of Christ or other biblical story to challenge us to continue learning and growing. If we continue to do our homework regularly, we won’t ever have to worry about worrisome “cramming” after a too-lax break.
Peace,
Pastor Layne
*Many Protestant churches also adopted the concept of an Ordinary Time alongside the Revised Common Lectionary, which applies the term to the period between Pentecost and Advent. However, use of the term is not common. Those that have adopted the Revised Common Lectionary include churches of the Anglican , Methodist, Lutheran, Old Catholic and Reformed traditions. (Wikipedia)