Pentecost brings to a close the first half of the Christian year. The seasons of Advent, Christmas, Epiphany, Lent, and Easter trace the grand arc of God’s saving action in Jesus Christ. In addition to that rhythm, we have spent the past 90 days reading through the entire Bible. It’s felt something like a whirlwind. Then add in the chaos we’ve all experienced in our lives and our world with the coronavirus pandemic, and it’s enough to leave you dizzy, confused and probably a little overwhelmed. At this point, most all of us are yearning for just a little bit of ordinary.
The second half of the Christian year is one long season called Ordinary Time. This year, Ordinary Time begins today, June 1. As Philip Reindeers explains, ‘“Ordinary” doesn’t mean boring or second-rate but simply “everyday.” The Christian faith is not an otherworldly faith; it’s about this creation, your life, these days. Ordinary Time gives us the space to consider all the implications of God’s salvation in Jesus Christ for our day by day, week-in, week-out lives.’ As we find ourselves yearning for something of the ordinary in these very extraordinary times, the Christian calendar offers an invitation to consider the implications not just of all that God’s salvation in Christ means for our daily lives, but also how this pandemic is impacting us as well — and perhaps even to ask how does the Gospel inform and affect our understanding of the pandemic’s impact?
So here’s what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life—and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him. Don’t become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You’ll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you. (Rom. 12:1–2 MESSAGE)
Blessings,
Rev. David Garrison
