Pastor’s Corner “Not-so Ordinary Time”

Among the many gifts of the Anglican Way of following Jesus is the liturgical year, the way in which we keep sacred time. “Whereas many world religions seek salvation as an escape from time, Christianity proclaims salvation as a redemption of time” (Joshua Steele, The Church Calendar: A Rookie Anglican Guide to the Liturgical Year).

As I occasionally remind you, our liturgical year begins in Advent with preparing for the coming(s) of Jesus, moves into Christmas as we welcome God-in-Flesh into our lives, and steps into Epiphany revealing Jesus to all humanity. We then enter the forty days of Lent on our knees, humble ourselves before the Cross during Holy Week, and at last stand upright with joyful hope throughout the fifty days of Eastertide in response to the Resurrection of Jesus. Forty days after Easter we remember Jesus’ Ascension to the Father’s right hand, and then ten days later we celebrate the outpouring of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, the Father accomplishing the great Re-Union with himself and among all peoples, empowering the Church to be the people of God who proclaim the King and the coming Kingdom, bringing our Trinitarian God’s healing into the world.

And that propels us into Ordinary Time, the time between Trinity Sunday and Christ the King Sunday – “the time in which the Church is to live out its calling in the world, fulfilling the mission of God” (Steele again, quoting Simon Chan). With God’s own Holy Spirit now within us, we participate in the ancient and immediate purpose of God “to unite all things in [Christ], things in heaven and things on earth” (Ephesians 1:7-10).

God’s own Holy Spirit now within us! The same Spirit who hovered over the waters before creation, the same Spirit who moved among the judges, prophets, and kings of Israel, the same Spirit who descended upon Jesus at his baptism, the same Spirit who filled Jesus’ disciples at Pentecost – that same Spirit is present within Immanuel Anglican Church. Perhaps this time isn’t so ordinary after all.

Liturgically speaking, of course, ordinary doesn’t mean normal but ordered. The word simply refers to numbering (ordering) the days during this season and the Scriptures assigned to them (e.g., “read Psalm 63 on the Second Sunday after Pentecost”). Even so, I like to think of these days as ordered by God, each day an opportunity to be aware of his presence and purposes moving in the ordinariness of our lives, lives ordered by his loving hand.

In addition to a few changes to our Sunday liturgy in this season, you’ll see the color green on display. The historical reason green was chosen for Ordinary Time is not clear, but it has come to convey life, growth, and anticipation. Whenever you see green in the coming months, I encourage you to receive it as a reminder of the Father’s Holy Spirit within us, giving life, cultivating growth, and awakening an anticipation of Jesus’s Lordship becoming the norm for our world.

Your Pastor in Christ,