Ordinary No More

February 1, 2016

Last week I got a sneak preview of Sunday's sermon. Pastor Joe had to be away for his seminary studies and had asked our youth director Matt Slaven to cover for him. Matt asked for my feedback on the sermon he had prepared. I've had nearly a week to reflect on what everyone else only heard yesterday. Matt had many good things to say, but it was his introductory remarks that captured my attention:

"Thirty-three weeks. Thirty-three weeks of the year the church spends in what is known as ordinary time. The basis for calling the time ordinary, actually refers back  to the defining quality of God as the Divine Orderer of creation.  It means that the time is ordered rather than chaotic. By identifying periods of the year through a calendar, the Church has been an instrument in God’s reaching out to bring order and system into the chaos of our world. So, Ordinary Time does not mean a “ho-hum time,” but is rather a time to reflect on how God intervenes in the world and brings his divine presence into the chaos of our life."

This is not how most of us understand the word "ordinary." It is not how I had thought of it: God bringing order into the chaos of our life. Matt went on to recite the Scripture for the day; the "love chapter" of 1 Corinthians 13. Suddenly, it all fell into place. It is the love of Christ that brings order into my life. Just as God spoke order to Creation, so Jesus Christ, the living Word of God orders the chaos of my life, and instructs me in the discipline of love which prevents me from descending back into chaos. Tonight I am grateful for Matt's sermon and the insight he gave me through it. He redefined "ordinary" for me. Ordinary will never be as ordinary as it used to be.