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Back in the day, maybe even yet still, one’s first year of seminary involved serving several hours a week in a Ministry in Context (MIC) congregation. The goal was to provide students with a shot at having some practical congregational experiences before their internship two years later. (They might still be green at that point, but at least less spring green than they would have been otherwise.)
There were several takeaways from my MIC time, one of which happened well into the latter days of Pentecost. It was merely a subheading on an ordinary bulletin.
Rather than announce that this particular Sunday was “The 21st Sunday in Pentecost,” the pastor instead opted to write: “The Umpteenth Sunday in Pentecost!”
That one line alone taught me two things. First, you can have a sense of humor as a pastor. Second, you can acknowledge that Pentecost seems to go on and on and on.
“Ordinary” can also have a more
neutral-to-positive bent, such as “standard” or “routine.” In fact, that’s very much the original meaning of its Latin root word “ordo”—“row” or “pattern.”
In a similar vein, Pentecost belongs to a period in the church year called Ordinary Time. I’ve always chortled at the phrase because when one thinks of “ordinary,” the words “boring,” “blah,” “average” and “unexceptional” come to mind. (Were “energized,” “exuberant” or, most obviously, “extraordinary” somehow taken when this season was named?)
While “ordinary” comes by those beige words honestly, it can also have a more neutral-to-positive bent, such as “standard” or “routine.” In fact, that’s very much the original meaning of its Latin root word ordo—“row” or “pattern.”
Over time, then, “ordinary” was understood to mean something established and familiar.
Never one to let an easy connection to regular life go to waste, the church adapted the word to apply to the time in the liturgical year that stands outside high feast days and special liturgical seasons such as Advent, Christmas, Epiphany, Lent and Easter.
And with that, we got not only Ordinary Time but a one-two meaning punch as well.
Habit-making time
First, even those of us not inclined to anything mathematical have at least heard the term “ordinal number.”
An ordinal number is any number that comes in a sequence. Again, the root word here is ordo—a row, a pattern, a series. So the minute you see “first,” as you just did above, you know that you’re about to encounter some ordinal numbers, because you can’t have a first without a second, and so on—even until you get to umpteenth.
The numbered weeks of Pentecost are called ordinary in part because they are numbered: First Sunday after Pentecost, Second Sunday after Pentecost and so forth.
Second—and this definition is more interesting and significant—the periods of church life in Ordinary Time are not dullsville, snore-worthy or vanilla. They are known. They are habit. They are the accessible norms in the life of a Christian.
In the season of Pentecost, then, we have a stretch of time where we both steward the highlights of the feasts and set-aside seasons of the liturgical year while routinely hearing the words of Scripture and the word preached from the pulpit. It’s the opportunity to settle into, to embody, to incarnate, to live out, to make a matter of course that which we say we believe.
Think, for example, of married life: ordinary, day-to-day interactions are what make a marriage thrive or not. Or think of the way one treats one’s own body: ordinary, day-to-day decisions, over the course of time, impact one’s level of well-being. Or think of the messages that one hears from others and from oneself: the ordinary, day-to-day signals about one’s worth shape one’s sense of self.
Ordinary Time is habit-making time.
It’s the opportunity to make a matter of course that which we say we believe.
There are indeed habits of the Christian life, ones that take intentionality and practice and reminders. In fact, we even have some related words to make that point.
First, “ordinances.” Take a look at Psalm 19, for example, in which we read that “the ordinances of the Lord are true and righteous altogether” (9). Anyone who has had to apply for a special permit via their friendly neighborhood local planning and zoning board knows that we need to be aware of county ordinances. These are the laws, the norms, the rules that govern day-to-day life.
We also have “ordination,” which is rooted in the practice of belonging to a holy order and committing to a way of being aligned with certain ordinances that shape who one is and how one lives.
Ordinary Time, then, is anything but boring.
It’s a full and rich time, a rhythmic time, a welcome time to be all the more dedicated to the extraordinary life of a Christian.
