Ordinary Grace: A Sermon for 2 Pentecost, Proper 7
In some ways, today’s worship service will pale in comparison to the last two Sundays. Two weeks ago, we celebrated Pentecost, and last week we celebrated Trinity Sunday. Both of those services offered opportunities for us to “make a big deal of things” so to speak.
But beginning today, we will have twenty-two straight “Green Sundays” that will not be tied to a particular theme, event, or feast. As such, these Green Sundays – also known as Ordinary Time - might feel, well, rather ordinary compared to the Sundays in the prior seasons. Robert Webber points out that “the various Sundays [of Ordinary Time] are not connected by a particular theme. In Advent we await the coming of Christ; during Christmas, we celebrate his arrival; and at Epiphany, we proclaim that Christ is manifested to the world as Savior. During Lent, we prepare for the death; in Holy Week, we reenact his death; then in Easter, we celebrate his resurrection and complete the Easter cycle with the celebration of the coming of the Holy Spirit. But in the non-festive season of the church year [known as Ordinary Time], there is no unified theme that ties the Sundays together.”
Rather than moving from one thematic season to another, in Ordinary Time we move simply from Sunday to Sunday. Each Sunday stands on its own, and is counted as the such-and-such Sunday after Pentecost. As such, most liturgical churches – including the Episcopal Church - now refer to this season as the Season After Pentecost, so that the emphasis is on the continuing work of the Holy Spirit after the Day of Pentecost. In the midst of our ordinary, even mundane lives, the Holy Spirit is alive, well, and working in and through us.
During the Season After Pentecost, the Revised Common Lectionary provides two options for us to use for the Old Testament reading. The first option – called Track 1 – provides the opportunity for us to read through particular books of the Old Testament week after week during this long season. This option is an excellent way for us to engage the oft-neglected richness of the Hebrew scriptures. Since I have been here at Christ the King, we have always followed Track 1 during the Season After Pentecost. Last Summer, I did a preaching series on 1st and 2nd Samuel, following the dramatic story of King David. Two summers ago, I preached through the book of the Prophet Jeremiah. For those of us who are here most Sundays during the Summer, this approach to preaching can introduce a sense structure and purpose to each Sunday so that in some ways it feels thematic and “purposeful” like the other seasons of the church year. There isn’t a “randomness” to each Sunday so to speak since the readings continue where they left off from the prior week, and the sermon addresses the continued story.
This year, we are going to take a different approach, and use what the lectionary refers to as “Track 2” for the Old Testament lessons. With Track 2, the Old Testament lessons aren’t continuous from one week to another. In other words, we won’t be tracking through the same book week after week, following a single storyline. Instead, the Old Testament lessons are chosen by virtue of how they relate to either the Gospel or Epistle lesson. Today’s Gospel and Epistle lessons both deal with the broadening of the definition of who God’s people are. Therefore, we are given a lesson from Isaiah that deals with the tension between God being faithful to God’s people, regardless of how faithful they are to God. In this lesson, we are seeing glimpses of God’s expansive love, and how that could one day extend beyond the House of Israel.
Since the Season of Advent, we have been in Year C of the lectionary cycle, which means that all of our gospel lessons – except for during the Season of Easter - will be from Luke. This summer, I plan to use Luke’s gospel lesson as the starting point for all of my sermons. Most of the lessons will present the miracles and parables of Jesus. As H. Boone Porter observes, this season’s lessons from the gospel of Luke “represent most of what we know about the ministry and teaching of Jesus. If the Church cannot concentrate on this for half a year, what can it do?”
The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops asserts that “Ordinary Time is a time for growth and maturation, a time in which the mystery of Christ is called to penetrate ever more deeply into history until all things are finally caught up in Christ. The goal, toward which all of history is directed, is represented by the final Sunday in Ordinary Time – [Christ the King Sunday – where after several months of hearing from the life and ministry of Jesus, we should be able to boldly proclaim that Jesus Christ is indeed King of the Universe.]”
Some have observed that the liturgical color for this season – green – is appropriate because it represents the natural growth that the earth experiences during Spring and Summer. One look at my yard will indeed confirm this! As such, we can also see this long season of the Church year as an opportunity for our own spiritual growth. It is a time to slow down, dig in, and mine the depths of our scriptures and tradition. We are not busy decorating the church or our houses for special holidays. There are no pageants, concerts, or Holy Weeks to prepare for.
I encourage us all to embrace this season of Ordinary Time – this Season After Pentecost. I trust that if we allow ourselves, our lives, and even our worship to be graciously ordinary, God’s Holy Spirit will do extraordinary things in our lives, in the life of our Church, and in the life of our community.