Well the party season is over… in terms of the church’s liturgical calendar the season after Easter with it’s 50 days of feasting, Pentecost and Trinity Sunday have come to an end andf we now enter a long period of what is known as ‘Ordinary Time’ which lasts almost until Advent.
Over the last month or so we have been focusing in our preaching and teaching on realising, responding to and celebrating God’s presence in our lives. Often it’s in the big moments of life that we experience God’s presence the strongest. I remember that moment when I held Anika for the first time and the overwhelming sense of the love of God; I remember amazing times of connection to God at youth camps; I remember the sense of identity I found when I was encouraged into leadership roles in the church; I remember God’s leading and directing us as a family into a life of ministry. All really big moments in my faith journey – all clearly God inspired and influenced.
It’s true that Jesus had plenty of big moments in his ministry. The gospels are full of ‘mountain top’ experiences, profound teaching, miracles and challenges. But what about the ordinary stuff? Where is God when I’m eating my breakfast, when I’m doing the grocery shopping, when I’m watching TV or when I’m sleeping? One of Jesus’ criticisms of the scribes and Pharisees was that they only focused on God in the big moments or in the public places, yet in the ordinariness they were found wanting.
Jesus doesn’t want to just be Lord of our big moments – Jesus entered not only the ordinariness of our world but also the mess. While big moments are important and they form and shape us nobody lives lives of only big moments – it’s impossible to sustain the energy level needed in any aspect of life, let alone our faith.
As we begin this season of Ordinary Time can I encourage you to let God into the ordinariness of your life: bring God to work with you; think about what you are reading or watching in terms of your faith; look for evidence of God at work in unexpected places; even rest in the presence of God. The party may be over but our relationship with God never ends. God is always with us but our challenge is to always be with God.
Have an ordinary week!
Stewart Parry