9 But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. 10 Once you were not a people, but now you are God’s people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy. 11 Beloved, I urge you as sojourners and exiles to abstain from the passions of the flesh, which wage war against your soul. 12 Keep your conduct among the Gentiles honorable, so that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day of visitation.” – 1 Peter 2:9-12
As we enter June, we enter into our “ordinary” or “normal” time of the church calendar. This calendar season is the time after Pentecost Sunday (May 28) all the way until Advent (Dec. 3)*.
In other words, the coming of the Holy Spirit sends us into “Ordinary or Normal” time. This makes sense. The Holy Spirit came… to do what? To enable us to live our lives in “ordinary or normal” ways.
One of the definitions of normal is: conforming to a standard. Likewise, a definition for ordinary is: what is commonplace or standard. Both definitions go back to a standard. Mostly, we think of our living standard as worldly. It is ordinary to watch hours of technology a week. It is normal to be selfish. It is normal to seek success even at the expense of others, but this is man-made normalcy. This is normal because it’s the commonplace to us all – ALL have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.
The Holy Spirit changes our standard of normalcy. For regenerated Christians, ordinary is not enslavement to the sin we once served, but it is freedom we now have through Christ. Normal is not found in the standard we have created, but the standard God created. This is why the Holy Spirit must come before our “normal time”. We were dead in our trespasses and sins, slaves to worldly normal, but not anymore, The Holy Spirit has come to make us alive and bring us back to God’s normal – a better normal. Our normal now is to love God and others. Our normal now is to enjoy what God has given and to steward what He has entrusted us with. This is the Christian normal. A normal that He works in us now and the normal that he will one day perfect in us through His Second Coming.
Let us never think that the worldly standard is ordinary for us as Christians. Christ has called us out of darkness and into marvelous light. The wake of Spirit’s coming is a new normal. It’s a regenerative work in our lives that frees us to love others.
Knowing this, be aware brothers and sisters to walk in step with the Spirit. Or as Peter puts it: Abstain from the passions of the flesh, keep your conduct honorable and proclaim His excellencies. This is our regenerated normal and ordinary Christian lives.
In Christ,
Pr. Patrick
* There are actually two seasons of ordinary time in the church year. Both involve God coming down to us. The first is after Christmas (Christ comes). The second is after Pentecost (Holy Spirit comes).