#Bible Timeless Truths. Living in Ordinary Time
26Now an angel of the Lord said to Philip, “Go south to the road—the desert road—that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.” 27 So he started out, and on his way he met an Ethiopian[a] eunuch, an important official in charge of all the treasury of the Kandake (which means “queen of the Ethiopians”). This man had gone to Jerusalem to worship, 28and on his way home was sitting in his chariot reading the Book of Isaiah the prophet. 29The Spirit told Philip, “Go to that chariot and stay near it.”
30Then Philip ran up to the chariot and heard the man reading Isaiah the prophet. “Do you understand what you are reading?” Philip asked.
31“How can I,” he said, “unless someone explains it to me?” So he invited Philip to come up and sit with him.
32This is the passage of Scripture the eunuch was reading:
“He was led like a sheep to the slaughter,
and as a lamb before its shearer is silent,
so he did not open his mouth.
33In his humiliation he was deprived of justice.
Who can speak of his descendants?
For his life was taken from the earth.”[b]
and as a lamb before its shearer is silent,
so he did not open his mouth.
33In his humiliation he was deprived of justice.
Who can speak of his descendants?
For his life was taken from the earth.”[b]
34The eunuch asked Philip, “Tell me, please, who is the prophet talking about, himself or someone else?” 35Then Philip began with that very passage of Scripture and told him the good news about Jesus.
36As they traveled along the road, they came to some water and the eunuch said, “Look, here is water. What can stand in the way of my being baptized?” 38And he gave orders to stop the chariot. Then both Philip and the eunuch went down into the water and Philip baptized him. 39When they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord suddenly took Philip away, and the eunuch did not see him again, but went on his way rejoicing. 40Philip, however, appeared at Azotus and traveled about, preaching the gospel in all the towns until he reached Caesarea.
Acts 8:37Some manuscripts include here Philip said, “If you believe with all your heart, you may.” The eunuch answered, “I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.”
Acts 8:26-40
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| Ways of looking at how God intervenes in our lives. |
What is Ordinary Time?
Ordinary Time is the part of the liturgical calendar that falls outside the major seasons such as Advent, Epiphany, Lent, and Easter. Ordinary time begins with the passing of the Day of Pentecost and continues until the First Sunday of Advent, and is the longest season of the church year.
While the term is used by the Catholic Church, The Episcopal Church doesn’t typically use the phrase “Ordinary Time” and it is nowhere to be found in The Book of Common Prayer. Rather, these Sundays are named in relation to the previous feast day, for example, “The Eighth Sunday after Pentecost.”
The term ordinary may be derived from “ordinal,” which means “counted,” though this is disputed. It may simply mean ordinary.
This isn’t necessarily negative. It’s simply the time of the year when we are not commemorating the major events in the life of Jesus—such as his birth, death, and resurrection—but rather the things he said and did throughout his time on earth.
Most of the days of our lives are ordinary, of course—no birth or death, no epiphanies or miracles, time filled with the ordinary love and hope and fear common to daily life.
We all move along the continuum of various "times" in our lives. Some days/times are special. Others are common or less memorable.
It's easy to understand God's plan for big events in your life.
But, what is God's plan during "ordinary time?"
Phillip was selected to help lead the church in Jerusalem. In this passage of Scripture, he's on a Divine mission, after all, an angel tells him what to do!
The Ethiopian is wealthy. He is on a pilgrimage, but he can't enter the Temple because he's a eunuch. Because of that, he doesn't fit the LEGALISTIC DESCRIPTION of a "true worshiper." He has no Divine mission, BUT, he is seeking God.
The Ethiopian asks a question in verse 34. Why that particular question? While there isn't any decisive reason give in Acts, it's obvious from Philip's response what circumstances led to the question. After this, Philip returned to ordinary time.
At what point did the Ethiopian's reaction become a point of Divine intervention? (See the how God intervenes image above.) That's not important. What is most important is what you do outside the Divinely ordained times.
The seasons of the church year are for all Christians, not the only Catholics and Episcopalians. That means we all live most of our lives in ordinary time. Ultimately, how you live your life as a Christian should reflect the redemptive presence of God in your life, not only during Advent, Epiphany, Lent, and Easter, but especially during Ordinary Time, since that's where life happens.
Maybe what you do is not "written in the stars," but rather, "Who is written in your heart!" You need to live your ordinary days with the same intention/dedication as times that are absolutely obviously Divine.
You need to get to the place where you begin to live in God's heart as much as He lives in yours!
Special thanks to Pastor Beverly Cook for the primary teachings in this post.
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