The Deacon’s View
On November 28th, Don Dallmann began his sermon with the words, “Happy
New Year!” Today, January 2nd, I also say, “Happy New
Year!” These greetings come from two very different calendars,
both of which are essential, in my view, for those trying to follow
Christ today.
I try to live my life using both the church’s
liturgical calendar and my secular “day runner,” even though they often
seem at odds with one another. The message from my day runner
usually is, “You’re late!,” “You blew it,” “Hurry up,” and “You
can squeeze it in if you try.” In contrast and competing with
this is the still, small voice that emerges from the liturgical seasons
and readings: “Rest,” “Be still and know (experience) that I am
with you,” “Stay alert to my presence,” and “Slow down.” It is
only when I let both of these calendars blend into each day that my
life becomes rich with joy and blessing, not to mention that this also
keeps me sane.
My simplistic summary of the church’s seasons and
colors is as follows:
ADVENT (color is blue or purple): a season of paying attention and
listening to God. To do this demands that we strip away internal
and external clutter, some of which will initially appear essential and
fight to stay put!
CHRISTMAS (color is white): a short season of celebrating, and
rejoicing about God being with us.
EPIPHANY (color is green): a season of feeling unready, but
nevertheless stepping out into our world carrying the light of Christ
into the darkness. (I sometimes think of this as being willing to
become a “dim bulb” for Jesus.)
LENT (color is purple): a season of accepting our human
propensity to fail to live out God’s best for us; to grieve over our
failures to be the person God is calling forth; and to give joyous
thanks that God is always inviting us to try again as if it were the
first time!
EASTER (color is white): a season of “WOW!! He’s ALIVE!” What was
dead in Christ now is fully alive. What is dead in me can become
fully alive, too.
PENTECOST (color is red for the day itself, green for the
season): it just keeps getting better, because now God sends the
Holy Spirit into the church, and into you and me. Being filled
with the Holy Spirit is sort of like filling your car with the
high-Octane, $2.89 (Santa Barbara price!) gasoline instead of the cheap
stuff. Your car ran before, but now it RUNS. But you have
to keep filling it up with the good stuff. Pentecost runs for a
long time, about six months. Some people have named this season
“Ordinary Time.” I like this title because it reminds me that
this life God invites us to live out is all mixed up with mundane
stuff, the things that need to be done. It is here, in “Ordinary
Time,” that things get harder for me and I can end up “doing those
things I ought not to do, and forgetting to do those things I ought to
have done,” The readings and lessons of this season show the
disciples doing exactly the same. Then, just in the nick of time,
it’s Advent again!
So, how do we live with these two calendars?
Fortunately, the church’s calendar is color-coded.
Every time you enter the church, check to see what
color is on the lectern and altar. If it is blue or purple, take
time to quietly reflect on how you are doing with God. Repent. Be
still and listen. If the color is white, prepare to celebrate
with all your heart God’s mysterious presence. Give thanks.
Give joy a chance to touch you wherever you are. If the color Is
green, get ready to grow, change, surrender and struggle. Be
willing to journey out in new ways with God. If the color is red,
remember the lives of those who have persevered with God in following
Jesus.
Obviously, all these themes are woven into our lives
throughout the entire year, sometimes even throughout a single
day. But the church, by its season, invites us to pay special
attention to one aspect at a time of what it means to belong to
God. In this way, we can slowly begin to experience the
ever-present Holy One.
Happy New Year to us all. Your fellow journeyer and deacon,
Gay