In some circles, the time between Pentecost and Advent on the Christian calendar is called “ordinary time.” It also is a term some use to describe the period between Epiphany and Ash Wednesday. At first glance, “ordinary” seems a bit ordinary! What it actually means is that the major feasts on the Christian calendar associated with Jesus don’t happen in ordinary time.
One definition of ordinary time I recently read was “the living out of Christian faith and the meaning of Christ’s resurrection in ordinary life.” Another source suggested that ordinary time was “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.” Well, I must say, none of those statements sound “ordinary” in the normal sense of that word!
The troublesome times in which we live right now make me think that we could all profit by a really good dose of “ordinary” time. More than 200,000 citizens of the U.S. have died of COVID-19. Globally, that figure is now over 1,000,000. That seems anything but ordinary.
I remember the presidential election of 1960, when Kennedy and Nixon ran against one another, and have been fascinated with politics since that time. Today, I can hardly stand to listen to the current political debates at every level, from town council to President of the United States. That seems anything but ordinary.
Today many, many of our fellow citizens have a valid argument about the failure of our justice system to treat them fairly and respectfully. To me, that just doesn’t sound like it ought to be, in “ordinary” time. But I suspect some of my black and brown friends would respond with “but it sounds so ‘ordinary’ to me.”
I say all of that to get to the title of this devotional – Ordinary Saints. I don’t want that term to be misunderstood – quite frankly, the world I just described is in desperate need of some “ordinary saints.” I’m talking about people who, on a daily basis, seem to be focused on allowing the mystery of Christ to penetrate ever more deeply into their lives and into history in ways that transform Creation and its creatures.
A few days ago, I learned of the death of an ordinary saint, Dr. Ottie Mearl Stuckenbruck. I don’t remember seeing on the national news that the president called for flags to be flown at half-staff at the death of this sweet lady. As far as I know, neither the governor of Tennessee nor the mayor of Johnson City made such an announcement. Dr. Stuckenbruck was “too ordinary” by the world’s standards for such a thing to have happened.
I first met the Stuckenbrucks – Earl and Ottie Mearl – at a meeting near Knoxville, Tennessee, where I was asked to read an academic paper for a group of Christian college biblical studies and theology faculty members. Honestly, I felt a bit out of my league, not having nearly the number of abbreviations after my name that many of those present did. I had heard about the Stuckenbrucks from mutual friends, but this was my first meeting. I can still remember some of the very kind and encouraging things they both said about my paper. They both could have been given the name “Barnabas” – son and daughter of encouragement.
Some other folks complimented the paper, which made me think the Stuckenbrucks weren’t just being nice. I came away with new friends that evening.
Eventually, I worked with the European Evangelistic Society, where the names Earl and Ottie Mearl Stuckenbruck were the stuff legends are made of. But over the years, attending meetings with them, participating in Walker Lectures for EES, etc., I discovered that they weren’t legends – they were simply “ordinary people” who allowed God to do “extraordinary things” through them.
If you know anything about their lives, you know that shortly after World War II, they packed their comfortable American life up in suitcases and ended up in Tübingen, Germany. There, they not only established The Institute for the Study of Christian Origins, still in place today in a significant context of biblical and theological studies, and a church, still functioning today as a witness for the Jesus story in a very academic place in Europe. Imagine that – biblical scholars doing work in the most academic of settings some days and doing ministry in the church other days! We could use lots more of such “ordinary people” in our world.
Upon returning to the United States 20 or so years later, they not only left behind two kingdom outpost kinds of ministry – and Institute and a Church – but they settled back into American life in Johnson City, where Milligan College, First Christian Church of Johnson City, the EES, and a host of other people and places were blessed by their lives in authentic kingdom kinds of ways.
Dr. Stuckenbruck’s story is amazing. Born in rural Alabama and growing up in Florida, she somehow managed to be a kingdom player on an international stage in Germany, and in a quiet little town in East Tennessee. She raised a family of kingdom players and influenced hundreds of people by her gentle, sweet, encouraging way of living. In the best sense of the word, she was an “ordinary saint,” and many who are reading this were blessed by her life.
She faithfully gave to the mission of EES. In honor of her life and witness, my wife and I plan to give a gift to EES in her memory, and I encourage you to do the same. She truly was one who defined ordinary time in the strongest sense of that idea – “the living out of Christian faith and the meaning of Christ’s resurrection in ordinary life.”
Thank God for His “ordinary” saints.
Wye Huxford 