Sermon for
March 13, 2005
5th Sunday in Lent
“What Do You Say to Dead Bones?”
Ezekiel 37:1-14
Scout Sunday
Dry, desperate, and
in despair. That’s the condition the people of God found themselves when
the prophet Ezekiel is called to speak to them a Word from God. Ezekiel’s
vision of the condition of the people of God is almost reminiscent of
Death Valley, the hottest, driest, and lowest place you can find. Death
Valley is one of the hottest places on Earth with an average summer
temperature well over 100 degrees. It is the driest spot in North America
with average annual rainfall of less than 2 inches. It is located 282
feet below sea level, the lowest place in the Western Hemisphere. If you
have ever been to Death Valley then you can imagine something of the
experience of Ezekiel when the hand of the Lord brought him to that valley
in his vision—a valley full of very dry bones. These are the bones, says
God, of the whole people of God; the people of God who cry out “Our bones
are dried up, our hope is lost; we are cut off completely.”
This scene represents
the pain brought on the whole people of God who through the years had been
forcibly removed from the Promised Land. First the nation of Israel in
721 BC by the Assyrians, then the nation of Judah in 598 BC by the
Babylonians—the whole people of God exiled in a foreign place away from
their homes, their city, their temple, all of which had been destroyed.
This life in exile, this life so far away from the Promised Land, this
life that feels so far away from God, has left them hopeless and in such
despair. It was a national pain, the pain of the people of God who suffer
the consequences of their disobedience, the pain of a people who by their
own wrong choices set in motion the working out of human sin that, once
begun, must always run its course. It is the pain of a people who feel
they don’t know God anymore. It was a pain, a hopelessness, a despair
they felt right down to their bones. A valley of dry bones, bones
everywhere. A dramatic stark image that illustrates the pain of the whole
people of God. It will also become an illustration of the intention and
power of God to deliver them from that pain.
Have you ever felt
that pain, you know, deep down in your bones: cut off, hopeless, despair,
like you just don’t know God anymore? Well, when you go your own way and
when you make wrong choices, the sin that results runs it own inevitable
course, you can’t avoid the pain. When you cut yourself off from God it
should be no surprise at all that that is exactly what it feels like—cut
off, hopeless, despair right down to your bones.
If you have ever made
a wrong choice in your life that set in motion consequences that affected
so many others you never intended, you know that pain.
If you have ever
turned your back on God to go your own way and have suffered the
consequences of that choice ever since, you’ve been there.
If you have ever
enjoyed a bit too much the wealth and luxury afforded you in this culture
without much thought about the poor and those who are denied the basics of
live in most of the rest of the world, well, get ready, because that pain
will come—that’s exactly what happened to the whole people of God. They
enjoyed too much the wealth that moment in history had afforded them—they
settling in to that lifestyle so well, right down to their bones, they
neglected the needs of the poor, the orphan, and the stranger. In their
luxury they became weak and complacent, prime targets for takeover by a
hostile neighbor. And great indeed was their fall. When they were
carried away to a foreign place their inner resources of spiritual
strength were too much filled with the things of the culture—they had
already forgotten God right down to their bones. Just when they needed
all the inner strength and courage God could give them they felt
abandoned, betrayed, desolate, and dry. It was painful, so very painful
that they cried, “Our bones are dried up, our hope is lost; we are cut off
completely.” They just didn’t know God anymore.
Ezekiel looks over
that vast valley of dry bones and wonders at the Lord’s question, “Can
these bones live?” In Ezekiel’s vision God tells Ezekiel to prophesy to
the bones—to speak God’s word to that wasteland. Ezekiel must have
wondered what in the world to say to dead bones. Now can you imagine what
it must have felt to Ezekiel to stand in the middle of all those bones and
say, “O dry bones, hear the Word of the Lord. Thus says the Lord God, ‘I
will cause breath to enter you and you shall live.’” Ezekiel proclaimed
to them the Word of the Lord that affirms God’s love for them. God still
loves them; God had not utterly forgotten and abandoned them. At this
Word of God Ezekiel heard something, perhaps not unlike this (all snap
fingers) “a noise, a rattling and the bones came together, bone to its
bone…there were sinews on them and flesh had come upon them, and skin had
covered them.” (finger snapping stops) He looked around there they
were, human forms lying all around where once there were nothing but dry
bones. But there was something missing. That’s when God told Ezekiel to
proclaim before the inanimate beings prostrate before him, “Come from the
four winds, O breath, and breathe upon these slain, that they may live.”
And the very breath of God came into them. They lived and they all stood
on their feet all around him—the whole people of God. They live and they
know God again. This is a sign that the people of God will return to the
Promised Land. But more than that, they will no longer be a rebellious
people—they will again be the people who are incapable of doing anything
else but the will of God. As God first breathed into Adam and Eve so God
breathed into those inanimate beings—a great gift of God’s grace.
So God said, “I will
put my spirit within you and you shall live. Then you will know that I,
the Lord, have spoken and will act…I will put my breath in you that you
shall know that I am the Lord.”
Have you seen any
news reports lately about Death Valley? It seems that all that rain in
the west has had quite an effect on the landscape of Death Valley. If you
go to Death Valley today or call up a picture from the internet, you will
discover that that vast wasteland has been dramatically transformed.
Flowers, yellow flowers as far as the eye can see. That refreshingly
plentiful water was all that was needed to transform that dry and barren
place to a beautiful paradise. That’s all it needed.
At my last
appointment in Poquoson (near Newport News) a family in our congregation
experienced the premature birth of a child. Born 3 months early and
weighing barely a pound little Maddie spent almost three months in the
special care nursery at the Children’s Hospital of the King’s Daughters in
Norfolk. When she was finally released to her mother’s arms her parents
were given very specific instructions for her care, as you can imagine,
since her finer muscle control needed to mature just a bit more. Soon
after coming home to her family she began to have difficulty—so much so
Mom said she turned blue for what felt like an eternity. In that moment
do you know what Dad did? Just as he had been instructed Maddie’s Dad put
his mouth to hers and breathed into her one breath. That one breath was
all she needed. That one act of love is exactly what she needed.
So what on earth to
you say to dead bones? When despair is so deep and anxiety so high that
you feel you don’t know God anymore, what do you need more than anything
else? You need the Word of God. You need to hear again that God still
loves you. That’s what you need to hear. That’s what you need to say to
others.
As refreshing rain
dramatically transforms barren land, as a father gives his child exactly
what she needs just when she needs it, so God longs to breath the breath
of life into you and this community. You see, there is hope; there is an
answer to despair for dry bones in the valley, even for flowers in Death
Valley, even you.
Listen for the Word of God and take
it into your heart. Encourage another with that same Word every chance
you get. God does still love you. God does still breathe life into God’s
people—such life that you feel it right down to your bones.
