Ezekiel
37:1-14 The hand of the LORD came upon me, and he
brought me out by the spirit of the LORD and set me down in the middle of a
valley; it was full of bones. 2
He led me all around them; there were very many lying in the valley, and they
were very dry. 3 He said to
me, "Mortal, can these bones live?" I answered, "O Lord GOD, you
know." 4 Then he said to
me, "Prophesy to these bones, and say to them: O dry bones, hear the word
of the LORD. 5 Thus says the
Lord GOD to these bones: I will cause breath to enter you, and you shall
live. 6 I will lay sinews on
you, and will cause flesh to come upon you, and cover you with skin, and put
breath in you, and you shall live; and you shall know that I am the
LORD." 7 So I prophesied
as I had been commanded; and as I prophesied, suddenly there was a noise, a
rattling, and the bones came together, bone to its bone. 8 I looked, and there were sinews
on them, and flesh had come upon them, and skin had covered them; but there was
no breath in them. 9 Then he
said to me, "Prophesy to the breath, prophesy, mortal, and say to the
breath: Thus says the Lord GOD: Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe
upon these slain, that they may live."
10 I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into
them, and they lived, and stood on their feet, a vast multitude. 11 Then he said to me,
"Mortal, these bones are the whole house of
Text: Ezekiel 37:1-14
Theme: Exposing Dry Bones
Date: March 9
Assembly:
Valley of Dry bones not only about the final resurrection—God told Ezekiel that “these bones are the whole house of Israel”
I suggest that if “these bones are the whole house of Israel.”
Then they represent not only the dead
but also the living of the house of Israel
and since both last week Wednesday and this week Wednesday
the preaching pertains to the final resurrection…
let’s today sercho together about what this resurrection motif
might mean for the living.
What if our dry bones are revived within our lifetime?
Yes, Today we’re gonna think for a while about our dry bones
But perhaps more importantly, we’re going to think for a while about the secret of our dry bones
A secret that is waiting to get out…
A secret that we almost want to get out for the very freedom
of not having to keep it secret any more.
So, today, I’m gonna ask you to rattle a little bit in your pews
(not by standing up and sitting down and letting the pews creak)
but by admitting what we already know
—but don’t like to often look at
—the creaking bones that are dry within us
—the ones we try to hide
—or oil well enough to get by with no one noticing
-these secret things that we are rarely willing to stare at long enough
to even admit to ourselves
Here are some examples—you’ll add others that you know personally:
We try to hide creaking, dry bones, such as:
-Our inappropriate thoughts about others as beautiful or ugly people—dry bones
-Our inappropriate thoughts about ourselves as
beautiful or ugly people—either can be dry bones
-Our hours spent more with Play station than people—dry bones
-The infirmity within us can be dry bones
-Or seeking riches outside of the life of God—dry bones
how about a story from Zion:
A week ago today someone burglarized Zion’s offices
Stealing and damaging in the process
And leaving in the wake a sense of violated space
among our staff members
so that Monday felt like a dry day
even though tears were close to the surface
we are not a place of profit
so, I’m sure the stolen sum was disappointing
I’m convinced this person did not understand
that the riches of this place
like the riches of God’s kingdom
are not monetary
the riches here are you
and your grace and your faith
the riches here are God
and the table and the bath
--not considered profitable to those who broke in
--foolishness, doesn’t the Bible say
But priceless riches to us who seek the kingdom
And what brings about a search for riches outside
of God’s life but dry bones
So, what are we here:
A people gathered around God’s presence
A priesthood of believers
These things cannot be stolen
And I find it so ironic that the things that can be stolen
are the very things that we try to give away anyway…
Our dry bones land us in such trouble
We have trouble with addiction and abuse and lack of respect and disease and stealing
Just to name a few of our creaking bones from this week
What are we to do…
As we look to this odd and profound story in Ezekiel,
We see that the thing that ultimately changed the valley of dry bones in Ezekiel
Was the fact that they were exposed to the Spirit
Because, did you see it
—sinews had covered them again—but Being wrapped with sinews is not enough
strength’s not enough…
skin had covered them again—but Being covered with skin is not enough
protecting isn’t enough…
They looked just fine—we look fine too—but looking fine is just not enough
Ezekiel says: 8 I looked, and there were sinews on them, and flesh had come upon them, and
skin had covered them; but there was no breath in them. 9 Then [the Lord] said to me,
"Prophesy to the breath, prophesy, mortal, and say to the breath: Thus says
the Lord GOD: Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe upon these slain,
that they may live."
We are sometimes slain by our dry bones
And Dry bones have to be exposed to the Spirit to live anew…
The secret of our dry bones is that they want to be exposed
So that they can be something different—something healthier
So, thanks be to God, that God declares:
“O my people. 14 I will put my spirit within you, and you shall live.”
It takes the freely-given Spirit to breathe life into dry bones
That is, it takes new life to revive that which is dry within us
And new life is
always grace
And grace comes to us from God
through the sacrifice of Jesus
by the power of the Holy Spirit…
Yet, in this lifetime, we don’t fancy that the Holy Spirit is just zipping around
jolting people directly…
What we seem to know about the Holy Spirit is that the Spirit’s action is always mediated
That is—it comes through another means
This is what, in the church, we call the “means of grace”
There are 5 identified “Means of Grace” to which we refer:
(these are so very important for these are the means
through which we will experience God’s grace)
Holy Scripture—readily accessible to you
Preaching—clearly you’ve accessed that
Baptism/Communion—see what grace is present to you at the table today
Prayer—readily accessible to you
Christian community
—this is the one we’re going to focus on now…
Because it’s accessible, -- and hard to find
--all at the same time
It’s accessible: here we are—the assembled people of God—a Christian community
Yet it’s hard to find: where are those few Christian brothers and sisters
with whom you can be vulnerable enough to expose your sin or infirmity
and the second part…are you willing to do such…
for Blessed are some in this room who have a confidant
to whom our dry bones are exposed..
and why?
But because the Holy Spirit can rush to you through
their words or a sigh or a gesture
and you can know the new life available in God’s grace
We each need to find that person who you gets to ask us
“Anything dry in your life?”
Maybe some of us will try it in the fellowship hall
Maybe others of us will continue in the fellowship hall and beyond
To cultivate that kind of relationship
through which words of new life can readily flow
We can experience living restoration as our dry bones are revived within our lives.
God intends to open our graves, Ezekiel says, and bring us back home.
And the refrain within this Ezekiel passage: You shall know that I am the Lord
Very illuminating!
It seems that abundant grace is given to us that we may know our God.
As we conclude—let us
read in unison verse 14,
with Boldness
and a sure confidence
that God brings about what God declares—even
in this life.
On the back of the
bulletin, Ezekiel 37:14—with boldness:
14 I will put my spirit within you, and you shall live, and I will place you on your own soil; then you shall know that I, the LORD, have spoken and will act, says the LORD."