While preparing for this time this morning I was thinking through the scene painted by the words in the text.Even though there was no particular place mentioned, and no specific war known, several whose opinions I read, experts in ancient history, stated the scene Ezekiel saw in his mind’s eye on that day would have been a more common vision than we would think.Battles back them were fought by thousands of soldiers hand in hand.Generally the winners would move on and the losers would be removed to slavery, or punished in some other way.There would be nobody left to do what we think of as the civil thing; that is to burying the dead.So time would take its toll which meant the remains of those who died would be left where they were.As we know in time the usual degeneration of the body would occur leaving only the strongest part of the body, remnants of the skeletal system.It was such a place where God led the Prophet Ezekiel in the vision here remembered in Chapter 37.
I was trying to get my mind around what this experience might have felt like.I cannot even come close however I do have one brief insight.As you know my father’s family comes from the area in and around Corinth, Mississippi.I recall in my very early years making visits to the home of my Great Grandfather and viewing the small collection of Civil War related relics he had in the garage.These were not pieces he purchased intentionally as collector but were unearthed on his farm through the years.The Civil War battlefield called Shiloh was just up the road.In order to make it to that place troops past up and down the roads which ran north and south out of Corinth.There was even a smaller battle there at Corinth, not far from the family property.
An interesting thing to do when we went to see family was to wander up to the ShilohBattleGroundMilitaryPark.I honest do not remember how many people died on that small collection of acres.There is today a massive Union cemetery and throughout, even all up and down the road, there are mounds which were more than likely places of multiple burials containing the honored remains of young men from both sides of the issue.The battleground is actually quite nicely kept.Today for example it is well landscaped and cluttered with signs which tell the details of battle.One place I found of interest was the spot where Texan Albert Sydney Johnston was shot and soon died.There are also rows and rows of cannons of the period and a large collection of monuments to the various divisions present on the days of battle back in 1862.
The thing I remember the most about the battlefield was the point of entrance.As we drove into the park, making our way to the museum and information center, I definitely recall the oddest feeling.I cannot describe it exactly except to say it was dark and misty, sort of like greeting one of those days when vision isn’t so clear and the air is heavy all around.It was a depressing feeling, almost foreboding.It even seemed like the sky over the “park” was dominated by the agony of the souls of those who perished there.
I honestly don’t know if there were changes and details to note or if my knowledge of the history prejudiced my attitude and awareness.All I can say for sure is I experienced the surroundings as dark, depressing, and more than hopeless.Even though the day was beautiful everywhere else we traveled, inside the confines there was a certain uneasiness which I still recall.
In such a way, and even in a more visual way, Ezekiel the great prophet of God, entered into the vision which God set before him.It was a time not only of reflection, but also a time of teaching.The scene in Ezekiel’s mind’s eye was far beyond that of mere hopelessness. The “dried bones” were scattered here and there, driven by animals, wind, rain, and shifting sand.There wasn’t even so much as a recognizable skeleton to be found in the mix.So when God asked Ezekiel if the “bones could live,” it may well have been Ezekiel’s first thought to laugh at the sheer impossibility of the situation.Humanity had done its worst here and the job was most complete.
But fortunately Ezekiel had some experience with God and knew how to answer.Well actually Ezekiel didn’t answer he mirrored the question back in God’s direction.He answered, “O Lord, you know!”Even though the prophet knew the situation was beyond hope, at least from a “mortal” point of view, he also was aware God had the power to do what God chose to do, and even better, had the power to do what we would allow God to do.And the result of the vision we know as well.‘Dem dry bones, they come together. Slowly but surely, right before the spiritual eyes of Ezekiel, the process of decomposition reversed itself.In the end of the vision the valley of dried bones was filled with a “vast multitude.”
So what was the secret?There actually wasn’t a “secret,” there was instead an affirmation of faith, as we would call it.Ezekiel chose to do what he was called to do, to prophesy, to speak the word of the Lord, to trust God to do what God could do.Had Ezekiel listened to the logic of his own mind nothing significant would have happened, at least not on that day.Had Ezekiel taken the attitude of mere mortals, the result would have been different, because logic says there isn’t even the most remote of possibilities.‘Dem dried bones, they can’t come together.Logic won’t accept even the possibility.Science won’t allow it.
But once again we see what Ezekiel was called and challenged to see as well.God’s purpose and creativity is far beyond our own.What we see as hopeless, useless, of no account, and without merit, God sees with assurance.The first message we can glean from this is to be open to where faith takes us, open to the possibilities and opportunities which God will set before us.
Of course the story, as we have it here in Ezekiel 37, is a vision.At the same time God sets it before our hero of the day as a metaphor, something much greater than the vision itself.You see, at the time Ezekiel was involved in prophetic ministry, the people of Israel, himself included, were in a bad way.They were serving as slaves in the Babylonian Empire.One day they were carefree, self determined, and full of the freedom of life.One day they had no idea even how to spell “Babylon,” nor did they know where it was.Then almost overnight, the best of the best, and the least of the least, found themselves living in Babylon most extreme and uncomfortable circumstances.Their situation seemed hopeless, as hopeless as dried bones.
To them it was like viewing the valley of dried bones.To them it was like visiting a place where history left a depressing air.It was beyond hopeless.Because the people of Israel viewed themselves as a nation first, and as a faith second, they thought themselves to be nobodies under their current living situation in Babylon.They tied their national identity, their very character into the land, and into their distinct place of worship where they thought God could be found, and found nowhere else.They were strangers in a strange land.They were no longer a people, much less God’s people, because their theology and experience would not allow them to see God in a foreign place.
The so called prophets of God added to the hopelessness of the situation by declaring their own understanding about the judgment of God. They were sure God had actually sent the people to that dastardly place because the people had been unfaithful.God was angry, and the anger of God was so great God wanted to teach them a lesson, so they were pushed away, moved away, captured, conquered, deported, and forcibly removed.How could a God understood in such a way be worshiped in a foreign land?Yes indeed the situation was properly described as a valley of dried bones, it was past hopelessness.The word used about being “cut off” is the word used to denote a tree which had been harvested.Once the cut had been made, there was no way to go back.
Well ‘dem bones heard the word of the Lord.Ezekiel spoke, he prophesied and shared the word God sent in his direction and the bones lived.Ezekiel was blessed to know God sees things from another perspective.God isn’t restricted in any way in a human sense.God’s presence, as we understand it, God’s love, is where God is and God is everywhere.For those in exile in Babylon the message was clear.God is even here with us as we are and where we are.God is already working to answer our needs and to bring about deliverance as God did in generations past when the people found themselves in exile in Egypt.Basically the message is this; God is here for you.God will and already is in the process of delivering you.God’s wish is for you so you can have life and to be in a saving relationship with God himself.
In our world today often times we read about and even experience the thoughts of hopelessness.People don’t treat each other with respect and dignity.Leaders are often focused on themselves, and not upon those they are given the ability to care for and direct.Have you noticed how short tempered and even angry people are in our society?We can’t even drive around the area without the issues being manifest before us.In the workplace, in the schools, in the stores, everywhere, people are forgetting the basic things of personal interaction.The human situation is stressed out.There is so much to consider, so many issues to face, such hopelessness, and at the least a lack of direction.
This isn’t new.When we look back over history we can see many times in which the world had just about fallen apart.The time of Ezekiel was one of those times.The time right before the coming of Jesus was another.The era of the middle ages was stressful.And so was the time just a few hundred years later when the church of the day just about forgot its mission.And here we are again.
The antidote to the hopelessness isn’t something which can be taken in large community sized doses. No the direction comes on a more personal basis, when we who have the vision, see in the midst of the hopelessness the possibility, and ultimately the probability that God will work, if we allow God to do what God can do.In the days of the Babylonian exile, the message of God’s love came through Ezekiel.Several hundred years later it was in the birth, life, death, resurrection, and overall ministry of Jesus.At the tail end of the Middle Ages God called several, including Martin Luther, to offer the saving grace of Christ to a world which was hungering to touch something greater than themselves.A couple of hundred years after Luther and the Reformation there was another gift to the world, an individual who was in his own way a prophet of God.Does the name Wesley ring a bell?All of these, and many we do not know of, came into their world, into their place and time of creation, into the hopelessness of their own day and offered a vision as they prophesied and offered the word of the Lord.
God pulled Ezekiel aside and gave him a vision.But at the end of the vision Ezekiel went away empowered to “prophesy the word of the Lord;” to tell the people of the world one person at a time, to speak to them, to work with them, to exemplify before them the very presence of God’s love.The truth is lives are still changed when the word of God is the word.Hope comes when we, the prophets of our generation, allow the Spirit of God, to be alive and well in our thinking, doing and speaking.At the least we who are so challenged, must make sure our own spiritual homes are in good order.We can’t offer that which we don’t have.May you be challenged to “hear the word of the Lord,” so that, personally speaking ‘dem bones, is your bones.
At the end of the scripture the meaning for the time of Ezekiel becomes clear.The bones represent Israel, that is, they represent the nation which is God’s chosen and holy nation.Unfortunately for whatever reason the people of the nation of God’s nation, had drifted away from God, and were living as though God was not only irrelevant, but also nonexistent.Whether or not this exile to the Babylonian Empire was because of the choice of God to send his people away as punishment for their sins, we cannot say.We know for sure the chosen people themselves chose to make their situation worse by entering the challenges of the times on their own.How great it must have been to those few who actually listened to hear the prophet speak and declare how God will give life, will make of the people a great nation. God has spoken and God will act.Knowing God, listening to God, hearing God, having faith in God, gives us what we need in every situation of life in order to give life purpose and hope.
But there is something else here in this passage as well, something which honestly, I hadn’t paid much attention to until just in the last few days.Remember back when the bones were coming together how great that must have been.In the vision Ezekiel saw bones, and sinews, and ultimately flesh.The vast multitude was there and ready to go, or were they?It is evident that even though there were the trappings of humanity the ultimate piece of humanity, wasn’t there at all.The bodies were lifeless shells, hope had been promised, but had not, as of that moment, been delivered.
Now I don’t know a whole lot about science.I did happen to take some classes, including winding up with a minor in biology, simply because with labs, etc. all of the sudden I found myself with more than enough hours to do so.I do recall some of the discussions of the times, and even in later times some of the experiments used by those in the know to try to recreate life.There were tests made, DNA studied, physical models put together which looked like and even had the basic patterns of life, however, there was not life present.
Even in more recent times, in the cloning which has and is being done on things like sheep, dogs, etc., the basic characteristics of physical life are known.Those in the know can replicate traits, looks, and even some things of personality however the ability to give life cannot be found in a test tube, but comes through using the old fashioned processes of life giving which were set up in our creation.
No matter how much we try we cannot do what God does.I like the cartoon I saw a few years ago of a character running around heaven in a while coat with a stethoscope around his neck. Someone asked a saintly person who that was.The response; it is God playing doctor.Sometimes we forget that even the miracles of contemporary science and medicine come from sources which are divinely inspired.We know how to use what is already there.God has given us unique insights.
One of my parents friends, long since deceased unfortunately was a major surgeon and physician here in Houston.He was a fellow at Baylor College Medicine, a pioneer in many areas of his science.He and his wife also happened to be my Sunday school teachers when I was in my formative years.I remember precious little from those days.One thing I do remember though is the day he gave us his personal testimony.He declared how he didn’t go into the operating room without a prayer before hand.He shared how amazed he was every time he experienced the intricacies of the human body and when he considered its healing power.He said he was humbled by the gifts God had given to him and was aware of the fact that all he was able to do was because of a talent, a gift, which he had received, one he himself couldn’t account for except for an understanding of the goodness of God and through faith.
He knew what we must remember.The only reason there is life is because God chooses to give it.The scripture sets this out.The vast multitude there in the valley formerly known as the “Valley Dried Bones” only began to live when the Spirit of God was sent upon them.Even now, even in the face of all we do know, we are still in awe of the life giving Spirit of God.We don’t know where life comes from exactly.We debate when it starts, when the body, which is basically matter takes on the things of life.We can’t pinpoint when, but we know it is present in a way which is mysterious and majestic.The difference between dried bones and life isn’t sinews, isn’t skin, isn’t reconstruction, but is Spirit exemplified in breath.It is the very nature of God in us.It is the very breath of God which gives us life.The part of us which is not restricted by body, that which is eternal.
How can we not stand in awe of the power of God?This the ancients knew.Ezekiel reminded them.God gave them back themselves when God gave them hope even in the most challenging situation of their living.But we know even more.When we come face to face with God, when we receive the “prophesy” in whatever way it comes, we do so with the knowledge of Christ in our hearts and minds.We stand in awe not only of the creative power of God, but also of the love of God.The ancients knew hope, but hope tied to where they were upon the earth.We understand God from a more complete perspective.God loves us, and does so eternally.There is a part of us which God creates that isn’t tied to the body.It is God’s Holy Spirit which gives us life, directs us, helps us to see the possibilities, delivers us through the challenges, offers hope, and gives us life which we cannot acquire on our own; life for the journey of life itself.
Today, the day we know as Pentecost Sunday, we remember the unique gift of God which came to a large crowd gathered to hear the “prophesy” through the words of the early leaders of the faith.The disciple we know as the Apostle Peter was spot on, as the British say, when he spoke on the day of Pentecost concerning the truth of Christ.Those who not only listened but also who heard received for the first time in the post resurrection era, the Spirit of God, the Holy Spirit.God does give spirit to all who live.It can be simply breath, or it can be breath which takes our breath away.The difference is how we use that which is part of us all.May we be challenged to take a look at the gifts God has already given.May we receive that which is already a part of who we are.May God challenge us to listen to the word and live.And even more, may we remember we can be agents of change and being such isn’t dependent on things of historic nor political nature, but comes from following that part of God’s creation, which is part of our creation.God has given to us the good gift of life.We live in body, we have breath, may be remember, and be thankful, because God chose to give to us the best gift of all, his presence in our hearts, in our lives, in our thinking, not just for a little while, but for always.
All of ministerial students, such as me, who attended seminary up at Perkins, Southern Methodist University, were required to take an internship.In a little church where I served mine there was an interesting fellow in the congregation whose name unfortunately I have long since forgotten.He was actually a member of the choir and sat dutifully in his place in the bass section every Sunday.I would notice him sitting there writing during sermon times.I thought he was taking notes on the sermon.I found out on closer observation he was writing music.I believe his first name was Victor.Victor was writing alternative tunes to well known hymns. In actuality he was a music composer and publisher.At the time he had a thriving business.Wish I could remember his last name, maybe later.
One of the songs for which he penned a new tune was a very old lyric.It dated back to 1538 and appeared in a creative work called Sarum Primer.Even though I don’t recall the man’s last name I do remember the hymn and the tune.Fortunately for you I won’t share the song except for the words.I believe these will be a good place of conclusion because they speak of how the Spirit of God, the Holy Spirit of God, empowers us and directs us in life.Here goes; “God be in my head, and in my understanding; God be in mine eyes, and in my looking; God be in my mouth, and in my speaking; God be in my heart, and in my thinking; God be at mine end, and at my departing.”What a great thought and a great gift.God’s spirit is such a part of us.God’s great gift is God’s Holy Spirit.We celebrate the gift and are challenged to be thankful because we have received it.
How is it done?God does it.It is God’s Spirit alive and well.We can barely explain where the Spirit comes from.All we have to know is that God provides the Spirit, so that we can be blessed by the Spirit, that the Holy Spirit is that which give us life, and not just regular old life, but life of abundant hope and life, life which leads even beyond the body and dwells in the heart of God.God’s spirit, the Holy Spirit, isn’t just any old spirit, but is The Spirit which takes our breath away and brings life and hope into even the driest of ‘dem bones.
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