Dry Bones are Rattling

Justin was one of the leading citizens in Accident, Maryland. He was the kind of guy that you could count on, no matter what. He was a leader in his church. Every time the doors were open, he was there. He had served as chair of the trustees, head usher, and chair of the church council. He taught the middle school Sunday School class. Every year, the women of the church held a fall bazaar and an apple dumpling sale. He was always there, peeling apples, mixing dough, and selling the sweet pastries. The ladies ended up making him an honorary member of the women’s group, complete with a lapel pin shaped like an apple. 

If you needed something, Justin was always there. He was quick to pull a ten-dollar bill out of his pocket to help someone who needed gas or groceries. He helped mow lawns, rake leaves, and shovel snow for the women who lost their husbands. He used to coach his kids’ Little League baseball team. He was the announcer at the High School football games. He volunteered with Habitat for Humanity. And before he had kids, He and his wife took eyeglasses from the Lions Club over to those in need in Haiti.

This man lived a busy life, but that did not stop him from developing one of the most well-known farms in the area. He managed 1,000 head of hogs and 2,500 acres of field containing some of the finest corn and wheat in the county. He held a degree in Agricultural Economics from Perdu University. Over the years, Justin did well for himself and his family.

He and his wife of 38 years had been blessed with 7 children—3 sons and 4 daughters. They all grew to be fine young adults exhibiting lives of service to others that reflected Justin’s own life. No doubt – Justin prayed for his children every morning and night. He thought, maybe they might have trouble in life – maybe they could have anger in their hearts toward God – so he prayed for forgiveness for the sins of his children every single day.

Last week, Justin got a call from the police. It seemed as though all of his children were celebrating his eldest daughters upcoming marriage. They were at her house for dinner. After dinner when everyone was about to say goodbye for the evening, several local MS13 gang members had decided to rob their house. In a panic realizing that there were people in the house, the gang members shot and killed everyone that was there that evening. Justin was devastated. He was hardly able to process this horrifying news when one of his farm hands called to tell him that lightening had struck one of his barns which burnt down. It just so happened that the barn housed all of his hogs. The grief that Justin has been feeling is overwhelming – he cant even process it fully.

This past Tuesday – Justin and his wife held a huge funeral for all seven of his children. During the funeral, Justin was inconsolable. Watching all seven of his children be laid to rest never to be seen in this life again, was unbearable. He developed excruciating chest pain during the service. An ambulance had to be called due to the severity of the pain he was having in his chest. They ran a full battery of tests on Justin, and it turned out that he had a massive heart attack requiring immediate open-heart surgery. He got home this Friday – and on his way up the steps to his house, he fell and broke his arm bracing for the fall. Unable to have surgery so soon after his heart attack, he will only have to wear a cast for a period of time, but the bone will not grow back perfectly, and he will likely have significant arthritic pain in that wrist for the rest of his life. A constant reminder of this season in his life.

He cried out to God in his loneliness, anger, grief, and despair. He told God that he couldn’t take it anymore. He even begged God to put him out of his misery. He could not understand how one man could be expected to persevere through all of this. He wished that he had never been born. He felt completely and wholly hopeless.

Is there any among us who is not able to feel his pain, see his despair, or understand the terrible anguish of his life?

You see, that was a parable. Perhaps you recognize this as a parallel with another person in the bible. You see, there is a very similar story in the bible in the book of Job. Job was a well-respected man who lost his children, flocks, and his health… He cried out to God to put him out of his misery. Job had everything going for him – family, friends, wealth, health – only to have it all stripped from him in moments of horror and shock. Job lashed out at God, wanting to know why he was even born in the first place, only to suffer to this level. Job wished only for death.

Perhaps you have not experienced such Job-like struggles in your own life. But I bet, if you search the deep recesses of your mind, you will be able to remember someone you have known who has gone through similar seasons. Maybe you are indeed one of those who has experienced disease, sorrow, loss, and death. Perhaps you know first-hand what it is like to suffer greatly. Perhaps you understand Job more than just a bible story. Perhaps this very morning, you feel utterly hopeless, trying to make sense out of your faith, trying to make sense out of a life that has gone wrong, trying to make sense out of disaster, trying to find answers to seemingly unanswerable questions. Our personal suffering can certainly make us vulnerable to sin. And sin can certainly suck the life out of us. Job is a very good example of personal circumstances causing a deep sense of hopelessness. But this dread can and does accumulate throughout populations of people to the point that whole nations feel that sense of lifelessness. This is where we find our bible passage for today. In Ezekiel  37:1-14 it says:

Ezekiel 37:1–14 NKJV

The hand of the Lord came upon me and brought me out in the Spirit of the Lord, and set me down in the midst of the valley; and it was full of bones. Then He caused me to pass by them all around, and behold, there were very many in the open valley; and indeed they were very dry. And He said to me, “Son of man, can these bones live?” So I answered, “O Lord God, You know.” Again He said to me, “Prophesy to these bones, and say to them, ‘O dry bones, hear the word of the Lord! Thus says the Lord God to these bones: “Surely I will cause breath to enter into you, and you shall live. I will put sinews on you and bring flesh upon you, cover you with skin and put breath in you; and you shall live. Then you shall know that I am the Lord.” ’ ” So I prophesied as I was commanded; and as I prophesied, there was a noise, and suddenly a rattling; and the bones came together, bone to bone. Indeed, as I looked, the sinews and the flesh came upon them, and the skin covered them over; but there was no breath in them. Also He said to me, “Prophesy to the breath, prophesy, son of man, and say to the breath, ‘Thus says the Lord God: “Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe on these slain, that they may live.” ’ ” So I prophesied as He commanded me, and breath came into them, and they lived, and stood upon their feet, an exceedingly great army. Then He said to me, “Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel. They indeed say, ‘Our bones are dry, our hope is lost, and we ourselves are cut off!’ Therefore prophesy and say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord God: “Behold, O My people, I will open your graves and cause you to come up from your graves, and bring you into the land of Israel. Then you shall know that I am the Lord, when I have opened your graves, O My people, and brought you up from your graves. I will put My Spirit in you, and you shall live, and I will place you in your own land. Then you shall know that I, the Lord, have spoken it and performed it,” says the Lord.’ ”

Ezekiel was a prophet of Judah in the 6thcentury BC who had been taken into exile by Babylon. The whole nation of Judah could not understand how and why such calamity had come upon them. They were once prosperous, faithful, they were examples of righteousness to their neighbors. They lived out their status of God’s chosen people, they were blessed beyond belief.

What happened? Their civilization lost its luster. Their faith tarnished over time. What was once a glorious nation, had been ground under the heel of a mightier foe – evil itself. We are familiar with this feeling. History repeats itself in cycles. America what was once a nation built on faith, glorious and an example for other nations to follow is now a bit lifeless. We reflect on the past hoping for old times to return. People have lost sight of reality. That false reality is being normalized to the point that people feel protective over it. Life has literally disappeared. Social locations are falling dormant. We talk to our machines more than we talk to humans. People are forgetting how to be human. Fire departments are struggling to find help. Our country is a ghost town compared to my childhood. Employers in general have a hard time finding people who want to work. Mental health is declining rapidly. That’s what happens when you lose identity. People care about the narrative they subscribed to more than building relationships. Violence is just another day. The government and elite powers capitalize on confusion and division among ordinary people. America is not just losing its luster. It almost seems – lifeless. We are at a point where we want to look away from the dullness, but like with Ezekiel, God causes us to see it all around, and behold, there are very many dry bones in the open valley; and indeed, they are very dry. Sometimes it leaves us wondering, can these dry bones come alive?

God commands Ezekiel to prophesy to the bones  ‘O dry bones, hear the word of the Lord! Surely I will cause breath to enter into you, and you shall live.” And so the dry bones start rattling! They begin to reconnect, but still no breath. So God commands Ezekiel – prophesy to the breath. Interestingly the word “breath” is Roo-akh which also means “spirit and wind” keeping that in mind – Ezekiel prophecies to the “breath” -  “Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe on these slain, that they may live.” Little by little the bones are becoming whole. Ezekiel witnesses the breath enter the bodies once slain – now Ezekiel refers to them as an exceedingly GREAT ARMY. The Lord then says – these mere bones ARE the WHOLE, COMPLETE, PERFECTED, house of Israel. God acknowledges what everyone is thinking, he says “They indeed say, ‘Our bones are dry, our hope is lost, and we ourselves are cut off!’ But God responds to this “I will open your graves and cause you to come up, I will put My Spirit in you, and you shall live, then you shall know that I, the Lord, have spoken it and performed it,”

The breath that revives the dead is the living Spirit of God, and in Christ, we see that God does not leave the dead in the grave. In Luke chapter 19 just before Jesus enters Jerusalem it says:

Then, as He was now drawing near the descent of the Mount of Olives, the whole multitude of the disciples began to rejoice and praise God with a loud voice for all the mighty works they had seen, 38 saying:

“ ‘Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord!’ Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!”

39 And some of the Pharisees called to Him from the crowd, “Teacher, rebuke Your disciples.”

40 But He answered and said to them, “I tell you that if these should keep silent, the stones would immediately cry out.”

Even if the living fail to praise Him, God will bring life to the lifeless.  So maybe you feel dry, dull, done. But listen to me, No matter how far you think you’ve gone. No matter how lost you feel in this broken world. Take heart – God is still breathing life into dead things. Your dead bones… …. … come alive. All glory and praise to our God -the father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.

Heavenly Father, God of the living, through baptism we pass from the shadow of death to the light of the resurrection. Remain with us and give us hope that, rejoicing in the gift of the Spirit who gives life to our mortal flesh, we may be clothed with the garment of immortality, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.