God Engraves Himself Into Us

Introduction

A prophet in France - Stroke of the Holy Spirit

There was a prophet in France during the reign of king Louis XI who predicted the death of one of his advisors eight days before the advisor died. The king decided that the prophet was too dangerous to be left alive and called on his royal guard "Grab this prophet and bring him to me." the king said So they did and brought him to the king The prophet knew what was going on of course The king decided to ask the prophet one more question to see if he truly was what he claimed to be "Do you know when you are going to die?" the king asked the prophet "Yes I do" answered the prophet "Well, when?" said the king. "I am going to die three days before you."

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There was a time in Christian history when Christians lived on a thin hope of life just like the Israelites through all their exiles. It is a kind of similar situation, if not worse what we are going through for different reasons. Our lack of hope today is not because we are persecuted or killed by kings and leaders who do not understand faith, but because we are unable to deal with the death and destruction caused by a tiny little virus we can’t even see. Some are without hope, and some are fighting against such hope, and others take advantage of other’s fear.

As we reflect more on the scriptures today, I want us to be aware who Ezekiel was and God handled him. He was a priest. God laid his hands on him and said, well, you have no choice but to do what I ask of you. He isolated him, and silenced him and talked to his heart, about the state of the people and their lives. What was he told? Breathe into the dry bones? And why? That’s what we are going to talk about today.

Ezekiel 1:3 3 The word of the Lord came to the priest Ezekiel son of Buzi, in the land of the Chaldeans by the river Chebar; and the hand of the Lord was on him there.

Ezekiel 8:1 Abominations in the Temple 8 In the sixth year, in the sixth month, on the fifth day of the month, as I sat in my house, with the elders of Judah sitting before me, the hand of the Lord God fell upon me there.

Ezekiel 3:22 Ezekiel Isolated and Silenced 22 Then the hand of the Lord was upon me there; and he said to me, Rise up, go out into the valley, and there I will speak with you.

Early Christian View Of Life After

Feasting on the Word: Preaching the Revised Common Lectionary: Year A, Volume 2 Theological Perspective

In ways that we find baffling today, Christians of the early church were convinced that life after death required a body. This was a fundamental disagreement between proto-orthodox Christians and gnostic Christians. For the gnostics, nothing was more desirable than the eventual liberation of the soul from its physical encumbrance of a body. Church fathers like Irenaeus and Tertullian, however, were adamant that without flesh, there is no person to overcome death, because a human being, in this life and the next, is an intermingled soul and body

In this context you can safely say that there was a certain amount of anxiety, fear, and hopelessness in the early Christians just like us around the world today, being not able to deal with persecution and death at the time.

In the early Christian era Gladiators tore apart the followers of Jesus, and then some of them were thrown into the den of lions. To top it all their bodies were torn apart and thrown away to different part of the land, so that they won’t be able to come back to life ever in the wildest imagination. Then there were Christians killed, and burned, and some of them were drowned in the river, so that their lives could not be revived. In some cases they cut off the head from the body and thrown in different waters, In a way, stealing the possibility of resurrection, as they thought.

Those who did such cruelty were interested in making sure the last hope they had in resurrection is torn apart and taken away. Rob the dead of their rebirth.

Does God have the power to bring us back?

It is in this context we realize what God’s power is. The people of Israel had lost their hope. But the Lord is trying to help the people to see how God is free beyond human imaginations to create life. God can bring bones back together from anywhere. God can collect the dust of the earth to bring life back. God can change the course of history from nothing, just like we were created out of nothing.

If we are able to create a scifi movie out of the story of Ezekiel it will be a fantastic show.

Feasting on the Word: Preaching the Revised Common Lectionary: Year A, Volume 2 Theological Perspective

The view developed among the Fathers that just as God made Adam from dust, God can reconstitute a body from its smallest material bits, and thereby recover the person with identity intact, complete with her peculiar memories and even the precious scars of her martyrdom etched upon her resurrected body.2 In the Talmud, one of the rabbis suggests that our iniquities are engraved into our bones, an indelible, telltale moral record of how we conducted ourselves through the lives that were given to us.

Imagine how our bodies will look like when we return. God can etch everything, the good and bad, into our bodies. I am reminded of those who get their bodies tattooed. God can tattoo every imperfection back into our system, but still bring us back to full life with God. Because God is not looking into our imperfections, but our uniqueness and therefore nothing is imperfect. God’s love for us is beyond human imperfections, and God can not live without us is the reason why we return from our dry born situation.

The power of God is not in shattering us, but putting us back together. The power of God is magnificent, when everything we consider are dead and gone, are still full of life to get back together to form what God planned for us. The power of Pentecost is that our lifeless bones may be shattered, but God’s breath is all that takes to bring life back in us.

Feasting on the Word: Preaching the Revised Common Lectionary: Year A, Volume 2 Pastoral Perspective

In a recent issue of National Geographic, an article entitled “Lost Tribes of the Green Sahara” describes how archaeologists unearthed some 200 graves near a vanished lake that indicated the Sahara was once a fertile area. The skeletons buried there disclosed amazing information about two groups of people who had lived at least a thousand years apart. The bones and teeth unearthed from the graves revealed the sex, age, general health, diet, diseases, injuries, and habits of the deceased. The size and condition of the bones gave clues to lifestyles, work, and living conditions of the inhabitants.

There are a lot more details about this people found in their bones. Where they lived, what they ate and drank, and so on and so forth. Let us ask this question to ourselves.

Information In Our Bones

When our bodies and souls are returned to life, what kinds of information can we collect from them about our spiritual life? When God brings us back to life, what will be engraved on our souls?

Our bodies, and souls are engraved with the image of God that can not be shattered or broken. As we leave here, remember this, we are more than what our bodies are. Our resurrection is much more about what our lives are now, to be tattooed into our souls. God has marked your soul as God’s own. When God breathes life into our lifeless bodies, it will be much more than earthly life that will be given to us. But a heavenly one in which qualities of God will be engraved to the level we have responded to.

Conclusion

If we lack the fruits of the spirit in us today, then we shall lack the vitamins of God in our souls tomorrow. But no matter what, God will bring us back together that we will see for ourselves what God sees in us. We will live with God forever with the full knowledge what we could have done better. But comforted by the knowledge that we are still God’s beloveds.