Ezekiel 37:1-14   OT p. 758 or 1053

[1] 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 Israel. They say, 'Our bones are dried up, and our hope is lost; we are cut off completely.'

[12] Therefore prophesy, and say to them, Thus says the Lord God: I am going to open your graves, and bring you up from your graves, O my people; and I will bring you back to the land of Israel.

[13] And you shall know that I am the Lord, when I open your graves, and bring you up from your graves, O my people.

[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.

[NRSV]

INTRODUCTION:

Maybe you've heard the story about the man whose name was mistakenly printed in the obituary column of the daily one day. He was a little upset and went to the newspaper office to complain, "Look, this is horrible! Your mistake is going to cause me all kinds of trouble and embarrassment. It might even cost me some business by people who really think I'm dead. How could you do such a thing?"

The editor apologized again and again, but this guy stayed angry and just seemed to get more and more unreasonable. Finally, in disgust, the editor threw up his hands and said, "Look, Mister, I'm sorry. We made a mistake. But if it will make you feel any better, tomorrow I'll put your name in the birth announcements and give you a fresh start!"

We laugh at that , but in a very real sense that's exactly what happens when we find new life in Christ. We're given a fresh start, a new start, a do over. And that's what this passage is all about.

Now at first it might seem like this is just another one of Ezekiel's bizarre dreams. J. Elsworth Kalas calls him the Psychadelic Prophet. Or you couls imagine this as the trailer for some new Sci-Fi thriller. You can almost imagine what the various special effects directors would do with the passage.

Spielberg would show lots of close up face shots. Each of the characters watching would stand there in rapt silence, a look of sheer joy and amazement on their faces as they watched God bring life back into dry bones scattered in the desert. An eerie light would shine from the background and put everything in a weird shadow. That shadow would then coalesce into the flesh and bones around each skeleton.

George Lucas would have thematic and triumphant music by John Williams playing in the background. The dry bones would slowly slide together and begin to take shape. An ethereal cloud like shape would fan out, while tendrils of its being would float across, around and through each set of bones. The sound of a loud, long breath being blown would be heard and the skeletons would begin to come together.

Tim Burton's version would be darkly humorous, done with claymation. The bones themselves might sprout little arms and legs. They would run around searching for the other parts of their body. Ocassionally they would run into each other. They'd fall over, only to get up again and begin the frantic search for the right body all over again. In the background, a haunting but lovely score by Danny Elfman would rise to a triumphant crescendo as the bones connected, muscles and flesh were added and the characters came to life.

The audience would get the imagery. The directors would draw us in to the scene. But would we really get what this was all about? Would the resurrection of these dry bones be anything more than another special effect? Or would the special effects draw us into the deep purpose of this passage, Renewal and Resurrection?

While this passage was written for the Israelites who had turned away from God. It's for us as well. This passage focuses on OUR need for new life. It focuses on OUR personal need for renewal and an infusion of the breath of God. It focuses on OUR need to experience resurrection through Christ.

I. OUR CONDITION:

You see, without Christ, without God's grace, without the presence and the power of God's Holy Spirit everything about us (both physical and spiritual) is incomplete, dried up and entombed. It truly is the valley of the dry bones.

A few years ago I read a murder mystery entitled Rainbow Drive. In it the main character says, "Filth and corruption are in the human beast. People insulate themselves in any way that makes them happy, numb, or able to believe the lies they've told themselves. It's a massive tragedy."

It IS a massive tragedy. Life is a lot like that valley of the dry bones. All you have to do is look. It's on the evening news every night. It's in the newspapers and the magazines.

Our own valleys of dry bones were created by drugs, alcohol, sexual promiscuity, aids, child and spouse abuse, unwanted pregnancies, abortion, violence, neglect, greed, avarice, prejudice. Some of us don't 't know how to say no to ourselves or to our children. For no good at all, some of us are victims of the worst in someone else's life.

All of this has sucked the life out of our spirits and bodies. The valley of the dry bones describes THE HUMAN CONDITION. As much as we hate to admit it, it describes who we are.

Lives have been scorched and dried up, they've become disjointed by broken promises, broken marriages, broken spirits, broken lives. Our lives have been driven to the desert and dried out by loneliness, meaninglessness, injustice, violence, sickness, dishonesty, disillusionment and immorality.

For many, life is a desolate wasteland. For many, it's lifeless and they feel disjointed and empty.

That's who we are. It's our inheritance from the fall. There really is no escaping it, that's the human condition. It IS a massive tragedy. We have been broken and scattered like these bones. Broken and scattered by our sin.

This passage reminds us vividly that without Christ, all we're left with when we have to face the travesties and tragedies of life is the dry bones of disappointment. And that's no help at all.

But the Good News of this passage is that "Them Bones Gonna Rise Again!" as the old spiritual says.

II. THE PROMISE:

"Them Bones Gonna Rise Again!" That's THE PROMISE. That's the preview of things to come.

As we look across the bleak desert of our lives and see the scattered, scorched bones of our past; as we stand dying to get out of the bleak, dry desert of our past that keeps us thirsting, we begin to hear God's whisper of hope in Christ. A whisper that built to a shout as God said to Ezekiel, "Them Bones Gonna Rise Again!" and then breathed upon the skeletal remains in that valley and brought them all to life.

We hear that whisper and we know, we know for a certainty that "Them Bones Gonna Rise Again!" in OUR lives, because through Christ, God gives life to thirsting, dying, suffering, sin smothered people. The Living Water of Christ will spring up in our souls and spirits and bring new life. That's THE PROMISE.

In one of his books, Charles Allen tells about a highway that was being built in England. A very, very old building stood in the way of the construction of that highway, so they chose to tear it down. The workmen tore it all down, salvaged what they could and cleared off the ground on which it stood for so many years.

After the ground had been exposed to the sunshine and rain for couple of months, an amazing thing happened. Flowers began to spring up, and botanists and naturalists from all over England and even other parts of the world came to study them. Many of the flowers were identified as plants the Romans had brought to England about 2,000 years before. Some of the plants that sprang up are completely unknown today.

Hidden there in the ground, without air and light, the seeds seemed to have died. But they weren't dead. As soon as the obstacles were cleared away, and sunshine let in, they sprang into the fullness of their beauty.

Those flowers blossomed and remind us of the promise that God gives life to thirsting, dying, suffering, sin smothered people. We may be dead in sin. But those flowers remind us that if we'll trust in Christ, we can experience New Life in Christ because "Them Bones Gonna Rise Again!"

III. FEAST OF FOOLS:

The elements of Holy Communion, the bread and the wine remind us of the resurrection. And that's one reason why Harvey Cox lovingly calls this "the feast of fools."

If you stop and think about it, it is sort of foolish. We use an instrument of death, the cross, as a symbol of life. And then we use bread that symbolizes Christ's brokenness; and wine which symbolizes his outpoured blood as symbols and elements of grace. It just might be the feast of fools.

And if it is, then I sure am glad I'm a fool. Because within these elements and through these elements, I have seen dry bones rise to new life. I have seen the risen Christ revealed to those who were thirsting and dying for new life.

One of the most striking stories I've ever heard about the kind of transformation I'm talking about comes from a Church in Mississippi. It seems, about twenty years ago, a group in a black United Methodist Congregation was collecting food and clothing to be sent to Africa to help in both Ethiopia and South Africa. They received a box one day which contained the following note:

"Please accept the contents of this box for use in your work. Make clothes or bandages or anything else you need out of them. We've accepted Jesus as our savior and now know all people to be our brothers and sisters in Christ. We no longer have any use for these."

The note was signed by four men. And inside the box were four Ku Klux Klan robes and hoods. Those men had experienced resurrection. "Them Bones Gonna Rise Again!"

CONCLUSION:

As we feast on the symbols and reminders of the resurrection, we can taste the means of God's Grace. And it is sweet and satisfying. As we feast on the feast of fools, we know "Them Bones Gonna Rise Again!"

In the face of all the darkness in the world, in the face of all our grief and sorrow, in the face of all the sin and corruption that pollutes God's creation, we know and we have witnessed the Power of the Holy Spirit, the power of the resurrection, the power of Christ to change lives.

The resurrection is God's promise, it is the sign, the opening of the tomb that allows the sweet life giving breath of God to blow across our parched, scorched, sun dried spirits with hope and meaning born of love and grace. The resurrection is God's own proof that "Them Bones Gonna Rise Again!"

Can dry bones live again? Yes, there's hope even in the valley of dry bones. Because God is a living God who says, "Thus says the Lord God: Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe upon these slain, that they may live . . . and the breath came into them, and they lived, and stood on their feet, a vast multitude."

"Them Bones Gonna Rise Again!"

God knows our human condition and desires resurrection for each of us. So,as you feast on the feast of fools; as you stand naked and skeletal before God; dried out and parched by the tragedies of life, know the promise of the resurrection.

Whatever it is that has kept you thirsting, whatever valley of dry bones fills your life, God can and will breathe new life into it.

You may not get your name printed in the birth announcements but "Them Bones Gonna Rise Again!" with the refreshed, refleshed, renewed grace of God.

"Them Bones Gonna Rise Again!"

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