Dearest e-votees-
Our appointed Old Testament lesson for this coming Sunday is the account of Ezekiel’s vision of dry bones. It is well paired with the gospel account of the raising of Lazarus.
Where do you connect with these texts?
• Do you feel dead and parched and dusty?
• Are you locked away for fear that a powerful stench might come out were you to dare opening the door in the presence of others?
• Are you grieving for one lost and wishing that God would have intervened in time?
• Are you hoping for a reviving and resurrecting touch this day?
• Are you facing questions with the only honest response being “O Lord God, you know.”?
May these words and this time be a blessing to you wherever these texts strike you.
Peace,
Karl
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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."
We all have graves in our lives. We have the places of death that are quite literal as we bring friends and family members to their resting places. The passing of pets can be deeply heart-wrenching as well. As we look into those literal tombs we know it is only a matter of time before our friends and families gather around to say good-bye (literally “God be with ye”) to us. Those graveside moments can give us pause for re-examining our own lives and the trajectory that they follow. We can find ourselves feeling dead and dusty and parched and foul-smelling. Graves and cemeteries and morgues and ICUs can be very hard places to enter. Yet at times we are called to do so. The good news is that God goes with us. Even through death, God goes with us. In fact, God preceded us. That is very good news.
We all have graves in our lives. Some places are quite metaphorically like a grave. We go to places where the life seems gone. We go to places that suck the juices of life right out of our bones. Sometimes places that should be what most sustain us instead drain us and bleed us and desiccate us. We feel empty and spent and dry and hopeless and cut off. We wish that God had intervened before we found ourselves at that place. We hope for life but perceive only death. A little voice inside us says “Can these bones live?” and we can only eke out “O Lord God, you know.”
We all have graves in our lives. God is a God who knows death and isolation and pain and the tomb. God is a God who has come back from the dead. The grave is a mile marker on the journey not the destination. As we encounter graves—real or metaphorical—may be blessed with the hope of Ezekiel’s vision and the hope of Lazarus’ empty tomb and the hope of the empty tomb of Easter. As the old call and reponse sermon says “It’s Friday, but Sunday’s coming!!!”.
God, give us faith to see Sunday’s hope amidst Friday’s despair. Draw us up into the hope of Jesus. Amen.
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