“Can These Bones Live?”

The Appomattox Court House Presbyterian Church Pulpit
Rev. Cameron S. Smith
The Lord's Day, April 1, 2007
A Palm Sunday Sermon
Ezekiel 37:1-14

"The LORD God formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living creature." --Genesis 2:7

These fourteen verses from Ezekiel 37 are probably one of the most well-known of all the prophecies in the Old Testament. It's certainly a passage that -- I hope that I will be able to demonstrate in our short time together this morning-- speaks volumes to us -- the Church -- as we draw closer to Resurrection Sunday.
There are several applications that can and have been discerned from these meaningful words. I want to present a few of them to you, and cap it off by putting forward for your consideration what I think is the closest to the intent of the Ezekiel's prophecy

Use #1: Recovering Lost Vitality
I remember well a few years ago, a pastor friend of mine was somewhat discouraged because attendance at his morning worship services seemed to be slipping and morale among members seemed to be going in the same direction as well.
He decided to preach on this very passage, emphasizing the unique parallel of the prophecy to his current church situation. It went something like this:

"My brothers and sisters, even though we are in this 'valley of dry bones' now, God is going to send revival to us. Even now, I can hear the bones rattling in the wind!"

     The only problem that he encountered was that there were some visitors that morning, and after they heard the sermon. My friend thinks the sermon was a large part of their decision! Why would anyone want to come to a church with those kinds of problems?
     Incidentally, if those folks did perchance find a church without any significant issues of the ilk, I want to know where it is!
     Can these spiritually dead, frozen bones live?

Use #2: Our Lack of One-ness in the Body of Christ
     Another perspective on this passage focuses on the troubling reality of our fragmentation as a Church. This points out how accurate is the label, "Protestant." We were born in "protest" during the Reformation, and we've been protesting ever since!
     I've been in Apomattox now for three years, and I've seen more church splits and plants in this town then I saw in seven years in Orlando! Suddenly, the big city seems like a safe haven!
     We seem to split at the tip of a hat. Our proclivity in this area demonstrates how sore we are when it comes to spiritual maturity! There is the purely inane:"I don't like the color of the carpet." And then there is the selfishly, sin magnifying statement:"I didn't get my way, so I'm going to find a church that appreciates me!" This one in particular is very popular, and recieves way too much empathy among the beloved: "I don't like the kind of music we sing." And last, but which certainly doesn't exhaust the list, "The minister doesn't feed me." Any comment from me on that one might seem a conflict of interest, and so I'll just leave it at "No Comment...."
     To this trend, we hear the question, "Can these bones live?" Can the Church of Jesus Christ ever be what God has called it to be when there's a seemingly over-abundance of dissension and acrimony within its walls? Never forget this one, and most important reality: The greatest threats to the Church throughout time have come from within the Church; not from any unbelieving threat from the outside!
     Can these fragmented bones live?

Use #3: Purely Personal
     Yet another quite different take on these dry bones -- more on the personal side - sees the age old problem of besetting sin.
     There's a body, but there's no breath in it! It is wracked with sin every moment of it's existence. The body is literally dead; repeating the imagery of Ephesians 2:1, "you were dead" in sin. But God comes with life-giving breath. A second chance for undeserving sinners!
     Perhaps I could have labeled this view the experiential perspective. Certainly, we can't deny, based on our own day-to-day experience, the reality of sin. There's no need for personal examples here!
     Can these backsliding bones live again?

Transition To The Point
     But I want to direct your attention to still one more perspective to this rich passage. I want to talk about how this vision of the dry bones finds meaning in Easter.
     Before I go there, bear with me for a little historical context. We know that Ezekiel prophesied during the time that Judah, the southern kingdom, was in exile in Babylon. The lament of God's people in these dire circumstances is summed up well in verse 11, "Our bones are dried up, and our hope is lost; we are clean cut off." I'd say they were dead meat, but that would be quite inaccurate!
     Now before you cry tears of injustice for these exiles, recognize that these weren't innocent people. Their history reveals glories upon glories: A people who were lavished with God's goodness, mercy and blessings, and who still, in spite of these good things, chose to walk in ways that were quite the opposite of God's expectations for them.
     Back in the days before the people of God entered the Promised Land, Moses had reminded them that God had made covenant with them at Sinai. If they were obedient, there would be covenant blessings; but if the were hard-hearted and disobedient, there would surely be covenant curses.
     And now, as we fast forward to Ezekiel's day in that desolate valley - dry bones numbering in the hundreds of thousands. These were the bones of God's disobedient people, lying slain on the desert floor, refused burial, becoming fast-food for wild animals.
     One of the covenant curses that I just spoke of is found in Deuteronomy 28, it reads like this,

"The Lord shall cause you to be defeated before your enemies; you will go out one way against them, but you will flee seven ways before them, and you will be an example of terror to all the kingdoms of the earth. Your carcasses will be food to all birds of the sky and to the beasts of the earth, and there will be no one to frighten them away." (Deut 28:25-26)

God gave Ezekiel a graphic picture of the results of disobedience: Death and despair. The only way back to God was found in Deuteronomy 30:1-3,

"And when all these things come upon you, the blessing and the curse, which I have set before you, and you call them to mind among all the nations where the Lord your God has driven you, and return to the Lord your God, you and your children, and obey his voice in all that I command you today, with all your heart and with all your soul, then the Lord your God will restore your fortunes and have compassion on you, and he will gather you again from all the peoples where the Lord your God has scattered you."

     The only problem here is that God's people have never been able to return to the Lord with all of their heart and with all of their soul. Sincere people; religious people; determined people; good people, have all tried very hard to do the right thing down through time. But ultimately, they've all failed.
     Just think about your own experience. How many times have you vowed before God to do better? A good friend of mine vowed that he was going to always say nice things about people. If he couldn't say something nice, he wouldn't say anything at all. This lasted about two days!
     Perhaps you really desire to pray more? Reading your Bible more? Becoming less selfish? Loving the unlovable neighbor, co-worker better? Sometimes you're good, and can keep it up for a while; but then, like my friend, you crash, and you're right back in that dreaded valley of dry bones again!

Final Use: Resurrection in Christ
But Ezekiel's prophecy speaks of an overarching hope amid hopelessness. It speaks of life in the midst of death. It speaks of God's gracious initiative and action in the face of disobedience.

"Thus says the Lord God: Behold, I will open your graves and raise you from your graves, O my people….O my people….I will put my Spirit within you, and you shall live….Then you shall know that I am the Lord; I have spoken, and I will do it, declares the Lord."(Ezek 37:12-14).

My friends, I want to suggest to you that this well-known prophecy began to be fulfilled in the coming of Jesus Christ and most explicitly in his death and resurrection. You struggle to love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength. But God in His graciousness has done for you what you couldn't do in your own strength.

In the wake of His resurrection, the Law has been fulfilled.
In the wake of His resurrection, you've been found and brought back to the Lord.
In the wake of His resurrection, His Spirit has been deposited within you.

     There really is a persistent rattling, bones continue to come together; sinews, flesh and skin grow. And yes, just as He did in the very beginning with Adam and Eve, there is that life giving breath that is bestowed to those who were once dead.
     This week, ponder if you will, the mystery of death being overpowered by life. Marvel that the grave has been conquered. Offer praise that Jesus rising from the grave has enabled you to rise in newness of life. That's what Holy week is all about my friends. Let's savor that as we experience all that God has for us this week. May this make what we do next Sunday all the more meaningful as two young ladies in this church are baptized in the promise of this new life.
     Can these bones live? YES!

Praise God! See you next Sunday.

Amen.