As we approach our second scripture
reading we need to understand where it falls within the story of Ezekiel. Right
before our passage God made a covenant with the people, saying, “A new heart I will give you, and a new spirit I will
put within you; and I will remove from your body the heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.” God is promising to give the people new hope, that all of the sins and the idols will be wiped away, they
will be able to begin again. The people had gotten so lost in their sin that
their hearts had been turned to stone, they were not living with God in their heart, instead they were living their lives
for themselves. And after this new covenant is made with the people, Ezekiel
is given this message to deliver to the people. From Chapter 37 our reading:
NRSV EZEKIEL 37:1 THE VALLEY OF DRY BONES
37 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.
This seems to be a strange reading to have on Pentecost. We are so used to the Acts passage, hearing of the mighty rushing violent wind that
over came the people, filling the house and granting speech in the native language of those present in the city. We celebrate Pentecost as the birthday of the church, when Jesus’ words are fulfilled when he said
I am leaving but my father will send another after me. And when he said the spirit
of the Lord will come to you so you may begin your work. Jesus prepared the disciples
for the coming of the Spirit. And it is through the account in Acts that we trace
the roots of the beginning of the church. We celebrate this day the mighty work
of the Holy Spirit, the 3rd revelation of God, the final element of the trinity.
So how does the Ezekiel passage fall in to this celebration? How does hearing about a valley of dry bones share information about the birth of
the church? By showing us a glimpse of the spirit of God before the day of Pentecost,
we are made aware that the spirit was present in the beginning. This passage
gives us such insight into the church. Although the church had not yet been established
and Jesus had not yet entered this world to save us from our sins, the idea of church, in that a group of people gathered
together with similar beliefs did exist.
The Israelites had been in exile a while by the time this
passage begins, and they had begun turning away from God, they started putting idols in front of their relationship with God,
as was said earlier their hearts had been turned to stone. That alone can share
great insights with us, the idea that pushing God away can make our hearts as stone.
There is so much hope in this passage. At first glance it just seems out
there. But think about the actions of God and the Holy Spirit, God asked Ezekiel,
can these bones live? Putting that in to the light of the people having hearts
of stone, the bones are the people of Israel. These bones represent those who have turned away from God, who have lost all hope. The bones could be us.
This is truly a text of hope. If God can deliver the bones, and the hearts of stone that were the people of Israel, he surely can deliver us, we who know the love and sacrifice and grace of Jesus. God sent his spirit to save the Israelites, by commanding Ezekiel to prophesy he was reaching out to the
people. He sent a prophet to them promising new hope, promising new life, promising
to remain faithful. This passage of the dry bones gives me hope.
In this time of transition, I have seen this church have
new life. Witnessing our confirmation class this year, they are our future; picture
each of them serving on session or a committee of the church, their ideas and energy and excitement, hope. I was inspired on heritage homecoming Sunday. Being in amongst
the pastors of yesterday was truly a once in a lifetime experience, to experience firsthand the shepherds who helped guide
the church to where it is today, was just so tremendous. It gave hope, seeing
where the church has been and watching this congregation celebrate gave new energy.
I’m not trying to say that we were the valley of the bones, I am rejoicing that we have continued to feel the
breath of the holy spirit as we move forward. Taking the foundation that is in
place, and continuing to follow the spirit’s leading is inspiring. This
is a church with great hope, and the perseverance to follow through on that hope.
Today is the day we celebrate the birth of the church, and
what better way to do that than to celebrate the amazing ways the Spirit has guided this church. Be encouraged because God has done, is doing and will continue to do wonderful things through His church. As long as the people have hope, as long as the people’s hearts are not made
of stone, as long as we can still hear the good news of God’s amazing love, God’s spirit will be here.
As we celebrate the beginning of the church let us hear
again the words from Acts, “God declares, that I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh, and your sons and your daughters
shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams. 18 Even upon my slaves, both men
and women, in those days I will pour out my Spirit; and they shall prophesy.”
Through Peter’s words we hear again the words of Joel, that when the spirit comes the church will be built through
the people prophesying and sharing the good news of the gospel. These words have
always filled me with hope, the hymn we sang earlier is one of my favorites, there is just something about the language that
no matter your age, or your gender, or your status in life, the spirit can work through you, guiding you to further the church.
Hearing more from our passage, “2 When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. 2 And suddenly from heaven there
came a sound like the rush of a violent wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. 3 Divided tongues, as
of fire, appeared among them, and a tongue rested on each of them. 4 All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began
to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability.” Every
person in that room was filled with the Holy Spirit; there wasn’t one person who wasn’t touched.
And the same still holds true, every person in this room
has been touched and is being touched by the Holy Spirit. Each one of you has
gifts from the spirit. Each of you are witnesses to the resurrection and the
faithfulness of God. Each of you are called to share God’s love with all
you encounter. You each have hearts filled with hope, hope for tomorrow, hope
that lives in your hearts, just as God promised the Israelites through Ezekiel, just as the valley of the dry bones shares,
that no matter how far we might have run from God or how much we fight the holy spirit, we have still been touched by God’s
spirit.
We hang the red banner above our heads on this day as a
symbol of the Holy Spirit. Of the mighty rushing wind that touched those present
on the day of Pentecost and which still stands as a reminder to us today that the Spirit is present. We wear red, yellow and orange on this day to symbolize the fire of the holy spirit, think of the burning
bush and Moses, the fire that burned without burning, flames that did no damage, but held the presence of God. As we witnessed in our children’s time today, the spirit is present in this world in many ways, as
wind, and fire and even earthquakes.
On this day of celebration let us remember the church, let
us share in the celebration that the church has with stood the test of time, not only our church here but the church universal,
God’s church. Let us remember the churches around this Presbytery that
might be struggling to feel God’s spirit, let us remember the churches around the world who meet even though it is against
the law. Let us remember the churches who have closed their doors this year. So often we can only see our own church, we forget that we are connected to all churches,
that all churches make up on the one universal church, God’s church that was started with Peter and began with the mighty
rushing wind. We are all connected and as a connected church let us stand and
affirm our faith: I believe in God the father almighty, creator of heaven and
earth….
