God Pours His Spirit Into Us

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Can you remember a time when a picture you saw come to life?

Maybe it was when you had a color television in your home for the first time.

Maybe it was when you had a black and white photo restored in color,

or when you saw black and white footage turned to color.

Maybe it was when you saw a high definition TV for the first time.

Maybe it was when you saw a filter on your phone

put one of your pictures in just the right light.

Whatever it was,

it brought joy to your heart

and a smile on your face.

The story from Ezekiel this morning is about things coming to life.

It’s not your typical story from the Old Testament.

Most stories from there talk about historical events that had happened

giving promises and guidance from God

to prepare you for the future.

Now this story from Ezekiel does have a time and place

and even direction from God

but it’s given through a vision

--not through a plain telling.

It’s not so much an apocalyptic prophecy about the end times

but it still speaks about a resurrection of the dead.

God uses this vision to Ezekiel

to bring hope to his people.

When Ezekiel was given this vision

God’s people were still in exile.

They were waiting for God to still deliver them from Babylon.

I don’t know about you,

but I find when I’m waiting for things

it can seem like an eternity

And I’m just talking about waiting for my next doctor’s appointment.

Now, I’d imagine that the 40 years the Israelites were waiting to be delivered from Babylon seemed like something that would never come.

For those were an unpleasant 40 years.

A time of living in a country that had worship practices

that were bad for your spiritual health.

Living in a country that practices a survival of the fittest

instead of living in God’s gracious and sacrificial love.

Living as second class citizens.

To not be able to go to temple.

To not have a place to worship God in the fullness as he had asked

where the whole city up in celebration.

Instead

they were worshiping God

in small circles of people

whenever and wherever you can.

Could you even make it through a single year?

But in this mist of the Israelite’s troubled hearts

when they even wondered if God cared for them

God gave Ezekiel this vision.

Ezekiel saw a valley full of dry bones.

God questioned Ezekiel

and asked

if these bones could come alive.

Ezekiel says to God that he should know the answer to that question.

Then God says that Ezekiel shall prophesy over these bones.

Tell them to hear the Word of the Lord,

and that God will breathe life into them.

God tells them that when they see these things

they will know that God is still God.

So in Ezekiel’s vision

Ezekiel prophesied to the dry bones.

And the bones came alive.

People were formed.

Tendons were placed on the bones.

Skin covered the joints.

But the bodies

still had no life to them.

But God told Ezekiel to prophesy breath into the bodies

so that those who were slain

the Israelites who were defeated at war

may live.

And Ezekiel did so.

And an amazing army

alive and well

not zombie

but fully human

was ready to represent the Lord.

And so God tells Ezekiel that

just as God can make these dry bones come alive

so will he bring his tiring people out of Babylon.

And when this happens

the people of Israel will know that God is still God.

And there did come a day

when the Israelites did return to Israel.

They were able to be in and run their own nation.

But they didn’t return as a military force

but as a scattered people

slowly but surely returning home.

Here we can see a God

who is faithful to his promises

--the promises about God saving his people.

Here in this vision from Ezekiel

we see another picture of what God can do

like what he did when he created Adam and Eve.

When God created man

he breathed life into the dust

and made the crown of his creation

something beautiful.

He made a human.

Something he fearfully and wonderfully made.

What does this message from Ezekiel have to do with us Christians today?

Yes, humans are still the crown of creation to God.

But though we have sinned as we live in this cursed world

God still cares about us,

and desires for us to live well,

and he desires to save us.

But whenever I see this passage selected for a Sunday