Have you ever been intrigued by optical illusions. Basically, they’re pictures that deceive our minds. We see one thing, but our brains tell us we’re seeing something different. Take a look at this picture. Some of you may have run across this in a book or in school. How many of you saw an older woman in the picture? How many saw a young woman? It’s interesting how we can all see the same image; yet, leave with a different picture of what we saw. Back in the 90’s, the Magic Eye books became really popular. In each of these magic eye pictures was hidden some kind of object. I could never find the hidden objects. Other people saw the hidden spaceships and planets and all I could see was a bunch of squiggly colored lines on a page.
Life often feels the same way. We are presented with a reality, but how we choose to view the situation determines our course. I’ve had to wear glasses or contacts since I was in the third grade. I am near-sighted. This means that I can’t see very far in front of me. If I take off my glasses I can only see a couple of feet in front of me. The entire front row has become blurry to me. When I put on my glasses, though, my vision changes. I can distinguish faces and I can see where I’m headed. When we choose to follow Christ it’s like we put on a pair of glasses. Before, we walked around with no direction and no vision for life. Yet, Christ gives us the opportunity to look at life in a whole new way. Even though this new vision is available to us, we still choose to look at life in the same way we did before Jesus. We accept Christ, but reject His vision. It is like being near-sighted, but declining the use of glasses. Since the beginning of the year, we’ve been talking about being hungry for God. Why? Because we’re not content with pretending to be a church. We want to know God personally and we want to experience the fullness of His Spirit. Yet, if we don’t learn to see things the way God sees them, we’re going to miss the reality of what God wants to do in our lives.
(Turn to Ezekiel 37:1) The hand of the LORD was upon me, and he brought me out by the Spirit of the LORD and set me in the middle of a valley; it was full of bones. 2 He led me back and forth among them, and I saw a great many bones on the floor of the valley, bones that were very dry. 3 He asked me, “Son of man, can these bones live?” I said, “O Sovereign LORD, you alone know.” 4 Then he said to me, “Prophesy to these bones and say to them, ‘Dry bones, hear the word of the LORD! 5 This is what the Sovereign LORD says to these bones: I will make breath enter you, and you will come to life. 6 I will attach tendons to you and make flesh come upon you and cover you with skin; I will put breath in you, and you will come to life. Then you will know that I am the LORD.’” 7 So I prophesied as I was commanded. And as I was prophesying, there was a noise, a rattling sound, and the bones came together, bone to bone. 8 I looked, and tendons and flesh appeared on them and skin covered them, but there was no breath in them. 9 Then he said to me, “Prophesy to the breath; prophesy, son of man, and say to it, ‘This is what the Sovereign LORD says: Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe into these slain, that they may live.’” 10 So I prophesied as he commanded me, and breath entered them; they came to life and stood up on their feet—a vast army. 11 Then he said to me: “Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel. They say, ‘Our bones are dried up and our hope is gone; we are cut off.’ 12 Therefore prophesy and say to them: ‘This is what the Sovereign LORD says: O my people, I am going to open your graves and bring you up from them; I will bring you back to the land of Israel. 13 Then you, my people, will know that I am the LORD, when I open your graves and bring you up from them. 14 I will put my Spirit in you and you will live, and I will settle you in your own land. Then you will know that I the LORD have spoken, and I have done it, declares the LORD.’”
The prophet, Ezekiel lived during a tumultuous time in Israel’s history. The nation had become a shell of its former self. The country had splintered and became two nations. The Assyrians dispersed Israel hundreds of years earlier. Now, Judah had become just as idolatrous as Israel and was heading for destruction. The Babylonian empire reigned supreme over that entire region of the world. They overtook the land of Judah and carried away many of its inhabitants. You probably remember that among the first group of Jews deported was the prophet Daniel. Ezekiel was among the second group of Jews to be carried off to Babylon. It’s difficult for us to imagine the pain and suffering experienced by the Jews of that day. Not only did the Jews have to deal with the brutal treatment of their captors; they also had to adjust to a completely new culture. Everything around them was turned on its ear. However, that was just the beginning of the trouble for Judah. Ezekiel, after being called as a prophet by God, began to prophesy about the destruction of Jerusalem. Yet, no one seemed to take him seriously, until it came true. Jerusalem was completely destroyed in 586 BC. All that remained of the once proud city was rubble. Picture this; the people Ezekiel was speaking to in chapter 37 were a group of people with no identity, no hope, and no future. Miracles no longer seemed like a possibility.
It was in the midst of this situation that Ezekiel says that he was carried off by the Spirit to a valley. In this vision, Ezekiel witnessed a valley of bones. The floor of the valley was covered with bones. Perhaps, this valley was once the sight of a great battle. The fact that they the bones are described as dry, hits home the point that there was no life in them at all. God then asks the question, “Can these bones live?” The question that God asks Ezekiel is all about vision. What does Ezekiel see? Does he only see his present circumstances or does he see the possibility of a miracle? The prophet replies, “you alone know.” So, God tells Ezekiel to prophesy to the bones to come together and reform into bodies. I don’t want us to take this moment for granted. We may be quick to dismiss Ezekiel’s actions as bold because this was a vision. The fact that this was a vision doesn’t discount the value of Ezekiel’s decision. God was asking Ezekiel to do something that seemed ridiculous. Prophesying to bunch of dry bones is not the normal course of action. Bones are laid to rest; they are buried. They are not usually the recipients of prophecy. God was asking Ezekiel to take a leap into the unknown. He was asking the prophet to act in spite of what he saw. Ezekiel did as he was told and witnessed the resurrection of bones to new life.
God then began to explain to Ezekiel what this vision meant. The bones represented Israel. They say, “Our bones are dried up and our hope is gone; we are cut off.” This was Israel’s reaction to losing everything. With the destruction of Jerusalem, they had lost all hope. They felt completely cut off. They felt cut off from God, cut off from their home and their heritage, cut off from the miraculous acts of the past. The Jews could only see their present circumstances. What did they see? Pain and suffering were the only things that they saw because they didn’t see things from God’s perspective. They were locked into the present. Instead, God was showing them the possibility of the future. Through this vision, God was promising spiritual renewal to the nation of Israel. This idolatrous people could be resurrected into a godly nation. From that point forward, the exiles from Judah could choose to be led by two points of view, their own vision or God’s vision.
Is what reality what we see? Most people ascribe to the belief that seeing is believing. What you see is what you get. In January of 2007, the Washington Post did an experiment to test what people see. They arranged for a young man, named Joshua Bell to play music at the Metro station. By most measures, he was nondescript—wearing jeans, a long-sleeved T-shirt, and a Washington Nationals baseball cap. From a small case, he removed a violin. Placing the open case at his feet, he threw in a few dollars and pocket change as seed money and began to play. For the next 45 minutes, Bell played Mozart and Schubert as over 1,000 people streamed by, most hardly taking notice. If they had paid attention, they might have recognized the young man for the world-renowned violinist he is. They also might have noted the violin he played—a rare Stradivarius worth over $3 million. Just three days earlier, Joshua Bell sold out Boston Symphony Hall, with ordinary seats going for $100. In the subway, Bell garnered about $32 from the 27 people who stopped long enough to give a donation. What we see is not always reality. The people at the subway station saw just another out of work musician playing for change. The reality was that they were witnesses to a world famous musician. The first principle we learn from Ezekiel’s vision is that we must not let our present situation determine our future outcome. That’s exactly what was happening to the Jews. They were allowing the hopelessness that they saw to dictate their vision of reality. We are often guilty of doing the same thing. It’s hard to have faith in the future, when the present looks so bleak. How can I develop a hunger for God, when I don’t even feel like I know Him anymore? How can I become passionate about serving God when our relationship has grown cold? The present can have a powerful effect on our attitudes. It’s difficult to see an army of the living in a valley of dry bones. Yet, the beauty of following Christ is that Jesus gives us a vision for a better future. By looking to Christ we can see a future of blessing even when the present looks hopeless. Christian author, Richard Foster, commented, “God has to help us let go of our tiny vision in order to release the greater good he has in store for us.” When we lay aside our own vision and replace it with God’s vision, then we can have hope in the midst of any situation. We can believe that the impossible is once again possible.
Secondly, we must begin to act on the future promise. We must being to act on God’s promises. Most of you have heard about the weight loss competition among the pastors. It’s only been a month, but both Pastor Tim and Pastor David have done a fantastic job and are working hard to lose weight. When you look at them, you can see the results beginning to take shape. One of the hardest things about losing weight is the process. I always hope that by the second day of the diet, that the weight is completely gone. My clothes should fit loosely by day three, and by day four I can celebrate. Anyone else hoped for that same diet plan? We all know that isn’t the case, though. In order to obtain the future goal of getting to a healthy weight, I have to start acting today. God gave the Jews this prophecy by Ezekiel for a reason. This new hope should have brought out new behavior in the Jews. The future promise should have changed the way they acted in the present. There are promises God has given us for the future that we need to begin to act on today. Since Pastor Tim began this series on hungering for God, he’s reference the passage from Matthew 5. In verse six it states, “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.” What’s interesting to note is the tense of these verbs. “Hunger and thirst” are in the present tense, and they carry the idea that it is a continuous act of hungering and thirsting for God. These people are so dedicated to the being filled by God that they hunger and thirst for Him continually. Jesus says that these people will be filled, future tense. This filling is in the future, but the act of being hungry and thirsty begins now. It begins in the present. We take hold of the future in the midst of present circumstances. The promise of being filled with God’s over flowing presence is acted on when you’re not even sure if you can experience God. We cannot let the present dictate our future and we cannot let the present dictate how we act. If we as a church want to be filled by God’s presence, then we must begin to continually hunger and thirst for God today.
Lastly, we must trust God to complete the miracle. There was no way that Ezekiel could renew the nation of Israel, just as he could not make bones rejoin. The miracle was first and foremost God’s responsibility. When we try to take over that responsibility, we will become frustrated. It’s not our job to make miracles; it’s our job to believe. Pastor Erwin McManus shared that while ministering in South Dallas, McManus’s small congregation began to grow. Looking for a place to build a larger church building, the leadership spotted an acre of land for sale. Given its location, it seemed strange that the property was available. Excited, this small group of people began to pray that the site would soon be theirs. Eventually, they were able to purchase the property. As the congregation began the process of obtaining building permits, they discovered the property had been declared "unbuildable." The acre of land in a prime location was nothing more than a worthless landfill. McManus grieved over this waste of precious time and money. He stated, “We had bought an acre of garbage. All I could do was ask our congregation to pray with me and believe that God would even use the worst of human mistakes to perform the greatest of miracles. After months of prayer, a woman from the congregation told McManus that since they had asked God to turn the land into something useful. Feeling God’s confirmation of her words, McManus asked for more core samples to be taken. This time the researchers found soil. McManus said, “We were told the property was worthless and unusable. What I cannot tell you is what happened beneath the ground at 2815 South Ervay Street. All I can tell you is what I know—and that is that God took my failure and performed a miracle. Today Cornerstone worships on that acre of land in a sanctuary built by our own hands.” We can’t transform garbage into soil. We can’t make bones come alive. However, we serve a God that can make the impossible a reality. If today you want to be filled with presence of God, you don’t have to figure out a way to do it yourself. You don’t have to make it a reality on your own. Instead, all we have to do is believe that what God promised he would do, will happen.
“Can these bones live?” Your answer depends on what you see. Do you see things from your own perspective, or do you see things from God’s point of view? Can we as a church live? The answer is yes. God has promised that those who hunger and thirst for righteousness will be satisfied. We have the promise. Let’s let go of what we see in the present and begin to act on this promise believing that God will make the miracle a reality. What do you see? Maybe you’ve heard the messages on hungering for God and you just don’t know if it can be a reality. Perhaps some of you have even responded to altar calls, but you’re still distracted by the present. If you’re looking for the reality of being filled by God, then today I ask you to take hold of the promise. God said that those who hunger and thirst will be filled. Cast aside the present and let’s begin act on the promise that God has give to us.
