Ezekiel 37:1-14
“Hope For The Living Dead”
By: Rev. Kenneth Sauer, Pastor of Parkview United Methodist Church, Newport News, VA
In our Scripture lesson for this morning Ezekiel finds himself in a valley that is covered
with nothing but dry bones.
Sure looks like a hopeless situation to me.
Then God asked Ezekiel, “Can these bones live?”
I would imagine that Ezekiel’s natural response to this question would be “No, of course
not.”
Because he knew how these bones had become dry.
The dry bones are symbolic of the discouraged state of the people of Israel.
And he knew that the dryness of the bones was an indictment on Israel for specific sins
that the nation had committed.
These sins include cultic abuse--such as profaning the sabbath, and ethical crimes--such
as bloodshed, adultery, the dishonoring of parents, and the violation of the rights of orphans,
widows, and sojourners.
But Ezekiel also knew that the God he served was merciful and compassionate, and
that anything is possible for God.
So, Ezekiel responded, “O Sovereign Lord, you alone know.”
And sure enough, the mercy and compassion of God came forth.
God told Ezekiel to prophesy to the bones, to tell them to hear the Word of the Lord, and
He, would cause them to live.
So Ezekiel was obedient to God, and he prophesied to the bones.
And he saw something happen that I am sure must have astounded him.
Many times the Lord will call us to do something, and we will think.... “Okay, I’ll do
it....I’ll trust You and do it...but I don’t know what good it could possibly do.”
Well, to Ezekiel’s surprise, as he was prophesying, he heard noise and saw the bones
shaking; he saw them coming together.
He saw toe bones connected to foot bones,
He saw foot bones connected to ankle bones,
and on and on and on until all the bones were connected.
But they were not breathing; they were in a sense....the living dead!
Kind of like so many of those wacky zombie movies that a buddy of mine used to love.
But God asked Ezekiel to prophesy again, and breath came into them; “they came to life
and stood up on their feet--a vast army.”
Then God told Ezekiel that this vast army of the living dead were the entire household of
Israel.
And they were like this because their hope was gone.
And there are millions of people who are like this today.
Just look where we live--this community, this country, this world!
Just look around, and it seems as if we are living in a valley of dry bones!
We see men, and women, boys and girls--deteriorated physically, spiritually, and
morally.
We see despair, depression, hunger, the homeless, orphans, and widows not being cared
for.
Look at the tv news or the newspaper racks and we see bloodshed, adultery, extortion,
and so much corruption that it causes us to look up to God and wonder, “Can these bones live?”
There are some people who have chosen to serve at the altar of the gods of wealth and
power and have lost their souls.
Their are those who have been abused, neglected, and are suffering all kinds of
hardships...many of them are little more than breathing corpes.
There are kids on dope, crack houses, crack addicts, gang members, heroine fiends,
broken homes, people living with HIV and AIDS.....
People whose lives have been written off by society as being disposable---
There are so many situations that seem absolutely hopeless....
But in the eyes of the Eternal God, no life is disposable, no situation is hopeless!!!
Because we are never beyond the vast realm of God’s redemptive grace!
This week a friend of mine told me about a woman he knows who was diagnosed with
MS.
At first, she was depressed.
She knew what was going to happen to her body.
She knew that she would soon be losing the ability to control her body and her limbs.
She knew what she was up against--and she began to lose hope.
Then one morning she was reading the Gospel of John, and she read that Jesus came to
give her life, and to give it to her abundantly.
So she made up her mind that she was going to take Jesus at His Word.
She decided that she wasn’t going to let this disease defeat her, and cause her to be one
of the living dead.
So she entered the New York City Marathon, and she walked it but she finished it.
And the next year she did it again....
And then the year after that she did it again....
And how was she able to do this?
She did this through the same power that caused the dry bones of the valley to come to
life....she did this through the power of the living Word of God!
When Jeanne and I were living in Macon, Georgia we got involved with a homeless
shelter for indigent people living with HIV and AIDS.
Talk about a valley of dry bones!!!
There was hardly an ounce of hope in this place.
Most of these people had been cut-off by their families....
And when we came on the scene I was shocked that there were no other churches
involved in helping these people.
So we got to know the residents in a very personal way.
We ate lunch with them, we became friends with them, and through the grace of the
loving God the church I serving got involved as well.
A layperson at the church volunteered to pick many of the residents up every Sunday
morning and bring them to church.
We set up a couple of boxes outside the door of the church office, where members would
donate canned goods, toiletries, and tooth paste.
And I would visit the residents when they would be admitted to the hospital.
On one occassion, there was a resident named John, who seemed as if he were on his last
legs.
He had completely given up hope, and had gone into a self-induced coma.
We thought for sure he was as good as dead.
But I continued to visit him in the hospital...talking with him, and praying for him.
And a woman from our church would visit him as well.
Although John had no family or friends, she brought so many flowers and teddy bears to
his room....that you never would have known it.
One day this woman called me up and exclaimed-- “John spoke to me today! He actually
spoke!!!
A day or so later John told me that he wanted to accept Jesus Christ as his Lord and
Savior, I prayed the prayer with him....and boy did he mean it!
Within a week or so, John was out of the hospital, he was gaining his weight back, and he
was actually smiling.
He soon joined the church, and I remember commenting to Jeanne that his entire
countenance had changed.
What used to be dry bones....the living dead....had changed into a living breathing,
radiant and hopeful Christian!
And we saw this kind of thing happen over and over again as this hopeless valley of dry
bones....came alive through the Word of God!
I still get emails from my friends back in Macon, and am happy to hear that this ministry
has continued to blossom and grow in ways I never could have imagined possible!
But with God--nothing is impossible!!!
Do any of you feel as if you are living in the valley of dry bones?
If so, it’s time to allow God’s Spirit, and God’s Word to change your attitude---to change
your hopelessness into joy!
Make the decision to use the talents that God has given you for the work of His kingdom,
and you just might find your bones coming alive!
You know what I mean....
We may have a desire to sing, but because we don’t want to commit to coming to choir
practice--we won’t sing in the choir.
Or, we might make a really good Sunday school teacher; we have all the necessary
qualifications--
willingness to learn the job, willingness to share ourselves, but because we would have to get
up a little extra early on Sunday morning--the only morning we have to sleep late--we won’t
teach Sunday school or even participate.
We may have wonderful people skills, and a desire to see our church grow, but we don’t
invite others to come to church.
We may think, “I’m new here, so I’ll get around to doing something sometime.”
We may say “I’ve been here all these years. I’ve done my share; let the others do it
now.”
But in God’s business there are no retirements!
Yes, these bones can live. Your bones can live, our bones can live, and our
communities’ bones can live if we put our trust in Jesus and our faith in God!
It is the only way. It is our only hope!!!
Not only does God raise the physically dead, He also raises the living-dead--those who
have broken contact with God or are without hope.
It’s amazing that one day my dry bones had the breath of life breathed into them by the
living God.
I began, then, to understand that if I live for Jesus, everything will be alright.
I began to understand what Jesus meant when He said “love your neighbor as yourself.”
I began to understand that through the power of Christ I must treat everyone else as I
want to be treated, not as they treat me.
I learned that to be of service to the Lord, I had to be willing to deny myself, be obedient
to God’s will, and pray to God to be changed so that I may share in the amazing expereince of
God’s unconditional love for all people.
God said to Ezekiel, “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 put
my Spirit in you and you will live.”
The Word of God raises us up and gives us life.
The Word of the Risen Christ raises us up and gives us hope!
Can our bones live?
They can if we will follow Jesus.
They can if we surrender all to Jesus.
Because that is when God’s Holy Spirit enters us---causing us to be born again---so that
we can have a hope and a future!
Are we willing to ask God to allow our bones to live?
