The following is a link to our reading for today:
Ezekiel 37:1-14
The year was 587 BC. The place was Israel. The nation of Israel had hit absolute rock bottom. Their country had become like a desert floor covered with dry and brittle bones, as far as the eye could see, human bones bleached by the harsh sun. The Babylonians had eviscerated the entire Israelite army. All the young Israelite warriors—who had their whole lives still to live--were gone. Their bones spread across the desert as far as the eye could see. The Temple, the center of their religion, their lives, was gone. The capital city, their pride and joy, was gone. The people were starving, their stomachs protruding from lack of food, the flies settling on their faces. It got so bad that the Book of Lamentations says: “All the people groan as they search for food but no one gives them anything.
The hands of compassionate mothers have boiled their children. They became their food in the destruction of the daughters of the people.” It doesn’t get any lower than that. Then those Israelites who survived the war and starvation were taken as prisoners, and dragged back to Babylon. Israel was like the dead skeletons strewn across the desert floor. It truly seemed that God had forsaken them. In their agony they began to cry, “God can’t help us. God won’t help us. There is no God. God is punishing us for our sins. We have become like dry bones.”
The hands of compassionate mothers have boiled their children. They became their food in the destruction of the daughters of the people.” It doesn’t get any lower than that. Then those Israelites who survived the war and starvation were taken as prisoners, and dragged back to Babylon. Israel was like the dead skeletons strewn across the desert floor. It truly seemed that God had forsaken them. In their agony they began to cry, “God can’t help us. God won’t help us. There is no God. God is punishing us for our sins. We have become like dry bones.”
But there was one person, one man, who knew that God was still present. His name was Ezekiel. God took Ezekiel out into the desert to that valley filled with dry bones, and he asked Ezekiel “Mortal, can these bones live?” Ezekiel wisely replied, “O Lord God, you know.” Then God said to those bones: “Them bones, them bones are gonna walk around Them bones, them bones are gonna walk around, Them bones, them bones are gonna walk around Now you hear the word of the Lord.”
Then God breathed the breath of life into those dead bones. “The toe bone connected to the ankle bone; the ankle bone connected to the foot bone the foot bone connected to the shin bone the shin bone connected to the knee bone. The knee bone connected to the thigh bone. the thigh bone connected to the hip bone. The hip bone connected to the back bone. The back bone connected to the neck bone. The neck bone connected to the head bone. Now hear the word of the Lord.” “Them bones them bones are gonna dance around. Them bones, them bones are gonna dance around. Them bones, them bones are gonna dance around. Now hear the word of the Lord.”
When Israel was at the very bottom, in the deepest pit, at its most depressed, God spoke. “Them bones are gonna rise again.” The nation of Israel would come back to life again. When the African-American Community was at its lowest, held in bondage in slavery, treated worse than the animals, they heard and sang the same words. “Them bones them bones are gonna dance around. Now hear the word of the Lord.”
Our God is a God who brings that which was dead to life again.
When Israel was at the very bottom, in the deepest pit, at its most depressed, God spoke. “Them bones are gonna rise again.” The nation of Israel would come back to life again. When the African-American Community was at its lowest, held in bondage in slavery, treated worse than the animals, they heard and sang the same words. “Them bones them bones are gonna dance around. Now hear the word of the Lord.”
Our God is a God who brings that which was dead to life again.
I know that there is no shortage of dryness and deadness all around us. Wars, hunger, sickness, violent deaths, decimation of the environment, human rights abuses, and on and on the list could go. Sometimes it can feel as though the weight of this dryness and deadness weighs us down so much that we feel like we can’t even move. We feel helpless. We feel despair. We say, “Can these very dry bones live again?”
Or the dryness and deadness can be even more personal. Have you ever been at rock bottom? Have you ever despaired? Have you ever felt cut off from God, wondering if God was even there? Have you ever stood in that valley of dry bones and asked God “why God why?” Within our own congregation, there are marriages at risk, and some of our families are deeply wounded. We have young people who are discouraged and feel lonely and misunderstood. We have hurting parents in our midst, and some are not sure what to do anymore. Some face seemingly insurmountable obstacles at work, and others labor in anguish over personal struggles and shortcomings. Maybe you feel trapped and lost. It can be easy to shrug and say, “Why bother?”
I’ll tell you the story of a period in my life when I felt that all was dry bones. I’ll tell you the story of a period in my life when God made those bones dance again. I was 23 years old. I was young. I was getting ready to head off to seminary. I was full of excitement and anticipation. Then I received news that my parents were divorcing. My whole world feel apart. It was like someone had pulled the ground out from under me. I cried out to God. “Where are you? Are you there?” When I look back to that time 17 years ago, I see that God was always there. God was there in the people of my congregation who loved and cared for me and for whom I loved and cared. God was there in the friends I made when I arrived in seminary. God was in my heart sustaining me through the dark days. God brought me through my valley of dry bones.
Or the dryness and deadness can be even more personal. Have you ever been at rock bottom? Have you ever despaired? Have you ever felt cut off from God, wondering if God was even there? Have you ever stood in that valley of dry bones and asked God “why God why?” Within our own congregation, there are marriages at risk, and some of our families are deeply wounded. We have young people who are discouraged and feel lonely and misunderstood. We have hurting parents in our midst, and some are not sure what to do anymore. Some face seemingly insurmountable obstacles at work, and others labor in anguish over personal struggles and shortcomings. Maybe you feel trapped and lost. It can be easy to shrug and say, “Why bother?”
I’ll tell you the story of a period in my life when I felt that all was dry bones. I’ll tell you the story of a period in my life when God made those bones dance again. I was 23 years old. I was young. I was getting ready to head off to seminary. I was full of excitement and anticipation. Then I received news that my parents were divorcing. My whole world feel apart. It was like someone had pulled the ground out from under me. I cried out to God. “Where are you? Are you there?” When I look back to that time 17 years ago, I see that God was always there. God was there in the people of my congregation who loved and cared for me and for whom I loved and cared. God was there in the friends I made when I arrived in seminary. God was in my heart sustaining me through the dark days. God brought me through my valley of dry bones.
“Can these bones live?” Is there even the slightest degree of hope—a ray of light—in our valley of dry bones? As Christians, we believe there is. We believe there is hope for the needs of the world, and we believe there is hope for every person. For we believe in a God who lived as one of us, died on a cross and was raised again. We believe in a God that has experienced our pain. We believe in a God that suffers with us. We believe in a God who redeems that suffering. These very dry bones can indeed live again.
In the year 587 BC, God looked around the desert and the desert floor. There were skeletons all around. Nothing but skeletons as far as the eye could see.
And God said: “Them bones, them bones are gonna walk around. Them bones them bones are gonna walk around Them bones, them bones are gonna walk around Now hear the Word of the Lord.” Amen.
In the year 587 BC, God looked around the desert and the desert floor. There were skeletons all around. Nothing but skeletons as far as the eye could see.
And God said: “Them bones, them bones are gonna walk around. Them bones them bones are gonna walk around Them bones, them bones are gonna walk around Now hear the Word of the Lord.” Amen.