Dry Bones, Come Alive!The hand of the LORD was upon me, and he brought me out in the Spirit of the LORD and set me down in the middle of the valley; it was full of bones. Ezekiel 37:1 Dry bones. Dusty, withered, disconnected, and scattered skeletons. Not good for anything, but once, a while back, they were people, real living human beings. Ezekiel has a vision of God's chosen people in exile - scattered, withering and without hope. God calls Ezekiel to prophesy over the bones, to speak His living and life-giving words over hopeless ruins. Suddenly there is movement. Bones rattle to order with sinews, tendons and flesh layered and secured. But these bones still are not human, not fully alive. The most vital element is still missing. Once again the prophet speaks and this time there is breath! God's breath of life itself - the same breath that called creation to order in the beginning of time, the same breath that transformed Adam from a lump of clay to a living human being! With a single breath over dry bones, God imparts a promise that His beloved children will not remain in exile and that they will once again have a righteous king to rule over them. That which was dead and dry and scattered will come alive! All around us is a “valley of dry bones.” We live, work, shop, and play among (and with) people who are dry, dusty, scattered, withered, lifeless. They too are living in exile…separated from the God longs to give them the breath of life. Their lives are fragmented, scattered, hopeless, and withered from the inside out. They ache to be put together, to feel whole, centered and connected. So, God calls us just as he called Ezekiel, to speak to the dry bones (ourselves included) “Come alive!” This is exactly what many of us have been doing for the past several days. During this season of “Thy Kingdom Come” we have been praying for friends, family and our community to experience the new life available in Jesus Christ. The breath of God is very real for all of us who claim Jesus as our Righteous King. In baptism, we have received the Holy Spirit, the living breath of God! The same Holy Spirit poured out on the day of Pentecost is now active in our lives. On Sunday we will celebrate the feast of Pentecost. We will remember how God has rescued us from a dry, lifeless, and withered life; how he has put His breath in us, and how we too have come alive! And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, "Receive the Holy Spirit. John 20:22 Blessings,
Matthew+ Almighty God, on this day you opened the way of eternal life to every race and nation by the promised gift of your Holy Spirit: Shed abroad this gift throughout the world by the preaching of the Gospel, that it may reach to the ends of the earth; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen. (BCP p.227) |
