Delivered May 27, 2012 Video
The title of my message comes from
the television show on the Fox network, which has been running for almost 12
years now. It is a murder mystery – or
crime drama, as they call them today - based on forensic anthropology and forensic
archaeology. Cases are solved by examining the bones of possible murder
victims. Each episode focuses on human remains brought by FBI Agent Seeley
Booth to the forensic anthropologist Dr. Temperance "Bones" Brennan.
In addition to the murder cases in each episode, the series explores the
backgrounds and relationships of the regular characters. An ongoing dynamic
between the two main characters is their disagreement about science and faith.
Brennan argues for science and atheism. Booth argues for faith and God.
Our OT scripture passage for today involves
a valley full of unburied human remains. The prophet Ezekiel is brought by the
Lord to a valley that is full of bones. The first two verses of our story say: “The hand of the Lord came upon
me and brought me out in the Spirit of the Lord, and set me down in the
midst of the valley; and it was full
of bones. 2 Then
He caused me to pass by them all around, and behold, there were very many in the open
valley; and indeed they were very
dry.” There was another TV crime drama called Cold Case which investigates
old murders. This passage in Ezekiel would definitely qualify as a cold case,
for it says that these bones were very dry. They had been lying out in the hot
sun of the Middle East for years. Just picturing this in your mind’s eye is
disturbing. Years ago I visited the Mar Saba monastery in the Judean desert in
Israel. The monastery is over 1500 years old. One of the monks took us on a
tour of the grounds and brought us into the burial chambers. They were caves
filled with thousands of bones. One cave was stacked with human skulls. I have
seen dead bodies before but I have never anything like this!
The sight that Ezekiel saw was even
more dramatic. This was a battlefield, and the dead had been left to lie where
they fell. This was not an unheard of thing to happen in ancient times. It was
a final insult to one’s enemy to leave their dead unburied. If the battlefield
was far from the homeland of the defeated army, then there would be no one from
their own nation to bury them. From the identification made later in the chapter
this appears to be a battlefield where the army of the Hebrews fought one of
their enemies, probably the Babylonians, and lost. Ezekiel was brought (in a
vision apparently) to this battlefield and beheld the bones of his countrymen
bleaching in the sun. This is certainly a timely passage to read in worship on
this Memorial Day weekend when we as a nation honor those who have died in
battle. We treat our war dead respectfully and decorate their graves.
I. The first question this morning is
the meaning and significance of this scene of bones. I have already alluded to
the primary meaning. This is Israel. Verse 11 says: “Then He said to me, “Son of man, these bones are the whole house of
Israel.” But there is more to it than a simple identification of the fallen
soldiers. This verse goes on to say. “Son
of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel.” They indeed say, ‘Our bones
are dry, our hope is lost, and we ourselves are cut off!’ These bones
represent the whole people of Israel at that time – living and dead. Those who survived
the war and had been brought into captivity in Babylon felt like they were as
dead as their comrades on the battlefield. This passage is talking not just
about physical death but national death. The Jewish captives felt hopeless and
cut off.
These bones can also represent
individual Christians. “Our bones are
dry, our hope is lost, and we ourselves are cut off!” Individuals can feel
spiritually dry. Perhaps you feel this way. What is your spiritual life like?
What is your relationship to God like? What is your prayer life like? What is
your spiritual reading program like – both scripture and other spiritual books?
What is the condition of your soul? Do you feel connected to the Spirit of God
or not? These are all good questions to ask when contemplating this passage
this morning on this Pentecost Sunday.
Today is Pentecost. It is the day in
the Christian calendar when we celebrate the day that the Holy Spirit came in
power upon the early church as they were gathered in Jerusalem. The scripture
passage in the Book of Acts speaks about a mighty wind blowing through the
place where they were gathered. Tongues of fire spread out and alighted on each
of the people there, and they were filled with the Holy Spirit. This is the
beginning of the Christian Church. From that experience of God, the church grew
and the gospel spread. It was a vital movement that spread throughout the Roman
Empire and outlasted the Caesars and the mighty Roman army. This Holy Spirit is
the God we worship, the God incarnated in Jesus Christ. The Holy Spirit is God
indwelling and filling his people.
II. Let me move on now to the second
question to be asked of this passage. It is the same question asked of Ezekiel
by the Lord. I have already referred to it: Can these bones live? The answer is
Yes! It is yes at all the levels that I just addressed. The original context of
this passage was the ancient people of Israel. Could that defeated, conquered,
exiled people survive? History gives us the answer. Yes. Israel is still alive
even 2600 years after this question was asked of Ezekiel. The Jews came back to
the land from their exile in Babylon. They survived later occupations by
Persia, Greece, Rome and even the Ottoman Empire.
The history of the Jews is a harsh
and difficult one. The Final Solution of the Nazis tried to do what the
Babylonians could not do – completely destroy this people. Yet out of that holocaust
came the modern state of Israel. I recently finished reading a book entitled
“Why People Believe Weird Things: Pseudoscience, Superstition, and Other Confusions of Our Time”
by Michael Shermer. One of the many movements he investigates is the Holocaust
deniers – those who say that there was no systematic extermination of Jews by
the Nazis in Europe in the 1940’s. I had
heard about them but had never read anything in depth about them or their
reasoning before; it was very eye-opening – and very weird! The Jews have survived
not only the Holocaust but attempts to deny the Holocaust ever happened.
People are talking these days about
the eventual extinction of mainline Protestantism. But I believe that mainline
denominations can not only survive but thrive. But it all depends on whether we
follow the model for renewed put forth here in Ezekiel 37. How did these dry
bones in this story live?
1. First, they came to life again by
the preaching of the Word of God. Verse 4 “Again
He said to me, “Prophesy to these bones, and say to them, ‘O dry bones, hear
the word of the Lord!” Spiritual life begins when God speaks to his people.
The apostle Paul says that “faith comes
by hearing and hearing by the Word of God.”
When prophets prophesy and preachers preach then life happens. That
is the meaning of the Creation story of Genesis 1. It says that God brought
light and light into a dark dead universe by simply speaking. God said, “Let
there be… and there was.” Life happens by the Word of God – physical life and
spiritual life.
The command of God to Ezekiel was, “Prophesy to these bones, and say to them,
‘O dry bones, hear the word of the Lord!” This is a call for preachers to
return to the ancient words of Scripture. The words of Scripture have been
around a long time. There is a reason for that. The reason is that people have
found meaning and purpose in them. They find life in the ancient writings. They
hear God speaking through the words. Of course they were written by human
beings! But we also intuitively sense that there is a divine inspiration behind
the human words. We confess that the Holy Spirit led these writers to utter
these words. We confess that these words are special. They transcend the ages.
They speak not only to Jews living in Babylon 2600 years ago, but they
transverse the millennia and have meaning and power for us.
Ezekiel was told to preach, and he did
as he was told. He preached to a valley full of dead bones. Can you imagine
what he was thinking while he was giving that sermon?. He probably thought to
himself, “What am I doing preaching a sermon to a bunch of skeletons!” Are they
really going to hear and respond? But the strange thing is they did. Verse 7 “So I prophesied as I was commanded; and as
I prophesied, there was a noise, and suddenly a rattling; and the bones came
together, bone to bone. 8 Indeed,
as I looked, the sinews and the flesh came upon them, and the skin covered them
over; but there was no breath in them.”
2. Now Ezekiel had a congregation of flesh and blood bodies to preach
to, but they were still dead, because – as it says – there was no breath in
them. The Hebrew word for breath and spirit are the same word “ruach.” So this
can just as well be translated that there was no spirit in them. It probably
should be read in both senses – having a double meaning – which is easy to do
in Hebrew but difficult in English. Then God spoke to Ezekiel again in verse 9.
“Also He said to me, “Prophesy to the
breath, prophesy, son of man, and say to the breath, ‘Thus says the
Lord God: “Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe on these slain,
that they may live.”’” 10 So
I prophesied as He commanded me, and breath came into them, and they lived, and
stood upon their feet, an exceedingly great army.”
The point being made here is that
these bones could live only if the Spirit came into them. The physical
structure was there – the bones and flesh and sinews and skin – but there was
no life because there was no Spirit. It is the same with individuals, churches,
and denominations. A church can have structure – buildings, bylaws, boards, and
even a calendar full of activities – but it is not alive if the Spirit is not
in them. The same with denominations. They can have national conventions and officers
and make proclamations, but if the Spirit is not present, there is no life. If
the Holy Spirit is not present, a denomination will die; that may be what is
happening with many mainline denominations today.
That is what is happening with many
churches. Did you know that an average of 75 churches close their doors every
week in our country. Between 3500 and 4000 churches close their doors each year
according to the Barna Group. Why? Because the Spirit is not there. Just like
the breath leaves a person when his body dies, so does a church die when the
Spirit leaves. Fortunately in recent years there has been a trend in some denominations
to plant new churches. You don’t hear about this so much but the fact is that
now more churches are being planted each year than are closing – about 500
more. But most are not planted by the mainline denominations. But still it is a
good sign. Where I ministered in western Pennsylvania the number of Baptist
churches in the association more than doubled while I was there. The Spirit is
alive and still brings life.
And this is true of us as
individuals. A church and a denomination are composed of individuals. There is
no church and no Christianity without you and I. That is what Pentecost is
about. In Acts 2 the Holy Spirit filled a group of believers, and at that
moment they were transformed from discouraged, disillusioned, frightened individuals
into people so spiritually alive that they turned the world upside down. And
the lesson of this passage is that this can happen again. The same Holy Spirit
is present, and can do a vibrant work in our lives, our church, and in this
nation. Come, Holy Spirit!
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