Good day dear friends.
Our text for today comes from Ezekiel 37: 1 The hand of the Lord came upon me, and he brought me out by the spirit of the Lord and set me down in the middle of a valley; it was full of bones. 2 He led me all around them; there were very many lying in the valley, and they were very dry. 3 He said to me, "Mortal, can these bones live?" I answered, "O Lord God, you know." 4 Then he said to me, "Prophesy to these bones, and say to them: O dry bones, hear the word of the Lord. 5 Thus says the Lord God to these bones: I will cause breath to enter you, and you shall live. 6 I will lay sinews on you, and will cause flesh to come upon you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and you shall live; and you shall know that I am the Lord." 7 So I prophesied as I had been commanded; and as I prophesied, suddenly there was a noise, a rattling, and the bones came together, bone to its bone. 8 I looked, and there were sinews on them, and flesh had come upon them, and skin had covered them; but there was no breath in them. 9 Then he said to me, "Prophesy to the breath, prophesy, mortal, and say to the breath: Thus says the Lord God: Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe upon these slain, that they may live." 10 I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived, and stood on their feet, a vast multitude. 11 Then he said to me, "Mortal, these bones are the whole house of Israel. They say, "Our bones are dried up, and our hope is lost; we are cut off completely.' 12 Therefore prophesy, and say to them, Thus says the Lord God: I am going to open your graves, and bring you up from your graves, O my people; and I will bring you back to the land of Israel. 13 And you shall know that I am the Lord, when I open your graves, and bring you up from your graves, O my people. 14 I will put my spirit within you, and you shall live, and I will place you on your own soil; then you shall know that I, the Lord, have spoken and will act, says the Lord." (NRSV)
Graveyards have both scared and fascinated me. Tombstones and grave markers and their messages, especially among older cementeries such as the kind found in New Orleans have been interesting to visit. Tombstones with the little picture of the deceased also are interesting. What people leave on the ground by the grave on certain days also intrigue me. Along the Mexican border, El Dia de Los Muertos, Day of the Dead, make for colorful, brightly decorated places. As the day grows longer I start heading for the gate. Imagine being taken by the hand of God and led to a boneyard. Nothing hidden by sod and cement, all the dead bodies out in the open and then to be told by the Lord to preach to them. Is your blood pressure up yet? Fear of the dead and public speaking? Ezekiel was the one taken by God to this place and it was to share a lesson with him and with us; nothing is ever dead or over until God declares it so. The lesson for Israel was that their choice to live in hopelessness was not a good nor valid choice. The lesson for the Church today is the same: Quit living and acting like the dead! We have a living God who still wants us to declare God's love for all people! The last two nights I have introduced new pastors to small churches. Theirs is a situation where they could easily declare their need for a peaceful death, but in one, the new chairperson of the pastor-parish relations committee said, "I choose life!" And so, their pastor-to-be is one who stirs things up. The second is a church that is receiving a pastor sent by the Bishop to close the present church she is serving eight years ago! The church is now thriving and I expect the same to happen in this part-time church. Nothing is dead nor over until God says so.
The same is true in our personal lives. Whatever we may be facing we must face it with God on our side. Our prayers and petitions should reflect a living hope in a living God. No illness, no difficulty, no set-back is over until God says it is. But we must stay connected and stay focused on what God would want for us, even if it seems we're right in the middle of a bone or graveyard. We know and we want the whole world to know of the one, true living and loving God.
PRAYER: Living God, our prayer is that You continue to walk among us even when it seems we're walking among the dead. May life be our hope in all things, in our churches, our places of work and service, and in our families and lives. May it be so; in Christ Jesus we pray, amen!
Have a great and blessed day in the Lord!
Eradio Valverde
