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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. He led me all round them; there were very many lying in the valley, and they were very dry. He said to me, ‘Mortal, can these bones live?’ I answered, ‘O Lord God, you know.’ Then he said to me, ‘Prophesy to these bones, and say to them: O dry bones, hear the word of the Lord.Thus says the Lord God to these bones: I will cause breath to enter you, and you shall live. 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.’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. 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. 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.’ I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived, and stood on their feet, a vast multitude.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.” 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. And you shall know that I am the Lord, when I open your graves, and bring you up from your graves, O my people. 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.’ (Ezekiel 37:1-14)
I have a bag of bones in my office closet. They're plastic, but have served as a good prop for the passage reading for today. Its has made many a kid scared to see them when used in a children't sermon, but usually fascinates some. Though plastic, the bones say death all over them. Such was the vision that the prophet had as he was set down in the middle of this valley full of bones. (God uses props, too!). There were many bones, the prophet writes, and he notes that these bones are very dry. Then God asks the question many a district superintendent asks of pastors and lay leadership at various meetings, "Where is the life of this place?" God's question was more direct" "Can these bones live?" The prophet has a great charge conference response, "O Lord God, You know." Or maybe I pronouncing the response wrong? But God said to the prophet, preach to them! And God even gives the prophet the sermon they should hear. It is a sermon of hope, renewal, awakening, and revival. And the prophet did just that and he then heard a noise, "a rattling," and the bones came together, "bone to tis bone." And once the skeleton was in place, so came the sinews and then flesh, then skin...one thing was missing! Breath! Then the sermon continued, preach to the breath and may it comes from the four winds and bring the breath of life. It came, the now completed humans stood up, a vast multitude of them and God said, "This is the house of Israel and the present state they find themselves in; dried up because of the lack of hope. "You can have new life!" should be your sermon, so preach that.
That sermon may need to come to our lives as well as our churches. For you who have given up and believe there is nothing more that God can do, think again. Even in the midst of what seems like certain death, God can act and bring us new life. Even to the hopeless, there is a message of hope they can hear. God is prepared to share His Spirit with all who call upon God's name. I've said it many times before and I continue to affirm that God is not through with us, if we would but humble ourselves before Him and call upon Him to have His way among us.
*|FNAME|*, make that your prayer today for the needs in your life. Pray for new life, for a new hope, for a new drive to make your way to that hope; and may that hope give you a new strength to lead yourself and others to the place where God would have you be.
PRAYER: Loving God, we pray for new life. Blow hard on our dryness and our bones with the breath of life and new hope. May we come to life in You in Your way to be the people and church You called us to be. This we pray in Christ Jesus' precious name, amen.
Have a great and blessed day in the Lord!
Eradio Valverde
