Summons to Life

March 21, 1999

Lent V

Ezekiel 37; John 11

THE FUNERAL WAS OVER.

Soon the official time of mourning would be over as well. Where there's life there's hope. That's good human optimism. But death is another matter. Death has a ring of finality. Where there's death it's all over, isn't it?

The words of Jesus in the face of death don't seem to make sense. How can a dead person hear and believe? Jesus said, "The one that believes in me, even if they are dead, yet shall live; and whoever is alive and believes in me will never die!"

Have you ever been really down? I have. Have you ever prayed in desperation, and felt like nothing happened? I have. Have you ever felt as though the last train had left and you weren't on it? I think that is what these scriptures are talking about. These are not "self-help" scriptures. They are words about grace that comes when everything else has gone.

I believe that Jesus came to show us that nothing can frustrate God's love for us. Jesus came to let us know that while we can't avoid life's reality- there will be times of loss and pain- yet in the dark we can trust; God is there and if we listen He is calling our name.

I. THE JEWS IN BABYLON WERE REALLY DOWN.

They prayed in desperation and nothing happened. Their pathway to hope was closed down permanently. And then God sent along a visionary prophet with fantastic word-pictures. Wheels in wheels, mysterious flying creatures, and a God who knows and cares.

Ezekiel's vision really is a tremendous message of hope if it is received from faith to faith. You have heard the details read again today: the prophet finds himself in a valley, grim and foreboding. It is exceedingly dry. Even worse, it is populated with human skeletons, and they, too are dried and scattered.

God speaks to the prophet. He asks him a question: "Son of man, can these dry bones live?" The prophet is wise. He does not know the answer, even though he knows, humanly, there is no hope. "O Lord God, " he says, "you know the answer to that question."

God speaks again. This time it is a command. "Preach over these dead bones," God says. "Tell them, 'O dry bones, hear the word of the Lord.'"

"Tell them 'Thus saith the Lord God YHWH: Behold I will cause breath to enter you that you may come back to life. And I will put sinews on you, make flesh grow back on you, cover you with skin, and put breath in you that you may come alive, and you will know that I AM the LORD."

So Ezekiel, in his vision, stood there in the valley of dry bones and preached the word God had given him. Then in the virtual reality of his vision Ezekiel reported, "Even as I preached there was a rattling and a shaking and the bones came together, bone by bone, until there was an army of bodies" But they were just that– bodies, for, Ezekiel said, "There was no breath in them."

Just then God broke in again and spoke to his prophet: "Prophecy to the wind, now, Son of man, and say to the Wind, 'Come Holy Spirit, and blow over these dead bodies!" What a vision! In his vision Ezekiel saw this great army of corpses come alive and stand to their feet, ready to take orders from God, ready to live! And Ezekiel understood.

The exiles in Babylon heard and understood as well. WHEN THEY WERE WILLING TO RECOGNIZE THEIR OWN HELPLESSNESS– GOD'S WORD SPARKED THE LIGHT OF HOPE. The word of God was not dependent on their resources. It was a call to life that rekindled new life and new hope. Even in the dark we can trust; God is there. If we listen He is calling our name.

II. THE FUNERAL WAS OVER.

Martha's and Mary's faith had slipped into the past tense. They both said the very same thing when Jesus finally arrived four days after their brother Lazarus had died and was buried: "Lord, IF you HAD been here, my brother would not have died!"

Several interesting things stand out in this story of the final miracle in John's Gospel: Jesus' timing. (Why did he stay where He was so long? ) Thomas's devotion: "Let's go an die with him!" Jesus' powerful, wonderful words: "I AM the resurrection and the life. Those who believe in me, even though they die, will live, and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?" These are words we have learned to use with power at our funerals. They give us hope for we know the Authority behind them.

Jesus asked them to take him to the grave. They said, "Come, we'll take you there."

Jesus wept. (Lots of speculation here. But real men cry; they feel; they CARE!)

Then Jesus said, "Take away the stone that seals the grave." Mary said, "It won't be good." Lazarus had been dead four days. Jesus said, "Hold steady. Trust me."

Jesus called: Lazarus, come forth! The final miracle of John's Gospel was a preview of the time when by the power of his own Resurrection Jesus could say for all the world to hear: "Do not be afraid: I AM the First and the Last. I am He who lives and was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore. Amen. And I have the keys of Hell and of Death." (Rev. 1: 17,18) It was an astounding miracle. It ended hopelessness for the household in Bethany. And it set off the final countdown to the Cross.

CONCLUSION

[[ Have you ever been really down? I have. Have you ever prayed in desperation, and felt like nothing happened? I have. Have you ever felt as though the last train had left and you weren't on it? I think that is what these scriptures are talking about. These are not "self-help" scriptures. They are words about grace that comes when everything else has gone. ]]

God sent Ezekiel to exiles in Babylon who thought their situation was hopeless, Ezekiel with his fantastic vision of dry bones coming to life. That vision seemed unconnected to life as it really is lived. It flew in the face of common sense and logic. But it connected.

"We may be as good as dead," they said. "But God is not! We hear him calling us to hear his Word of creation!" And they listened and lived!

The situation in Bethany, humanly, was past hope. The human word of optimism is 'Where there's life there's hope." But Lazarus was DEAD! God's Word is "Where there is GRACE there is HOPE!" Jesus is God's Word of GRACE!

Where you are just now– where I am– if we will just stop and listen
we just may hear Jesus calling our name!

In a work called "May I Have this Dance?" Joyce Rupp said in poetry what I think I've been trying to say:

There I am
in Ezekiel's valley
one heap among many,
just another stack
of old, dry bones.

Some Mondays
feel this way,
and Tuesdays, too,
to say nothing of
Wednesday, Thursday,
Friday.

Lost dreams
and forgotten pleasures,
sold like a soul
to a gluttonous world
feeding on my frenzy
and anxious activity.

But just when
the old heap of bones
seems most dry
and deserted,
a strong Breath of Life
stirs among my dead.

Someone names God
comes to my fragments
and asks, with twinkling eye,
"May I have this dance?"
The voice stretches into me,
a stirring leaps in my heart,
lifting up the bones of death.

Then I offer my waiting self
to the One who's never
stopped
believing in me,
and the dance begins.

PRAYER

Lord Jesus, If we hear what we think we hear today, You are calling our name! We want to come to Life! O God, without YOU life is not really Life at all. We hear you say, "Come to Me!" Please, Jesus, help us take that next step Into your Presence, because knowing You is What Life is all about. Amen.

HYMN #305 (STL) O Breath of Life Verses 1 & 3 only