Preparing
with Joy for the Paschal Feast
I
The Charge to Moses
and Joshua
II
The Story of
Creation
III
The Future Glory of
Zion
IV
The Conversion of
Nineveh
V
The Flood
VI
A New Heart and a
New Spirit
VII
Salvation Offered
Freely to All
VIII
Israel’s Deliverance
at the Red Sea
Part IX of XV
Sunday 18 March 2018
Fifth Sunday in Lent
The Valley of Dry
Bones
Ezekiel 37:1-14
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 around 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.
In the name of the Father, and of the
Son,
and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
In the Old Testament reading for this Fifth Sunday in Lent, we
have heard the promise of God given through the prophet Jeremiah that the day
will come when God will establish a new covenant in which it will be shown for
all to see that the people belong to God.
As I thought of this promise within the context of the Old Testament
readings proclaimed at the Easter Vigil, my mind went to the reading from the
prophet Ezekiel known as “The Valley of Dry Bones.”
Ezekiel is placed by God in a valley of dry bones; a lot of
bones. And in that moment, God asks the
prophet if these bones can live. Ezekiel
gives an answer that neither limits God's power nor presumes to know the
answer. The prophet simply replies:
“Lord, you know!”
This is a moment in which we need to be attentive to the
question asked by God and the response of the prophet. I say that because this vision of this valley
filled with dry bones is a vision that continues to replay itself. In almost 15 years as a priest, I have stood
among dry bones many times. And I am not
alone in this. Every time we bring the
body of one whom we have known and loved to their grave, we stand among dry
bones. And make no mistake about the
fact that when we stand in those places filled with dry bones, God asks us
also, “can these bones live?” And the
very reason why we pray for those whom we love but see no longer and why we
bless these bones and these graves Is because by faith we know the answer that
we long one day to know by sight. We
know by the witness of the apostles that Jesus has trampled down death by death
and bestowed life upon those in the tombs.
We know Jesus is the firstborn of those who sleep in death. Our faith assures us that the day shall
surely come when even the bones that have returned to dust shall be restored
and enlivened by Jesus who is the resurrection and the door to eternal life.
The vision of Ezekiel points forward to the eternal Easter Day that
is the Advent of Jesus as King of Kings and Lord of Lords. In that vision, the dry bones are brought to
live once more. Life comes through the
power and presence of God even in the last place we expect to find life.
There are two main reasons why this is such a necessary and
powerful reminder for us who live by faith and not yet by sight. Remember how we began this Lenten journey:
marked with ash crosses on the First Day of Lent. These crosses were not merely a sign of our
piety. They are signs of our
mortality. When we heard those words
with which that cross was imposed upon us, we were reminded that the
unavoidable truth is that we shall become dry bones. And if we did not have the promises that
arise from Christ's Resurrection, that thought would likely be overwhelming. But as Christ is risen, and as he has joined
us to his death and resurrection, we need not be afraid, for even these bones
shall live!
This is so because the promise of God rooted in Christ's words,
“Do not be afraid,” apply even in these days in which we remember our own
mortality as we live here and now. When
Ezekiel declares, “Lord, you know,” he is acknowledging before God the
awareness that nothing is beyond the power of God even when, or especially
when, we are faced with realities that exceed our imagination and comprehension. God can do all things well, even that which
exceeds our wildest imagination. When we
remember that truth, we know that our God is always bigger than our problems
and more powerful than everything that seeks to hold us captive in fear.
And how we need that reminder.
How greatly the world in which we live needs that reminder. And how shall the world about us know this
comforting truth if we who are the Body of the risen Christ are not bold enough
to stand among the dry bones that are the hopeless places where fear holds so
many captive, pointing to Jesus? Even in
Lent, we proclaim Christ, crucified and risen, giving life in the last places
we would expect to find life. Remember
this as we go forth into the world about us, trusting that indeed God is always
more powerful and loving than anything or anyone else who shall be encountered in
our midst.
In the name of the Father, and of the
Son,
and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
The Rev’d Timothy Alleman
Rector
The Church of the
Holy Cross
X
The
Gathering of God’s People
XI
In Praise
of Wisdom
XII
The Gifts
of Wisdom
XIII
The Three
Youths in the Fiery Furnace
XIV
The First
Passover
XV
Abraham’s
Sacrifice of Isaac
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