Speak to Bones

Speak to Bones

(Ezekiel 37:1-14) J G White

Sun, April 6, 2014, Windsor UBC

“Hope never dies until hope dies in the heart of the hoper.” Pastor Tim Johnson used to quote that around here.  “Hope never dies until hope dies in the heart of the hoper.”  

Hope does sometimes die.. maybe quite a lot in our world today.  The annual week-long seminar I attend in Truro (ASTE) has as its theme this June: “Hope and Compassion in a World of Fear.”  Our world needs hope.

People out there are dead, as it were: hope lost. Some people among us the same. Churches: the same: dried up; hope died in the heart of the hopers.  Land and Sea recently aired an episode on closing church buildings, including some creative possibilities.  Hints of hope.

In the days of the Jewish exile, about 600 years before Jesus, hope had died in the heart of the people.  So God spoke.  God spoke through individual people.  They got called prophets.  We visited that valley of dry bones with Ezekiel the prophet today.  The dead valley of bones was a picture of the people of God: captured, taken from their Promised Land, and their Holy City.  

“Mortal, can these bones live?” asked the God.

Ezekiel answered, “O Lord God, You know.”  

When hope has died, there are possibilities with our God.  And it is often only when hope has died in the heart, that a real new possibility can arise and grow and flourish in our lives.  We must truly fall before we get picked up and stand tall in a new place.

Richard Rohr teaches that Real transformation happens when people have lost their foundation and ground, and then experience God upholding them so that they come out even more alive on the other side.  At Dykeland Lodge the other day we sang, “Leaning, leaning, leaning on the everlasting arms.”  

Lady Julian of Norwich said it even more poetically: “First there is the fall, and then we recover from the fall. Both are the mercy of God!”

For Jesus Christ, hope seemed to die when he suffered and died.  But His painful sacrifice was answered with a resurrection.  His destroyed body made it possible for us to gain an imperishable body, along with Him.  God’s loudest and greatest WORD to us all is the Christ event.  

Long before, the same God said to Ezekiel in that valley of dry bones:  Prophesy to these bones and say to them, 'Dry bones, hear the word of the LORD! ... I will put breath in you, and you will come to life. Then you will know that I am the LORD.' (37:4, 6)

Some of you have your own stories to tell; stories of new life that arose when life seemed at a dead end for you.  Some of you have told me your stories.  Some of you have told these stories to others.  Sometimes that testimony is just the word the Lord will use again to speak hope into the lives of others.  It can be prophesying to the bones.  Speaking of the hope that is within you… a new hope from the real, living God and Saviour.  

A seminary professor was vacationing with his wife in Gatlinburg, TN. One morning, they were eating breakfast at a little restaurant, hoping to enjoy a quiet, family meal. While they were waiting for their food, they noticed a distinguished looking, white-haired man moving from table to table, visiting with the guests. The professor leaned over and whispered to his wife, "I hope he doesn’t come over here." But sure enough, the man did come over to their table.

"Where are you folks from?" he asked in a friendly voice.

"Oklahoma," they answered.

"Great to have you here in Tennessee," the stranger said. "What do you do for a living?"

"I teach at a seminary," he replied.

"Oh, so you teach preachers how to preach, do you? Well, I’ve got a really great story for you." And with that, the gentleman pulled up a chair and sat down at the table with the couple .

The professor groaned and thought to himself, "Great ... Just what I need ... another preacher story!"

The man started, "See that mountain over there? (pointing out the restaurant window). Not far from the base of that mountain, there was a boy born to an unwed mother. He had a hard time growing up, because every place he went, he was always asked the same question, ’Hey boy, Who’s your daddy?’ Whether he was at school, in the grocery store or drug store, people would ask the same question, ’Who’s your daddy?’

He would hide at recess and lunchtime from other students. He would avoid going into stores because that question hurt him so bad.

"When he was about 12 years old, a new preacher came to his church. He would always go in late and slip out early to avoid hearing the question, ’Who’s your daddy?’ But one day, the new preacher said the benediction so fast he got caught and had to walk out with the crowd.

Just about the time he got to the back door, the new preacher, not knowing anything about him, put his hand on his shoulder and asked him, Son, who’s your daddy?

The whole church got deathly quiet. He could feel every eye in the church looking at him. Now everyone would finally know the answer to the question, ’Who’s your daddy?’

"This new preacher, though, sensed the situation around him and using discernment that only the Holy Spirit could give, said the following to that scared little boy ... "Wait a minute! I know who you are. I see the family resemblance now. You are a child of God. "

With that he patted the boy on his shoulder and said, "Boy, you’ve got a great inheritance. Go and claim it."

"With that, the boy smiled for the first time in a long time and walked out the door a changed person. He was never the same again. Whenever anybody asked him, ’Who’s your Daddy?’ he’d just tell them, ’I’m a Child of God.’"

The distinguished! gentleman got up from the table and said, "Isn’t that a great story?"

The professor responded that it really was a great story!

As the man turned to leave, he said, "You know, if that new preacher hadn’t told me that I was one of God’s children, I probably never would have amounted to anything!" And he walked away.

The seminary professor and his wife were stunned. He called the waitress over & asked her, "Do you know who that man was who just left that was sitting at our table?"

The waitress grinned and said, "Of course. Everybody here knows him. That’s Ben Hooper. He’s the former governor of Tennessee!"  (Sermon Central, Bob Soulliere)

To speak into the life of another person can be a God moment, an act of grace.  

Ezekiel had been told to “speak to the bones,” and “speak to the breath/wind.”  If he had not spoken, not prophesied, would he have seen the real hope from God: a resurrected people?  No.  So we sometimes are called upon, are needed to speak into the lives of others.  You may be called to speak into the life of a community, with the unbelievable hope that God intends to give.  

And when our Lord speaks - through one of God’s servants - people can know the Lord.  

“Then you, my people, will know that I am the LORD, when I open your graves and bring you up from them.” (37:13)

When hope has died… thanks be to God! …there can be a resurrection.  There can be a day of salvation.  This is from God, not something you or I create.  There can be a new hope.  

Remember the first Star Wars film, Episode IV: A New Hope.  That was 1977, a long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away…  

In 2014, a new hope is needed for us in Churches, and for all those outside the churches.  We are beginning a new episode.  Our congregational Vision may actually be about having a new hope from God for us who are here, trying to make a difference,  as well as a new hope from God for the individuals who are growing up and making their way in West Hants out there.  

Thanks be to our God and Saviour: there is hope and compassion in a world of fear!