Pentecost Sunday
May 31, 2009
 
 
  June 21, 2009
 

June 28, 2009
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  August 30, 2009
  September 6, 2009
  September 13, 2009
  September 20, 2009
  September 27, 2009
  October 4, 2009
  October 11, 2009
  October 18, 2009
  October 25, 2009
  November 1, 2009
  November 8, 2009
  November 15, 2009
  November 22, 2009
 
 
 
 

Printer Friendly Version

May 31, 2009—Pentecost

Lectionary Texts: Acts 2:1-21 or Ezekiel 37:1-14; Psalm 104:24-34, 35b; Romans 8:22-27; John 15:26-27; 16:4b-15

Sermon Text: 37:1-14

Where the Spirit of the Lord Is, New Life Exists

This passage in Ezekiel is one of the best-known passages in the Bible. Perhaps as a child you remember singing the song of the dry bones. Connecting the foot bone to ankle bone, ankle bone to the leg bone. Connecting each bone to its matching bone. Until the whole body has been put back together. As the singers, we play the part of Ezekiel, asking the dry bones to hear the word of the Lord. The question that we seek to answer today is what was the word of the Lord to these dry bones?

My parents live in Savannah, Georgia, and my husband, Brad, and I often go there to visit. The first time we visited together, we took a walking tour of the historic district. At the end of the historic district stands Forsythe Park. In this park stands the statue to the Confederate Soldier. Inscribed on this statue is the verse from Ezekiel, “Come from the four winds, O breathe, And breathe upon these slain that they may live.”

The story surrounding this statue is interesting. The people of Savannah wanted a statue to honor their dead from the Civil War. They had the statue made in Canada and shipped by boat to Savannah so that it would never touch Yankee soil. Some parts of the statue people were not happy with, eventually the statue ended up with pieces made on Yankee soil. This did not please the people of Savannah.

As I think about that story, I think about what the people of the South must have been feeling after the Civil War. The South was no longer its own nation. Their way of life was changed completely. Everything that had made up their livelihood and identity for as long as they could remember was gone. They were left to pick up the pieces of their burned and fallen cities. They had to learn to live without their fathers, husbands, brothers, and friends. The people were left without an identity, much like the people of Israel.

As we enter this scene in the book of Ezekiel, we are confronted with a valley that is filled with bones. There are not just a few bones lying around; Ezekiel sees many very dry bones. We begin to ask questions: Where did these bones come from? Whose bones are they? We do not have long to wait, for the text tells us that these bones are the whole house of Israel, and it has been destroyed.

In order to understand how the bones came to be in this valley, we must understand the history of the Israelites. On Mount Sinai, the people entered into a covenant with Yahweh. Yahweh promised the people that if they were faithful, they would be put in a land where they would become a people and not just a band of slaves wandering in the wilderness. They would become the nation of Israel, the people of God. The people were faithful, and Yahweh delivered them into the land. Eventually a king was placed on a throne.

Over time, however, the people of Israel turned away from their covenant with Yahweh. They were not worshipping God faithfully. They were not taking care of the widows and orphans around them. They were concerned with having more wealth, more power, and more stature. The people no longer defined themselves as the people of God, but as a nation.

This nation did not last. It was destroyed, and the people were sent into exile in a foreign land. The people were reduced to this pile of bones. The people cried out to God, their hope was lost, they were cut off completely. The people no longer know who they are, they have lost their identity.

We may not see many connections between ourselves and this valley of dry bones in Ezekiel’s vision. We have not been sent away from our native land in exile; we have not experienced the desolation that these people have faced. I do believe, however, that there are times when we are like the people of Israel. We, too, lose our sense of identity. We no longer know where we belong or why we are here. As we go through life changes, what we have used to define ourselves no longer seems to fit.

A student has graduated, and must now decide what comes next in her life. A young professional decides to become a stay-at-home parent as his first child is born. A person who has put her life into her children is now faced with the reality that her children are moving away from home. A spouse who is facing the break-up of his marriage. A worker who has lost her job. A person growing older who sees his life of youthful activity slipping away, and his friends passing away to another life.

No longer are we the people we have been for years. No longer can we find our identity in the thing that has defined us to this point. At times like these, it is hard to understand who we are and where we belong. It is now that we begin to feel like the bones of the House of Israel. We are dried up. We are hopeless. We have been cut off completely. We have lost our identity.

Although the people of Israel have abandoned their covenant, God does not ignore them. God hears the cries of the people. God knows that they have been destroyed; they have been cut off. God gives the people hope. Through the words of the prophet Ezekiel, the dry bones are made into bodies, covered with sinews and flesh. This, however, is not the most important thing that happens to these bodies. Ezekiel prophesies to the wind and to the breath. The people live. They stand on their feet, a vast multitude. God does not stop with this life-giving breath. God speaks to the people. God calls them “O my people.” God uses covenant language. Even though these people have abandoned the covenant made on Mount Sinai, God promises to return them to the land. God wants to put God’s own spirit within them. For these people, their identity no longer lies in whether or not Israel is a nation. Their identity is one of a people who have been brought back to life by God.

Like the people of Israel, we must learn that our identity does not need to be wrapped up in the things and circumstances of the world. We are not hopeless. We are not cut-off. We must realize that like a new spirit was put into the people of Israel, God wants to put a new spirit within us. God wants to give us an identity that comes from being a part of the people of God.

One might ask what this means. To answer this question, we must know what it meant for the people of Israel. As the people were put back into their land, they were no longer a nation, the very thing that they felt defined their covenant with God. They had to redefine their covenant with God. They had to realize that this meant more than having a king on the throne of a nation. No longer would their covenant be based on what the world deemed important, but realizing that they were meant for worshipping and serving God.

This is the same for us today. We often base our identity on what the world deems important: the job that we have, the success we have as parents, the things we can do. When those things are gone, we are lost. God tells us that we need not be lost. We are a people of God and that defines who we are. Our identity comes from a God who wants to have relationship with us, who wants to place God’s own spirit within us, and who wants to give us new life. Knowing this and having our identity as the people of God changes the way that we look at our lives.

As our lives change, we must redefine our covenant with God. What does that look like for you? Is your covenant with God based on coming to church each week and giving your 10 percent tithe? Is it based on doing the right thing in ethical situations? not smoking? not drinking? Is this what we think God wants for us? My answer is no. God does not want our lives to be based on these things. Perhaps in our new relationship with God, we realize that our lives are to be of loving, giving, and sharing. We are not forced to do these things, but we do them in response to the life that God gives. Perhaps we need not be so caught up in having the nicest house or the nicest car. Instead of asking the question, “What car do you drive?” we should ask the question, “How have you served your neighbor this week?” Our new covenant does not mean another list of “do’s” and “don’ts.” We must look at our lives and decide what is important and how we can share this new life with others.

You may be sitting here today, wondering who you are, wondering where you go from here as your life is crashing down around you. Or even if your life is not crashing down around you, just wondering what comes next. We must remember that we, like the people of Israel, are not hopeless, we are not cut-off completely, we do have an identity. This new identity that we have is unlike any that we have had before: it is an identity that comes from knowing we are a people of God. What the world sees as important is not. What we once saw as important is not. Allow God to put within you a new spirit, to give you new life.