Ezekiel 37:1-14, “Bones, Seriously?” Pentecost B 5/27/12
Seeing beyond the Bible story is often hard. We tend to hear
the stories like we did as children. It takes a conscious effort to listen
beyond the words. Like any good story worth re-telling, the biblical record has
meaning beyond the literal if we can get there.
And this is the perfect story to dive into.
Today's story is one of the stranger ones. Rather than
immediately looking for metaphors, let's 1st enter into the story and see what
we can learn as we try to see & feel Ezekiel's vision.
Story
I
had forgotten most of Ezekiel’s story and that he was taken into exile in 597
BCE. One scholar, Dave Garber, describe Ezekiel’s situation like this:
He was a priest who heard reports of his religious institution being corrupted without the proper oversight of the priesthood who had been exiled to Babylon.His own status had been reduced from a prominent position in Jerusalem to that of a temple-less priest in exile. (The book tells many of these traumas.) We forget the death of Ezekiel’s wife and God's command for him not to mourn her as an example for the exilic community not to mourn the loss of the Temple (24:16-24).Most of all, we forget the historical trauma that accompanied this exile. We forget that the Babylonians tortured the inhabitants of Jerusalem with siege warfare that lasted almost two years, leading to famine, disease, and despair (2 Kings 25:3). We forget how these invaders destroyed the city of Jerusalem, razed the temple to the ground, killed many of its inhabitants, and forced the rest to migrate to Babylon.Over and over again, in the texts we (seldom or never) read from the book of Ezekiel, the prophet offers imagery that testifies to and metaphorically represents the multiple traumas that the community faced under the realities of ancient Near Eastern warfare.[i]
This is the background that leads us to Ezekiel’s vision. Unlike some biblical stories, it is clear this is a vision –
given for a purpose. Which makes it easier for us to see the metaphor w/o
feeling like we are 'not believing’ something. Instead we are trusting in a
real message from God.
This vision was certainly given to Ezekiel for the entire
nation of Israel. The
symbolism is that of an Israel whose hope has died, and for whom there is no
future. The dry bones themselves are portrayed as ‘dead as dead’ could possibly
be (v. 2). As Ezekiel looks at them, he sees no possibility of a return to
life. He must prophecy to the dry bones, which are clearly symbolic of his
defeated people.
The
people’s perception of their present situation is overwhelming. But the word
that the prophet is given to say to them is equally powerful. Life can only be
experienced again if it comes from God.
Since this is clearly a message for exiled Israel of 600 BC,
how do we find our place in the story?
So: WHERE DO WE SEE DRY BONES?
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Some would say it is here, in the Christian church of 2012,
where there is nothing left but dry bones, rattling together every Sunday
morning.
“. . .polls, surveys, denominational questionnaires all
indicate the inherited religious identities like ‘protestant’ catholic’
‘Jewish’ [even ‘brethren’] are in a state of flux” says Diana Butler Bass (In "Christianity After Religion")
“Attendance at weekly religious services is significantly
down, people mix and switch religions more easily than in the past, traditional
religious institutions are in a sustained decline and even general belief in
God has eroded over the last 30 years.”
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| Click for website for image and another sermon |
“Many
individual congregations are successful, but the overall picture for religious
life in the US is not terribly encouraging, especially for Christians.”
In
addition, some people are angry about religion and see only the fighting
between faiths. Others are wounded, many people “are just bored.
They are bored with church-as-usual, church as club, church
as entertainment, or church as work,” Bass writes. The truth is, “on Sunday,
other things are more interesting” or at least more compelling.[ii]
Are we sitting in the valley of disconnected dry bones?
Have
you ever felt like you had nothing left to give and the faith in which you grew
up, is no longer connected to your life?
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| website here |
I hope not, but since I have questioned the church’s future,
I’m going to guess I’m not alone in at least wondering what will come next for
the church based on the Jesus’ Way.
If we trust, that God's Spirit can makes these Dry Bones
live, what would new life look like?
Can you see an image of new flesh on these bones?
Imagine
for a moment. . .
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| Original site here |
Do you see people walking into church, children in hand,
filling the sidewalks outside this building and others like it?
When
I see that image in my head, the women have on hats and gloves, the men are in
dark suits, little girls have frilly dresses, and the little boys are in shirts
and ties. In fact, I’m so sure it’s a historic image that I see it in B&W.
– It is an image of the past, the 1950-60s, the time when this building was
first built.
I
don’t think those old bones can live. But I do believe God’s Spirit is blowing
something new all around us.
The
Holy Spirit may have to work on our imagination first.
Let
me share a story with you, about imagination:
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| Click here for blog and image |
“A rich industrialist from the North was horrified to find a
Southern fisherman lying leisurely beside his boat. ‘Why aren’t you fishing?’
the industrialist asked.
‘Because I have caught enough fish for the day,’ said the
fisherman.
‘Why don’t you catch some more?’ the 1st man asked.
‘What would I do with them?’ said the fisherman
Fisherman w/net IMAGE
‘You could earn more money,’ was the reply. ‘With that, you
could fix a motor to your boat, go into deeper waters and catch MORE fish. Then
you would make enough money to buy nylon nets. These would bring you more fish
and more money. Soon you would have enough money to own two boats …maybe even a
fleet of boats. Then you would be a rich man like me.’
‘What would I do then?’ the fisherman asked.
‘Then you could really enjoy life.’
‘What do you think I am doing right now?’ said the fisherman.”[iii]
. . .
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There are many ways for new life to grow – ways that we have
yet to imagine.
Something wonderful happened when Ezekiel spoke to the
people who felt as dry as old bones. They began debating the details. Walter
Wink reminded me that “some even disagreed with Ezekiel, suggesting
alternatives.
Everyone got so involved in the specifics of new temple life that they didn’t
notice that they had all accepted as a FACT that this new life was going to
happen. Vision had become expectation. Hope had become anticipation. The
unimaginable had been imagined – all by the divine creative act that began with
a vision of old bones.
History is made this way, by envisioning new alternatives
and acting on them as if they were inevitable. This is how despair is overcome;
by prophesying a course of action God is conspiring to bring to pass.[iv]
There are many ways to for new life to grow.
The church of the future may not be based on the Corporate
Model of today. It might be more like the early church, a key model for
Brethren, where bigger is NOT better.
The early church’s life was based on 1:1 relationships.
Image
how it was: Followers of the Jesus’ way, brought their families to hear about
the Christ and then their friends.
When
someone needed help, they didn’t ask the Board or the Pastor to design a new
program, they walked over to their home to see what they could do.
Eventually they grew large enough to deal with poverty and
inequity on a larger scale, but even then the need was answered with people.
(We might label it a deacon program, but the reality was they lived their faith
- people to people.)
NEW LIFE can come when the Spirit blows. Perhaps it will
look completely different than anything we have imagined. Or perhaps it will
look a lot like a few old bones connecting to other bones and becoming covered
with new flesh.
The people we already know and those whom the Spirit sends to
our door are in need of relationship
with other people.
Relationship
is the typical quest, not classrooms full of adults and children, gathered
around their Bibles and doing fancy arts and crafts. – people are looking for people
who welcome them and say, “We’d LOVE to have you come again and be part of us.”
“Imagine that! People meeting people, 1 on 1.
Why don’t we trust that God’s spirit is already blowing in
here and imagine the bone connecting to bone image. We make the vision a
reality.
ONE
Take ONE person this month, (someone you already know) and be
present to them, call, contact, visit, offer one's self as listener, not as fixer,
just be part of their life for one month and see what Holy Winds blow into the
mix.
TO ONE
Then during the month take on 1 practice that will renew and
sustain your own spirit by keeping you connected to the Holy Spirit all month
long. (prayer, scripture, meditation, time spent with God’s Spirit that renews
your spirit)
TO ONE
“One to One to One”
1:1:1
1 person, 1 practice, 1 Spirit - connecting
us to other ‘boney’ humans in relationships where the Spirit thrives; a simple
action that can turn what we imagine into reality.
Perhaps
it is a simple vision of connected people – bone to bone - THAT IS the future
of Christ’s church and
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| Web Clip Art |
These bones can live!
[i] David
Garber, workingpreacher.org 4/10/11 (text slightly adapted)
[ii] Diana
Butler Bass Christianity After Religion
(San Fran:Harper One, 2012) 246-7
[iii] Anthony de
Mello, Indian priest shared in Common PRAYER.
for Ordinary radicals Claiborne, Wilson-Hartgrove, Okoro, eds. (Grand
Rapids:Zondervan, 2010) 293
[iv]
Walter Wink “These bones
shall live” Source: Christian Century;
5/11/94, Vol. 111 Issue 16, p491, 1p
