We Are the Living Word

Lent 5; Yr. A, April 6, 2014

Ezekiel 37:1-14; Psalm 130; Romans 8:6-11; John 11:1-45

Sermon preached at St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church

            When I was at Girl Scout camp we used to sing this song called Dem Bones Gonna Rise Again.  It was all about the story of Adam and Eve in the garden of Eden, and eating the forbidden fruit.  I sang it with the kids this morning.  The phrase Dem Bones Gonna Rise Again runs all through that song.  As I read the passage from Ezekiel that verse kept running through my head.  For years, our tradition talked about that garden experience as a falling away from God.  A falling that tainted us forever.  We were marked as outcasts and left to drift in a harsh and uncompromising world with the reality that those bones were going to “rise again” in us.  That those same bones would lead us into the same sin, original sin St. Augustine called it.  Sin we could never escape because it was in our very flesh.  Sin that only Jesus could erase.

            It feels like we almost forgot that humanity was created good.  With each new birth, goodness comes into the world anew, filled with potential and promise.  God’s intent for us is good, and the garden experience did not negate that fact.  The Spirit is here to breathe life into us, even now.

            In the reading from the Hebrew scripture, Ezekiel is led into a valley of dry bones by the Lord.  It’s lifeless and barren.  Israel has been decimated by the Babylonian invasion and the people have been exiled to other lands.  Their hope is lost, and their identity threatened.  They are nothing but dry bones.  But Ezekiel, in his vision, sees that the word of God has the power to put flesh on those bones and make them whole once again.  The breath of God is hope in the face of despair.  When Ezekiel overcomes his own skepticism, and prophecies as the Lord has commanded him … the bones rattle into place.   They are rejoined and receive new flesh.

            But it’s not enough just to connect bone to bone.  The bodies may be renewed, but there was no life in them.  They’re like manikins.  Likenesses without soul.  So God commands Ezekiel again.  Prophesy!  Only then does the Spirit work in the community to bring them to life.  The body is brought together first, and then they are given life.  Just as God creates Adam from the dust of the earth, and breathes life into that first human being, God’s word brings together the hurting, alienated, isolated people of Israel and breathes new life into them.  Dem bones gonna rise again … and again … and again … and again!  The same is true for us.

            The word of God, the hope of new life in Christ is a hope that can still enliven people today.  There are a lot of valleys in our world, and in our city.  Places where despair has the upper hand, and hope is but a distant dream.  We’re a people who have a different vision, a vision grounded in a resurrection that liberates hope in us.  That word can draw people in.  People who feel alone, who live in fear, who experience life as unpredictable, who long for peace and security, who feel disconnected. I’m not talking only about those living in poverty.  These are things we all experience.  Each one of us … at some level, at some time, in some way … have known what it is to be alone and afraid. 

            Sharing the life giving Word of forgiveness and unconditional love is a breath of life to a soul that’s dying.  I’m on the SWEM board because I am a follower of Jesus.  I believe everyone should have enough to eat.  I’m involved in the Nazareth collaboration, helping to provide a quality education in a faith-based environment because I am a follower of Jesus.  I believe that faith is something that helps children grow into strong, healthy, happy individuals.  I talk with guests at our Sunday suppers because I am a follower of Jesus, and Jesus modeled a life of going out toward the other, especially those who are different from us.  I pray with guests who come to the Mobile Pantry because I am a follower of Jesus, and he taught me to pray, to pray even if my faith feels as small as a mustard seed … because God can use it to do wondrous things.  I take time away to pray, because I am a follower of Jesus, and he modeled a life that included prayer and Sabbath rest.  We should all take time away for rest and renewal, because whether we want to admit it or not, we all know what it’s like to feel like a pile of dry bones, used up by our jobs, our family obligations, and our church, feeling empty and alone.

            The antidote to that kind of isolation is loving community.  It’s the Word that brings us together, the good news that we share in Christ.  But being moderate and liberal Christians, we are good at serving, and not so great at sharing that Word.  We want to be humble, self-sacrificing, giving, justice minded … and strangely detached from religion while we’re doing it.  That’s okay to a point, but we can’t get detached from the Word … from the Christ that is working in us and in the other people we are with.  As long as we remember what life we have in Christ … as individuals and as community, because that is a gift we should not shirk from sharing.

            When someone says “thank you” for something they’ve received from us, we can say more than “you’re welcome”.  I can say, “thank God”, who works in and through me.  I do this for the love of Christ.  I do this because I belong to this church, because I am a Christian.  The Spirit brings us together, and through us it touches others as well.  The Spirit has enough power to raise dry bones from the dust and breathe life back into community … but we are the means of the message.  We are today’s living Word!  Sharing that with others is a gift we have to offer … not a burden, or a command, or an annoyance.  It is our JOY!  If we make it a habit, we may actually come to find that other people are happy to receive it, because they may have been longing for something they could not name … something we have a name for.

            Have compassion for people who have been beaten so many times that kindness has all but dried up inside them.  Show mercy to people who have been burned by hate and intolerance so often that they have no room for love.   Find forgiveness in your heart for those who strike out in anger because suffering has siphoned off their ability to feel anything but pain.  Prophecy!  Prophecy, my sisters and brothers, let living water rise up within us and see if people are not raised from the dead just as Lazarus was. 

Amen.