“From the Word, New Life!”

Scripture: Ezekiel 37:1-14

It’s been said that there are four main groups of bones in every organization. The wish-bones: Wishing somebody would do something about the problem. The jaw-bones: Doing all the talking but very little else. The knuckle-bones: Those who knock everything. The back-bones: Those who carry the brunt of the load and do most of the work.
- Bits & Pieces, October 15, 1992, 16-17.

And the eternal question will always be “How do we get all of these bones to start working together?” Each of them could have a good purpose and could contribute in great ways toward strengthening the organization - the “wish-bones” could develop a vision and implementation plan for the future of the organization; the “jaw-bones” could promote the group and to be involved in outreach to others; the “knuckle-bones” could - well, I’m not use what they could do in a positive way, but I’m sure that there is something! And if all began to work together, every organization, from the local Fire Company, to Rotary and JC’s, to our jobs, to the church, would be far better off for it. And the “back-bones” wouldn’t get so tired out and burned out!

Don’t you just wish that all of our “bones” could get reconnected?

Read Ezekiel 37:1-3

Was this the remains of a great army from years gone by? Were they the bones of a civilization that had suddenly perished? A ravaged city? A burial place that had been uncovered by some natural disaster? No one knows, but there is was – a valley floor littered with countless bleached dry and decaying bones.

If the Lord had asked you that question – “Can these bones live?”, what would you have said? Smart money would have been on “Are you serious? They are deader than dead!” But a second question is also raised – “Can there ever be life beyond death?” And now, with this new question, we just might get a solid Christian answer – and hopefully it would be a resounding “Yes!” Yes, there is life beyond death, but only for those who are in Jesus Christ!
So, for just a minute, let’s think about this valley as representing a dying congregation. There’s no ministry or evangelism to speak of, no mission, no enthusiasm, no vision for the future. The laity’s idea of mission and outreach is that it’s the pastor’s job. They think that the pastor should be visiting every home in the area to bring fresh life into the congregation, but when the pastor suggests changes to the worship service to make it more alive, or to make drastic changes to the administrative organization, or in the role and involvement of the membership, a not-so-quiet revolution begins to develop, and a new pastor, one who won’t make so many waves, is soon brought in.
That type of church is just one generation away from extinction, and maybe not even that long.

Without revival, without a new spirit in each and every person, without a faith that goes beyond the “impending death”, the inevitable will happen.
But when the people put their hope in the Lord, when they begin to grow in faith, when they are willing to follow the leading of God’s Holy Spirit in all aspects of their lives, the “life” that is missing can and will return.

In Charles Sheldon’s book “In His Steps”, a congregation and its pastor are immersed in a slow spiral of death. There is no fire in the worship, no faith in the congregation, until one day, a homeless man who is out of a job enters their lives, and he shows up at worship that Sunday. And he rhetorically asks this question of no one in particular - “What did he [Jesus] mean when he said: 'Follow me?' The minister said" -- here the man turned about and looked up at the pulpit -- "that it is necessary for the disciple of Jesus to follow his steps, and he said the steps were obedience, faith, love and imitation. What do you Christians mean by following the steps of Jesus?”
This is the beginning of the restoration of “flesh” on the dry bones of this church. And the now-famous phrase “What Would Jesus Do?” would be born.

Read Ezekiel 37:4-8

Was this how the church in Sheldon’s novel began to grow – was this the beginning of love and victory and glory and unbridled happiness for all of the people? Not on your life! The homeless man continues “Of course, I understand you can't all go out of your way to hunt jobs for people like me. I'm not asking you to, but what I feel puzzled about is, what is meant by following Jesus? What do you mean when you sing 'I'll go with him, with him, all the way?'”
What does it mean to you when you sing “I’ll go with Him, with Him, all the way”?

But back to the book. Later that week, a handful of the congregation meet to consider the man’s questions and the challenge that they bring to their lives. And the result is that they make a commitment to ask the question “What Would Jesus Do?” before making any decision, whether private, public, professional, personal, relational, major or minor – in all aspects of their lives, for 1 full year. And their lives begin to slowly change – in faith, for the better, but in the world, for the worse.
In Ezekiel’s case, it took the prophesying of a man, in the name of God, to bring new life to the dry bones. In the case of Charles Sheldon’s First Church, it took the prophesying of a homeless man, in the name of God, to inspire the renewing of the people.

Read Ezekiel 37: 9-14

Thomas Merton writes:
As long as we are on Earth, the love that unites us will bring us suffering by our very contact with one another, because this love is the resetting of a Body of broken bones. Even saints cannot live with saints on this earth without some anguish, without some pain at the differences that come between them.
-Thomas Merton, A Thomas Merton Reader, ed. Thomas P. McDonnell, (New York: Image Books, 1974), 320.

What is the cause of death in the church? Simply, it’s a lacking of the Spirit! Verse 14 begins with “I will put my spirit in you and you will live ..” Israel had forgotten what it was like to have the Lord’s Spirit within them, and if they would allow Him to replace it, they would live again! No church, no nation, no people will ever pass from this earth if the Spirit of God is alive in them and if they are willing to follow in Jesus’ steps!

But what does it mean for us to “follow in Jesus’ steps”? If you want to know the specifics for your own life, I can’t even begin to tell you. I know where it has taken me in my inadequate attempt to follow Him, but in general, it means that you have to put everything that involves “you” (“me!”) aside – our understanding of “service”, our ideas of “faith”, our perception and desire of what is “right and wrong”, our interpretation of what is involved in “Loving God” and “Loving neighbor”.
It can no longer be about who we are and what we do in church – it becomes a matter of who Jesus wants us to be, and whether we are willing to let Him remake us in that image.
And without that change in each of us, we will continue to be just another pile of dry, scorched, decaying bones that have no life whatsoever in them.

Verse 12 – “Therefore prophesy and say to them: ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: O my people, I am going to open your graves and bring you up from them; I will bring you back to the land of Israel; then you, my people, will know that I am the Lord’”

The Lord wants to open our graves, but we can’t keep shoveling the dirt back in if we want to live and walk with Jesus!! Prophesy to the glory of God, proclaim the open grave in your life, rejoice in the new tendons, the new muscle, the new flesh, the new skin, the new breath and life, all that comes from Jesus Christ. One word – one word is all it takes – and that word is “Glory to God”, and our dry bones, the bones of the church, the bones of the world, can live again!