These Bones Will Live

May 19, 2024 homily on Ezekiel 37:1-14 and Acts 2:1-21 for Pentecost Sunday by Pastor Galen

Birthdays

Birthdays are a lot more exciting when you’re younger. For kids and teenagers, having a birthday means you’re that much closer to gaining more privileges. Maybe it’s staying up later, or having your own phone, getting a job, or being allowed to drive. The other day I was talking to my nephew who has his own lawn care business, and he’s excited to turn 16 because then his parents will let him operate more of the power tools that he already owns. When we were younger, my brother (who is now a Political Science teacher), counted down the years, months, and days until he turned 18, because he couldn’t wait to vote.

But as adults, birthdays often become less exciting, because getting older comes with more responsibilities, which can often feel more like burdens than privileges. And with more years comes more aches and pains.

Birthday of the Church

Today is Pentecost Sunday, which has often been called the “birthday of the Church,” as we commemorate the day when the Holy Spirit came upon the 120 disciples gathered in the Upper Room, 50 days after Christ’s resurrection. Jewish people from all over the known world had gathered together in Jerusalem for the Feast of Pentecost, the remembrance of Moses receiving the Law on Mount Sinai. Jesus’s disciples were awaiting the coming of the Holy Spirit, when, sure enough, there came from heaven the sound of a mighty rushing wind, and tongues of fire appeared over every person in the room. The disciples began speaking in many different languages, which attracted the attention of those outside, who were astonished to hear people speaking in their native languages. They wondered what was going on. The Apostle Peter got up and explained that what was taking place was what had been predicted so many years before by the prophet Joel, that in the Last Days, God would pour out the Spirit “upon all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams” (Acts 2:17). That day 3,000 people were baptized, and the Church was born.

Those first few years must have been exciting times in the life of the new Church, as the church grew rapidly. Miracles were taking place left and right, prayers were being answered, and the followers of Jesus started living radical, countercultural lives, sharing their resources with anyone who was in need, and gathering on a daily basis for fellowship (see Acts 2:43-47). More and more people joined them. In fact, we’re told in Acts 2:47 that “day by day the Lord added to their number those who were being saved”. As we’ve seen in our worship series the past few weeks, in those first few years, the church expanded to new people and new territories — first throughout Judea, then to Samaria, then to Ethiopia by way of the Ethiopian official Philip met on the desert road, then to the Gentiles when Peter was called to go to the Roman centurion’s house, and then throughout the continents of Africa, Asia, and Europe as the Apostles and others went out to proclaim the Good News of Jesus Christ.

When I read about the history of our own congregation, there was a similar dynamism in those first few years and decades. When our congregation was founded in 1868, there was a strong sense that God was doing a new thing. Revival services were held here on these grounds and in other places in the community, and frequently the altar was filled with people praying and seeking God and repenting of their sins and giving their hearts and lives to Christ, and the congregation grew by leaps and bounds.

Growing Older

But if birthdays become less exciting the older an individual gets, I think the same is often true for organizations, ministries, and churches as well. In the beginning, everything is new and exciting. But as time goes on and responsibilities pile up, it’s difficult to maintain that same sense of jubilation. Organizational structures become more complex and more difficult to maintain. More and more rules need to be added, and more policies have to be instituted. Aging buildings become more difficult to maintain. Leaders move on or pass away, and sometimes there is no one there to take their place, so the burden of responsibility falls on the few people who are still around. And the physical and organizational structures that once felt so lifegiving begin to feel empty and lifeless.

Out of Captivity

Something similar happened to the Hebrew people throughout the Old Testament, such that by the time the prophet Ezekial came along, the House of Israel was depicted as a “valley of dry bones.” But it hadn’t always been that way. When the Israelites had been brought out of captivity from Egypt there was a sense of freedom and jubilation. They sang and danced when they crossed the Red Sea and saw how God had delivered them from their captors (see Exodus 15:20-27 ). God brought them through the desert to the promised land, which was described as “a land flowing with milk and honey” (Exodus 3:8). God gave Moses the Law, which helped organize them as a people and provided them with the structures they needed to flourish as a nation. God sent prophets and leaders to lead and guide the people. 

But by the time the prophet Ezekiel came along, the nation of Israel was no more. Israel had been divided into two kingdoms. The northern kingdom had fallen to the Assyrians and its people had been taken to a foreign land as captives. The southern kingdom of Judah had also been attacked, and many of the Jewish people (including Ezekiel himself) had been taken into exile in Babylon. The temple in Jerusalem had been destroyed, and the people in exile struggled to maintain their sense of identity in the midst of captivity. And so Ezekiel’s role as a prophet was to speak God’s words to the remnant being held captive, to encourage them to have hope in the midst of captivity.

The Valley of Dry Bones

During this time, Ezekiel had a vision in which the Lord brought him to a valley filled with bones. It must have been a horribly depressing scene. But the Lord told Ezekiel to “prophesy to these bones, and say to them…Thus says the Lord GOD to these bones: I will cause breath to enter you, and you shall live. I will lay sinews on you, and will cause flesh to come upon you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and you shall live; and you shall know that I am the LORD” (Ezekiel 37:4-6).

Sure enough, when Ezekiel prophesied to the dry bones in his dream, the dry bones came together and flesh covered their bones. But there was no breath in them. Then God told Ezekiel to prophesy to the wind. When the wind came and breathed on them, the bones came to life. 

Then God said to Ezekiel that just as that valley of dry bones had been brought back to life, God was going to restore the people and fill them with God’s Spirit.  God instructed Ezekiel to tell the people, “And you shall know that I am the LORD, when I open your graves, and bring you up from your graves, O my people. I will put my spirit within you, and you shall live, and I will place you on your own soil; then you shall know that I, the LORD, have spoken and will act,” says the LORD” (Ezekiel 37:14). Ezekiel’s prophesy was fulfilled in part when the Isrealites were allowed to return to their homeland after the exile, but they were more like lifeless bodies that had skin and flesh, but lacked the Spirit. It wasn’t until the day of Pentecost when the Spirit was poured out upon the disciples gathered in the Upper Room that they were truly brought to life. 

New Life

Earlier I talked about the vibrancy that existed during the early years of our congregation–the revival and growth that occurred during those first few decades after our church was founded. But after those first few decades, the congregation experienced a decline. In the history book that was written in 1917 about the first 50 years of our church, the pastor said that prior to his arrival in 1914,

The church has passed through many discouraging events and was told by prominent officials that “Hampden Church had about outlived its usefulness” and the only thing left to do was to sell out, move away and start new at some other site. This only proves how little men know of the working of the Almighty. (E. Daniel Stone, The history of Hampden Methodist Protestant Church: Fiftieth anniversary, 1867-1917.)

Around 1914 the congregation experienced a fresh wind of the Spirit, and Hampden Church grew by leaps and bounds, such that in the early 1920’s the congregation tore down the previous smaller wooden structure and built this wonderful stone building to accommodate a congregation that was bursting at the seams. Hundreds of men were in the Emmanual Bible class, and hundreds of women attended the Queen Esther Bible class. And there must have been hundreds of children as well! The church that had supposedly “outlived its usefulness” became a flagship church in the denomination, and in the years since then much vibrant and dynamic ministry has taken place within and outside of the walls of this church building. Praise God for breathing new life into this congregation, and for everything that God has done in the intervening years!

Come Holy Spirit

But now again, we find ourselves in a season where we need God’s Spirit to fall afresh on us. Over the years many people have moved away, or passed away, and many of you have taken on more and more responsibilities. I know there are times when the weight of responsibility can feel heavy, and when the structures (both physical and organizational) can feel overwhelming to maintain.

It can be tempting at times to wish that we could wind back the clock, to go back in time to when the Church in America held a privileged position in society–when there were few other activities on Sunday mornings to occupy people’s time, and when attending church on Sunday morning was a civic duty (at least in practice, if not in actuality). We find ourselves wishing that all those people who used to come to church would return. We long to see the pews filled again. 

But time moves forward, not backward. And so, rather than looking backward, may we look forward with hope and expectation for what God may want to do in and through us in this next season of our congregation. May we recognize that what God may do in the future may look different than what God has done in the past, but may we open ourselves up to the Spirit’s movement in our lives and in our congregation. 

Let us pray:

Creator Spirit and Giver of life, make the dry, bleached bones of our lives
live and breathe and grow again as you did of old. Pour out your Spirit upon the whole creation. Come in rushing wind and flashing fire to turn the sin and sorrow within us into faith, power, and delight. Amen.

Amen!

Questions for Personal Reflection:

1. How has your perception of birthdays changed as you’ve gotten older? What responsibilities do you associate with aging, and how do they impact your enthusiasm for birthdays?
2. The early Church experienced rapid growth and miracles. Have you ever been part of a community or organization that was vibrant and dynamic? What made that time exciting for you?
3. Ezekiel’s vision of the valley of dry bones represents hope and renewal. In your own life, where do you see areas that feel like “dry bones”? How can you apply this vision of renewal to those areas?
4. Considering the need for our church to adapt and reach new generations, how might you contribute to making our church more inviting and relevant to younger people?