“Fire that brings new life”
Ezekiel 37:1-14; Acts 2:1-4 (May 19, 2024)
There they were, gathered together. Just as we do every Sunday. Believers, followers of Jesus.
“It’s not for you to know the times or periods that the Father has set by his own authority,” Jesus had told them. There is so much we do not know! “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you will be my witnesses …” (Acts 1:7-8)
So there they were, waiting, waiting. How long, O Lord? What does Jesus have in mind for us?
The first disciples were in one of those difficult periods of life we all go through. A time of waiting and not yet knowing. A time of transition. Their leader, Jesus, was crucified and rose from the dead. It was an astounding miracle! But then he went away. Left them on their own.
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Or did he? He said it would be better for them because something new would come: A Spirit, an Advocate, One who would continue to lead them forward in his way.
These times of waiting are confusing and difficult. And yet, that’s what we as believers are often called to do. God’s specific plan for our lives is rarely given in detail. We must wait for it to unfold. Believers walk by faith, taking it slowly, one step (and the odd leap) at a time.
So they were waiting. And all of a sudden, in a way that no one had anticipated, the Spirit came from heaven like the sound of a mighty rushing wind. It came as tongues of fire, resting upon each one of them.
And it changed them – from no life to life, from confusion to knowing, from hiding to proclaiming. The Spirit sent them into the streets to mingle with others from every nation. Now they were a people with purpose.
Does the Spirit still come? Can passions be stirred? Confusions clarified? Would you pray for such a thing?
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Let me tell you another story.
Years ago, long before the Spirit fell upon those disciples at Pentecost, there was a prophet named Ezekiel. He was among a group of people taken into exile. This, he said, was the judgement of God.
But in that dark time of destruction and loss, Ezekiel also had visions that brought hope. Our scripture reading today is one of them.
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Ezekiel finds himself in a valley. He looks around and what does he see? Many bones. And they are dry as dust.
I imagine a scene like this from the Badlands of North Dakota. We do find bones here: Skeletons of animals that have been lost or preyed upon in that harsh, environment. If we’re lucky, we might happen upon a piece of fossilized bone, the remains of dinosaurs.
The valley that Ezekiel sees is very dry, and full of bones. And it was, for him, a picture of his own people, trapped in a foreign land where they lived as strangers in exile.
The expansion of the great Babylonian empire was responsible for that. The people of Judah had tried to resist. But it was futile in the face of a much larger, more powerful nation.
The Babylonians occupied the land. Captured the city of Jerusalem. Destroyed the temple, the house of Yahweh, the living God.
Anyone left standing they captured and carried away. The urban elite of Jerusalem would become slaves to their new masters.
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:The_Neo-Babylonian_Empire_in_550_BC.png" width="289" height="52" />It must have seemed as though the story of God’s people had come to a humiliating end.
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“[The LORD] said to me, ‘Mortal, can these bones live?’”
What do you think? Can bones that are dead come back to life? Can a nation destroyed be rebuilt? Can exiles return? Can a dispirited people find hope? Can these bones live? Or are they too far gone?
Ezekiel could hardly bring himself to answer. “O LORD God,” he moaned, staring despondently at the ground, unable to lift his eyes. “LORD, you know.”
He was right, God knows. We cannot see what the future holds. Even a prophet, like Ezekiel, will hesitate to say.
“Prophesy,” the LORD commands. God tells the prophet to do what he’s called to do: Speak the message that God will give.
“Prophesy to these bones,” these dry old bones. This lost and dispirited people.
Suddenly there is a noise. Those bones begin to rattle. From the dust they rise and come together and find their place, clicking and clacking.
Flesh comes upon them. And skin. And look, they are almost living! Just one more thing.
“Prophesy!” says the LORD. Tell the wind to come from the four corners of the earth, “and breathe upon these slain that they may live.”
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In the language of the Bible, the words for wind and breath and Spirit are one and the same. So when Ezekiel calls for the wind to come, he calls for breath. And when he calls for breath, he summons the Spirit of God.
Do you remember the creation story, how God formed humanity from the dust of the earth, and breathed into our nostrils the breath of life, and we became living beings? (Genesis 2:7)
Here, in this vision of Ezekiel, the Spirit of God brings new life. Without the Spirit, the wind, the breath – we are nothing. Lifeless bodies, a mere shadow of what we are meant to be.
Do you feel that way? Tired, lifeless, out of steam? Some days I drag these old bones out of bed in the morning, and I can barely get myself going. More coffee is not the answer!
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“Mortal, these bones are the whole house of Israel. They say, ‘Our bones are dried up, and our hope is lost; we are cut off completely.’”
But now comes the pinnacle of Ezekiel’s vision! “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.”
Within a generation, the great Babylonian empire, that had once seemed so powerful and intimidating, was itself defeated. A way was opened for the people of Israel to return.
From death to life. From dusty old bones to new creation. From no hope to a fresh new calling as the people of God!
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Two Mennonite pastors, Patty Friesen from Osler and Lois Siemens from Bethany Manor, recall a canoe trip they took last summer on the Churchill River system in northern Saskatchewan. Much of that area had been burned from recent wildfires.
At first, they said, if felt devastating: “No birdsong or the telltale rustling of small animals in the bushes greeted us. Only silence, the sound of our paddles in the water, and our conversations were carried on the wind.”[1]
But what they discovered was Fireweed. A beautiful purple flower – it is the first sign of the forest regenerating.
Healthy forests need fire for renewal and rejuvenation. Old brush is cleared away. The canopy is opened to sunlight. Pinecones release their seeds. Growth begins again.
This past week, northern wildfires have threatened communities. Fire driven by wind can spread quickly and be devastating!
Fire and wind are also symbols for God’s Spirit: A spirit that may disrupt our lives, but ultimately brings new life.
Like those first disciples, all of us go through times waiting and not knowing. But on the day of Pentecost the wind, the breath, the Spirit of God, blew among them. And they were made new.
Disciples became apostles, sent to share God’s Good News. The church began to grow!
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“Thus says the LORD God: I am going to open your graves …”
What we have here, in the book of Ezekiel, is a glimpse of resurrection. The prophet speaks to a dispirited people and offers hope. They think they’re finished, done, dead. But they are not!
We gather this morning at the table of our Lord. We break bread and remember Jesus’ body broken on the cross. We drink a cup and remember his blood poured out for the life of the world.
Was crucifixion the end of the story? Or was God present there, in that darkest hour?
The answer is a resounding yes! What Ezekiel could only glimpse from a distance, the church embraces. As followers of Jesus, resurrection is the truth we hold onto.
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I’m glad to see that some of you remembered to wear red today. I pray that God’s Spirit may come to rest upon all of you and dwell within you.
And if your day is dark, or you’re struggling with something – physically or spiritually … If you’re tired, worn out, discouraged … Or if you’re simply waiting, wondering what comes next …
Well, none of us are finished. We live by the power of the Spirit until the day we die.
Even then, when we think it’s finally over, even then, it’s not! For God still promises resurrection, life after death! That is the hope of every believer.
The love of God is the most powerful reality in all creation and it will never let us go. Thanks be to God!
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[1] “I will put my Spirit with you, and you shall live,” published in Leader, Spring 2024 Vol. 21 No. 3, p.44.