Psalm 130; Ezekiel 37: 1-14
by Rev. Carson Overstreet
Van Wyck Presbyterian Church
April 2, 2017
Fifth Sunday in Lent
Out of the depths I cry to you, O Lord.
Lord, hear my voice!
Let your ears be attentive
to the voice of my supplications!
If you, O Lord, should mark iniquities,
Lord, who could stand?
But there is forgiveness with you,
so that you may be revered.
I wait for the Lord, my soul waits,
and in his word I hope;
my soul waits for the Lord
more than those who watch for the morning,
more than those who watch for the morning.
O Israel, hope in the Lord!
For with the Lord there is steadfast love,
and with him is great power to redeem.
It is he who will redeem Israel
from all its iniquities. Psalm 130
He said to me, ‘Mortal, can these bones live?’ I answered, ‘O Lord God, you know.’
Then he said to me, ‘Prophesy to these bones, and say to them: O dry bones, hear the word of the Lord. 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.’
So I prophesied as I had been commanded; and as I prophesied, suddenly there was a noise, a rattling, and the bones came together, bone to its bone. I looked, and there were sinews on them, and flesh had come upon them, and skin had covered them; but there was no breath in them. Then he said to me, ‘Prophesy to the breath, prophesy, mortal, and say to the breath: Thus says the Lord God: Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe upon these slain, that they may live.’ I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived, and stood on their feet, a vast multitude.
Then he said to me, ‘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.” Therefore prophesy, and say to them, Thus says the Lord God: I am going to open your graves, and bring you up from your graves, O my people; and I will bring you back to the land of Israel. 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: 1-14
It was not just an ordinary Tuesday morning. Many gathered at Olympic Stadium last summer in Rio de Janeiro to see the pinnacle of athletic performance. The starting pistol fired to begin the qualifying heat for the women’s 5000 meter track event (3.107 miles). These seventeen women had trained hard to compete on the world’s biggest stage. Only the fastest runners from the first two heats would go on to race the final event for the gold, silver or bronze medals.
It looked like a dead end situation. Serious injuries usually bring the dreams of completing to a full stop. And even if they could tough out the pain, their chances to catch up to the pack and make up for lost time looked bleak.
Situations like this seem to make time move in slow motion as some mysterious gift intervenes. Somehow D’Agostino got up and instead of walking off the track or trying to salvage her own race, she stood next to Hamblin who was still on the ground. These two competitors did not know each other and had never spoken to each other before. But D’Agostino extended her hand to Hamblin saying, “Get up, get up. We have to finish!” Hamblin got up and they both began to run as best they could.
Hamblin ran on ahead of D’Agostino and after a few laps she looked behind and saw D’Agostino down on the ground again. Her face was grimacing with pain. Hamblin turned and ran back. She saw the tears in D’Agostino’s eyes and likewise, she extended a hand to her competitor saying “Get up, get up. We are going to finish this together.” For a while Hamblin had her arm around D’Agostino to give her extra support to complete the heat.
When they crossed the finish line, not only did the crowd cheer these two on, but also their competitors cheered and congratulated them. Their sportsmanship was unlike anything the Olympic judges had ever seen, therefore Hamblin and D’Agostino were rewarded entrance in the final 5000 meter event. Of course D’Agostino’s knee required surgery and she was unable to run the final.
And Hamblin said, “Everyone wants to win and get a medal, but as disappointing as it is, there is so much more to this,” “It is just a mutual understanding of how much everyone puts into it. When someone asks me what happened in Rio in 20 years time, this is my story. She is my story. (USA Today)” “That girl, Abbey D’Agostino, is the Olympic spirit right there” (CBS).
God’s people experienced a similar tragedy. They too had fallen down. It was way beyond torn ligaments and battered shoulders. God’s people had fallen and had lost all hope to get back up. The people looked like a valley of dry bones.
Out of nowhere the hand of God appeared and rested on Ezekiel. At first God made Ezekiel sit down on that field to take in the scene. It looked like a dead end. And then God led Ezekiel all around to access the damage. God asked Ezekiel, “Can these bones live? (Ezekiel 37:3) Can these people get up and finish the race of faith with perseverance?” God's question warranted the answer, "No."
Ezekiel knew the people. He had been with them through thick and thin. And this prophet did not how the runners on God’s team could find the strength to stand up and persevere again. The weight of the Babylonian exile had caused too much confusion and pain for a possible recovery.
We all must be reminded time and again that nothing is impossible with God. God’s Spirit is always on the move, even when we have come to a full stop on the course of faith. God spoke to Ezekiel saying, “Prophecy to these bones… speak my divine instruction into these brittle and broken places. I will cause the breath of life to enter my people and you all shall live” (Ezekiel 37:4-5).
God’s Spirit breathes a word of hope into our weary souls to encourage us, saying: “Get up! Get up! We have to keep moving in this race of faith.” God will help us for in God there is steadfast love and with him is great power to redeem” (Psalm 130:7).
The Valley of Dry Bones is our story. Our Lenten journey has taken us through 40 tough days of Spiritual Boot Camp. We have certainly felt the excitement of training for a new spiritual adventure. We have also experienced the bleak valleys too.
We have looked to find the motivation for real change in our lives in order to gain new perspectives of spiritual health and God’s wholeness. We have been cultivating new and deeper spiritual disciplines to train our faith to move past the starting line and go the distance with God. We have been hydrating our spirits with God’s Living Water of Jesus Christ with Scripture and prayer. And we have been getting muddy to overcome the obstacle courses of faith in order to see God reshaping us by the grit of life.
Today you may notice that you feel the fatigue of Spiritual Boot Camp as we follow in Jesus’ footsteps. If we look back to that first Sunday in Lent Scripture told us that after Jesus had run the hills of spiritual discipline and completed his 40 days of training in the wilderness he was famished.
Maybe you were clear five weeks ago about your need for change but in your reflections you have discovered that you are just going through the motions. You wonder if you can make up for lost time to finish this race strong.
Maybe you are reflecting on that lesser habit you have been trying to break. Maybe you are still struggling with it. It’s breaking your stride and causing you to limp along. You wonder how in the world will you truly be able to break through this?
Maybe you have been surprised to see the results of perseverance to experience God’s freedom and new life. And this is leading you to really question if you need to bring the lesser habit to a dead end or not. You wonder if it is worth picking up facebook again or that food or that feeling of resentment after fasting from it these past 40 days.
Today we look back to see how far we have come. God is leading us to the track and field of faith to take a good look at our “spiritual bones.”[1] What has motivated you to make it this far in Spiritual Boot Camp? What have you and I discovered about our spiritual perseverance to grow stronger muscles of faith? What has brought confusion and pain? What has made you trip up on the course?
Wherever we find ourselves on the track and field of faith, we only have a few laps remaining. And no matter how strong or weak we have felt, I know without a doubt that we all need the encouragement of receiving a hand up in order to cross the finish line of Lent strong.
Listen for our Coach, Teacher, and Savior Jesus Christ speaking into our lives with his faithful obedience. Look for the ways the Spirit is breathing new life into our dry bones, our weary muscles, and our broken places. Wait for the Lord and hope in God’s Word.
As we wait the gift of faith leads us to trust even when we cannot see the hope that lies ahead of us. The Apostle Paul says, “Hope that is seen is not hope, for who hopes for what is seen? But if we hope for what we do not see we wait for it with patience” (Romans 8:24-25).
Get up! Get up! We have to finish this together! We are connected to the Spirit of the Living God in the most powerful way! God will revive us with a second wind to finish our race strong. Our hope is not just to survive Spiritual Boot Camp and be revived to cross the finish line. It is way more than that.
Today we make the turn to run the last lap of Lent. Next Sunday we enter Holy Week. Palm Sunday foreshadows Jesus’ triumphant victory lap. But we also remember the last week of Jesus’ life looked like a dead end. We follow his steps to the Garden of Gethsemane where Jesus prayed in anguish and sweat like drops of blood. We follow Jesus as he led his disciples to share the Last Supper on Maundy Thursday where he gave them a new commandment to love one another and yet Peter denied Jesus three times; Judas betrayed him which led to Jesus' arrest and trial. Jesus was led to carry his cross on Good Friday, suffer on our behalf and then gave up his spirit. What seemed like a dead end was actually a new beginning. God was there all the way to lift Christ up to be exalted as Savior.
Let us run this race of faith not in our own ability but in Jesus’ faithfulness. And as we do God’s Spirit will enter into our lives to breathe the incredible hope of a life transformed by the gravity of Jesus’ sacrificial love. Jesus Christ is the One who extends his hand and heart to us. He is the One who lifts us up to stand in the strength of God’s grace so that we may truly live in the hope of resurrection.
In the name of God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen.
Sources Referenced:
Sermon Theme and Title adapted from "A Preacher's Guide to Lectionary Sermon Series: Thematic Plans for Years A, B, and C (Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press, 2016), p. 21, Sermon Theme "Boot Camp for the Soul," by Winnie Varghese.
[1] Feasting on the Word: Year A, Volume 2 (Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press: 2010), Katherine Amos, Pastoral Perspective p. 126.
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