Dry Bones Revived

"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.

(from Ezekiel 37:1-14)

In 586 BC, the Israelite rebellion against Nebuchadnezzar came to an end and Jerusalem was in ruins.

As was the custom of the time, the bones of fallen warriors are left on the battlefield, denied formal burial, and desecrated by animals.

For the Israelites, this felt like God's broken covenant and unspeakable loss.

God's hope for this desperate situation, is calling the prophet Ezekiel, showing him a valley of dry bones.

God asks Ezekiel, “Can these bones live?"

God tells Ezekiel to speak the Word of the Lord, in this valley of dry bones. 

As Ezekiel speaks, God breathes into the bones re-creating new life.

Thorough God's spirit, dry bones are not the last word.

In Ukraine, 2,600 years later, Ezekiel's metaphor takes on real life. 

Death, destruction, and despair seem to dominate a similar scene of disaster, devastation, and loss. 

Just as Ezekiel spoke in the valley of dry bones and re-created new life, so God will breathe new life into the Ukrainian situation.

God will revive them because dry bones are not the last word.

As it was with the Israelites, as it is occurring now in Ukraine, it follows that the Word of the Lord breathes new life into us as we face our own losses.

The dry bones we experience are not the last word.

We readily observe the dry bones of racism, of protests, and destitution. 

We are well aware of the dry bones of catastrophic illnesses and serious mental disorders leaving us with a sense hopeless.

Ezekiel's vision breaks into these situations with good news: God brings life from death. 

God restores the broken!

God does not leave us where we are!

God is present with us in our times of dry bones!

Dry bones are not the last word!

Think about it: When was a time you felt God breathing new life into you? 

God's Light; Social Breakdown.

The man born blind answered,

“I do not know whether he is a sinner.

One thing I do know,

that though I was blind, now I see."

(from John 9:1-41)

Going on a cave tour, the guide turned off the lights leaving us in total darkness literally unable to see our hand in front of our faces.

I couldn't see any members of the group. 

I was totally focused on my safety.

When the lights came back on, I could see my hand in front of my face, other group members, the cave's unique features, and a sense of security.

In the darkness no perspective; in the light is reality.

It was probably a lonely experience for the blind man who's at others' mercy, lacking a sense of security, begging, and excluded from temple worship. 

By God's Grace, Jesus, sees the blind man's situation, heals him and sends him to wash in the pool of Siloam.

The blind man, interrogated by his neighbors, in frustration says, "One thing I do know, though I was blind, now I see."

I'm convinced there's a darkness in our society caused by a communication breakdown resulting in racism, gender conflicts, violence, and social isolation.

I also see all sorts of analysis and perspectives for resolution to this darkness, most of which seem beyond my comprehension as solutions.

By the Grace of God, one thing I do know, Jesus brings healing and hope to this social breakdown.

In a way, it's like the tour guide turning on the lights again. 

We have gone from complete darkness, to the subdued lights of the cave, to the completed tour, and into the radiance of God's sunlight.

We have gone from social breakdown to the brightness of God's love and justice.

Think about it: What has God provided for you along life’s journey for your strength, healing and inspiration?

Living Water for Vulnerable People

Jesus said to her, 

“Everyone who drinks of this water

 will be thirsty again, but those who drink 

of the water that I will give them

 will never be thirsty. 

The water that I will give will become

 in them a spring of water gushing up to eternal life.” 

(from John 4:5-42)

The Bible mentions water 722 times as streams, wells, and springs with the power to heal, purify, provide deliverance, and destroy evil and enemies.

"Water" is found in Genesis 1:2 and streams its way through the Bible to Revelation 22:17.

At Jacob's well, water's power is about healing a person's vulnerability. 

When Jesus appears at Jacob's well tired and thirsty and meets a Samaritan woman the mutual vulnerability begins.

Jesus, as a Jewish male, has advantage over the woman, but he's also a disadvantaged, thirsty, tired traveling foreigner without a bucket to draw water.

The Samaritan woman is at disadvantage because of gender and race, but she has the advantage of being a local who has access to the well's water.

Another disadvantage is the woman’s private life of having had five husbands.

Either she was trapped in the custom of levirate marriage, or the five husbands may refer to people from five foreign nations who were brought by the Assyrians conquers, or the resulting mixed race and culture due to Herod the Great's colonization.

Jesus promises the Samaritan woman living water and purifying water giving her hope living in the tense, diverse culture surrounding her.

Like the Samaritan woman, we have old hatreds and hostilities so we live as God's vulnerable people surviving the floods of today's culture, economic insecurity, gender threats, and safety.

God, through Jesus, meets us at the baptism font with its flowing stream of living water guiding us through the vulnerabilities of life.

By the power of the Spirit, vulnerable we are, we have the capability of living our baptism covenant of resisting evil, injustice, and oppression.

Through our stream of living water, we are capable of transforming despair into hope by  offering security to the vulnerable.

Think about it: In what ways has God made your faith resilient and strong, in today’s world?

Standing at the Black Beach

Jesus answered Nicodemus,

"For God so loved the world

 that he gave his only Son, 

so that everyone who believes in him

 may not perish but may have eternal life." 

(from John 3:1-17)

Reynisfjara Beach, a stunning Black Beach, in South Iceland, is known for its dramatic natural landscapes of the caves, sea spikes, black sand, and large rock formations that rise out of the sea.

The Heavens above produce magnificent sunsets, sunrises, and the Norther Lights

The world around you is an extremely dangerous North Atlantic beach capable of 120 ft. powerful, waves able to knock you down and drag you out to sea.

Standing on the Black Beach are the "heavens" above and the "world" around you.

John's theology is one of a two-story universe.

"Heaven" is the upper story, centered around God, is a realm of life, light, and abundance. 

The “world” is the lower story, a realm of hate and darkness, living in pain only partly knowing God.

Nicodemus, is curious about Jesus.

Jesus explains to Nicodemus that understanding him means bring be born from above.

God sent Jesus into the world because God loves the world which means taking actions for the good of others.

To inherit eternal life is choosing to live by heavens qualities, such as love, life, truth, and freedom even while experiencing the world's pain and hate.

Those not believing in Jesus are already condemned to continue to living in the prison of the world, and to die without hope of continued life. 

Those who do not believe in Jesus love the darkness more than they love the light. 

The choice is like standing on the Black Beach believing in Jesus and seeing the beauty of heaven or not believing and living anxiously about 120 ft. waves and landslides.

As I see it, those who believe in Jesus will not be overwhelmed by living anxiously, but will live on the beach seeing the possibility of eternal life.