A sermon based on Ezekiel 37:1-14 and John 11:1-45.
In the name of Jesus; amen.
Can these bones live?
I have some good news that I have been meaning to share for awhile now, but keep forgetting to do it at appropriate times. A few weeks ago The Silent Prince (aka my son) had a blood test to check his lead levels and we got a phone call saying that his lead level was 10. A lead level of 10 is within the normal range. When he was first diagnosed with lead poisoning more than 2 years ago his lead level was in the high 60’s. At a lead level of 70 you risk brain damage and death. To hear the number 10… well, it’s hard to explain how good that feels.
Now he has another test scheduled for the end of the month and we expect what the doctors call a bounce back number, but it shouldn’t be too much and we are confident that we are finally in the home stretch.
Can these bones live?
Sometimes things happen, really terrible things. I’ve said it before. I will probably say it again. Sometimes bad things happen. And when you are standing smack dab in the middle of those terrible things it’s hard to imagine the day or the moment when there is actual good news. At best you can hope for that moment. At best you can trust that God will take you there at some point. At best you can say, “I’ll look back on this and laugh.” But when you are standing in the middle of it and living it… as a friend of mine once said to me, “You might understand that things will be ok, but you don’t know it yet.”
Can these bones live?
Ezekiel stood in the middle of a valley filled with dried up bones, the remnants of a terrible battle that had happened many years before. And God asks him, “Mortal, can these bones live?” And Ezekiel responds, “O Lord GOD, you know.”
And God, who did know, tells Ezekiel to prophesy to the bones; prophesy to them until they regain their lives and the very spirits within them.
Can these bones live?
Standing in that valley, it must have been a terrible sight; a hard-to-imagine-anything-good kind of sight. And Ezekiel, who understood that God could make something good happen speaks the word of God to the bones. He speaks it until the good does happen and the valley is filled not with death, but a living multitude.
Can these bones live?
When Lazarus becomes ill his sisters send word to Jesus. He has just opened the eyes of a man born blind. He is a miracle worker and a friend of the family. He loves them and they are certain that he will come and make things better. But Lazarus’ condition worsens and still no Jesus. Then Lazarus dies and still no Jesus. They burry him and perform all the rituals for the dead and still no Jesus. Three days go by after his death (and they come from a culture that believes that after three days dead a person’s spirit departs) and still no Jesus.
Can these bones live?
When Jesus arrives it is clear that Martha understands who he is. He is the Messiah, the Son of God, the one coming into the world. But she is living in that moment; that terrible moment when hope that one day the pain and sorrow will go away is the best you can do. And Mary understands who he is, kneeling at his feet she tells him, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.” But she is living in that moment; that terrible moment when tears are the only reality that seem real.
Can these bones live?
Standing in the middle of that village, it must have been a terrible sight; a hard-to-imagine-anything-good kind of sight. All around were people weeping and mourning. It was a sight that made Jesus weep, but Jesus didn’t just understand God, Jesus knew God. He knew that even smack dab in the middle of the terrible God would do the glorious, the kind of good that is hard to express.
Can these bones live?
And so Jesus prophesied to the bones and the flesh that was beginning to rot. He prophesied to the tear stained faces and the broken hearts. He prophesied to the onlookers, with their hands clamped over their noses to avoid the stench. “Lazarus, come out!”
Can these bones live?
And the man bound in grave wrappings comes out of the tomb alive and needs to be unwrapped and let go.
Can these bones live?
Well, yes. Yes they can. Dried up bones, brittle and bleached by the sun can form sinews and flesh and skin and life can be breathed into them.
Can these bones live?
Well, yes. Yes they can. A man so dead that he has begun to smell can sit up from his grave and be unbound and let go back into life.
Can these bones live?
Sometimes bad things can happen. See, I said I would say it again and I did. And God knows that in the middle of the bad that pain and grief can cloud our knowing that all things will be made well again, but understand that in the end God wants us to know that our bones will live again. God wants us to know that death, no matter how dried up or smelly it may be is not the end. God wants us to know that resurrection is the ultimate answer to the question of sorrow and sadness and horrible hard-to-imagine-anything-good kind of sight.
Can these bones live?
Yes, yes they can and God makes it so for each of us.
Amen.
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