Introduction/Dry Bones
Can these dry bones live?
The question dances in the mind.
Can these dry bones live? How did they get in such a state? Are we talking about generations
past and generations yet to come, all taking part in the one thing that binds us all together. On
memorial day we might ask is it the result of a great battle? Do the bones live, if only for a
second, when some are found on a distant battle field and repatriated? Even Kings occasionally
are found. England found Richard the Third, on Bosworth field this past year, under a parking
lot. The Archbishop of Canterbury re-buried those bones in Leicester Cathedral – Richard
ancestral home. Can these bones live, was a question Poet Laureate Carol Ann Duffy was
thinking, in the poem read by Richard’s distant relative Benedict Cumberbatch when they put
down those dry bones.
My bones, scripted in light, upon cold soil,
a human braille. My skull, scarred by a crown,
emptied of history. Describe my soul
as incense, votive, vanishing; your own
the same. Grant me the carving of my name.
These relics, bless. Imagine you re-tie
a broken string and on it thread a cross,
the symbol severed from me when I died.
The end of time – an unknown, unfelt loss –
unless the Resurrection of the Dead …
or I once dreamed of this, your future breath
in prayer for me, lost long, forever found;
or sensed you from the backstage of my death,
as kings glimpse shadows on a battleground.
The Resurrection of the Dead? Can these bones live? And what does it mean to live?
God tells Ezekiel to prophesy over these bones, hear the word of the Lord. And He prophesied
as commanded. And the bones took on flesh But there was no breath.
Prophesy again, breathe on them that they might live.
And He prophesied as commanded, and
the breath entered and they lived. They stood on their feet, an exceedingly great army.
But what are these bones? It must have been on Ezekiel’s mind. It’s the natural question. Why
do you show me these things God? Who are these bones? Because God tells him. These dry
bones are the whole house of Israel. A house that says, “our bones are dried up, and our hope is
lost”.
I couldn’t help but think of this reading the recent Pew Report on American religion and the
countless gallons of ink spilled looking at it. The report is not all bad news, if the headline was.
That headline was the jump in the “nones” – those not expressing any religion – and the decline
in the those claiming Christianity. But underneath that top line there were large differences. The
Christian decline came Catholics and Mainline Protestants. The absolute number of evangelicals
actually increased, if slightly below the pace of the American population. Yet the feeling among
many, myself included at times, can sound like the House of Israel. Our bones are dried up, and
our Hope is lost.
Therefore prophesy, and say to them, thus says the Lord God: “Look, I will open your graves,
and raise you from your graves, O my people.” Easter is real. It is not some metaphor. It is not
some faint gleam, unless the resurrection of the dead. Thus says the Lord God, “Look, I will
open you graves”. These dry bones will live, and exceedingly great army. As Christ was raised,
so we will be. Ezekiel saw it and prophesied. Peter saw it, and witnessed.
But that isn’t where God stops. Therefore prophesy and say to them, “And I will put my Spirit
within you, and you shall live…Then you shall know that I am the Lord; I have spoken, and I
will do it, declares the Lord.” Pentecost is real. Pentecost changed things. I want to talk about
three things that Pentecost changes.
Particular to Universal
The first is the reach of this good news. The Spirit used to be particular, a special sign of the
covenant. Moses had it and a portion was taken and placed on the 70, but it was veiled to the
rest. The Spirit spoke by the prophets, but Moses and Elijah would both complain about its
limits. “Would that all the Lord’s people were Prophets, that he would put his Spirit on them.”
“They have killed all the prophets, and now I alone am left.” But in these last days, “I will pour
out my Spirit on all flesh.”
Jesus himself is the pinnacle of the prophets in this regard. The Spirit fully given to him in those
waters of the Jordan will be poured out. The waters now a blessing instead of chaos. But He is
sent when Jesus goes away. “I tell you the truth: it is too your advantage that I go away, for if I
do not go away, the Helper will not come to you.” Christ, the son of man, took that Spirit of the
Covenant and made a new covenant. A covenant in his blood. And he pours the Spirit out
profligately. Universally. Sons and daughters, young men and old. Servants. Cretans and
Arabians! Romans and Egytians. All who believe and are baptized will be saved.
With Power
The second things that Pentecost changes is stakes and perceptions. This is a little more difficult,
but it is a direct line from the universal pouring out. “When he comes he will convict the world
concerning sin and righteousness and judgment: concerning sin, because they do not believe in
me; concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father, and you will see me no longer;
concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged.” Paul, preaching in Athens, says
in Acts 17, “The times of ignorance God overlooked, but now he commands all people
everywhere to repent (Act 17:30 ESV).” Whereas before Pentecost ignorance might actually
have been an excuse, after the pouring out the world is without excuse. The Word of
Resurrection has been proclaimed to the ends of the world. The Spirit is active. And it
convinces or convicts of three things.
Sin. Either we admit we are sinful and in need of a savior, and welcome the grace of Christ, or
we don’t believe it. The Spirit convicts the world of sin – either to absolution or to hardening of
hearts.
Righteousness. Christ was crucified a criminal. His own rejected him as a false messiah. The
Romans rejected him as a false King. Even his disciples fled. Even after the resurrection they
were still hiding. What changed that? The work of the Holy Spirit. The Spirit testifies that He
is risen. The Spirit testifies that that cross is not the greatest shame of the world but the world’s
salvation. The Spirit convicts of His righteousness seen clearly on that paradoxical cross. We
either see that cross, or we crucify him again as unrighteous.
Judgement. The history of the world could be told as one thing after another with there never
being any justice. Yet we crave justice. We want the unjust punished and the brace buried
properly. Rarely do you find the man who denies that there is any valid morality. That is the
work of the Spirit. We are convicted that there is a judgement. Yet the real difference in in
belief. Are we convicted that Christ is on the throne and our accuser throne down, or do we
usurp that role ourselves. Our demands for justice all the greater when we usurp it, because we
don’t believe He’s got it. All the more desperate and cruel for petty justice now, because we
don’t believe the resurrection.
The Holy Spirit convicts. It’s a time of choosing, not of overlooking.
Pentecost changes things.
Conclusion
We are no longer free to claim ignorance. The Spirit convicts. The Spirit gives what Moses
hoped for – that all might prophesy.
And that work of the prophet is simply to witness, to tell the word of the Lord.
I believe in the resurrection of the dead and the life of the world to come. These dry bones will
live. An exceedingly great army. A countless host in white.
Amen.