Out of the Valley
Mike Horlocker
Ezekiel 37:1-14
The hand of the L ORD came upon me, and he brought me out by the spirit of the L ORD and set me down in the middle of a valley; it was full of bones.
2 He led me all around them; there were very many lying in the valley, and they were very dry.
3 He said to me, “Mortal, can these bones live?” I answered,
“O Lord G
OD
, you know.” 4 Then he said to me, “Prophesy to these bones, and say to them: O dry bones, hear the word of the L ORD .
5 Thus says the
Lord G OD to these bones: I will cause breath to enter you, and you shall live.
6 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 L ORD
.” 7 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.
8 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.
9 Then he said to me, “Prophesy to the breath, prophesy, mortal, and say to the breath: Thus says the Lord G
OD
: Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe upon these slain, that they may live.” 10 I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived, and stood on their feet, a vast multitude.
11 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.’ 12 Therefore prophesy, and say to them, Thus says the Lord G OD : 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.
13 And you shall know that I am the L ORD , when I open your graves, and bring you up from your graves, O my people.
14 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 L ORD
, have spoken and will act,” says the L ORD .
Let us Pray: God eternal, as you sent upon the disciples the promised gift of the
Holy Spirit, look upon your church and as your Word is proclaimed open our hearts to the power of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
“Can these bones live?” What an unusual question. Not unusual because of the question itself, but unusual because of who asks it. It is God who asks a mere mortal, “Can these bones live?”
I would be lying to you if I told you that similar thoughts and questions hadn’t crossed my mind at least once or twice when I first came back to you this past
February. I remember looking out and seeing a congregation that was tired, that was weary and apprehensive, that was burned out, and even beaten down. I

recognized it because I came here feeling the same way. I had quit my job after 15 very successful years in IT to pursue a calling to become a pastor. But I had grown tired of interviewing churches, tired of rejections, tired of empty promises, and tired of being unemployed. I was beginning to wonder if I had gotten the lines mixed up. Perhaps ministry was not my calling. Perhaps I needed to go back to what I knew I was good at.
In this morning’s Old Testament reading, the prophet Ezekiel, one of Jerusalem’s elite, is living in exile in Babylon. Jerusalem has been destroyed and there is little hope of returning to the homeland. Those who are living in exile wonder what’s next. Ezekiel is led by the mighty hands of God into a valley where the ground is covered with dried up bones. The bones represent the people of Jerusalem. The chosen people of God lay slain from corrupt leadership, their lack trust and faithfulness in God, which led to foreign invasion by the Babylonians.
It is here in this vision that God asks Ezekiel, “Can these bones live?” The answer relies on Ezekiel’s willingness to trust in the power of God. Ezekiel answers, “O
Lord God, you know!” It is because of Ezekiel’s trust and faith in God that God commands Ezekiel to prophesy to the bones. “Prophesy to these bones, and say to them: O dry bones, hear the word of the L ORD . Thus says the Lord G OD 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 L ORD
.”
Today marks Pentecost, a season of hope. The breath of God’s creating Spirit blows anew, reminding us that death and despair do not have the last word. The story of the dry bones urges us to boldly claim the power of God’s Spirit. This morning, God meets us here in this place and asks us, “Can these bones live?” Is there hope?
For those of you who read my Mid-week Update in your emails on Thursday you know how excited I was over the events that occurred over the past week. I remember how reluctant I was to take 50 tomato plants from the Presbytery, yet they were all taken last Sunday as you promised to do your best to grow food for the hungry. The choir went and spent an afternoon at Arbor Hospice to bring joy and comfort to one of our own. Meals have shown up in our freezer to be delivered to our homebound. Jo Morgan ran a children’s tent at the Farmer’s Market which brought just under 40 children to make a craft and learn more about our VBS. We finished up the day with our newly elected Elder Donna Rae organizing a refreshment tent for visitors during the Cruise In. Can these bones live? Is there hope? O Lord God, you know that there is!

In this morning’s Gospel message Jesus promises to send an advocate, a teacher of truth to remain with us until his return. He tells the disciples that there will be a new way. Theologian Shirley Guthrie writes:
According to the New Testament, the Spirit does something that is the
Spirit’s own unique work. It can be summarized with the word new. The
Holy Spirit brings new creaturely life that is stronger than sickness and even death itself; gives new beginnings to people whose lives seem to be at a dead end; brings new wisdom and guidance from God; holds together, and sends out a new reconciled and reconciling community called the church… When the Spirit breaks in, old ways of thinking and living are left behind and new ways of thinking and living begin to take over.
Old ways of thinking and living are left behind, and new ways of thinking and living begin to take over. Look at where we were just three to four months ago. We were both stuck in the valley of the dry bones, but look where we are now. Friends, the Spirit has broken in and the Spirit is blowing new life into each of us. I can feel it in the energy that surrounds us, I can see it in the smiles on your faces, I can hear it in the singing of the choir, and I am aware of it each time one of you answers yes to a job that needs to be done. We are not the same people that we were in
February. The Spirit is at work among us. No more shall we live in the past, but live in the hope of the future. The Spirit is leading us out of the valley of the dry

bones and is leading us to greener pastures as a church and in our ministry together.
It may not happen all at once, but when the Holy Spirit comes there is the dawn of a new day, hope for a new and different future, and courage and strength to move toward it.
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, Amen.