The Gospel story for 29th March 2020 is the story of Lazarus (John 11:1-45), but I have chosen to focus on the Ezekiel passage as it seemed to fit with our times. We can find this time like time in the wilderness or the desert. We might feel God has forgotten us or left us behind somehow...the Israelites often felt like this, in exile or under siege.
As you read through the passage, what stands out for you? A desert is a hostile environment, a defeated army left abandoned in the hot sunshine, hope gone and life extinct. But then God turns up. How is our current environment hostile and what might it mean for God to turn up?
Ezekiel 37:1-14 (NIV)
The hand of the Lord was on me, and he brought me out by the Spirit of the Lord and set me in the middle of a valley; it was full of bones. 2 He led me back and forth among them, and I saw a great many bones on the floor of the valley, bones that were very dry. 3 He asked me, “Son of man, can these bones live?”
I said, “Sovereign Lord, you alone know.”
4 Then he said to me, “Prophesy to these bones and say to them, ‘Dry bones, hear the word of the Lord! 5 This is what the Sovereign Lord says to these bones: I will make breath enter you, and you will come to life. 6 I will attach tendons to you and make flesh come upon you and cover you with skin; I will put breath in you, and you will come to life. Then you will know that I am the Lord.’”
7 So I prophesied as I was commanded. And as I was prophesying, there was a noise, a rattling sound, and the bones came together, bone to bone. 8 I looked, and tendons and flesh appeared on them and skin covered them, but there was no breath in them.
9 Then he said to me, “Prophesy to the breath; prophesy, son of man, and say to it, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Come, breath, from the four winds and breathe into these slain, that they may live.’” 10 So I prophesied as he commanded me, and breath entered them; they came to life and stood up on their feet—a vast army.
11 Then he said to me: “Son of man, these bones are the people of Israel. They say, ‘Our bones are dried up and our hope is gone; we are cut off.’ 12 Therefore prophesy and say to them: ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: My people, I am going to open your graves and bring you up from them; I will bring you back to the land of Israel. 13 Then you, my people, will know that I am the Lord, when I open your graves and bring you up from them. 14 I will put my Spirit in you and you will live, and I will settle you in your own land. Then you will know that I the Lord have spoken, and I have done it, declares the Lord.’”
Reflection
This passage is always fascinating, and we forget in this day and age that God speaks to us through visions. We think visions lie in the past, yet throughout Scripture we see the use of dreams and visions. Prophecy is given that your old men will dream dreams and your young men see visions whilst your sons and daughters prophesy. As someone who does look for signs, who does see God in the mundane, who, at times, is open to the prompting of the Spirit, and generally sees connections all around, I still believe that God uses vision and dreams to communicate.
Admittedly none of mine have been as spectacular as Ezekiel’s and if I’m honest, for that I’m grateful. And of course, they don’t always readily make sense. My recent dream of a ball of coloured yarn that is slowly unravelling is likely just my brain making sense of the current climate, rather than some spiritual wisdom! Ezekiel was in no doubt about this vision, and who the author is of that vision.
Like the Israelites of old we can feel like broken people just now, wandering in the wilderness and unsettled about the current conditions. To be fair, being in lock down is not the worst outcome, but it can feel restrictive, claustrophobic even. Whether we are with people or on our own, we envy what the other half have because neither situation is great. We are, if you like, restricted to the bare bones of life - limited exercise, limited contact and contained in small units. Everywhere we would go to socialise or hang out is closed - all for our own safety, but since when have we ever liked doing what we are told. Just ask Adam and Eve!
We are only at the beginning of the fallout from this disaster. Falling as it does on the back of Brexit and its uncertainty, our economy is fragile. We are not spending money, yet getting paid, if we are fortunate enough. Others are not sure if they are getting paid, what they might get paid and indeed when they might get paid. It’s no wonder we might feel like a deserted army in the desert. Others are exhausted, working so hard to heal the sick, feed the hungry, care for the prisoners and the housebound and so on!
Yet when all seems lost, and you don’t really don’t get more lost than when your vast army lies as bleached bones in the desert, God turns up. Admittedly, we are not there yet, if the science and the experts are right. We are still heading towards an even more difficult time, but we know that God is there in the midst of it. There is hope. There is a future. Yet sadly there is also the tragedy and the heartbreak. It would seem that human nature being what it is, there is rarely pure joy without pain or hardship or indeed sacrifice. We cry in childbirth yet rejoice in that first wail of new life. Today we sacrifice our some of our freedom that others might live.
In this season of Lent we are reminded that though death hovers like an unwelcome guest at a party, life is ready to bounce him out the door. For the Israelites it was the gift of life in the shape of freedom from exile. The other reading for this Sunday in Lent is the story of Lazarus found in the Gospels. Lazarus, a dear friend of Jesus had died, and in this story we glimpse the humanity of Jesus as he stands at his friend’s grave and weeps. Yet here too, death is shown the door and Lazarus is given back to his sisters Mary and Martha. Death is the last enemy.
As we draw ever so close to Good Friday and Easter Sunday, we see the drama between life and death played out once again. We come to the story knowing that Life will win, yet still caught up in the loss and the grief. For Jesus died, in much pain, betrayed and criminalised, for the sins of all people. And he went to his death, like a lamb to slaughter. Yet death once again was shown the door, but not without the pain and the sacrifice.
Trust me, I know we want the easy life. I would dearly love to curl up at home and hide away until all this is done. I would love it even more if none of us had to face this virus or its consequences whether in terms of health or wealth or something else. Unfortunately that is not my gift for you today. My gift that I want to offer is hope. The undeniable hope that death does not have the last word. Life will always find a way.
Through the incredible kindness of others.
Through the patient enduring of a lockdown never seen in peacetime before.
Through the loyalty and sheer grit of NHS staff and carers up and down the land.
Through the courageous brave souls who stock our shelves, open our stores, dispense our medication, look after the prisoners, empty our bins, all whilst putting up with abuse, ingratitude and poor pay.
I think, perhaps, that life finds a way because we all carry within us the gift of life. Ezekiel wasn’t a passive bystander in the vision. God made him prophesy. Ezekiel had to look at that desert of bones and speak the words God gave him. Could you imagine that moment? I suspect Ezekiel was so in awe of God he wouldn’t have questioned it, but how daft he might have felt telling those those bones to take a breath. How impossible that moment actually was.
For Jesus and Lazarus - Lazarus had lain for 3 days and Jesus asks for the stone to be rolled away. Jesus prays out loud and prays that the people know that it is God who brings life. When Jesus died on the cross, he gave his soul to God his Father. In the creation story shared in the book of Genesis, it is the breath of God that gives human beings life.
Death is coming to knock on our doors but we don’t live in fear, because we worship the God of the living. And life will blossom again, hope will rise up, and we will once again rise and live.
Remember those words at the beginning of John - In him was life, and that life was the light of all people. The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not overcome it.
Until then, God calls us all to live our best lives, to bring hope, compassion and love into the lives of others. These gifts that we bring offer life to others, and remind us that we are called to be someone greater than the individual we are. We are community. People living in this world, in the common unity of our humanity. The life we lead affects the lives of those around us, from our family and friends to the pharmacist trying their best.
As Christians, as those who believe in eternal life, who believe in the resurrection of Jesus Christ, let us live with hope, content even in hardship, and always with loving kindness in our words and actions. And from there, may more come to know Christ and his gift of love, and God and his gift of life.
With God all the things are possible.
Hold onto these words from the story of Lazarus:
Jesus said: I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever believes in me will never die.
He asks: Do you this believe this?
Mary responds: Yes, Lord.
How do you respond?
