Sources of Life
based on Ezekiel 37:1-14
by Rev. Randy Quinn

The hand of the LORD came upon me, and he brought me out by the spirit of the LORD and set me down in the middle of a valley; it was full of bones. He led me all around them; there were very many lying in the valley, and they were very dry. He said to me, "Mortal, can these bones live?" I answered, "O Lord GOD, you know." Then he said to me, "Prophesy to these bones, and say to them: O dry bones, hear the word of the LORD. Thus says the Lord GOD 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 LORD." 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. 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.

Then he said to me, "Prophesy to the breath, prophesy, mortal, and say to the breath: Thus says the Lord GOD: Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe upon these slain, that they may live." I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived, and stood on their feet, a vast multitude. 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.' Therefore prophesy, and say to them, Thus says the Lord GOD: 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. And you shall know that I am the LORD, when I open your graves, and bring you up from your graves, O my people. 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.
Ezek. 37:1-14

This is one of those scripture passages that are so delightful to read that I almost hate to preach from it – lest I take away from the shear wonder and awe it conjures up! But there is a danger in letting it speak on its own, as well. The danger is that we will remember the picture so clearly that we miss the message.

Ezekiel’s portrait of the dead bones is a metaphor intended to depict the emotional and spiritual experience of the people of Israel in exile. They are removed from their home, living in a foreign land, and doubting the existence of God. They have lost hope. They feel like dry bones.

It’s similar to our own dark nights of our soul. Maybe it was a time of grief. Maybe it was the loss of a job. Maybe it was your best friend who moved away. Maybe it was a failing grade at school. Maybe it was experiencing divorce – or watching someone go through a tough divorce. Whatever our experience may be, we hear Ezekiel’s vision as a promise that there is hope in the midst of our despair.

The most significant difference is that Ezekiel is not talking about one person’s anguish, but the anguish of a whole people. It’s more akin to the pictures we’ve seen of the holocaust or the genocide in Rwanda where whole families and whole communities are dead and gone. There is no hope left. Life has been traded for death.

And to drive the picture home, Ezekiel walks through the scene and has a close up view of the valley of dead bones (Ezek. 37:2).

During my studies this week, I came across the description of a common burial practice of the time. The dead were placed in a central vault when they died. After the body had decayed and there was no flesh left on them, when they were dry, very dry, the bones would be placed in a smaller container. Often more than one set of bones would be in the same container. And to make them fit, the skeletons would often be dismantled.

The bones in Ezekiel’s vision were not only dry, they had been dismantled. These people had been dead a long time. And there were more than he had ever seen before.

It is a picture of despair and hopelessness. And into that picture, God tells him to proclaim hope. To preach until the bones are reconnected. To preach until the breath of God fills them again. To preach until there is life.

On Wednesday of this week, I had the privilege of being involved in a world-wide gathering of United Methodist pastors via the internet. The President of the Council of Bishops presided over the event in which a vision for the future of our church was being cast and feedback and discussion was solicited.

At one point, Bishop Wenner, from Germany, said the discussion was not about building the church but about being the church.

The event began with a reminder of the statistical evidence that is not unique to The United Methodist Church, evidence that there are fewer and fewer participants involved in the ministry of our church. In the midst of that bleak picture, there are places and congregations where life is taking place – including places like our own church.

The Bishops are trying to figure out how to support those vital congregations while finding ways to foster and sustain more of them. How do you help the Holy Spirit bring life to places where the evidence is pointing to death?

One of the answers, I think, has been a part of the answer in our church. Not too long ago, we had a very small children’s Sunday School program. Not too long ago, we had very few children involved in worship. Not too long ago, we had just a handful of youth.

We all know that God has no grandchildren so the church is always one generation away from extinction – and not too long ago some of us were fearful about our future.

Recent census data says there are more people living in Brown County below the age of 20 than there are living here over the age of 60. The good news is that our church is beginning to reflect that demographic reality.

Some people like to say that children are the future of the church. I disagree because I believe children are the present of the church, too. And the truth is we now have children and youth involved. Lots of children. Sometimes noisy children.

Some years ago, I had the opportunity to worship in the church where I had been confirmed in Southern California. We moved away the next year and this was my first chance to be back. Walking in the doors of the church filled my mind with memories. Memories of Sunday School classes and singing in the choir; memories of events and activities, including Easter sunrise services in the courtyard.

I was pleasantly surprised to find that their website made something clear that I also believed: www.noisychildrenwelcome.com (noisy children welcome).

When there are children in a church, there will be noise. Like the rattling bones in Ezekiel’s vision, it is to be celebrated. When there are children in a church, there are also needs. There is a need for adults to lead Sunday School classes, for example. There is a need for volunteers to help with our children’s choirs. There is a need for Vacation Bible School helpers.

In the past, I’ve heard people tell me that they’ve already served their time in the Sunday School – as if it were a prison sentence! I’ve heard some people insist that the parents of those same children should be involved in the Sunday School.

But what do you do when you have children coming without their parents? Heather Maze just this week told me the story of her grandmother who walked to church without her parents because she knew she needed God in her life. If that church relied upon parents to provide spiritual guidance, she would have had none.

We have children like that involved in our church programs, too, and I don’t want to let them fall through the cracks.

In his book, Transforming Children into Spiritual Champions, George Barna says that “Young people admit to being highly influenced by their role models but nearly half of all preteens admit that they don’t have any role models.”1

For that to happen, there need to be adults involved in their lives – and we all have the opportunity to be those role models, right here in church. We have the opportunity to nurture life-changing relationships between these young people and God.

Call to Discipleship:

I can name several specific places where you can help with this vital part of our church’s ministry – a ministry that will have long term consequences, a ministry where you will receive the thrill of seeing children grow in their faith.

Next year we will need a new teacher for our 2- and 3-year old Sunday School class. In fact, we could use a substitute for that class now! Maybe you want to learn how that class works by filling in this year before deciding if you want to lead it next year.

Next year we will also need a new teacher for our 1st and 2nd Grade Sunday School.

In both of those cases, the teachers have been teaching the class for three years and are looking for a chance to attend a class as an adult – and I think that’s a fair request. Don’t you?

Some Sundays I run late, and it would be good to have a person help lead the opening for our Sunday School. If you want to see the need, come and join us for our Sunday School opening at 9:35 next Sunday! From there, we can help you find a way to help – either with a particular class or simply helping with the music.

This summer we will be hosting a Vacation Bible School again. The other churches we’ve worked with in the past have so few children and we have so many that we decided it was not fair to ask them to host our program at their location; instead, we will invite them to come and participate in our program. We have the materials, we know the themes; we have not worked out the details of how the classes will be run, so we are looking for people who care about children in our community, not just in our church, who could spend a week with them. Let Denise Elffner know if you’d like to help and she’ll help you find a place to serve.

This summer we are also starting to get a group together to run a different kind of Vacation Bible School, a craft time of sorts, in neighborhoods rather than at the church. The details are sketchy because it’s an idea that is evolving. The sign-up sheet for it is on the Mission Trip clipboard – because we see it as a local mission project to non-churched kids who we believe are important to God.

Our children’s choir meets after school on Wednesday. Peggy provides music and activities for this group of kids every week. Some weeks she needs extra hands to help with the activities. Maybe you want to be involved in that kind of a setting.

There are more places to serve with children in our church, including Latchkey, God Squad, and helping with our youth. But I only have one more way to serve our children in our community that I want to name. It was identified by our Leadership and Faith Transforming Communities team as a way to help foster life and health rather than seeing a future of doom and despair. This one takes place at the public library. And I’m going to ask Steve Smith to tell us more about it.

Steve will invite people to become financial sponsors for a healthy snack program for the library’s youth activities. Snacks are already a part of the library program; our Leadership and Faith Transforming Communities team realized this is a place where we can help make our community healthier.

You can be like Ezekiel and bring hope to our church and our community by becoming involved with our children’s ministries. It’s a place where God’s Spirit is clearly at work.

Thanks be to God. Amen.