March 29, 2020 Ezekiel 37.1-10 *John 11.1-11 “Spiritual Growth: Sleeping”
Pastor Jacqueline Hines
We are celebrating
Youth this Sunday and I and trust you are doing as well as can be in this
season of multiple interruptions.
I see in my mind’s eye the
young people that have been to church or Sunday school not so long ago, Abrianna,
Adeline, Adelynn, Aidrick, Aiden, Alania, Althea, Alyssa, Analisa, Andy,
Anelise, Aubrie, Austin, Brandon D.,
Brandon H., Charlie, Dana, Drew, Dylan, Emilie, Grace, Hailey, Harry, Heather,
Issac, Jackson, JD, Joseph, Kaleb, Katelyn, Kierralyn, Laurel, Logan, Lucas,
Lucy, Luke, Mackenzie, Madeline, MaryGrace, Max, Micah, Michael, Nolan, Peyton,
Ryan, Sam, Skyler, Sophia, Tatum, Taylor, Timothy, Tyler, Waverly, and Wesley.
If I have left out your
name, let me know and you will get first dibs on homemade ice cream we’re going
to make after church when we get back together. I am going to put everyone’s
names on a welcome home banner near the
ice cream maker and we will add your name if I you do not see it today.
Our Old Testament lesson is from the prophet Ezekiel
chapter 37. I will be reading verses 1, 4, and 10.
37The 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. 4Then he said to me, ‘Prophesy to these bones, and say to them:
O dry bones, hear the word of the Lord. 10I prophesied as he
commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived, and stood on their
feet, a vast multitude.
--
The gospel lesson is
taken from Matthew chapter 11. Hear the good news in verses 1 – 7.
11Now when Jesus had
finished instructing his twelve disciples, he went on from there to teach and
proclaim his message in their cities. 2When John heard in prison what the Messiah was doing, he sent
word by his disciples 3and said to him, “Are you the one who is to come, or are we to
wait for another?” 4Jesus answered them, “Go and tell John what you hear and
see: 5the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, the lepers are
cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the poor have good news
brought to them. 6And blessed is anyone who takes no offense at me.” 7As they went away, Jesus
began to speak to the crowds about John: “What did you go out into the
wilderness to look at? A reed shaken by the wind? ==
Our young people have the
hand of God on them, just like Ezekiel did when he said ‘The hand of the Lord came
upon me and brought me to a valley and that valley was full of dry bones.’
While we are working to
remember to stay six feet away from one another, wash our hands and not get too
close for fear of infecting one another, we can best believe that God has a
hand on each one of us, guiding us from one place to another.
I once had a beautiful
dream that God’s hand was very large like the size of a house. God was gently
lowering a hand and someone was eagerly and clumsily climbing into the safety
of that very big hand. I would love it if someone would draw a picture of God’s
hand and a person climbing safely in.
There are young people
who are in God’s hand, who walk with God, who hold God’s hand while looking out
at this world. Sometime they may see what Ezekiel saw: a valley, a valley of
dry bones, a valley of that which used-to-be alive, a valley, down, low, dark, deep,
and dusty.
At one time, people who
had passed through the valley of the shadow of death were said to be
“sleeping.” We asked that they would “rest in peace.” Jesus spoke of the
deceased as asleep since there would come a day that they would rise again,
wake up, and live life as it was intended to be lived. Life is God’s plan. Life
is to be expected. If we ask God to help us live our lives, God will do what we
cannot possibly do alone.
A very intelligent and
talented group of scientists studied the human body and decided “We can make a
body like this.” One reached down on the ground and scooped up a handful of
dirt, and God said, “No, no. If you think you can do this on your own, get your
own dirt.” We can’t make anything on our
own. We always need God’s help.
We live in a world where
we must choose to make good choices. Having a choice means that we live in a
broken world where things get broken for the young as well as the old. Hearts
get broken. Feelings get hurt. Stuff gets lost. Dreams burst into bubbles. But
God….God helps us to heal and help wherever we can.
Jesus tells us that the
devil is a thief who breaks into our lives in order to steal, and to kill,
and to destroy, but Jesus promises, I have come that my sheep may have a better
life than they ever dreamed of.
A member asked me this week, “Pastor, do
you think our war with the coronavirus is a wakeup call from God? Are we being
punished?”
I don’t know everything. Only God knows
everything, but God does not always tell us everything. We couldn’t handle it.
When we listen to God’s word, we seek God with all our heart, serve God
faithfully, and obey God quickly. But we are not perfect. So we need God to
help us.
I don’t know everything, but I do know
that whenever trouble and frustrations come our way, they bring rich
opportunities for us to learn to make good choices, to spend time with the God
who loves us deeply, to receive the peace of God and the joy of the Lord which
make us strong enough to make it through anything.
When we do wrong, like a good parent, God
has a million ways to teach us a lesson. We can speculate about what God is up
to when things go wrong for ourselves or someone else, but in the end, God is
the judge and the jury!
What do you expect from the God we serve?
That is the question Jesus asked the crowd in verse 7. The crowd heard about the
good things Jesus was doing - helping people to see clearly, hear better, walk
straight, get well, wake up, and bring good news on a sad day. Jesus asked them
what did you expect from God, something weak and flimsy, like a reed blowing in
the wind, or something that does not matter, something for you and no one else?
When God says something, God means it!!
God does not waste even one breath. We need every WORD that God breathes. When
we hold our breath, we cannot hold it for long because we need every breath to
live. God gives us every breath so we can live and do all the good that we can
do.
When Ezekiel saw the dry bones in the
valley, he watched while God breathed into them and they woke up, they came
alive. That is what God wants us to do, wake up and breathe in God’s word and
presence and with every breath to be alive in God so we can love God and each
other with all our heart, so we can help each other see love clearly, (like a
picture of someone climbing into God’s big hand of protection) so we can hear
the truth better, walk in the straight and narrow paths that lead to life, to
help each other get well, to wake up and breathe and speak kind words of good
news every day, especially on a day like today. Let us pray.
Lord, bless our young people as you have
blessed their parents, grandparents, great grandparents, neighbors and friends.
We thank you for how you have provided energy and food and plenty of play time,
time to read, and time to pray. We thank you for lots of patience and kindness
on the good days and the sad days.
Bless those who need you most today –
those who don’t feel well, those who are afraid, those who need someone to talk
to, those who are ready to go back to school. Bless our leaders, preachers,
teachers, and missionaries everywhere. We pray as Jesus taught us - Our father
who art in heaven. Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, they will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day, our daily bread and forgive us
our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us, and lead us not
into temptation, but deliver us from evil, for thine is the kingdom and the
power and the glory forever. Amen.
May the grace of God and the sweet, sweet
communion of the Holy Spirit, rest rule and abide with always and give you
peace.
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