Dry Bones, Ezekiel 37:1-14 - A Sermon on Change in Rural America

Below please find the manuscript and the video of the sermon I gave yesterday in the Lake City Town Square.  It was our Annual Lake City Ministerial Association Community Worship and this year I was asked to deliver the message.  

The audio is difficult in a couple of places due to the wind, it was fairly windy in the Square, and pretty chilly as well.  The sermon was well received and I was asked to publish it in our July Newsletter as well.

It wasn't a terribly long sermon, but, it was at first a poignant but ultimately (hopefully) an inspiring message.

Be a blessing to someone today!

In His Mercy,
Roy

“Dry Bones” 
A Sermon given by Pastor Roy Karlen, 6/25/17

Ezekiel 37:1-14 (NRSV) The Valley of Dry Bones
1 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. 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 God, you know.” 4 Then he said to me, “Prophesy to these bones, and say to them: O dry bones, hear the word of the Lord. 5 Thus says the Lord God 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 Lord.”
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 God: 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 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. 13 And you shall know that I am the Lord, 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 Lord, have spoken and will act, says the Lord.”

Ezekiel is a prophet speaking to the Jewish people during the Babylonian Exile.  Truly, the chosen people of God are wondering if God has forsaken them... has God forgotten Israel.  Here in Ezekiel, we hear what is at first a terrifying and frankly depressing tale. 

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.

These bones are the bodies of those killed in battle and left to rot and decay in the elements... to have their bones literally picked over by scavengers.  These dismembered bodies have been left behind... forgotten... left to decay. Dislocated and scattered across the landscape. These bones God tells Ezekiel are the 'whole body' of Israel.  What starts out as a dark and depressing passage ends up with the dismembered bodies being “re-membered”, reassembled and reanimated with the breath that God instructs Ezekiel to prophesy.  And then we have the final promise; 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.  The promise that will come true with the return from Exile and the reconstruction of the Temple, God has not forgotten Israel... Israel, now broken and scattered, will be restored... Israel is not forgotten, it is remembered.

More and more we Christians can easily feel like Ezekiel's “dry bones”.   Right here today, as we worship together, unfortunately, Father Lynn is not with us, as today is the last day of worship at St. Mary's Catholic Church in Auburn, and he is there to lead their final service, their closing ceremony, and luncheon.  Far, far too many churches both Catholic and Protestant are closing, and we can't help but feel like “dry bones”.  We like the bones viewed by Ezekiel feel dismembered and scattered... maybe at times... we even feel forgotten by God... just like the Jewish people in the time of the Exile.

Here in rural and small town America perhaps this feeling is greatest of all.  The demographics of rural America have been shifting for decades and continue to do so, as our population continues to age, those fewer and fewer who are younger... are continually less and less likely to be attending Sunday worship.  We struggle to find ways to be relevant in a changing society, ways to reach and enrich the communities in which we live and worship.

As much as we as human beings dislike it we are forced to face the need to change... ironically, the only thing constant in this world is change... yet nearly all humans dislike change, and to be honest... most of us fear it.  Change can be exciting... and some few do constantly crave change, but even those few are beset by fear.  It's likely the fear and the release of endorphins is what they actually crave.

Change is flat out scary...

I have preached a fair amount lately at Woodlawn about change and I apologize to those here from Woodlawn for having to revisit this topic.

A large part of the problem with change is that it's seldom comfortable, it's said that growth resides just outside our comfort zone, that's because growth requires change.

To grow... to improve... one cannot be comfortable... and one must embrace change of some kind.  Off and on for much of my life, I've lifted weights, and I can tell you that if you do not constantly challenge yourself you will not get stronger.  One cannot constantly lift the same amount of weight and expect to gain either strength or muscular size, rather one has to constantly increase the amount of weight or the number of repetitions that one lifts the weight if there is no upward change one will actually start to recede in strength and size.  But change is as I said scary, constantly having to face new and different challenges is daunting.  

The other thing about change is that far too many want things to change, without changing anything that they're doing.  For example, I like many others, would really like to lose some of the girth I've put on in middle age around my waist, the only problem is I'd like to lose that extra chub without changing the amount or kind of food I ingest.  You see, I really like my diet... I like my bagels, I love cheese, and then there are desserts... and giving them up would be PAINFUL...  We all would love change so much more if we didn't have to change anything to get it!

I'm reminded of the cartoon about a search committee looking for a new minister.  They say to the candidate being interviewed “We're looking for a dynamic, creative, and excited leader... who will do everything exactly the same way we've always done it”.

Surely you've heard the saying that the last words of a dying church are “But we've always done it this way”.

Change is nothing new to Christianity, in fact, the amount of change that has occurred within our chosen religion is stunning.  As much as we here in this day and age are apprehensive of what lies ahead... think of the Disciples and the 'change' that they faced.  In what had to seem like a whirlwind... they met a radical thinking Rabbi, traveled from village to village with him spreading his “Gospel”, found themselves in Jerusalem... where things really took a turn and to say things changed would be the understatement of all understatements!

But change didn't stop there, it kept going from then until now.  If we went back in time to the resurrection and then skipped through the centuries until now we'd see changes that we honestly wouldn't believe.  But we don't need to go back in time to live through some of the greatest changes that the church will ever endure.  We are now living through great change... and all of us here will live the rest of our lives in the midst of this change.  

As I mentioned Father Lynn is not here due to commitments to the closing of St. Mary's in Auburn, all across the State there are Catholic Churches being closed and parishes being consolidated.  And it's not just the Catholics that are changing as we all know too well.  In just the last year the Methodist churches in Glidden, Lohrville, and Lanesboro have become yoked and called one minister to lead all three congregations.  It was the limitations on the timing of worship services that caused us to have to delay our worship here today to allow Lorinda to be here and be a part of this service.

First Baptist Church here in Lake City will be voting as will Woodlawn Christian Church to see if the two congregations will merge.  But to be honest the changes won't stop there... not for Woodlawn Christian and First Baptist, nor for any of the rest of us gathered today.  We all will have to reconsider and learn at least slightly different ways to be church, how we do church, where we are church, who and what is the church, and together we'll have to devise ways to attract the younger generations that have disappeared from Sunday mornings to come and join us in worship.

These ideas and predictions can and do sound frightening.  But, let us not forget that even though we are here in a small community in the middle of the USA, we are not alone.  These changes need to be made... and the same difficulties facing us here are facing churches in small towns and rural communities all across the nation from the east coast to the west.  Today with our interconnected world we can communicate and learn from others what is working and what needs to be replaced.  

But, we can't just wait for others to lead the way, we too need to be leaders and learners... the task is daunting and frankly we all wish it didn't need to be done... but we all know in our hearts it's coming.

As difficult and perhaps impossible as the future may appear... I will confide in you, there is NOONE, and there are NO PEOPLE... who are better inclined, and who have a better mindset... and skill set... to change the church... than the people of the small towns and rural communities of America.  Remember your heritage people... we are all the descendants of brave men, and even braver women who set off from their old ways of life as diverse as they were... and came here to the Midwest to settle and start a new life.  These people didn't back down from pain, trials, difficulties, and inconveniences, they established churches, and towns, and communities where there was once only endless prairie and woodlands.  Theirs was the 'can do' spirit, and problem-solving skills which are etched within our cultural DNA.

I grew up as most of you know in West River South Dakota, I grew up as a cowboy.  Now, a few years back when the media seemed to think calling someone a cowboy was an insult, I never understood that... for you see a real cowboy is somebody who is able to overcome, to do the job that needs to be done... no matter what it is, with the meager tools at hand.  Whether it be whatever they have in the pickup they're driving or if out on horseback and even less well equipped... armed only with a pair of fencing pliers strapped to their saddle and maybe a few other odds and ends in a saddlebag.  Where I grew up... when you wanted a difficult job done... you wanted a cowboy there.  I've pulled calves in the middle of nowhere with nothing more than a rein from a bridle and the strength of my back because the job had to be done and that was all there was available to do it with.  But, that spirit wasn't and isn't just the spirit of the cowboy, as I said, most all of us in the Midwest come from pioneer stock.  Our great-grandparents, or great-great-grandparents, or great-great-great grandparents left the old country and came here to America to make a new life.  Now that's change 

Today we need to recall our ancestors 'can-do' nature, their creativity, their determination, their ability to adapt and overcome.  But, what we need most of all is to remember and reinstate their ability to work together.... to rebuild the Christian faith here in America and beyond.  Together, our creativity, our melded brain power, and our determination to succeed can and will make up for our lack of other resources.  We are tailor made to do the job with the meager tools at hand... all that we are, all that our ancestors taught us, has brought us to this hour, prepared to do the work of, and to work for God.

As I said earlier we can easily feel like dry bones, we can even start to wonder if God has forgotten us.  As many of you know I don't believe that God causes bad things to happen to anyone, so I don't believe that God wants the church to be in decline.  God has not caused this decline, it is a factor as I said earlier of the changing demographics of the Midwest, we can see this all too well in the consolidation of the school systems, the population is changing.  I don't think this is caused by God, but what I do believe... what I do believe about God... and His presence in the midst of all difficulties and tragedy, is that He can and will use these circumstances to further His Kingdom.  What I am starting to wonder and will share with you today, is if God is using this change of demographics to force His often far too divided children to return to dialogue with one another.  To reconsider our differences... most that know me know that I am above all else an advocate that ours is a God of reconciliation... is God using these difficult days to reconcile His children?

Jesus spent his ministry preaching to the small villages, it's where this movement that we love and call Christianity started and flourished.  I have come to believe in my heart that it is out of the small towns, the small communities... these places that might be thought to be the least likely of all, that it's here where Christ will resurrect His Church.  

We know that somehow somewhere the Church will rise again.

Why wouldn't the most unlikely... just as Christ was in His time, the least likely... why wouldn't God use the most unlikely... to be the spark to reignite His people.

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.

I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived, and stood on their feet, a vast multitude.

How and why do I believe that the Church will be resurrected?  Why do I believe that like the dry dismembered bones of Ezekiel, that we will be re-membered and restored?  I believe because my God told me so...

O my people, I will put my spirit within you, and you shall live...