I love the Old Testament and this morning’s lectionary has one of my all time favorite passages. It forces us to take a look at our relationship with God. It causes us to remember what we have often forgotten. It challenges us to allow God’s spirit to envelope our lives.

In our text we are told by the prophet, "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."

Can’t you just see it? There is good ole Ezekiel minding his own business and ZAP! God snatches him away and sets him done in the middle of a valley filled with very old and very dry bones. I’m sorry - but I really do think I’d freak! Talk about sudden nightmares!

At first you and I have no earthly or heavenly idea for that matter of what these bones mean. Ezekiel is wondering the same thing. I can hear him now - "What in Heaven’s name has happened? What am I doing here? And what pray tell are these bones for?"

Well our text goes on to say that Jahweh (LORD) asked the prophet a question: "He said to me, "Mortal, can these bones live?" Ezekiel was quick on the ball! "O Lord - You know!" I mean inside his head was that little voice saying - "You pick me up and set me down amongst these old bones and YOU ask ME if they can live?? Man if you want them to live I sure ain’t going to argue! Ain’t no telling where you might set me next!"

Then God told Ezekiel to do something very strange - "Preach to these bones Ezekiel - Preach to these bones!" Man what a message it was that he was to deliver! It went something like this:

Bones - God has something he has laid on my heart and I have to tell you! God says "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."

Suddenly there was a noise, a rattling, and the bones came together, bone to its bone. The prophet 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. They were nothing more than bodies without life.

That was Part 1 of this great message.

Then God told the Prophet to 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."

So Ezekiel turned to those dead bodies and said: "Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe upon these slain that they might live!" And all of a sudden "the breath came into them, and they lived, and stood on their feet, a vast multitude."

It is then that God explains to the prophet the meaning of the bones.

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 tell them, This is what I, Jahweh says: 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."

Man what a glorious message to a people who thought all their hope was lost.

During a Christmas Sermon in the year 1624, John Donne spoke these words:

"He brought light out of darkness, not out of a lesser light;
he can bring your summer out of winter, though you have no spring;
though in the ways of fortune, or understanding, or conscience,
you have been benighted until now,
wintered and frozen, clouded and eclipsed,
damped and benumbed, smothered and stupefied till now,
now God comes to you,
not as in the dawning of the day,
not as in the bud of the spring,
but as the sun at noon."

Our Gospel Lesson this morning also tells us of lost hope. A family residing in Bethany who were in desperate need of a visit from Jesus. This family which knew Jesus and had a very close relationship with him consisted of Mary, Martha, and their brother - Lazurus. Jesus had often been a guest in their home and so they knew him very well. Mary and Martha’s brother, Lazurus was sick. They knew that God worked through Jesus to heal the sick. They also knew that because of the relationship they had with Jesus that he would surely come if he knew that Lazurus was sick. So they sent word to Jesus, "Lord the one whom you love is ill."

Mary and Martha waited for Jesus but before Jesus arrived Lazurus died. They had the funeral, the mourners were certainly employed and present, and the rock was rolled in front of the door of the tomb.

"When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went and met him, while Mary stayed at home. Martha said to Jesus, "Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died." What Martha was REALLY saying to Jesus was "Don’t give me any of that resurrection stuff! My brother is dead and dead is dead and you didn’t even show up to help! Do something! Do something NOW!"

I remember when my dad became so deathly ill. Many was the time that I’d walk out of his house, up the hill and into the barn where I always went to pray. I’d turn my head up to the hills and call out upon His name:

"God please make my daddy well! God please let him live!"

But time went by and each day my Father got worse. I would find myself not in the barn praying but on the porch where I could hear him gasp for every breath. My prayer changed to "Take him home Lord don’t let him suffer any more." But my prayer was all that changed. I wondered if I dialed a wrong number or if God had turned a death ear upon my prayer.

Jesus’ response to Martha was, "I am the resurrection and the life. Those who believe in me, even though they die, will live, and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?"

It isn't easy to believe! It never is. Whenever things are going well for us, we find it difficult to remember to pray. Whenever things are going well for us, we forget that we need God. Whenever things are going well, we get so busy that we don't have time for God. We drift away. God becomes more and more distant when things are going well for us. It isn't easy to believe when things are going well for us.

Likewise it isn't easy when we find ourselves in times when we feel helpless and hopeless. When things are going badly, we wonder where God is. We wonder why God does not answer our prayers. We wonder if God cares. We feel so alone. We feel that God has betrayed us. It isn't easy to believe when things are going badly.

Whenever our hearts are broken, it might help to remember Mary and her broken heart. Mary came to see Jesus, and she was weeping. She had wept for four days. You would have thought that she could not have had any more tears, but still she wept. What did Jesus do when he saw Mary? He wept with her. He joined his broken heart to her broken heart, and together they wept. Someone once said how can a loving God allow such things to happen? It is my personal belief that whenever we hurt - God hurts. Whenever we weep God weeps with us. Whenever we cannot go on God carries us and sustains us if only we allow him too.

Jesus went on to restore Mary's life and Martha's life and Lazarus' life. Jesus went on to bind up the broken-hearted and to make them whole.

In the Valley of Dry Bones there was hope too! God promised to give life where there was none. He promised body, breath and spirit. And not only did he promise it - He delivered it.

Jesus says, "I am the resurrection and the life. In life and in death, I can make you whole." And then he asks, "Do you believe this?" How do we answer?

What is our answer? Do we truly believe that, in life and in death, Jesus has the answer to our needs? When we are lonely, do we believe that Jesus has the answer to our loneliness? When we lose our job, do we believe that Jesus will provide? When a loved one is ill, do we believe that Jesus is with them in their illness? When our loved one dies, do we believe that, because of Jesus, death is not the end? Jesus says, "I am the resurrection and the life." And then he asks, "Do you believe this?"

Martha replied to him "Yes, Lord, I believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, the one coming into the world." And then she went back to get Mary. How do we respond to His acclamation?

You have heard me in the past refer to a Doctor who became a good friend while I was ill. Her name is Diane Komp. In her book, A Window to Heaven, she tells the story of Ann and her husband, typical boomers. Well-off financially, they had no time for church. Busy in their separate endeavors, they grew apart. They stayed together, in part, because they loved their children. Mothers aren't supposed to have favorites, but their youngest son, T.J., was Ann's favorite.

The family had nothing to do with church, so Ann was surprised when T.J., out of the blue, said, "Mama, I love you more than anything in the world, except God. And I love him a little bit more!" Ann wondered why he would suddenly speak of God, especially with such enthusiasm--but she told T.J. that that was fine.

Two days later, on a bitterly cold day, T.J. crossed a snow-covered creek, fell through the ice and died. Ann remembers saying, "I hate you God!" Her world was shattered.

Through her tears, she remembered a Christmas gift that T.J. had bought for her. He had tried to give it to her before Christmas, but she told him to put it away until Christmas. When she got home from the stables where T.J. had died, she hurried upstairs to open the present. Inside she found a beautiful necklace with a cross.

T.J.'s gift of faith changed Ann's life. In her brokenness, Ann was able to receive Christ. Christ then called her to reach out to other parents who had lost children. She discovered that she possessed a healing gift for parents in grief. As she ministered to others, she felt Christ ministering to her. She says, "Helping others helped me."

Ann's husband also became a Christian. In their tragedy, they began bringing their separate lives back together again. They founded a ministry that has helped more than two hundred families. They call it T.J. Ministries. T.J., of course, was their beloved son's. But the initials, T.J., also mean something more. They emphasize how Ann and her husband survived their tragedy. T.J. means Through Jesus. Ann and her husband found strength to survive through Jesus.

Jesus says, "I am the resurrection and the life." Then he asks, "Do you believe this?"

Let us Pray:

O, God Merciful and Mighty we come before your presence this morning to thank you for reminding us that in the midst of where we felt there was NO hope that there is Hope and that Hope lies in you through your Son and Our Savior, Jesus Christ.

We ask that as we enter into this time of commitment that we might be freed from any hinderance in our lives that would delay the dedication of our lives to you.

We realize there are many here this morning who are troubled and who find themselves in the midst of a Valley of Dry Bones.

Speak to their hearts and may they have been reminded of where their hope lies for it lies in thee.

Move among thy people during our hymn of commitment is my prayer,

In the Strong Name of Christ I Pray,
Amen.

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