Day 33 - Hear the word of the Lord

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6LnW_euVSsQ

Congregationalists are not bound by the Lectionary, although many preachers find it useful. The set readings for today include a reading from John 11 which relates the raising of Lazarus. Jesus, Mary, Martha and Lazarus make a compelling narrative but this means that the reading from the Hebrew Scriptures (Ezekiel 37:1-14 – the valley of the dry bones) often gets neglected.

I was fortunate to be brought up by parents who loved popular music; my first knowledge of the Ezekiel passage was from the song “Dry Bones”, written in the 1920s by J. W. & J. R. Johnson, released in Britain in 1956.

Ezekiel 37:1-6: The power of the Lord was upon me and I was carried away by the Spirit of the Lord to a valley full of old, dry bones …scattered everywhere across the ground. He led me around among them, and then he said to me: “Son of dust, can these bones become people again?”

I replied, “Lord, you alone know the answer to that.”

Then he told me to speak to the bones: “O dry bones, listen to the words of God… I will replace the flesh and muscles on you and cover you with skin. I will put breath into you, and you shall live and know I am the Lord.”

The song Dry Bones begins: Dem bones Dem bones Dem dry bones ... Hear the word of the Lord - an accurate if abbreviated summary of Ezekiel 37:1-6. An anatomical list follows: Toe bone connected to the foot bone, foot bone connected to the heel bone… Neck bone connected to the head bone: Hear the word of the Lord. Once the skeleton is assembled: dem bones gonna walk around. Now hear the word of the Lord.

Ezekiel 37: 7-8

So I spoke these words from God… there was a rattling noise from all across the valley, and the bones of each body came together and attached to each other …Then muscles and flesh formed over the bones, and skin covered them, but the bodies had no breath.

Ezekiel listened to God, obeyed his word and the Spirit gave breath and life to a vast army, who lived. God taught Ezekiel that the bones represented the Israelites who had lost all hope. This prophecy is interpreted by Christians as pointing the way to Jesus, the hope of the world (e.g. 1 Timothy 1:1).

As I write this, the war in the Middle East is escalating and living close to RAF Brize Norton and RAF Fairford feels uncomfortable. Ezekiel’s vision shows us that no situation is so dire that God cannot bring us life and hope.

Let us reflect on where we feel dry and hopeless in our own lives and ask God to breathe his Spirit into those areas.

Plunged in the ocean of your love, O God, and walking by faith,

let us rest in your promises and receive your Holy Spirit. Amen.

Phoebe Palmer (1807-1874)

Elaine Kinchin