Strong at the Broken Places

This well-known passage in Ezekiel is known as The Valley of Dry Bones. Hearing that, our imaginations go to work. Human bones – sun bleached white, some in a recognizable human shape, ,,,others loose, splintered, cracked and broken - laying in unfamiliar patterns. And there in that valley God set Ezekiel down. To ask him a question: Mortal – can these bones live again. And soon the noise rises up out of that valley – a rattling, a snapping into place, and we imagine Ezekiels astonishment – as he watched sinew binding knee joints and elbow joints together, veins and the tiniest capillaries beginning to pulse with life, flesh and skin -sculpting it all into human form. And then as God instructed, Ezekiel called the four winds into service – so that life came upon the slain. And the whole house of Israel stood upright in that valley with the promise that they would return to the land. A good news story for Israel – and today --a hope for us who believe in the resurrection of the body. This passage has been a great comfort to many over the years. And when looking for that comfort - our tendency may be to rush past the dry bones and get on with the rising up and the rebuilding of those ol’ bones. But since it is Lent, let us linger a bit longer with Ezekiel in the midst of those parched bones. From another minister we read: Written to the exiles = Ezekiel’s vision is given for a people who have lost heart, who are suffering a death of the spirit, a withering of their soul, a living death in exile in a foreign land. Admittedly---rather dramatic, but still, we can relate. Haven’t we all experienced a time when we lost heart? The loss of a dear parent, a life-long friend, a spouse – not necessarily to death, but perhaps to a debilitating disease or an accident or a move to another state, maybe you’ve lost a person to one or another addiction, to a disagreement that could never be mended. Perhaps we lost heart when a career careened off the road, or a dream fell flat on its face, or a future didn’t go as planned. And haven’t there been times when some ---or maybe many of us -suffered the death of our spirit. When circumstances seemed to suck the life out of us and when those circumstances made us wonder if we were in the right place, doing the right thing, ,,sometimes those circumstances made us wonder if we were even thinking right. Adults and children trapped in abusive relationships, unable to move past grief, a crisis in faith, struggling with what feels like an absent God……these are the things that wither one’s soul. /////// Perhaps you have been fortunate enough not to have found yourself in those horrible lonely lost wilderness places, perhaps you never will….but …there are millions – in this world, many in this community, maybe even in our families who have been.. and are right now -living in a valley of dry bones. Archeologists unearth ancient villages and the forensic scientists can analyze the bones determining the age, height, sex, general health, and the kind of injuries the person may have suffered when alive. Bones also hold clues about the diet, the kind of work the person did, and their living conditions. Lent can reveal much about the dry bones in our valleys, about our spiritual lives, our maturity of faith. Our dry bones can tell us how we have managed and navigated our personal struggles, setbacks, and sorrows. Ernest Hemingway wrote: The world breaks everyone, and afterward, some are strong at the broken places. And so the question God asked Ezekiel, is the question we ask ourselves in this Lenten Season – Mortal, can these bones live again? A mortal would say no. Life has hurt too much, broken us in too many places. How can bones…How can anything so beyond dead have any hope to live again? A mortal would say no. God’s answer to Ezekiel – and to us - is yes. Most definitely yes. And the breath came into them, … God’s breath, Holy Spirit breath and they lived, and stood on their feet, a vast multitude. Easter is that breath. Easter is that hope. Easter is that mending. Easter is that promise. Easter is our raising up from life’s death and destruction. Easter is the day when = because of Jesus Christ - we say yes. Yes these bones can live again; yes we can stand again; yes, we have been made strong at our broken places. If we believe in it…if we cling to it…if we want it…then Easter can be our yes.