Sermon 3/29/2020 “There are no hopeless situations”

Sermon 3/29/2020 “There are no hopeless situations”

Preacher: Jo J. Belser
Location: Church of the Resurrection from our offices in Alexandria, VA
Text: Ezekiel 37:1-14
Day: 5Lent, Year A during a pandemic

In today’s first reading, God sent Ezekiel to look at old bones. Well, God didn’t SEND Ezekiel; God didn’t even SUGGEST Ezekiel should go. Instead, God grabbed Ezekiel and took him there.

I wonder how this played out. How, exactly, does the “Hand of the Lord … by the Spirit of the Lord,” physically move someone to a new location? Then I realized all churches in all denominations, all faiths, and all countries have been taken to a new place. God has moved us out of our gathering places into our homes to keep us safe. In the process, a whole new way of living, working, and worshiping is being born.

In Ezekiel’s case, God wanted him to reassure his exiled people to not give up hope. God’s people had grown complacent in the land the Lord had given them. They had forgotten that once they had been slaves, had forgotten that once they had been desert wanderers, had forgotten their covenant with their creator, and had despised the people God gave them to protect.

God had allowed them to be defeated militarily and taken into exile in a foreign land. They had been there for 70 years when God said to Ezekiel, “Son of Man, I send you to the people of Israel… and you shall say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord.” (2:3,4) But the people were depressed. One of the Psalms (137:1-3) tells us their depression and shame and homesickness were so great they couldn’t even sing.

So, God put Ezekiel in a valley of old bones. God was showing Ezekiel a truly hopeless case, an exile so complete that all hope of return was gone. I wonder, did those old bones even know they belonged together? Or did those old bones just lie there in a heap, content to be apart?

When Ezekiel came, the bones were so far removed from life and connection they didn’t even perceive the “Son of Man” had come, sent by God, to show them the way to restored life.

Did you know, by the way, that Jesus called himself “Son of Man?” Jesus was later sent by God to say to us, “Thus says the Lord,” to show us how to live, and to restore us.

But this was Ezekiel’s time. And he was to show God’s dispirited people to never give up hope. If God can reunite old bones, he can breathe life into anything he chooses. The very breath that created everything that is can renew and restore all things.

In our time, God seems to be saying our institutions must change to survive. Church: Take note. Like Ezekiel, we are to share the hope we receive when we see God doing seemingly impossible things.

• In Ezekiel’s time bones long dead were reconnected with each other and with God. And God allowed Israel to return from exile, giving them a new chance to return to God.
• In our day, a people distracted by material things are made to stay home to rediscover their connection and purpose. And in the process, a church, forced to learn how to be community for a whole new generation of materialists.

Today’s lesson is clear: With God there is no such thing as a hopeless situation. Come, Holy Spirit, fill us with life anew and hope overflowing while we learn anew we are together to be in relationship with you and how to share you with the world.