Preaching to Dry Bones

                                                       

 

 

 

 

 

Jesu Juva

Ezekiel37:1-14                                                       

 May 23, 2021

The Day of Pentecost                        

 Dear saints of our Savior~

          As most of you probably know, there’s a new Target store being built just a few blocks from here.  And, at least in this neighborhood, there are some strong opinions about that project.  What we know for sure is that when the work is done, there will be a grand opening.  Perhaps a ribbon-cutting ceremony, some live music, maybe some free food and red balloons.  Who knows?  It’s hard to get too excited.  After all, Target stores have been around for a long time.

          So it is with the coming of the Holy Spirit on the Day of Pentecost.  The wind, the tongues of fire, the miracle of languages—these were all the ingredients of the Church’s great grand opening—the balloons and fireworks that marked the beginning of the end times—a time of grace and repentance organized and orchestrated by the Lord and Giver of life.  Of course, the Holy Spirit had already been at work in the world since before creation.  But now, a Pentecost grand opening to preach Christ crucified and risen, for the salvation of all who believe.

          Pentecost is all about preaching.  The gospel was miraculously preached in a multitude of languages.  Most of Acts chapter two is a sermon preached by Peter—a sermon by which the Holy Spirit converted and baptized more than three thousand people.  As preaching goes, you can’t hope for results much better than that. 

          Yet an even more miraculous sermon is preached in today’s Old Testament reading by the prophet Ezekiel.  On the Day of Pentecost Peter preached to thousands of faithful Jews who were already catechized in the teachings of the Old Testament—who were already looking for the Messiah.  But Ezekiel preached to thousands of dead, dry, dusty old bones—long disassociated from their rightful owners: tibias and femurs and clavicles and vertebrae and skulls.  I think I’ve got it rough preaching to you some days; Ezekiel couldn’t even get an “amen” from his congregation of sun-bleached bones.

          Those dry bones corresponded to all the people of God in Ezekiel’s day.  Their homes, their temple, their nation—it had all been reduced to rubble.  And now they were exiled, living in a Babylonian graveyard from which they thought they would never rise again.  They were as good as dead—as dead as dry, dusty bones.

          Son of Man, can these bones live?  That’s a great question for Pentecost—the Sunday of the Holy Spirit, when God breathed life and faith into His little church.  Can these bones live?  What an absurd question.  Bones indicate the absolute absence of life, not the possibility of life.  But the Lord follows up that absurd question with an even more ridiculous command:  Prophesy over these bones, and preach to them, O dry bones, hear the Word of the Lord!  Seems kind of silly, doesn’t it?  Preaching to the dead.  It makes much more sense to preach to the living—especially to the wealthy, influential, popular and powerful living.  But when the Lord tells you to preach—and gives you the very words to preach—you preach.

          Astonishingly, those dry, dusty bones hear and obey.  They come together again, bone to bone—skittering skeletons clicking together like nobody’s business.  And then, wonder of wonders, tendons, muscle and flesh cover those bones.  That’s the power of God’s Word at work.  Don’t underestimate the Word.  Don’t ignore the Word.  By the Word of God all things were created.  By the Word all things hold together.  Bodies long dead are reassembled and reconstituted—How?  Why?  Because they heard the Word of the Lord.  Because they were preached to.  It’s yet another good reason to come to the Divine Service—even though some Sunday mornings you may feel dead tired.  You may feel dead and defeated in your sin and shame—dead in your debauchery—dead in your deceit and disobedience—dead in your depression and despair—But this is where the dead are gathered to hear the Word of the Lord and live! 

          O, and don’t forget the Spirit.  For up to this point the bones had only been transformed into bodies.  Bodies are good; but those bodies had no breath in them.  In the Hebrew language there is one word that means “breath” and “wind” and “spirit.”  That word is ru-ah.  And sometimes, when you’re translating the Old Testament, and the word ru-ah comes along, it’s a bit of a toss-up as to whether it means breath or wind or spirit.  That word—ru-ah—appears three times in one verse of today’s text:  Thus says the Lord God:  Come from the four (1)winds, O (2)Spirit, and (3)breathe on these slain, that they may live.  And by that Spirit, breath came into them, and they lived and stood on their feet, an exceedingly great army—not zombies, not the walking dead, but living, breathing, resurrected people.

          It was a resurrection on a grand scale—a resurrection accomplished by the Word of God together with the Spirit of God.  (By the way, those two always go together—Word and Spirit.)  It was a resurrection that prophetically pointed ahead to the resurrection of Jesus.  The resurrection of Jesus was really the high point of Peter’s sermon on the Day of Pentecost.  Peter preached that Jesus was crucified, died and was buried—that the corpse of the Christ had not been reduced to dry bones, but was raised and resurrected—that God did not abandon Jesus to the grave—that His body did not see decay.  God raised Jesus from the dead, and He will do the same with you.  That’s what Peter preached, and three thousand believed it that day, and were saved.  Three thousand believed, were baptized, received the Holy Spirit, and were made alive by the Word of God, preached and proclaimed to them.

          You and I need those Words of God preached to us.  That’s why you are where you are right now.  We poor sinners need to be shaken and rattled to the core.  We may not be dead bones; but we have deadening sins to deal with—deadening sins that lead us and lull us to live like zombies—so selfish and driven solely by our urges and impulses.  We need to have our bones rattled and shaken by the Law of God.  The skeletons in our closets need to be confessed and taken away.  That Law of God shows us just how dead we are to the needs of those around us—dead to the hurt and harm that we cause others—dead in sinful patterns that need to be killed and crushed to dust—dead in lust and greed and idolatry and drunkenness and envy and anger.  Dry bones, hear the Word of the Lord.

          Your sin-deadened bones can live—and do live—but not by your doing.  Dead bones can’t do a thing for themselves.  But the Word of God together with the Spirit of God can transform dead bones into living bodies.  In the creed we confess that the Holy Spirit is the Lord and Giver of life.  Wherever the Word of God is preached, there the Holy Spirit is breathing God’s life (and God’s forgiveness) into those who hear.  The Holy Spirit works through preaching—calling, gathering, enlightening, making holy, kindling faith, forgiving sin, bearing fruit—and all of this IN YOU.

          Can these bones live?  Can these sinful bones live?  In Christ you can live.  In Christ you DO live.  He was crucified on a hill called “The Place of the Skull,” and on His own skull was placed a crown of thorns.  He bowed His sacred head in death to pay for your offenses, your sins, your iniquities—all the things that pull you down to the grave and make you more dead than alive.  Jesus bowed His head and gave up His Spirit as your sacred substitute.  Now there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.

          In your baptism the Word of God and the Spirit of God had their way with you.  You were dead in trespasses and sins; but now you are alive through faith in Jesus Christ.  On the last day the Holy Spirit will raise you and all the dead, and give eternal life to you and all believers in Christ.  This is most certainly true, no matter how outlandish it may sound.  Can these bones of yours live?  Yes.  Yes, they can.  They will live forever because Jesus Himself lives forever.  His Word and His Spirit are having their way with you.  Because you have been preached to.  Happy Pentecost. 

          In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen.

Ten Day Teachable Moment

 

Jesu Juva

Acts 1:12-26                                                                           

May 16, 2021

Easter 7B                                                 

 Dear saints of our Savior,

          On this past Thursday—the Ascension of our Lord—we said goodbye to Jesus.  Well, not really.  Jesus is with us always to the very end of the age.  But to our ears, the account of our Lord’s ascension really sounds and feels like a goodbye.  And it must have especially seemed that way to the disciples who watched Jesus disappear from their sight.

          But that departure began an amazing ten days for the tiny church Jesus left behind.  Today’s reading from Acts chapter one places us squarely in the middle of that ten day teachable moment.  Of course, the disciples didn’t know it was a teachable moment—those ten days between Jesus’ Ascension and the coming of the Holy Spirit on the Day of Pentecost.  They had simply been told to stay in Jerusalem and wait.  They must have felt like they were adrift—like sheep without their Good Shepherd—unsure, uncertain, and unconvinced about what to do next. 

          The artwork on the cover of today’s bulletin sets the stage for us.  Take just a minute to pull out your bulletin and take another look at that portrait of the ascension.  The focal point of the painting, of course, is Jesus—the risen,

ascending, living Lord.  He was crucified, died, and was buried.  But on the third day He rose again.  And for forty days the risen Christ appeared among His disciples, speaking about the kingdom of God.  The hearts of all the believers were steadfastly united by faith in this Jesus.  Every last one of them believed that—in Jesus—they had forgiveness of sins and eternal life. 

          But beyond that belief is right where the unity ended.  That’s where the solidarity stopped.  Just take another look at the bulletin cover; and this time focus on the believers at the bottom of the painting.  There you see utter confusion and disagreement.  For each one of the believers is looking in a different direction, pointing in a different direction, assuming different postures and facial expressions—a far cry from the neatly ordered, carefully spaced pews into which you are now organized.

          What this artwork actually shows is a teachable moment.  It reminds us that what unites the church is always invisible and unseen.  What unites believers is faith in Jesus Christ; and you can’t see Jesus or faith in Jesus.  What you do see in the church is often what’s depicted in this painting—a lot of confusion, chaos, and disagreement.  They were united in faith and doctrine; but beyond that, they didn’t see eye to eye on much else.  Still today in the church you see people with different ideas, different perspectives, different visions for how the church should carry out her mission to make disciples of all nations.  If you don’t know what I’m talking about then you probably haven’t attended many church conventions or voters’ meetings—or many call meetings.

          This moment in the life of the church was a teachable moment because it teaches us how to live together in peace even when we disagree with one another.  It’s also a teachable moment because of something that you don’t see on the bulletin cover—or more accurately, because of someone you don’t see depicted.  Judas was dead.  Judas, who had been a trusted member of their fellowship for three years, had betrayed Jesus and then taken his own life. There is terrible emotional trauma in the wake of every suicide—but especially that of a trusted brother in the faith whose most memorable act had been one of betrayal.  How would the tiny church react when one of their own had caused such trauma and disappointment?

          And so this text teaches us on two counts:  What do you do when you can’t agree with your fellow believers?  And what do you do when a fellow believer acts in a way that hurts and disappoints you?  You know what comes naturally, don’t you?  Whenever Christians can’t agree about some aspect of their life together it’s natural to get defensive, to get aggressive, to try and get your way through sharp and forceful words.  It’s natural to demonize the opposition—to recruit allies and choose sides—to make those who disagree with you look bad.  If we can’t agree, then I’ll be disagreeable.  You don’t need me to tell you that the devil does some of his best work in these kinds of situations.  For I’m sure you’ve heard about congregations that come to blows over carpeting, over money issues, over music issues, over a my-way-or-the-highway mentality that has no place in the church of Jesus Christ. 

          Beloved in the Lord, there’s a better way.  There will always be disagreements among believers in the church.  There will always be fellow Christians who disappoint you and cause trauma to the body of Christ.  The church is made up of poor, miserable sinners; but that can never be an excuse to demonize the one you disagree with—to hurt others as you have been hurt—to fan the flames of disagreement into a scorched-earth battle against your brothers and sisters in Christ.

There’s a better way—a better way taught for us today by Peter and that little band of believers.  It was a teachable moment for them and for us.

          First, they didn’t let the death of Judas distract them from the life and resurrection of Jesus.  Nor did they allow their differences and disagreements to distract them from the unity they shared through their common faith in Jesus.  They recognized that all of them were witnesses of Jesus’ resurrection.  They had seen and touched and heard the resurrected Jesus.  Because He lived, they knew what was in store for them.  Because Jesus was alive, they could live each day in hope and expectation.  Jesus was more important than their disagreements and disappointments.  His death and resurrection were at the heart and center of life for those first believers, just as Jesus is at the heart of everything for the believers here at Our Savior.  In Jesus, we are one, made holy by the truth of God’s Word.  In Jesus we have the forgiveness of our sins and the power to love one another as He has loved us.

          There’s more to learn from this teachable moment.  How did they preserve their unity despite disagreements?  Well, you might have missed it, but the place where the believers gathered together to hash things out is described by St. Luke as “the upper room.”  Yes, probably that upper room.  They made a point to gather together in that same sacred space where, just weeks before, the disciples had gathered with Jesus on the night when He was betrayed.   On that night, in that same upper room, Jesus had prayed for them, that they would all be one.  On that night, in that same upper room, Jesus had washed their feet, showing them how to serve and love one another.  On that night, in that same upper room, Jesus had given them His very body and blood to eat and drink for the forgiveness of sins.  It was to that same upper room that the believers retreated after Jesus ascended.  There they prayed for one another, served one another, and remembered the words of Jesus. 

          It’s the same reason we gather right here, in this sacred space, week after week, time and time again.  Here we gather to pray to Jesus, in the glad confidence that He is still praying and interceding for us.  Here Jesus still washes His disciples, in the waters of Holy Baptism (as with little Jonah this morning).  Here Jesus is the host, serving us with His precious body and blood that He might lead us onward in faith toward Him and in fervent love toward one another.  This is the place were disagreements are dissolved, where unity is preserved, where forgiveness is offered and received.

          Those first believers also teach us today that Jesus is at work among us, despite our troubles, our traumas, and disagreements.  The work goes on!  For it always surprises me that even in the midst of their chaos and uncertainty, Peter turned to the Scriptures.  And from the Scriptures he concluded that they needed to have a call meeting—that the Lord needed to select a new apostle to take the place of Judas.  They prayed.  They cast lots.  And the Lord chose Matthias to be apostle number twelve.  And we never hear another word about good old Matthias.

          Someone has pointed out that the name Matthias sounds a lot like the Greek word for “disciple,” which is “ma-thay-tase.”  And you’d have to agree that Matthias and “ma-thay-tase” do sound similar.  Perhaps the reason we don’t hear more about Matthias is because he stands for all the disciples that would come after him, all the believers including all of us gathered here at Our Savior this morning.  His story is our story.  The unfinished work of making disciples continues to be unfinished.

          But that work is being done.  For the Lord Jesus is at work among us and through us.  He brings order out of chaos, and forgiveness for our sins.  He brings peace and healing to each one of us.  He builds His church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.  From the Father’s right hand Jesus is working all things for your eternal good, and for the blessing of His church, until He comes again in glory. 

          In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen.

We Shall Overcome

Jesu Juva

1 John 5:1-8                                                                             

May 9, 2021

Easter 6B                                                  

 Dear saints of our Savior~

          The Scripture readings for this morning remind us that the world we live in is not all it’s cracked up to be.  On sunny spring days—with blue skies and blooming flowers—it’s easy to forget that this world is out to get you.  It’s easy to forget that Satan is described by Jesus as “the prince of this world” (Jn. 16:11).  It’s easy to forget that our citizenship is in heaven—and that we’re only temporarily deployed here on earth to be the light of the world—even while called to battle against the world.

          In the writings of Saint John, “the world,” stands for all the forces of evil that are arrayed against Jesus Christ and His church.  The world is part of that unholy trinity that’s out to get you—the devil, the world, and your own sinful nature.  Now, it’s okay to enjoy blue skies and the blooming flowers of spring.  But don’t dare forget that you are a soldier on the front lines of battle, taking aim against the world.  Your marching orders are to “overcome the world,” to stomp it under your boot and live in love as children of God.  Jesus once said, “In the world you will have tribulation.  But take heart; I have overcome the world.”  And St. John picks up that theme, and adds to it, in today’s epistle:  “Who is it that overcomes the world,” he asks, “except the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?”

          But can I let you in on a little secret about the world?  Most of us have grown rather fond of the world.  Despite all the tears, all the trials and tribulations we experience in the world, most of us are at peace with the idea of staying right here—in the world.  Yes, heaven sounds awfully nice.  But you can say all you want about the glories and beauties of heaven, the truth is, most of us are in no hurry to get there.  Maybe it’s the fear of dying or anxiety about the unknown.  But whatever it is, most Christians would prefer to sing songs about heaven’s streets of gold, but while continuing to tread on streets of asphalt.

          We secretly sympathize with Lot’s wife (remember her?), she who was so attached to life in this fallen world.  She—along with Lot and their two daughters—lived in Sodom.  And apparently, this family of four souls comprised the only righteous people in the entire city of Sodom.  You would think that Lot’s wife would have been glad to leave that terrible place, where sexual perversion and violence had gone mainstream to such a degree that the behavior of the Sodomites became legendary—so bad that the Lord rained down sulfur and fire from heaven to utterly destroy Sodom.  And yet, Lot and his family practically had to be dragged away from the place by angels.  But as they fled, Lot’s wife was unable to obey the clear warning of the angels.  She couldn’t help herself.  She looked back with longing, and became a pillar of salt.

          What about you?  How fond have you become of your life in this fallen world?  Now you may claim that you want to hang around here simply so that you can serve your fellow man; but nobody really believes that, least of all God.  For the records would seem to indicate that serving others hasn’t been your top priority.  You may also claim that you want to hang around a bit longer so that you can more fully enjoy the gifts of God—gifts like family and friends, good food, tasty beer, beautiful spring days.  These are indeed gifts of God.  But the truth is, we love to turn these gifts into idols.  We’ve bowed down to the pleasures of this world.  These pleasures have become our top priorities.  They have taken first place in our lives, instead of the God whom we should fear, love and trust above all things.  We are both “in the world” and “of the world,” despite claims to the contrary.

          But God’s Word today reminds us of the question we ought to be asking:  “Who is it that overcomes the world?”  Who is it that successfully fights off the desires of the flesh, and the desires of the eyes?  Who is it that battles triumphantly against pride and prejudice and possessions?   Who is it that doesn’t give a rip about wealth or honor or success in this world?  Who is it that lives already today—here and now—as a citizen of heaven?  Who is it that gives this world a

knee to the groin and a fist to the gut and lives as a holy child of God?  Only one, John writes, only one—the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God.  That one will overcome the world.

          So, you believers, battle on—battle on against your sinful desires.  But know that in your battles you will lose as often, or more often, than you win.  Turn away from what tempts your eyes, but know that even blind men lust.  Or if that’s too much, then simply abide in the love of Jesus—love others as He has loved you.  It sounds easy enough.  But even on this day when we celebrate the love that mothers have for their children and children for their mothers, even that love (we have to admit) is flawed and fickle and prone to failure. 

On this day, and every day, we need to repent.  We need to believe.  For I’m here to tell you:  You have not overcome the world.  The world has overcome you.  You are road-kill on this world’s highway—a casualty on the battlefield of good and evil.  The world has overcome you—but . . . it has not overcome the One in whom you believe.  And that makes all the difference—all the difference in the world.

          St. John asks, “Who is it that overcomes the world?  [It is] the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God.”  This same Jesus once created the world—a perfect world.  He created the heavens and the earth from a watery chaos.  And now this same Jesus has come to remake this fallen world—to do it all over again—not just by water, but by water and blood.  He saved Noah and his family through water.  He saved the Israelites at the Red Sea through water.  And now He has come to save you, not by water alone, but by water and by blood.  If it sounds messy—if it sounds violent—that’s because it was.  The business of saving fallen sinners in a fallen world was both messy and violent.  As your sacred substitute Jesus endured the spit and the insults, whips that flogged Him and nails that pierced Him—and in death even the thrust of a soldier’s spear.  And from that spear-inflicted wound came forth water and blood.  St. John writes, “This is He who came by water and blood—Jesus Christ; not by water only but by the water and the blood.”

          By His crucifixion and resurrection, Jesus Christ has overcome the world for you.  For only Jesus was truly “in the world” but not “of the world.”  Jesus really did desire only to serve and not to be served.  Jesus kept all the commandments you don’t keep.  And Jesus rejected all the idols to which your knees have bent.  He is God’s gift to the world.  He is God’s love in human flesh and blood—God’s love in water and blood.

          Beloved in the Lord, the water and blood that once flowed from the Savior’s side are still flowing today, here in the church.  For that water is the very same water that splashed over you at the Baptismal font.  With that water God is at work to save you.  By the water of your Baptism, your miserable failures on the battlefield of this world are liquidated, the stains of your sin are showered away, and you are born again—readied for life in the world without end.  That’s the water; and now comes the blood.  In Holy Communion we have blood from the Savior’s side—blood that declares that your sins have all been paid for in full—blood that delivers the perfect peace of knowing that all things are now right between you and the Father—blood that breaks this world’s death grip on your life and frees you to love as you are loved, to live and to die in the glad confidence that Jesus Christ chose you—that you are a friend of Jesus.

          Believing in Jesus Christ, the Son of God, you can gladly cut your ties to this dying world when you are called to the Savior’s side.  Believing in Jesus Christ, you can live “in the world” but not “of the world.”  You can love as you have been loved, and you can bear fruit that lasts.  You can live as a pillar of faith instead of a pillar of salt.  Who is it that overcomes the world?  It is you.  You have overcome the world in Jesus, who overcame the world for you. 

          In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen.