Bones or No Bones?
Chihuly, Dale, 1941-. New Spirit, from Art in the Christian Tradition, a project of the Vanderbilt Divinity Library, Nashville, TN. https://diglib.library.vanderbilt.edu/act-imagelink.pl?RC=57603[retrieved October 27, 2021]. Original source: https://www.flickr.com/photos/eternalphotography/3460974793/ - Casey Myers.
Then [the Lord God] said to me, “Prophesy to the breath, prophesy, mortal, and 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.” 10 I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived, and stood on their feet, a vast multitude.
– Ezekiel 37:9-10 (NRSV)
Noodles the 13-year-old pug has become an overnight Internet sensation for his ability to predict what type of day we’re going to have. Every morning, his owner Jonathan Graziano films Noodles for TikTok (follow them here!) and attempts to stand Noodles up in his dog bed. Will Noodles have bones today? If Noodles flops back in bed, it’s a No-Bones Day. That means you should lay low, avoid risk, and cancel your plans without regret. If Noodles remains standing in his bed, it’s a Bones Day, which indicates you can get out there, take chances, be bold, and indulge.
While Noodles limits his prognostication from day-to-day, this pandemic is an entire No-Bones season. It has made life so very unpredictable. We’re not just tempted to lay low, avoid risk, and cancel plans, but often we’re forced to do so. We see people around us struggling with COVID-19 and break-through cases. We have increased poverty in our community. We have depleted the energy and hope of front-line health care workers. We have organizations that are so short-staffed they can’t provide services or do necessary work. We continue to make difficult decisions about travel, masking, and indoor events. This is definitely a No-Bones time.
The prophet Ezekiel speaks to God’s people during one of the most horrific times of No-Bones in their existence – exile in Babylon after Jerusalem fell to Nebuchadnezzar in 587 BCE. They’ve lost everything, including land, livelihood, and their temple. Ezekiel himself is both a priest and prophet who speaks in confounding visions, which is the reason some Jewish traditions didn’t allow anyone to read this book before age 30.
Our verses today appear in the restoration vision of Ezekiel. The Spirit of the Lord brings the prophet to the valley of dry bones, and asks him, “Mortal, can these bones live?” Ezekiel replies, “O Lord God, you know.” Then God commands Ezekiel to prophesy to the bones, to cast the vision of God breathing new breath and life into them, so that they shall live and know that the Lord is God. Miraculously, the breath of God comes into these bones and they live, standing on their feet as a vast multitude. Ezekiel shares this same word of hope with the house of Israel – they will be restored. God will put the Spirit within them, and they shall live.
This past week in worship, we celebrated with beautiful music and reflected on what it means for our community to be restored. Perhaps it will be as dramatic as it was for Ezekiel, with the Spirit of God breathing on us in this dry, No-Bones season so we all clamor to new life again. My experience with the Spirit is usually more gradual -- a little breath of life here, a little word of hope there, with our bones being put back together, slowly but surely.
This intentional restoration will require our faith and hope, along with our time, talent, and treasure. It will ask us to reach out and reconnect with people we haven’t seen, as well as welcome new faces and try new ministries. I’m privileged to be with you on the journey, as God continues to rebuild us into a Bones season, where we’ll have courage, boldness, and new life in Jesus’ name.