The Rock group Kansas had a song that was popular when I was in college:
I close my eyes, only for a moment, and the moment's gone
All my dreams, pass before my eyes, a curiosity
Dust in the wind, all they are is dust in the wind.
I liked that song from the moment I heard it, not only because it fit my
depressive adolescent mood swings but because I liked the humility of it
… that we are not ultimate … that we are not eternal … that
we are not the center of all existence. It’s a healthy perspective, and
very biblical: “Remember that you are dust and to dust you shall
return.”
Sometimes, though, it’s a little too depressing, this perspective, to
think that all I’ve tried to do will come to naught because I am made of
mortal stuff. I’m an optimist.
I’m an idealist. Most of the time I expect good things
to happen. But sometimes, I get discouraged. I get to feeling blue. My
life is great, but I still don’t know how it’s going to turn out.
It’s out of my control. And I fret. My health is good, but frankly I get
tired of worrying about what I eat. I’ve donated more than one treadmill
to Goodwill because it filled me with “ill will” every time I turned
it on. Sometimes I turn on the news and
throw myself a little pity party … it seems to be one depressing story
after the other. Do you ever feel that
way?
Today our Hebrew Scripture reading was about the prophet Ezekiel. That man had
certainly known better times. He was a priest at the
Ezekiel was one of the “lucky ones” dragged off to the capital city
of
In Ezekiel’s vision the Lord takes him down to a valley. A low point. It’s filled with dried bones. Everywhere
he turns. No sign of life. No sign of energy. No sign of hope. This image is no
stretch of the imagination for Ezekiel’s of course. It is the picture he
wakes to every day among his own depressed people. They are “dust in the
wind,” and they know it. The Lord addresses Ezekiel as ben-adam, which means “son of man” or
“Adam’s boy” or “human child,” and that is even
one step weaker than just calling him “man.” The New Revised
Standard translates ben adam
to mean simply “mortal.” “Mortal!” the Lord calls him.
“Mortal” – that’s exactly how Ezekiel is feeling
… so vulnerable … so temporary ... so powerless … so mortal
… standing at the low place of his life surrounded by dried up bones.
“Mortal,” the Lord asks him, “can these bones live?”
Ezekiel doesn’t know what to say. Doesn’t this God know when to
give up and let go and leave him alone? “O Yahweh,” Ezekiel moans.
“O God – you know.” It’s not a ringing confession of
faith in God’s superior knowledge, but a dodge … a resignation
… a capitulation to this God who doesn’t let up and doesn’t
know when to give up. Ezekiel knows that God wants him to say yes, but he doesn’t
believe those bones can live. He certainly doesn’t feel it. Anybody in
his or her right mind would say, “No, Lord. These bones are never
going to live. We’re never going to grow and thrive as a people
again. We’re never going to
have glorious days ahead of us like the glorious days we remember behind us. Never,
never, never! So give it up already!”
“Preach to these bones,” God tells him. Ezekiel just shakes his
head. “Preach to these bones, and say to them, ‘O dry bones, hear
the word of the Lord!’” As if Ezekiel didn’t already feel
stupid enough. “Preach to these bones: ‘Thus
says the Lord God to these bones: I will cause breath to enter you, and you
shall live. I will lay sinews on you, and will cause flesh to come upon you,
and cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and you shall live; and you
shall know that I am the Lord’” (Ezek 37:4-6).
Ezekiel doesn’t believe it … he feels stupid doing it, but to his
credit – he does what he’s told. He preaches the word of God to the
dry bones at the low point. And what happens? He hears… a noise… a
rattling… then a cacophony as the bones begin to move.
Ezekiel can’t believe it. He preaches to the bones, and the bones come
together. Even the flesh and sinews appear. But there is still no life in them.
The word is powerful, but it isn’t enough. It isn’t enough. They
are still dead. But God isn’t finished. “Preach to the breath,
mortal!” God tells him. The Hebrew word ruah can mean
“breath” or “wind” or “spirit,” or even
capital “S” “Spirit.” “Preach to the breath!
Preach to the wind! Preach to the Spirit!” Thus says Yahweh: Come from
the four winds, O breath, and breathe upon these slain, that they may
live.” Ezekiel preaches to the wind. And he feels a rustle … then a
breeze … then a mighty gale. And the bones begin to breathe again, and
they stand to their feet, “a vast multitude” the Bible says.
Just in case he’s too dense to understand what’s going on here, God
explains to Ezekiel:
Mortal, these bones are the whole house of
You know what? It’s more than just a dream …within fifty years the
people return to
Flash forward … several centuries later a handful of disciples are in
an upper room. They are few in number and
still hunted by their enemies. They are
praying together in one place when suddenly, there’s a noise, a rattling,
a rustling, a breeze, then a gale as God’s Spirit falls upon them. They
get up and get moving. They preach and three thousand more disciples join them
in one day. They keep moving. They keep preaching the Word of God. The Spirit of
God keeps moving. And the few … the faithful … who started in an
upper room in
If you are feeling discouraged, weak and afraid today, if you are slogging
through one of those low points of your life where you feel dead inside, dry as
dust, remember the wind! Remember the Spirit God has promised to send as your
advocate. And hear the word of God: “I will put my spirit within you, and
you shall live,” (says the Lord); “then you shall know that I, the
Lord, have spoken and will act.”
May we pray?
O Lord, Send your Spirit among us, for we feel hopeless as a valley of
dried bones. We can’t, but you can, if we will let you. Help us to let
you. We pray then for a work of your Spirit so powerful that when we look back
upon it we will know you are God and you did this. For
Christ’s sake. Amen..
Mary Anne Biggs, Pastor
Nekoosa United
Nekoosa