"What We Believe", April 10, 2011

Ezekiel 37:1-14
John 11:1-45

This morning, we confront several questions, as we read our Bibles:
Did these things happen? Could these things really happen? What does it mean? And, So What?

A while back, I preached at the Installation of a new pastor in an inner-city Church. She had been working with latch-key and street kids, to get them to join the church instead of joining rival gangs; trying as much out of self-preservation as anything else to develop relationships with these young teens that would lead them off the street and into the community of faith. The whole Presbytery gathered, along with members of the church in the Sanctuary, as I began to preach, I saw the group standing at the door talking. SO I stopped what I was doing and invited them to come in, telling all that they were welcome. The whole herd began shuffling up the aisle, but instead of sitting in the pews, they came right up onto the chancel and made themselves comfortable. Meeting them where they were, I took off my robe and began telling the story. At which point one of the young men asked: DID THAT REALLY HAPPEN? I looked around, in the eyes of all the ministers of the Presbytery, and the church members, and the faces of these searching for what to believe, and at that moment, whether it HAD HAPPENED or not, I WANTED TO BELIEVE IT HAD.

That is where we are with the Story of Lazarus. We, more than any generation before us, know the limitations of life and death: How fragile the globe with hydro-fracking, earth-quakes, Tsunamis and Oil Spills; How fragile our political systems with one nation after another in revolution, with our own government having postured over one program and another whether to shut-down the government; How fragile the economic structures; With the passing of an entire generation, what Tom Brokaw described as “The Greatest Generation” we know just how fragile and limited life is. In order to question whether Lazarus could be raised from Death to Life, whether Ezekiel's Vision of the Valley could happen, we must each question whether we believe Reality to be fixed and limited, hard fact, or whether Life is PERMEABLE, allowing hopes and dreams and commitments to at times empower the Impossible to be possible?

FAITH IS NOT ABOUT Correctly Answering a Formula of Questions. Eight years ago, when this couple stood before the Church, family and friends, they were asked if they wanted to married, and responded “I DO” just as this morning, they stood with us claiming the desire to believe and to have their children believe in “Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior”. But the point of Faith comes not when we have driven cross country to stand up in our best clothes, but when we are at our worst. When there are deadlines at work, and the bills are due, and the children all have the flu. Tragically, we tend to reserve passages like this one about Lazarus, for Funerals, for Easter or Pentecost, instead of reading it and questioning it in light of our lives. The climax of this passage is in verses 25 and 26, where Jesus professes: “I Am the Resurrection and the Life.” This last week at the Lenten Soup Suppers, we named that as reticent as any of us are to discuss Sex or Money with our children, regardless of how old they are, what we most avoid discussing is Death. We hope and believe that in this life our Forgivenesses outnumber our Sins, and that we can live in communion with one another and God. But Death represents that Denial of Life, Denial of Relationship, the absolute End. The Question of this passage is whether God has power over Death, whether Jesus as the human manifestation of God, God present with us has control over life and death? If not, all of faith is moral and theoretical philosophy, and like those in Jesus' time who believed there was no resurrection, all there is is this life. But, if Jesus could raise Lazarus from death to life, if Jesus did call Lazarus out of the tomb, then faith is not only a theory a way of moral life, but everlasting communion with God, not only after life but in this life also!

What we know of Lazarus' Sister Martha from this passage and Luke, is that as much as she wants to believe, as much as she wants to have close relationships with Jesus and neighbors, she is a pragmatic realist. She was distracted by cleaning and cooking to host Jesus, rather than listening and taking in. Here, as much as she wants to believe, as much as she had hoped Jesus would have gotten there in time to stop Lazarus from dying, once dead and buried four days, she knows that when the tomb is opened there will be a Stench. Ironic, that for Martha and the Disciples, SALVATION seems to have been about STOPPING from Death, a Miracle Cure that would cause Lazarus not to die. How much more powerful that once in the grip of death, once pronounced dead and buried four days, Jesus had power to Call Lazarus from Death to Life!

The Vision of Ezekiel in the Valley is probably the best known passage of Ezekiel. This is now the fourth vision that the prophet has had. Different from Isaiah or Jeremiah, EXILE has begun. The Monarchy of David, the Kingdom of Solomon each are destroyed, a lack of hope, a lack of faith, long years of war have killed the people, and any life any hope they had was carried off in exile. Each of the other visions begin THE WORD OF THE LORD came to me saying... Whereas this vision starts out “THE HAND OF THE LORD WAS UPON ME and led me to a valley of dead dry bones”. This vision is unique, both in questioning whether those with no life left in them, no faith or hope left, can live and believe again; and also that for this to happen Ezekiel must call the dead to live. The SO WHAT of faith is that while God raised up Jesus from death to life; while Jesus Called Lazarus from the tomb; here Ezekiel, a person of faith like us, is used by God to call the dead to live.

This is a horrifying image. It is a forgotten battleground, where the bodies of the dead, hundreds of thousands were not buried, but left in the sun to decay and to rot, for scavengers to eat. The bodies and bones were scattered over time, and so much time has gone by that even the marrow within the bones has turned to dust and blown away. There is nothing resembling life here, nothing resembling humanity it a place of absolute death and abandonment.

Maybe, this passage was intended for Mitch Miller to write a song about the Foot bone being connected to the Ankle bone, the Ankle connected to the Shin, and so forth. But I believe, The Valley of Dead Dry Bones describes a world like we populate today. Where people are scattered. Where hope is no longer assured, people live from crisis to crisis feeling powerless over their futures, over what life will be like for their children, even if they will have a retirement. Where faith is no longer a simple matter of residency, and all our neighbors choose which church to walk to on Sunday morning. But rather that we make connections and call people to faith throughout the world.

This morning I overheard conversation between two co-workers: “Listen, I am doing the best I can. You are just asking more and more, and I am afraid it's never going to be enough for you.” Perhaps that crossed Ezekiel's mind, but what he affirmed in response to God was: Only God Knows! then he tried.

What would we say to call the dead to life?
Maybe it is as simple as “Can I help?”, or “We came to the church for our wedding and for our children's baptisms, for Christmas and Easter and family funerals, how could we share our faith in daily life?” Ezekiel has a dual role here, as do all of us. He prophesies to the dead dry bones to join together, he does his organizing and casting of a vision, but then he is also commended by God to prophesy to the Breath. Simply because we show up, because we choose a cause and get others to work with us, does not mean God will be in the place or in our hands. Ezekiel prophesies to the Breath of God, the Spirit. How often have we paused before we begin calling the Spirit of God to be with us? How different the day might be, if before we began we asked the Spirit of God to be with us. Possibly that is a prayer. Possibly, it is a devotion and Scripture reading. Maybe before we do anything else, we forgive those we believe have done wrong, and ask for forgiveness then set about doing God's work rather than doing what we routinely do.