Eastertide
May 18, 2021
Scripture Reading: Acts 2:1-21 or Ezekiel 37:1-14
The hand of the Lord came upon me, and he brought me out by the spirit of the Lord and set me down in the middle of a valley; it was full of bones. He led me all round them; there were very many lying in the valley, and they were very dry. He said to me, ‘Mortal, can these bones live?’ I answered, ‘O Lord God, you know.’ Then he said to me, ‘Prophesy to these bones, and say to them: O dry bones, hear the word of the Lord. 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.’
So I prophesied as I had been commanded; and as I prophesied, suddenly there was a noise, a rattling, and the bones came together, bone to its bone. I looked, and there were sinews on them, and flesh had come upon them, and skin had covered them; but there was no breath in them. Then he 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.’ I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived, and stood on their feet, a vast multitude.
Then he said to me, ‘Mortal, these bones are the whole house of Israel. They say, “Our bones are dried up, and our hope is lost; we are cut off completely.” Therefore prophesy, and say to them, Thus says the Lord God: I am going to open your graves, and bring you up from your graves, O my people; and I will bring you back to the land of Israel. And you shall know that I am the Lord, when I open your graves, and bring you up from your graves, O my people. I will put my spirit within you, and you shall live, and I will place you on your own soil; then you shall know that I, the Lord, have spoken and will act, says the Lord.’—Ezekiel 37:1-14
This allegory of the dry bones fits our world today. As we hear and watch bombs flying from Israel and Palestine at each other, we wonder how many real bones will be lifeless soon. Ezekiel does not address arming up for battle to retake land. He is dealing more with keeping our part of the covenant with God to serve God only and to welcome the Spirit of God as our guide. I am amazed how quickly we humans can move from God’s promise of abundance and love to greed and lust for power. We do not acknowledge a measurable quantity of enough. Worse yet, we do not care how many bones we leave on the field as we claw our way over them to gain more than enough. When the author of the 23rd Psalm declares that my cup overflows, he talks about God’s love and protection from all types of enemies not having more material wealth than needed.
We need a moral revival to get our priorities straight. Coming out of a pandemic is a good time to assess our lives and how we live them, considering all people and their needs. We have learned a heavy lesson that all God’s children are needed for societies to thrive. It is a sad commentary when there are not enough people to bury the dead. Many of us were retired or able to work from home and missed the contagion all around. At the same time, clerks risk their lives selling the necessities to maintain our wellbeing, as did health care workers, janitors, and bus drivers, many of whom do not earn a living wage.
Prayer: Lord, do not let us breathe a sigh of relief as this pandemic seems to be lifting. Help us remember the lessons we learned about the challenges of those who work hard for not enough income. Amen.
All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights are reserved.