Look Again

Scripture: Ezekiel 37:1-14

 We all know how easy it is to use our spiritual needs as an excuse. You know – when you  find way to get out of something you don’t want to do by invoking your belief system.  

• “Oh, I couldn’t possibly clean the litter box today, it’s the Sabbath…”
• “I’d love to sign up for an over-time shift…but the love of money is the root of all evil. So, I’m going to a movie…”
• “I can’t eat broccoli. Cain was a farmer, and Abel raised animals. God took Abel’s offering and not Cain’s. Pass the bacon, please…” 

I’ve discovered, however, that you should be careful when you do that – because every once in a while God might just use your excuse against you. Such was the case today as I was kayking on the lake. It was hot, and I was getting tired more quickly than usual. So when we got to the open lake area I said to my companions, “I’m not going to cross the lake today – you go on...I’m kayaking for the sake of my soul today.” (Translation: I just want to sit in the shade, float and rest). But, while I was sitting there watching the others work their way across the lake and back, God managed to give my soul something to think about also.

The shady spot I stopped by had an old tree, its trunk struck by lightning some time ago, that was partially in the water. I looked at the water-cured top of the tree for some time, admiring the shape and curve of the weathered branches. Thinking about the tree, I said to myself “Life is so fragile. Poor tree, too bad it’s dead. Brokenness can kill you.” A breeze blew and my kayak started to turn. Paddling back to my resting spot I looked again and realized that the top of the tree in the water had been dead for some time – but there were living branches all over the bottom. That tree has been there in the water over a year (I remember seeing the split trunk last summer) and still life is thriving. My thought changed from “Brokenness can kill you” to “Wow. Life is strong! You can live through anything! Brokenness is not an end.”

Uplifted, I laughed with God about the opportunity to work on my soul. I realized I didn’t get that chance because I was too lazy to paddle across the lake. I got it because I got a chance to “look again”.

Today’s story is a famous one from the prophet Ezekiel. The dry bones that come to life is something preachers like to talk about and children love to sing about. (♫ Dem bones, dem bones, dem dry bones….♫). But today, in the spirit of the breeze that turns us all around sometimes, I want us to look at it from a different angle. Instead of singing the song, or looking at the bones, - lets take another look at Ezekiel – who needs a lesson in taking another look.

What you can’t see

Ezekiel is receiving all manner of lessons from God. By the time he gets to the valley of bones – he’s pretty worn out. You know those trainings where you look at power point slides for hours? That’s kinda what Ezekiel had been through. Learning symbol after symbol to try to teach Israel about God’s expectations and love, the prophet arrives at the valley of bones for another lesson. He’s tired, he’s overwhelmed and he’s been listening to God for a very long time. So when he looks out at the valley of some army slaughtered long ago, he’s not the most participative student.

When asked if he thinks the bones could live, he passes the question back to God saying, “Only you know…”. That’s one of those fail-safe answers – like when you were a kid taking “True and False” tests and you tried to make your T with a second prong so it could pass as an F if it needed to. Ezekiel is too tired to reason. He’s too tired to speak. He’s too tired to see. What can’t he see? He can’t see the possibility of the living army.

Fortunately the breath of God is going to turn him around like the breeze did me.

Looking at the bones, he has no idea if they can possibly come to life. They are dry – old & weathered. Those bones have been dead a long time. He doesn’t see them as an army. He doesn’t even see them as soldiers- slain in some ancient battle (with a very “Lord of the Rings” like overtone, I’m sure…). He doesn’t see them as the building blocks of life. He just sees bones. But he’s wrong. He’s not looking at a valley of bones. He’s looking at an army of people. He just doesn’t know it.

Too often when we find ourselves in a time of despair we can see only the bones scattered around us. We see the old bones of lost friends, broken promises, forsaken marriages, disconnected church families, and the dreams that never were. God asks us, “Can these things yet live?” But we are tired. We get overwhelmed. We look at our feet, shrug and reply, “Only you know, Lord.”

So, God asks us to look again. In some of those bones there are relationships that can be repaired, although they will be changed for the experience of having died and been brought back anew. In some of those bones are lessons. We can carry the authority of human experience for all we learned through the trauma and loss, and create in our heart a thriving compassion. We can look over our situation and find in that valley the building block of positive action, transformation, and inspiration. Can those bones live again? You bet. They are living now. We just need to see it.

Ezekiel still can’t see the army even after the miraculous connecting (“the shin bone connected to the leg bone…”). So…the breath of God fills the army and Ezekiel gets too look again, again. Finally God explains the meaning to Israel for this stunning display of regeneration. God the grave opener is going to bring them back. Hallelujah! But God put that part last. Why? Because God was waiting for Ezekiel to see.

If you are slipping into the valley of sorrow – whether it be through a current event in your life, the gulf coast oil disaster (I REFUSE to call that a “spill”), the frightening future, or the ghosts of heartaches past – turn around, and look again. There is something you need to see.

Life is fragile, and life is strong.

Brokenness can kill you, but brokenness is not an end.

The bones CAN live. So can your heart. So can the gulf coast.

So can you.

Look again.

The Day of Peace: Stretch!

For each of our four advent Sundays the blog will have 3 components:
Read: the scripture of the week from the lectionary
Reflect: a short meditation about the topic
Respond: A chance to connect with the idea and share your wisdom or experience with someone else. You can email me, leave a comment or just talk with someone (or many) about your answers, but make sure to share the light with others this season. I will answer each question on the blog as my way of sharing with you.
Be blessed this Advent season, and be a blessing.

Read: Isaiah 11:1-10

Reflect: A country farmer went into a local church and was greeted by the stern secretary in the church office.
“Can I help you,” she sniffed. He smelled of dirt and land to her.
“I’d like to speak to the head hog of this trough,” he muttered through a thick accent.
“What?” The secretary was taken aback by his crudeness.
“I”d like to speak to the head hog of this trough,” he said again, pointing as the pastor’s picture on the wall.
“SIR!” the secretary chided. “That is REVEREND JONES and he is one of the most respected leaders in our community. We do NOT talk about the Reverend that way and we do not deal with anyone who would. Please leave.”
“Alrighty,” the man said as he turned to leave. “Ya see, I just got me an inheritance of 2 million dollars from my uncle and I wanted to talk about giving a tithe.”
“Just a minute, Sir,” the secretary called as she looked out the window. “I see the Big Pig pulling into his parking space right now!”

Stretching – we all do it. Sometimes for good reasons; sometimes not. Physically and spiritually, stretching is an important part of life. Remember how the Day of Hope told us to wake up? Well, what do you do when you wake up? Stretch. Reaching out with feet or arms, sometimes even turning or twisting to wake the back and shoulders up – most people will stretch before they get out of bed. The message of the day of Peace is to follow that pattern in our walk with God as well. The day of Peace is God’s way of asking us to stretch.

When I read Isaiah’s prophecy – of the child who will lead us to peace instead of war, to justice instead of oppression and to collaboration instead of survival of the fittest – my first thought is, “Well, where is it???”. The child came a long time ago and we still have war, we still have poor, and we still have wolves that eat lambs. Where is this peace we were promised?

It seems as if we are missing an ingredient in this prophecy. Is this like National Treasure or Tomb Raider? Is there a secret knock or code we are missing? Can Laura Croft lead us to a vault that contains the answers to the world’s need for peace? We have the branch from the stump of Jesse in Jesus. He had all the things it says he needed – wisdom, knowledge, power, fear of the Lord, righteousness and faith. So, what do we need to do for him to bring peace? I think we need to stretch.

“Stretch: (Verb) To extend; To reach out.” – Mirriam-Webster Dictionary.

We have not been successful in allowing Jesus to bring peace to our lives, our church or our world because we haven’t been willing to stretch – to reach out.

Reach out past Judgement

Notice we are told he will not judge with his eyes or ears, but with righteousness. We will see peace at a personal and planetary level when we do the same. Our good friends at Mirriam-Webster who gave us the definition of stretch – have an interesting definition of righteous. “Acting in accord with divine law.” Unlike all those “church ladies” (and men) who view righteousness as a reason to be separate from non-Christians or anyone they disagree with – the definers of the word understand that righteousness is not a reputation, an attitude or a description – righteous is an ACTION. It is what you do. It’s a stretch in God’s direction instead of following the “eyes and ears judgment” we are prone toward. In practical example – reaching past judgment to righteousness means instead of looking at someone in the community as an “undesirable”, treat them as someone God desires.

Reach out past Privilege

In the “dog eat dog” (or wolf eat lamb) world we live in, we have all grown to be people of privilege. However, Isaiah prophecies that with justice he will give decisions for the poor of the earth. The Hebrew word translated “give decisions” in the NIV is a word used for court cases. It’s really more like “pass a verdict” – when there is a trial and Jesus will decide for the poor to make things equitable. I often hear folks say, “I didn’t “get” what I have – I worked for it.” Yet, many of these same people went to college on scholarships, or loans or parents. They got a job because they had a friend who worked in the company or they became part of a family business. They rode on the shoulders of previous ideas and advanced a thought someone already had. They used the body God gave them, the brain God gave them and the blessings God gave them. It is time to stretch beyond ourselves and give to others just as we were given to.

Reach out past Fear

Woody Allen said, “The Lion may lay with the lamb, but the lamb won’t get much sleep!” In order for peace to be part of our picture – we must learn to reach out of our fear. Fear divides us. It makes us hoard food, resources, and ideas. Our fear of being rejected keeps us from communication or reaching out to others. Our fear of being different keeps us stuck in a rut with no new input. Our fear of being judged keeps us from opening ourselves honestly and forces us to hide shame and guilt. One of the phrases of Alcoholics Anonymous is “You are only as sick as the secrets you carry.” But to have personal peace, you must reach out past fear and into faith. God will provide. God will accept you. God will forgive you. God knows your secrets and God is ready to heal your fears.

My favorite image in the prophecy is “and a little child shall lead them.” – I get this image of a whole army of people – young and old, rich and poor, all races, all ages, all orientations, all life-walks following a toddler down the road. It’s a funny picture when you think about it. And yet – anyone who has small children knows – the one thing babies, toddlers and children do more than anything else – is stretch.

Respond: In what ways is God calling you to stretch for peace?

God is calling me to stretch for peace in many ways:

Learn to live without judgement – I need to stop closing my mind and start opening my heart. I want to continue to learn how to help people where they are, not just make a mental commentary about their situation and move forward.

Stop hiding my fears – This new year one of my personal development projects that God and I will work on is for me to stop hiding when I’m afraid, hurt, sad or troubled. I tend to be a “after the fact” sharer, as in “I was really scared” or “that really hurt”. This past year I knew I had a tumor in my throat for 2.5 months before I told anyone about it. Not good! I need to be open to my beloved Jesus, and my lovely partner – as well as myself.

Prayer for my world – I read the news every day (I’m an info junkie) – and as much as I want peace in Iraq, food and medicine in Africa, safe shelter in Mexico – I rarely pray for these things. This year I hope not to simply “know”, but to involve myself in prayer and guidance for the world and my part in it.

Conditions in a World of Grace?

Isaiah 58:9-14

One of the basic principles we are taught in mathematics is conditional logistics, otherwise known as “if….then…” statements. If A = B then B = A. Or if A=B and B=C then A=C. Okay – enough math (I know it makes some of you dizzy). Conditional statements are important, though, because they set up the basic framework of math. They are the tracks for the train.

In church, we hear all the time about our unconditional God. We hear about the God who sent his son Jesus the Christ to die for us without condition. We cling to the hope of Grace – that amazing reality that God forgives our sin through the blood of Christ spilled on our behalf. Grace seems to defy conditional logic. IF Sin=Death and Humans=sin THEN Christ=eternity. Wait….that’s not logical. No – it is not. It’s love. God's love. And love is anything but logical.

Can an unconditional God have a conditional reality?

However, in this week’s lectionary Old Testament reading the If…Then statement comes out. Isaiah 58 was written approximately 587 BCE which was after Israel had been released from their long Babylonian captivity. The people were very unhappy. Oh sure, they were glad not to be slaves anymore, but disheartened and crabby. They didn’t have a temple anymore. Their culture, religion, government and food supplies were in a shambles. They were blaming each other and hurting themselves. You know how people get when they are disappointed. Grumble-city! Along comes the prophet to give them a message from God. He says:
“

Then you will call, and the LORD will answer;
you will cry for help, and he will say: Here am I.

"If you do away with the yoke of
oppression, with the pointing finger and
malicious talk, and if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry
and satisfy the needs of the oppressed,
then your light will rise in the darkness,
and your night will become like the noonday.”

So to all this complaining our God says “If….then.” IF you get rid of oppression and IF you feed and care for each other, THEN you will be in light and not darkness. Later the scripture goes on to say IF you keep the Sabbath, THEN you will find joy in God.”

God’s answer to the cries of the people of Israel is to say: "If you’re unhappy and you know it – stomp your feet! (stomp, stomp). If you’re willing to give of yourself and lift others up – you’ll be blessed! In other words – you’ve got the problem. You solve it! "

Christ's Parallel

It is very similar to Luke 9:10-17 (the feeding of the 5,000) when the disciples tell Jesus the crowd is hungry and he says “You give them something to eat”, but then Jesus multiplies the loaves and fish so all can dine. God is telling them to stop oppressing, finger pointing and playing the blame game and then the light of the community can shine. But God also promises to be the light bringer, just as Jesus multiplied the fish.

So what can we make of these conditions? Is God still unconditional? You bet. The truth we see in this scripture is one of the most important things to learn in a developing Christian life: Grace is not conditional, but Growth is. Grace – the gift of God to us is without condition. BUT growth in Christ requires the IF’s to get to the THENS.

If you want God to love you – God already does. If you want God to forgive you – God already has. But if you want God to grow you as Christ’s disciple and if you want the peace of Christ, the joy of God, and the heaven on earth that is the Christian life, then you must be obedient. You must stop oppression and speak out against those who would batter, violate or isolate God’s children. You must stop finger pointing and learn to give to and forgive others. You must stop malicious talk and learn to lift in love.

Then you will have a life where you are not using your energy holding other people down for your own ego. You will have freedom because you are not holding onto the past pains and grudges that wound you. You will have joy because you’ll be sharing strengths with each other not just complaining about weaknesses. You will be a light people can use to find their way to God.

How do you start this growth in God? By prayer. The first thing God tells them to do is pray, and God promises to be there. After prayer, comes obedience – following God’s desires for our charity, generosity and active Christianity. After obedience comes justice. When the hungry are eating, when the victims are safe and when the wounds are healed the light will shine so brightly we will live in the noon of God forevermore.

This equation doesn’t happen over night. You may need to study, pray or to talk to a mentor or wise person about how to heal old wounds, forgive great wrongs, feed the hungry or let go of oppressing habits. The promise of God is the same: to be here with us while loving us without condition and inspiring us to enlighten a world that has seen way too many dark days.

May we all Grow in Grace.