Readings: Ezekiel 37:1-14; Psalm 107; Matthew 22:34-40.
The First Reading is such a powerful text. It is a story of God’s power and His ability to bring hope where there is despair. It is a vision of revival and restoration in an obviously hopeless situation.
Ezekiel had a vision – he was taken to the middle of the valley which was filled with vast quantities of dry bones. God told him to prophesy to the dry bones, and he did. The dry bones came together and they were covered with sinews; the flesh was growing on them and skin was covering them, but there was no breath in them.
He prophesied again and breath came into them and they came to life again and stood up on their feet – a great, and immense army.
The Lord told Ezekiel that the dry bones represented the whole house of Israel. God would revive, restore and resettle them in their soil. He would do for them what they thought was impossible and inconceivable. He would bring life and newness out of their dead situation/circumstances.
This is a message of hope for us here and three direct lessons:
- The Holy Spirit, through this Word, is teaching us that God has the power to change a hopeless and lifeless situation for the better. Even our dry bones can come to life by the power of God. Our faith and hope in God must never die, no matter what else dies around us.
- Ezekiel obeyed God and prophesied to dry bones. This story tells us the power of obedience. The power to bring dry bones to life was from God but the obedience of Ezekiel made him an instrument of this miracle. The more obedient we are to God, the more His power is displayed through us.
- Without the breath of God in us, we are like dry bones. Our beauty, strength, grace and attraction are from God. The more we distance ourselves from God, the drier and more lifeless we become. This is why someone may be looking physically healthy but spiritually they are like dry bones. It is only through the Spirit/breath of God in us that we can be fully alive.
No wonder, in the Gospel of reading, Jesus puts the love of God as the first commandment because loving God is life and turning away from God is a death that is more tragic than physical death.
Sermon preached by Rev. Fr. Emmanuel Baraka-Gukena Okami on August 19, 2022.
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