DRY BONES

One of the coolest illustrations in the scriptures is the story of Ezekiel (37:1-14) preaching in the valley of the dry bones. You probably remember the story: The Lord leads Ezekiel to a valley filled with the remains of the dead... bones that were dead so long that they were completely dried out.

The Lord asks Ezekiel if the skeletons could ever live again. The prophet, either as a statement of faith or trying not to say the wrong thing to God, replies, “Sovereign Lord You know!” You can almost hear the wheels turning in Ezekiel’s head, “Uh... uh... I don’t think they can, but I am not going to be the one telling the Lord what He can or can’t do.”

Of course, Ezekiel does indeed prophesy to the dry bones and, lo and behold, they rise (probably dancing) up, flesh returns and they come back to life.

Lots of available themes in the story: 1) God can do anything no matter how impossible it seems to the human mind; 2) Don’t you be telling God what He can’t do; 3) The Word of God is so powerful and sufficient that it can pierce even the shadow of death itself. There are many other interpretations, but these are the most common.

Isn’t it amazing how a bunch of long-faced church bureaucrats
in denominational offices and on parish councils can wring their hands and, in effect, tell God what He cannot do.

I have this vision of the Holy Spirit showing up at a committee meeting talking about a struggling congregation. The Holy Spirit
is nicely arrayed in His Hart, Shaffner and Marx suit, bright tie and custom made shirt. (After all, the Holy Spirit gotta look good!) He fills out His name tag, enters the meeting room and takes a seat.

The topic of conversation is a struggling congregation in an older suburb. The membership fell a bit and, to save money, the local council cut programming drastically, resulting in a more severe loss of membership. There is some debt, but not overwhelming. Fixed costs are rising while giving is not. The roof and nave flooring are wearing out and need to be replaced.

The long faces confer about “best use of limited funds...” They talk about the latest motivational gimmicks from the church marketing industry. At length the painful decision is made that every church is born to one-day die.

Since no one at the meeting thought to include the Holy Spirit in the conversation, He had pulled out His Droid phone, caught up some email and checked out the baseball scores. As the meeting was beginning to close He looked up, “Does anyone have any questions for me?”

“Well, no, Holy Spirit!” said the chair of the committee, “We are always glad when you come to our meetings. Would you stop by and comfort the hearts of those in the congregation that we have decided to close?”

“Sure, I will help clean up your mess,” replied the Holy Spirit, “After 6000 years I am rather good at it.”

“Let’s end our meeting with prayer,” said the chair, turning away from the Holy Spirit and back to the long-faced committee members.

“Yo!” said the Holy Spirit, “Since prayer is talking with God and I am, like, right here, why don’t we revisit this issue about the struggling congregation.”

“Well, its late,” said the committee chair, gathering papers into his briefcase, “We just don’t have resources, and church growth experts tell us that there is not a market for that sort of church in that community anyway.”

“Now, hold off!” said the Holy Spirit, “I think you are missing something here. Remember all of that stuff in the Bible about God having all the cattle on a thousand hills, turning water into wine, and preaching to the valley of dry bones. If I can make those dead, rotting bones come alive, I can certainly handle a roof on an old church and replace a little flooring. You are spending too much time ruminating and fulminating about the things of this earth and not focusing on the Great Commission I gave you to boldy preach God’s Holy Word. You get to the work of ministry and leave the work of provision to Me!”

“...and another thing...” the Holy Spirit was on a roll, “Lay aside this business of closing churches, wringing hands, and singing ‘Woe is Us.’ Most of all, don’t be telling the King of Kings and Lord of Lords what can’t be done. If Paul and Silas can set off on missionary tours across nations with nothing but their teeth in their mouth, you can be assured that I will take care of you if you do My work!”

There was confessional silence in the room as the leaders of God’s earthly church considered restructuring their thinking from failure to faith and from despair to action.

Each member gave the Holy Spirit a hug as they exited the room. The last one to leave kissed Him on the cheek and whispered in His ear, “....now about the Kansas City Royals!”

Soli Deo Gloria,
Bill