Sermon Series: Give It Up! Giving Up Our (Dry Bone) Lives Delivered on March 22, 2015 By Rev. Donna L. Martin Sermon Text: Ezekiel 37:1-14 Inspiration for this sermon was obtained from three main sources: a sermon entitled Dead Ends and Dry Bones by Rev. Roger Allen Nelson (http://www.crcna.org/resources/church-resources/readingsermons/dead-ends-and-dry-bones), a sermon blog by Keith Hudson (https://hudsonsermonize.wordpress.com/2014/04/) and a story by Max Lucado (http://www.crosswalk.com/faith/spiritual-life/two-tombstones-the-story-of-the-samaritan-woman-andjesus-christ-11582592.html ) Preacher and author Max Lucado tells the story a visiting Lockehill Cemetery on the northwest side of San Antonio. He says: I had driven by the place countless times. Daily I passed the small plot of land on the way to my office. Daily I told myself, Someday I need to stop there. Today, that someday came. I convinced a tightfisted schedule to give me thirty minutes, and I drove in. As I parked, a darkened sky threatened rain. A lonely path invited me to walk through the two-hundred-plus tombstones The tombstones, though weathered and chipped, were alive with yesterday. Rest in peace, chiseled in German, accents the markers that bear names like Schmidt, Faustman, Grundmeyer, and Eckert. Ruth Lacey is buried there. Born in the days of Napoleon 1807. Died over a century ago 1877. I stood on the same spot where a mother wept on a cold day some eight decades past. The tombstone read simply, Baby Boldt Born and died December 10, 1910. Eighteen-year-old Harry Ferguson was laid to rest in 1883 under these words, Sleep sweetly tired young pilgrim. I wondered what wearied him so. Then I saw it. It was chiseled into a tombstone on the northern end of the cemetery. The stone marks the destination of the body of Grace Llewellen Smith. No date of birth is listed, no date of death. Just the names of her two husbands, and this epitaph: Sleeps, but rests not. Loved, but was loved not. Tried to please, but pleased not. Died as she lived alone. 1
I stared at the marker and wondered about Grace Llewellen Smith. I wondered about her life. I wondered if she d written the words... or just lived them. I wondered if she deserved the pain. I wondered if she was bitter or beaten. I wondered why some lives are so fruitful while others are so futile. I caught myself wondering aloud, Mrs. Smith, what broke your heart? Raindrops smudged my ink as I copied the words. (http://www.crosswalk.com/faith/spirituallife/two-tombstones-the-story-of-the-samaritan-woman-and-jesuschrist-11582592.html) I read this story years ago in one of Max Lucado s books. It has haunted me ever since. Knowing nothing more than what is on her tombstone, I would say that Grace Llewellen Smith died of a bad case of dry bone disease. Something or someone (maybe both) left her discouraged, defeated and hopeless, so much so that in death a disconsolate life is how she is remembered. But in addition to all the things Max Lucado wondered about Grace, I wondered if she knew God s grace. I wondered if she had faith. I wondered if she now knows the resurrection power of Jesus Christ that could have been hers while she was still on this earth. I wonder if we do. Both of our texts today Jesus raising of Lazarus read during the Lenten candle liturgy and the one I just read from Ezekiel - take place in cemeteries. Like Lockehill Cemetery, these scenes are full of bones they are places of death. Unlike Lockehill, however, the stories in our texts end with the hope of resurrection and new life. You know the story of Lazarus. He and his two sisters Mary and Martha are Jesus close friends. Lazarus falls ill and dies and had been dead and buried for four days when Jesus comes and calls him out from the tomb shouting, Lazarus, come out! And Lazarus rose from the dead and resumed life with his sisters a new life with a new perspective and a new witness to the resurrection power of Jesus Christ. But the text I just read from Ezekiel is also a resurrection story - an Old Testament resurrection story. It is the story of a people without hope who were brought back into the land of the living by God. Ezekiel was an Israelite prophet. He and his people were exiles held captive in Babylonia. Their land was ravaged, their temple destroyed, and their families scattered. They were refugees in a strange land. They had gone the way of all empires; they had risen and they had fallen. They were defeated 2
in body and soul. They were like a field of bones: dry, dusty, sun bleached, and brittle. Without breath. Without help. Without hope. Then, in a vision, God calls Ezekiel to go stand in the middle of the cemetery, climb up on a tombstone, with neck bones and thigh bones and wish bones as far as you can see, and proclaim: Dry bones, hear the word of the Lord! Now even in this altered state of reality this took a leap of faith, because all Ezekiel could see was hopelessness and death. But then the bones began rattling, and they came together to form skeletons. Then they were filled with tendons and muscles and covered with skin. And then the Lord breathed his Spirit into them and they lived again. This was the vision the Lord gave Ezekiel to share with the Israelites so they would know they had not be forsaken and that there was a hope and a future for them. Through the ages this story has also given hope to all God s people that we will not be abandoned in the dry and dusty and deserted places of life. Now most of us know or have known what having dry bones feels like, don t we? Perhaps you know the dry bones of bankruptcy, betrayal, cancer, depression, sexual abuse, lonely loveless relationships, unemployment, grief, conflicts of all kinds. We know those places of despair and hopelessness. We fear getting stuck in a life that ends as Grace Llewellen Smith s did. But the good news is, we do not have to stay in these valleys deserted, dismembered, dried out and depressed. We can give up our dry bones life and live with and for Jesus, the one who is the resurrection and the life. Dry bones, hear the word of the Lord! Though I am of course speaking of death in metaphorical terms (spiritual death rather a physical death), I do think there are some things we can learn from the dying. Bronnie Ware, an RN, published an article a few years back entitled, Nurse Reveals Top 5 Regrets People Make on their Deathbeds. A hospice nurse, Ware had the privilege of hearing the biggest regrets of those who were actively dying. I believe there are lessons in these regrets for us today, so Dry bones, hear the word of the Lord! The most common regret that Ware heard from her patients was, I wish I d had the courage to live a life true to myself, not the life others expected of me. Ware shares that when people realize that their life is almost over and look back over it, it is easy to see how many dreams had gone unfulfilled due to choices they had made or did not make. Dry bones, hear the word of the Lord! 3
Ephesians 2:10 - We are God s accomplishment, created in Christ Jesus to do good things. God planned for these good things to be the way that we live our lives. Each and every one of us is created uniquely in the image of God with different gifts and talents to live a full life. And a satisfyingly fulfilled life what Jesus calls the abundant life - requires utilizing those gifts and talents for God s kingdom. Theologian Frederick Buechner says The place God calls you to is the place where your deep gladness and the world s deep hunger meet. Anything else that you pursue, including the expectations placed upon you by yourself, family, or the world, keeps you from experiencing the life you were born to live. The second most frequent regret heard by Ware was, I wish I hadn t devoted so much time to work. Men and women with this regret expressed remorse at having missed their children s youth and their partner s companionship. They regretted spending so much of their lives on the treadmill of work-related responsibilities. Dry bones, hear the word of the Lord! Luke 10:26-28 A legal expert stood up to test Jesus. Teacher, he said, what must I do to gain eternal life? Jesus replied, What is written in the Law? How do you interpret it? He responded, You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your being, with all your strength, and with all your mind, and love your neighbor as yourself. Jesus said to him, You have answered correctly. Do this and you will live. God created us to be in relationship, to be in relationship with him and with each other. And Jesus let us in on the secret to abundant life when he gave us the great commandment love God, love your neighbor. When we honor our significant relationships God first, family second, followed by our friends and neighbors, the rest of life falls into place. Very few people end their lives saying, I wish I had worked more. So know that your eternal life begins now. And now is the time to reprioritize based on the word of the Lord. The third regret was: I wish I d had the courage to express my feelings. Many people suppressed their feelings in order to keep peace with others. They settled for a mediocre existence and never became who they were truly capable of becoming because they are afraid to rock the boat. Many of the illnesses Ware s patients suffered from on their deathbeds were related to the repressed anger and resentment they carried because they didn t let others know how they felt. Dry bones, hear the word of the Lord. 4
Luke 6:37-38 Don t judge, and you won t be judged. Don t condemn, and you won t be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven. Give, and it will be given to you. A good portion packed down, firmly shaken, and overflowing will fall into your lap. The portion you give will determine the portion you receive in return. The cure for these dry bones is forgiveness and reconciliation born out of love. When we deal with our feelings of hurt and anger by either speaking directly to the offender with love or asking for forgiveness from those we have hurt, it raises our relationships to a whole new (and I would say) healthier level. If reconciliation is not possible then we release those unhealthy relationships from our lives with love not bitterness for the portion you give will be the portion you receive. We release them in love, trusting that God will work for good in all our lives. Number four: I wish I had stayed in touch with my friends. So many of these people became so caught up in their own lives that they let cherished friendships slip away over the years. There were many deep regrets about not giving friendships the time and effort they deserved. Some of these people had time to put their financial affairs in order, some did not, but most said all that really mattered in the final weeks were love and relationships, not dollars and cents. Dry bones, hear the word of the Lord! John 13: 34-35 I give you a new commandment: Love each other. Just as I have loved you, so you also must love each other. 35 This is how everyone will know that you are my disciples, when you love each other. Do you really want to wait until the end to remember a dear friend? If you put off until tomorrow what you could do today, you might not get the chance? When Jesus says we are to love one another as he has loved us, he is talking about the kind of love that makes sacrifices. It sacrifices the time needed to do one more thing and check it off your to do list to respond to a God nudge that says call that person you haven t seen in a while and see how they are doing, send a note to someone you know is down, go by and see that person who can t get out and about. The last of the top five regrets of the dying is: I wish that I had let myself be happier. Ware was surprised at how common this regret was. It helped her realize that happiness is a choice. When people were stuck in old patterns and habits, the comfort of familiarity overflowed into their emotions and physical lives. Fear of change had them pretending to others, and to themselves, that they were content, When deep within, they longed 5
to laugh properly and have silliness in their life again. Dry bones, hear the word of the Lord! Luke 2:10 And the angel said to them, Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. There is temporary happiness that comes when the conditions are just right, when things are pleasant and we are free of troubles. This kind of happiness is fleeting and totally dependent upon external circumstances. But there is also the kind of happiness that comes from God, it lasts, and it brings an inner joy and peace regardless of the circumstances. It is not based on what happens to us, but on the one who walks with us. The happiness found in living with and for Jesus is a joyful contentment that fills the soul, even if the eyes are filled with tears. It cannot be shaken by success or failure, wealth or poverty, fame or obscurity. Fear not, my friends, Jesus was born, lived, died and was resurrected, so that we all might have great joy and live life to the fullest. Now I do not know where death has a grip on your life, and I do not know what issues have made your bones dry and I don t know how brittle you are, but I do know God has declared that life will come out of death. He has given us the witness of Ezekiel in the Old Testament and he has given us the witness of Lazarus and Jesus in the New Testament. Therefore, our faith is not naïve optimism nor is it confidence in our own ability to pull ourselves up by our bootstraps; our faith is in the breath of God the Spirit that breathes new life into dry bones. Grace Llewellen Smith is remembered maybe by a few scattered descendants and by the people who read Max Lucado s books, but through God s grace we are re-membered mended, put back together, made whole, resurrected, given new life. So I ask: Are you ready to give up your dry bones life for an abundant life without regrets? Are you ready to have God re-member you and breathe new life into you? Are you ready for Jesus to call you out of the tomb? The Lord God proclaims: I m opening your graves! I will raise you up from your graves, my people, and I will bring you to fertile land. I will put my breath in you, and you will live...i ve spoken, and I will do it. Oh hear the word of the Lord! Amen. 6