Breathe On Me Breath of God
Rev. Dr. Mark Porizky
5/27/06
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 around 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
Happy
Pentecost!
I
know. It doesn't quite carry the same ring as Merry Christmas or He is Risen
does it? It's too bad, really. Pentecost, the official birthday of the church,
was celebrated as a Christian high holy day long before Christmas ever made the
rotation. Perhaps the tepid treatment Pentecost receives has something to do
with Pentecost itself, what with its mighty wind, floating tongues of fire and
subsequent miraculous speaking and hearing. Even though virgin births and
resurrections are just as miraculous, for some reason they don't seem quite as
weird.
Or
maybe the Trinity's third-person-second-class-treatment has something to do with
the fact that the Holy Spirit is too, well, spiritual. It's easy to
conceptualize God as Father and Jesus as Savior, but how to conceptualize the
Spirit? Up in the air? A bird? A flame? Of course then there's also the
historic, and ironic dissention among Christians regarding the Holy
Spirit—from the first major church spilt in 1054 between Catholics and
Orthodox, all the way down to current squabbles over charismatic gifts and
worship styles.
So
what can I tell you about Pentecost, about the Holy Spirit, and about
Ezekiel’s Dry Bones, or which we just read?
Well
how about a story?
Once
upon a time there was a great land, with many people. This land had many things,
like TVs and video games, and in this land you could do many things, like
rollerblading and skiing, playing soccer and baseball. Not only that, there were
many pretty things, like flowers and birds, mountains and ocean.
And
this land gave many things for the people to eat. There was fruit and
hamburgers, fish and salads, ice cream and cake anything you liked to eat you
could find in this land of plenty. In this land you were never cold. There were
plenty of homes with warm furnaces and fireplaces that kept you warm and dry
even on cold rainy days.
Everyone
seemed happy not noticing what or who gave all that made them happy. They seemed
to take it all for granted. The sun would greet them, the rain would nourish
them, the wind would carry good news and life would be full of good things.
Always!
But
one day, hardly anyone noticed the silence in the air. It was still and quiet
and even a bit cold. The next day some people started to notice the difference,
nothing seemed to keep them warm, they still had the same things but some thing
was missing. It was like something had left.
A
few more days went by and people started to gather together to talk about the
problem. No one could really say what was missing but they knew something
had been lost. They just couldn't describe it – but it was like life, joy,
love - all that made life wonderful had escaped and left a very cold and quiet
place.
A
group of people decided they needed to pray to the Great Spirit about this
change in things. (Though nothing seemed to have really changed –
everything had changed.)
And
so these people, some young, some old and some in between went away from the
city. One group went to the ocean and another went to the mountains another to
the desert. Each group was going to find and listen to the winds that carried
the wisdom of the Great Spirit.
After
many sunsets these scouts came back and the people gathered to hear what they
had to say. It was a little girl that first spoke. "I waited and waited on
a rock by the ocean. I saw nothing - there was no ripple on the water, no birds
soared in the sky - but I waited and I talked to the Great Spirit. Finally a
very gentle breeze touched my left ear and whispered 'People have forgotten me.
I have always been there. I wondered if I would be missed.' And then it was
gone."
An
old man then spoke: "I climbed to the top of the mountain. It was very cold
and very still, nothing seemed to move up there. Like every thing was holding
its breath. I climbed till I reached the blue sky and I stood on this great
mountain and I started to sing ever so softly. I was hoping that somehow in my
song the world would begin singing again. Everything was silent until a great
gust of wind came and in the wind the Spirit sang back to me: 'I am here. I have
always been here but you never returned my song.' And then it was gone."
This
same story came from many people, moms and dads, grandparents and teens all came
back and said: "We have forgotten the Spirit and how much we depend upon it
to bring to us what we treasure most about life: love and joy and faith."
Someone
shouted: "What are we to do? How can we find the Spirit again?"
Another cried: "It's too cold standing out here. Let's go home and talk
about it when it's warmer." But someone said: "No we cannot leave. Let
us build a great fire and gather around and hear these stories and maybe sing a
song.” And so they did.
Everyone
gathered in a great circle around the huge fire and all were warm and sang and
talked. Suddenly a little boy stood
up and then a teenage girl and then another and another and they began watching
the flames. The flames seemed to dance in the wind. Yes the wind had returned!
The wind was blowing over the people and the warmth of the fire grew and people
began to dance and sing and say ‘thank you’ to the Great Spirit.
And
they tell this story from generation to generation and they say: “Always
remember what happened here. Tell your children and your children's children
about the day the Spirit left and the wind no longer blew and the flames no
longer danced. Remember all the gifts the Spirit brings so that our lives are
full of joy and love.”
The
end. Asd I read this story and I
thought – that’s it. That’s the Pentecost Story. If the Holy Spirit simply
disappeared, in no time flat our world would begin to resemble the valley full
of dry bones that Ezekiel described. Wind,
Spirit, Breath. It’s all the same
word in Hebrew. No Spirit, no
breath. Just dry bones.
The
Spirit is the oil that greases our Souls. Without
it, we’re just a bag of bones. Now,
the Holy Spirit works two ways. It
can be unleashed, or it can be harnessed. (Repeat)
The energy in ten gallons of gasoline, for instance, can be released
explosively by dropping a lighted match into the can.
Or
it can be channeled through the engine of my Honda in a controlled burn and used
to transport a person 300 miles.
Explosions
are spectacular, but controlled burns have a lasting effect, staying power.
The
Holy Spirit works both ways. At Pentecost, it exploded on the scene; The
presence was like “tongues of fire” (Acts 2:3). Thousands were affected by
one burst of God’s power. But the Holy Spirit also works through the
church—the institution God began to tap the Holy Spirit’s power for the long
haul. Through worship, fellowship, and service, Christians are provided with
staying power.
That
staying power is what can give life to dead bones.
You have that power. God gave
it to all of us at Pentecost. A
God-given Spirit. Breathe. Breathe
deeply.
Breathe
new life into old relationships. Breathe.
Breathe
new hope into old hopes and dreams. Breathe.
God
says that nothing is truly dead. It’s
only waiting resurrection.
Sometimes
in the next life.
But
sometimes…now.
What’s
dead in your life?
Come
Holy Spirit, come. Breathe on me.
Breathe on us.
Will you pray with me now?
St.
Andrew Presbyterian Church,
Web Site: SAPC-CT.HOME.ATT.NET
Office Email: SAPC-CT@ATT.NET
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