Even if the only thing remaining of you is your bones, even if you are dead in sins and trespasses (like Ezekiel’s hearers and all peoples), He can give you life.
Ezekiel 37 is the transition from the judgement of God for His people’s sin to the restoration of the remnant, even if the remnant was a valley full of dry bones. Earlier in Ezekiel, God has removed Himself from the Temple and removed His protection from the people for their wanton sin and rampant idolatry. Their lude service to sin has left them cut off from the Lord and dead in their sins and trespasses. Hence, the opening scene of our pericope. But wait, you might say. God promised a remnant in Ezekiel, did He not
For example, when the prophet cuts his hair and beard into three portions and tucks away a few hairs into his garment’s hem… leaving a remnant. Or what about in chapter 6, when he declares that some will escape and portrays the remnant as captives dragged away rather than fugitives. Again, in chapter 9, where the remnant bears on their brows the mark as those connected to God through death. Finally, in chapter 14, Ezekiel describes the remnant as “survivors” or as Isaiah pictures them as meager gleanings, like “two or three berries on the top of a bough” (Isaiah 17:6) or fragments salvaged from a lion’s kill like in Amos (3:12), but more brutally in our text, the remnant is described as desiccated bones.
Therefore, when Ezekiel sees what is left over and God asks the question, “Can these bones live?” the only reply he can muster is, “Lord, only You know!” Now, in this resurrection God turns everything around. This is the Gospel turn we have been groaning for as we make our way through Ezekiel. There was nothing they could do to earn or deserve this act of life and grace. In fact, it was because of their sin that they were left in such a state. But God gives grace to His people when He changes His attitude towards His rebellious and idolatrous people and raises them from their graves.
But God gives grace to His people when He changes His attitude towards His rebellious and idolatrous people and raises them from their graves.
The theological confession worth developing for a sermon on this text is a theology of the proclaimed Word. God is working through His spoken Word. When God speaks, there is life and even salvation, from creation through Ezekiel and all the way to Christ in our New Testament lesson. John 11:1-44 is a place we can really connect with our hearers. But we are going to develop that connection through the sermon structure as a tool to help us craft an intentional progression and experience of the sermon. Since we will be progressing from Ezekiel to Jesus’ raising of Lazarus from the dead to Jesus’ own resurrection from the dead, perhaps, we can use the Thematic Structure called: Cause and Effect.
“This structure considers a topic as part of a larger active system of causation. The sermon may unfold the system of causation in one of three ways: Naming the causes that lead to the topic, naming the effects that proceed from the topic, or analyzing the topic itself as embedded in a system of causation. In listing causes and effects, the preacher may consider a serial process of causation which works like this: A leads to B which leads to C. When working with serial causation, the preacher needs to be wary of a slippery slope argument. When working with a parallel body of information, the preacher needs to offer some indication of importance among these items (why they are listed in this sequence) and be wary of confusing causation with correlation.”[1]
Here is how a structure like that might work:
A: Ezekiel is told to speak a word and he obediently does. Ezekiel’s word gets us to pay attention to a prophet who would raise people from the dead with a word.
This leads to...
B: Jesus who is a greater prophet than Ezekiel. He was sent to do the Father’s will (active obedience). Jesus raises people from the dead with a word like Jairus’ daughter (Mark 5:21–43, Matthew 9:18–26, and Luke 8:40–56), the widow of Nain’s Son (Luke 7:11-17), but we especially want to focus in on Lazarus (John 11:1-44). Again, the main emphasis is that Jesus raises them from the dead with the proclaimed Word. Here, we can develop our Gospel for our hearers by connecting them to the reality that Jesus will call their name too and they will come out of their grave as well. He does this with the power of His eternal Word. Jesus raising Lazarus gets us to pay attention to Him and see that He is the prophet who raises people from the dead. Therefore, we should pay attention to Him and follow Him in Lent and our lives for our every need.
This leads to...
C: In paying attention to Jesus and following Him, we see that God raised Jesus from the dead on our behalf (passive obedience). Listen to Romans 8:11 in the New Century Version: “God raised Jesus from the dead, and if God’s Spirit is living in you, He will also give life to your bodies that die. God is the One who raised Christ from the dead, and He will give life through His Spirit that lives in you.” Or again in Acts 2:24 in the English Standard Version: “God raised Him up, loosing the pangs of death, because it was not possible for Him to be held by it.” Jesus Himself spoke and prophesied about His own death and resurrection and it came to pass just as He said it would (Luke 13:33; Matthew 16:21; Matthew 17:22; Mark 8:31). If Jesus can raise others by His word and be raised just as He said He would, then Jesus can raise us too! Even if the only thing remaining of you is your bones, even if you are dead in sins and trespasses (like Ezekiel’s hearers and all peoples), He can give you life. If you literally die (Lazarus) He can raise you from the dead because He is the “the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in Me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in Me shall never die” (John 11:25-26).
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Craft of Preaching-Check out 1517’s resources on Ezekiel 37:1–14.
Concordia Theology-Various helps from Concordia Seminary in St. Louis, MO to assist you in preaching Ezekiel 37:1–14.
Lectionary Kick-Start-Check out this fantastic podcast from Craft of Preaching authors Peter Nafzger and David Schmitt as they dig into the texts for this Sunday!
The Pastor’s Workshop-Check out all the great preaching resources from our friends at the Pastor’s Workshop!
[1] https://concordiatheology.org/sermon-structs/thematic/causeeffect/
