Pentecost Sunday
May 20, 2012 - Pastor Adam Moline
Ezekiel 37:1-14 Acts 1:1-21 John 15:26-27;
16:4b-15
Grace, mercy and peace to you from God our Father
through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, Amen.
Our text today is the Old Testament lesson just read, especially these
words, “Thus says the Lord GOD: Behold, I will open your graves and raise you
from your graves, O my people.” Thus far
our text.
Dear friends in Christ: “In the beginning, God created the heavens
and the earth.” Its true, it happened
this way. God made everything you see,
and then to finish His work of creation, he made man out of the very dust of
the earth and breathed the very breath of life into him. He knelt down, got dirty, and caused that
first man to breathe. And thus began
life, your life was given there. The
life of the world came from the source of life, the breath of God – the very
spirit of God
But as you know, it didn’t last long. Our forefathers and mothers fell into sin in
a very short matter of time. And as soon
as sin was a part of their lives, so too was the consequence – Death! Death that effects you and me, death that we
fear and dread. Death that hurts us and
our loved ones.
That deadly sin is there in you. That deadly sin is in me. And that deadly sin was in the people of
Israel 3000 years ago when the prophet Ezekiel wrote the words of our Old
Testament text. For years before that
time, the people of Israel had been warned – turn away from your sin. Stop blaspheming the name of God. Stop turning your back on him. Stop ignoring the preaching of his word. Stop despising your authorities, stop hurting
people stop fighting. And despite years of warnings, generations of warnings,
the people continued in their sin. And
so they were conquered by foreign armies.
Their people were killed and those who were left alive were carried off
into exile.
They were dead bones. The Lord says to Ezekiel, “these bones are
the whole house of Israel. Behold, they say, ‘Our bones are dried up, and our
hope is lost; we are indeed cut off.”
The gifts of the Lord had departed them in their sin, and all that was
left was death, ruin and damnation. Because
of their sin, they died. Because of
their sin, their lives ended.
And dear friends in Christ, because of your sin, the
same fate awaits you. Because of your
sin too, you will be dry bones one day – and yes, even now you are already dry
bones – dead in sin yet still alive for a time here on earth. You’re dead in sin. You’re gone, your bones are dried up, your
hope is so often lost and you often feel dried up.
You are guilty, just as those ancient peoples
were. You too have turned your back on
God. You blaspheme, you dislike
preaching – especially if it hits too close to home. You fight with each other – even with those
whom you love the most. You lust, you curse
you swear. You hate authorities and you
do more and worse than even this. You’ve
turned your back on the God who knelt down next to you and breathed life into
your body. You! You’re a sinner – and the sinner must
die.
Its uncomfortable isn’t it? Knowing that when Ezekiel sees a valley of
dry, dead bones, that it is you that he sees.
That your flesh has rotted away, and that your situation is as bad as
last year’s dead cow lying in the field.
But hear what God tells Ezekiel about the dry bones
of Israel. Hear what God says to you dry
bones! “I will open your graves and
raise you from your graves, O my people. And I will bring you into the land of
Israel. And you shall know that I am the LORD, when I open your graves, and
raise you from your graves, O my people. And I will put my Spirit within you,
and you shall live, and I will place you in your own land. Then you shall know
that I am the LORD; I have spoken, and I will do it, declares the LORD.”
He will open your grave, dear Christians. He will put the sinews back on your bones –
as he does in the valley of dry bones.
He will build again the flesh of your body out of the dust into which it
will rot. He will put the hair back on
your head, the skin back on your body.
He will recreate you, just as he created our first parents in the very
beginning. And for you, dear friend on
that last day he will kneel down next to your recreated body, and breathe into
you and give you life. The Holy Spirit
will enter you again and you will be raised forever. The breath will come into you, and you will
live and stand on your feet.
How can this be?
It is the work of God, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. God the Father will rebuild your body. Why?
Because God the Son has suffered and died in its place. He gave up all he had, his life, his blood,
and more so that you would not have to remain a dead dry bone. And now, today on the day of Pentecost, the
Holy Spirit is poured out upon you to create and sustain faith in each one of
you that looks to the blood bought sacrifice of Jesus Christ. Its this Holy Spirit that calls you by the
Gospel, enlightens you with his gifts, and makes you holy keeping you in the
one true faith. This is most certainly
true.
And so dear friends, it is this Holy Spirit that
Ezekiel prophesies to. It is this Holy
Spirit that comes to you today, making you alive again. Pointing you only to
Jesus Christ who takes away the stain of sin, death and the devil. Its this Holy Spirit, the very breath of God,
that enters your cold dead bones, and makes you alive again forever – an Army
of the Lord.
In the beginning, God created man in his image. He formed him out of the dust of the earth,
and breathed the very life giving Spirit into his lungs to give him life. Man turned away and died, but again, God will
breathe that spirit into those who believe in Jesus. He will raise all the dead, and give eternal
life to all who believe. This is most
certainly true. Amen.
