The Dead Come Alive!

Pentecost, 5/24/15
Ezekiel 37:1-14


The Dead Come Alive!
I. By an awesome force
II. To become God’s chosen people


Horror films. There don’t seem to be as many being produced and viewed as there once was. Perhaps it’s due to the fact that such films are so predictable that they no longer hold the attention of the people who pay good money to see them. The movie character dies what is usually a violent death, then unexpectedly comes back to life and terrorizes people. Throw in heavy doses of violence and gore, and you’ve got yourself the classic horror movie that isn’t worth watching. I trust you’ll find better things to do with your time and money.

But there is a “horror” movie of sorts that I’m encouraging you to not only watch, but take to heart. It’s the vision Ezekiel saw and experienced in this morning’s first lesson. To be sure, it would make an impressive short film. The details are stunning—you see a valley full of dry bones and Ezekiel is placed right among them. As Ezekiel obeys orders from the Lord, the bones rattle and come together. Then tendons attach the bones to each other and flesh appears on them and they come alive.

So why would the Lord want Ezekiel to experience this vision? He wanted him to know beyond a shadow of a doubt that God can make what’s dead come to life.

And that truth fits perfectly with what we’re celebrating this morning—the Day of Pentecost when the Lord unleashed the power of the Holy Spirit. Ever since that day when the Holy Spirit brought 3,000 to faith in Jesus and the New Testament Christian Church on earth began, the Holy Spirit has been bringing the dead to life. And by God’s power and grace, it’s still happening. It even happens among us. The dead come alive! That’s our Lord’s powerful truth for us as we celebrate the Day of Pentecost. May the power of that truth fill us with Pentecost confidence and joy!


Part I.

When the topic of great explosions of power is discussed, what comes to your mind? With Wright-Pat AFB right here in town, the sight and sound of a fighter jet are surely one of them. And the closer it’s flying to you, the more impressed you are. Watching a lift-off at Cape Canaveral is another one. I’ve only seen them on TV, but I’ve been told the ground literally shakes as the vehicle lifts into space. And then there’s atomic power. The amount of energy released with the detonation of an atomic bomb boggles the mind. On this Memorial Day weekend, we’re thankful that it’s been 70 years since the last one was dropped. The death, destruction and human misery they caused is unimaginable.

At first reading, what was it that impressed you about Ezekiel’s vision? It’s likely the result. These dry bones—meant to impress Ezekiel with their absolute deadness—join together. Then flesh appears on the bones and these beings—an entire host of them—come to life. Our attention is drawn to the dramatic before and after views. It’s like viewing photos of a person who has undergone a dramatic change. Your focus is on the results.

But at this point, don’t miss the force, the power, the energy that brought the change about. Did you catch it? The Lord told Ezekiel, “Prophesy to these bones and say to them, ‘Dry bones, hear the word of the Lord!’” Prophesy to these bones? That certainly sounds odd to our ears. We don’t use the word “prophesy” in that way. Just what did the Lord mean? Simply this: he commanded Ezekiel to speak God’s word to the dry bones. To prophesy means to speak God’s word to someone else. So that’s what Ezekiel did. He writes, “So I prophesied as I was commanded.” The result was that bones and flesh came together, but there was still no life in them.

So the Lord commanded Ezekiel, “Prophesy to the breath; prophesy, son of man, and say to it, ‘This is what the Sovereign LORD says: Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe into these slain, that they may live.’ So I prophesied as he commanded me, and breath entered them; they came to life.” Now the Lord adds “breath” to this creative equation. Does that ring a biblical bell for you? Go back to the opening chapters of Genesis to the account of the creation of human life. In creating human life the Lord didn’t simply say, “Let there be,” and there was. No, he formed man from the dust of the ground and then what did he do? He breathed into him the breath of life. God took something that was physically dead and made it physically alive. Surely that was a great miracle.

But it pales in comparison to the miracle that God the Holy Spirit performs each time he brings a sinner to faith in Jesus. There’s only one thing worse than physical death and that’s spiritual death. Every one of us came into this world spiritually dead. We needed to be born again. And God the Holy Spirit did it. Through God’s word or through that word attached to Baptism God the Holy Spirit made us spiritually alive. He set our hearts on fire with faith in Jesus.

And there’s our connection with the Day of Pentecost. The presence of the Holy Spirit was accompanied by tongues of miraculous fire and a rushing wind. He filled the hearts of the believers in that room that day and then he used them to unleash his power to bring spiritually dead people to spiritual life. And he’s using you and me to do the same thing today. It happens every time we baptize an infant. It happens every time another teen or adult confesses faith in Jesus for the first time.

The dead come alive! They come alive by an awesome force!

In most cases, we like what works and the more powerful it is, the better. Whether we’re talking about the vehicles we drive, the cleaning products we use, or the appliances in our homes, we like power, as much as we can afford.

And since we know and confess that our God is all-powerful, many are the times we’d like to see more of it in our lives. Our prayers to him often contain the words, “Lord, use your power to…” You finish the sentence. We want to see that power being used to help our health situation, our financial situation, our employment situation, our relationships, our lives in general. And when we see what’s happening in our godless world, we’d love to see the power of Pentecost in our own day and age.

I submit that we do. I submit that the Holy Spirit already has. His greatest acts of power aren’t in the daily affairs of our lives. His greatest act of power occurred in you when he brought you to life—spiritual life. His greatest act of power occurs every time he nurtures and strengthens your faith in Jesus. His greatest act of power occurs every time he brings you the forgiveness of sins that Jesus won for you. His greatest act of power occurs whenever he assures you that heaven is your home. That’s power! The dead come alive by an awesome force—the Holy Spirit!

Part II.

Most of us, if not all of us, would state that we receive a great deal of satisfaction in a job well done. You might be joining millions of your fellow Americans on this extended holiday weekend in accomplishing a home project indoors or out. If so, I hope you have the experience when the project is completed of standing back and admiring your work.

So, can you imagine God standing back and admiring you? Honestly, probably not. We know our sins and imperfections. We know the sinful thoughts and desires that lurk within completely known by our God.

But it’s still true that God stands back and admires what he has accomplished in you by faith in Jesus. In Ezekiel’s vision, that’s what God does when Ezekiel describes, “They came to life and stood up on their feet—a vast army.” God’s infantry. Spiritual warriors. Holy ninjas. God has changed people who were spiritually dead and turns them into his elite forces.

Near the end of the vision the Lord states, “Then you, my people, will know that I am the Lord.” He calls us his people, his chosen people. That’s exactly the way he used Peter to describe us, “You are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God” (1 Peter 2:9). He tells the people of Ezekiel’s day that he will settle them in their own land. You see, God had a plan for them. As dark as the future was for them, God promised to bring his exiled people home to the Holy Land where he would use them to bring the Savior into the world. From that land the Church would spread and grow. Today you’re part of that Church by faith in Jesus.

You are God’s chosen people now and forever. That means God has has already accomplished his highest goal for you. Personally there’s nothing greater that he has planned for you. You’re a member of his holy Church. There’s nothing greater than that! And now he will use you and me to bring others into that Church. He’ll use the words you speak, the offerings you bring, the acts of service and love you’ll conduct to grow and enlarge his holy Church in all the world, a Church that shall never perish, a Church that endures no matter what Satan throws at it.

The dead come alive to become God’s chosen people.

With May being the month for graduations, our thoughts often drift to what graduates will become. Or we wax nostalgic and ponder what we’ve done with our lives and what we will still do. And that’s fine. But don’t miss this great truth—your God has already accomplished his great saving goal for your life. It’s not about what you will be; it’s about what you already are. By the powerful working of God the Holy Spirit you are what your God wants you to be. And when we come to the daily realization that we haven’t lived up to that high calling, that our sins have stated otherwise, then the Holy Spirit does his great cleansing work of bringing us the forgiveness Jesus won for us. Through that forgiveness he empowers us to be the people he made us to be—God’s chosen people. Be what you are. The dead have come alive and are God’s people! Amen.