"You will know!" | Rev. Dr. Donovan Drake | 03.22.26

"You will know!" | Rev. Dr. Donovan Drake | 03.22.26

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From the prophet Ezekiel, the 37th chapter, verses 1 through 14, hear the word of God. Then 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, Oh Lord God, you know. And 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. And 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 the 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. And then he said to me, Mortal, these bones are the whole house of Israel. They say our bones are dried up, and our hope is lost, and we are cut off completely. Therefore prophesy and say to them, Thus says the Lord God, I'm going to open your graves and bring you up from the graves, O my people, and I will bring you back to the land of Israel. And you shall know that I am the Lord when I open your graves and bring you up from your graves, O my people. I will put my spirit within you, and you shall live, and I will place you on your own soil, and then you shall know that I, the Lord, have spoken and will act, says the Lord. Can these bones live? Oh Lord, you know. I find it strange that God would ask a question. Don't you suppose God knows the answer to every question? Makes sense theologically. God is omniscient, all knowing. If you know the answer, why ask the question? Unless it's a test. Mortal, can these bones live? Mortal, that is, one who's subject to death. Do you believe in the eternal? Dying one, do you believe in life anew? Human, are you open to the miraculous? Either way. Buckle up and watch this. It must be fun to be God and mess with the limits of the mortal mind. Noah, do you think I can flood the earth? Moses, can the seas be split in two? Boys, do you think I can still the storm? Oh Lord. You know. But what if God isn't playing with us, mere mortals? What if God doesn't know the answer to the question? Mortal? Can these bones live? I know. What I just said just sounds like burn me at the stake heresy. But what if God needs to know whether we're gonna buy into the answer? Let me explain. Whatever and wherever this valley of dry bones is, it becomes in our passage a metaphor. God says, hey, these bones are the whole house of Israel. God isn't saying literally that these Israeli people are a bunch of dry, dead bones, but metaphorically their faith has dried up, their hope turned to dust, they are completely cut off. Have you ever experienced that? Being cut off from God completely? I have not. It seems in my life that I've always had a prayer. Haven't you? Even those who look like they don't have faith can have faith. I remember a man who told me a story about the birth of his daughter, bringing her home, this bundle of joy, and that first evening going out with his little daughter in his arms in a starlit night, and he raised his child to the heavens and said, Thank you, Lord. Thank you. Thank you. The little girl grew up. At a very early age, she developed a cancerous tumor. And not long after that, we had the memorial service. And that man never made it back for a worship service. Now is that a lack of faith? Or does he have too much faith? Believing that if this God can split the seas, if this guy can still the storms, if this God can blind, make blind eyes see. How come God couldn't come through my little girl? He just wanted God to be God. Being angry at God. Well, that's still faith. I don't know what it's like to be cut off from God. Being dead to God or God dead to me. I don't know. I have a friend who told me about his parents, Jews coming out of World War II. He said they just gave up on God. For them, it was easier to believe that there was no God rather than to believe that God just wasn't paying attention. I suspect there are places and people in this world that just seem God forsaken. I don't know what it's like to live in a Godforsaken world, I could imagine. In a Godforsaken world, there's probably an amazing amount of freedom. You can say whatever you want. You could, in a Godforsaken world, scam, cheat, lie, molest, kill. The list would go on and on. In a Godforsaken world, there would be no reason to shout for justice. For there are no laws in a Godforsaken world, no commandments. Nothing to say honor your father or your mother. There are no laws. Nothing to charge you with loving your enemies. You can blow them up to smithereens, no moral code, no North Star, no need to care, no truths, no grace, no safety net. Hard to imagine, isn't it? I was at a convention in Florida last week for Presbyterian preachers. Hard to imagine, isn't it? At the hotel we were at, there was this pool, and around the pool were preachers in swimsuits. Let me just say, after seeing that, I understand the need for robes. Some things you just can't unsee. But there was at this convention of preachers, another convention going on at the hotel. And there was a remnant of that convention there at the pool. And maybe four or five of them were right beside me by the pool, so I couldn't help but eavesdrop. I think they worked for some sort of shipping company. And from their conversation, I heard that artificial intelligence was just months away from taking their jobs. And their conversation was all about what could they possibly do? They have to do something. Mortgage, rent, car payments. What are they gonna do? What are you gonna do? In a Godforsaken world, that's not your problem. Mortal, can these bones live? What if this text isn't about the division between heaven and earth? You know, we make so much of the separation between heaven and earth. The Bible makes so much of the separation between heaven and earth. Genesis. It starts in Genesis. God comes meandering around the garden, and what does God say? Where are you? Where are you? Where are you? There's the distance. In the sadness of the earth, the prophet Isaiah shook his fist to the heavens and said, Oh, that you would tear open the heavens and come down here. Where are you? When Jezebel threatened the life of Elijah, the prophet meandered from holy place to holy place, saying, Where are you, God? Martha said, Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. Where were you? Jesus cried out, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? Where are you? How many miles is it between heaven and earth? What if the question mortals will these bones can these bones live? What if what if that what if that question is about an invitation to dance? What if the rest of the story is a metaphor for how we need to live in communion? God knitting bones together, creating bits of cartilage, tendons, and muscles, but God still needs some help. Preach, my mortal. Preach a good word, preach, preach, help me fill the air with the spirit, preach light into the darkness, preach mortal no more, preach resurrection from the dead, preach, preach. And we did. We did once. That one of the reasons that this crazy story of Jesus took hold on the earth was that people wanted to believe the story of someone being risen from the dead. They could believe that more than they wanted to believe the insanity of the world. I don't know this, but I believe this. That the apostle Paul and people like him said, you know, there is a peace that surpasses all understanding. But it comes with a price, and here's the price. Let the same mind be in you that is in Christ Jesus. And sacrifice yourself. Give of yourself. Give of yourself to others. Be a servant to one another. Take on the form of a servant to the point of death, even death on a cross, and God will raise you, and they were raised up. Mortals, can these bones live? And a church was born. People who believe in the resurrection to eternal life. They're powerful people. People whose jobs were taken because they weren't needed. People whose lands were taken because they could not make the payments. People who had to do anything to survive heard that God had not given up on them. Come here. You all come here. Welcome to this table. My food is your food. Let me tell you how much God loves you. No, let me just show you how much God loves you. I don't know this, but I believe this. That people were baptized into death and raised to new life, and they knew something, they knew nothing could separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus. And those sacrificing people became the most powerful people on the face of the planet, that even the emperors trembled. And I think it is the great sin of the church to be people who have been raised to new life, but find it more comfortable to sit in a tomb. Because in the tomb, at least you're secure. Boy, these walls are all around us. Except there's this opening right there. I guess the enemy could come in right there. Maybe if we close the door, roll that stume, roll that stone over that tomb. And then we'll be safe. Now, if you want to be safe, be in a tomb. Being in the tomb makes all the sense in the world if you're dead. But it makes no sense if you've been raised. Crazy. Crazy because it would be like being Superman and deciding to be Clark Kent all your life. No, I'll just walk from here. Imagine walking your whole life when you could fly. My children, can these bones live? Lord, only you know. Yes, I know, but do you know? Body of Christ, can these bones live? Lord, you know. Yes, I know, but do you know the power that you have? I formed you, I breathed life into your bones. My spirit is upon you. Preach good news to the poor. Recovery of sight to the blind. Tell the prisoner they're free. Raise the dead. Preach. There's good news. There's nothing that can separate us. We're together. Nothing can separate us. You and me, mortal and eternal, heaven and earth. Nothing. And this we know. And this we believe. And this we live.