The Church and Ezekiel's Prophecy

There is a lot made, today, of Ezekiel's pronouncement to the dry bones that
once filled a valley. But i have to wonder... what is it we're making of
this whole scenario?

God's Spirit led Ezekiel to a valley filled with dry bones. I would imagine
that these bones were probably not laid out neatly. They were probably
scattered all over the place, completely disconnected from each other. God
puts a question to Ezekiel: "Ezekiel, can these bones live again?" Ezekial
seems to not really know what to make of the question. Is it possible for
these bones to become living beings as they once were? Ezekiel just doesn't
seem to know. He answers wisely, "Sovereign Lord, only you know."

Then God tells Ezekiel what to say to the bones. He tells Ezekiel to tell
the bones, "Listen up! Pay close attention the Lord's words." The Living
Lord, through Ezekiel, speaks to that which is dead. These bones have no
ears, no way to process any sounds let alone a way to interpret those sounds
as something intelligible. Ezekiel is telling these bones something that is
impossible for them to hear. The fact that they are called "dry bones"
makes it pretty clear that these bones have been lying around a very long
time.

Yet God says to these bones, "I'm going to breath life into you. I'm going
to make tendons attach themselves to you. I'm going to make muscle and meat
grow over you. I'm going to cause skin to cover you. Then i'm going to
breath on you and you will come to life. And when that happens, then you
will know that I am the Lord."

And after Ezekiel gets done speaking all that, it happens! Ezekiel says he
hears a clattering, a rattling sound. Bones were coming together. Then
tendons and meat and flesh being to appear. God says to Ezekiel, "Call out
for breath to enter them. Call out to the four winds to fill these dead
things with breath." And the wind blew and filled these lifeless bodies
with breath - and they came to life and they stood up on their feet. The
once dry bones had become a vast army.

After that miraculous and almost unbelievable event, God says right away,
"Those bones are the whole house of Israel. They are in complete despair.
They can't see any hope for themselves. But tell Israel that I am going to
open up the graves they lie in and breath life into them. Tell them that
after i open up their graves and raise them up, I will put my Spirit within
them and they will dwell in their own homes. And after i've done that, they
will see that I am their Lord

I don't know if this is the state the Church is in or not. I tend not to
think so. But i think we're headed in that direction. And i think we need
to head in that direction. The Church in America has become quite satisfied
with itself. "We can take care of ourselves. We have the ability to get
done whatever job needs to be done. We have the technology to replicate
anything and everything we do. We can eliminate all chance and error. We
have the power." All the while, the Church does not realize that it is
dying, that the skin is being pealed away, that the flesh is starting to
rot, that tendons are pulling apart and that bone is being exposed. The
Evangelical Church in America is dying even though it gives the appearance
of being very much alive. The interior is rotting away while the exterior
is simply being whitewashed over and over again.

Some are cyring out. Some are seeing what's happening. Some see the trends
and the consequences of these trends... but far too few. The Church,
collectively, has not faced the despair. She has not come to the place of
utter hopelessness unless God intervenes. Only when she does, will God
again speak to the bones and give life.

And my last point is that we need to pay attention to the steps in which
these bones were made to live. They did not received the breath of God's
Spirit until they had been rejoined and "re-fleshed." I'm not sure what
this may mean, but i have a suspicion that, at least part of what it means
is this: Until we are desperate and realize that only by God's power and
grace can the dead, dry bones of the Church live again.

The best work one can do is to glorify God.
Colossians 3:17

What's Going On?

I wish i could understand better what is going on in me... with me. And
perhaps the issue isn't even really to try to figure that out. In a few
months, i'll be done pastoring Mt. Pleasant. Although there has been a lot
of struggle, I have genuinely enjoyed it. It's not even really so much a
matter of enjoyment as i have a tremendous peace within that we have, for
the most part, done the job called us to do. There have been a lot of
problems, errors I have made, errors others have made. There is so much
more that needs to be done for and in Mt. Pleasant. I believe there is a
lot more that God has for this congregation - not just in terms of things
being "fixed," but a genuine work in the community. It's been there for
over 100 years. There's something God has been and is doing. May your
Spirit empower them to be faithful to you and serve this community.

Yet what are we do to? Where are we to go? What is the Lord preparing us
for? What is his call? Sometimes i think that i'm not really suited to
pastor. Making "cold contacts" is so beyond my comfort zone... but is that
something i must do? I love to talk about the things of heaven and
eternity, things holy and divine, to encourage a person or a handful in
faith and faithfulness to God. But i'm terrible at long term work -
counseling and instruction that must be given over and over. I'm so easily
frustrated by people who appear to give only lip service and not much, if
anything, else. But am i any different?

I admit to having some kind of "fantasy" about starting a church... but i
don't want to start one with an attitude of "I'll show them how to do church
RIGHT!" It seems to me that there is much in the BIC that is exactly what
the world - what this USA society - needs... but there is so much that seems
to militate against the BIC living up to what i thought it was. If the BIC
just give the world what it wants - a gospel that is "comfortable," worship
that "fits," prayer that is "easy," then we offer then nothing more than
Ronco-ized spirituality.

To see the church genuinely gripped by the Spirit, to be engaged with
brothers and sisters who would compromise nothing for themselves but
lavishly dole out grace to all who fall, to be connected to the Church
utilizing the means of grace that seem so obvious - the Word, prayers,
baptism, the Eucharist, marriage, icons... to somehow genuinely connect
with both Catholics as well as Anabaptists... to speak out against this
evangelical spirituality that seems as energized as a swiftly moving creek
with about as much depth... to think and to meditate and contemplate
spiritual reality... to simplify and give graciously, generously,
sacrificially to the rest of the Church, to the community and to the world
in the name of Christ... to love with an unrestrained, irrational,
illogical, incredulous, uncompomising, self-denying love.

O God, lead me, lead us. I want in me all that you're doing. I want in
your Church the full expression of Christ. Help me tune my heart to your
vibrations even if - and perhaps especially if - that means i must detune
myself to the world's pitch.

Jim
The best work one can do is to glorify God.
Colossians 3:17