The Feast of Pentecost
Jesu Juva
“The Spirit of Life”
Text: Ezekiel 37:1-14; John
7:37-39a; Acts 2:22-36
Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen.
The
But not just any
bones; whose bones are these? God tells his prophet: “these bones are the whole house
of
But looking at this valley, what kind of God is
this? Who rules over a nation of dead
bones? He would seem not a very good God. Not a very able God. A weak God. A beggar
God.
But then He shows
us what kind of a God He is. A God
of life. A God who does not rule
a nation of dry bones, but who has loved His people enough to keep and protect
their bones. Each and every one. There is
no “Tomb of the Unknown Soldier” in God’s army.
He knows them all. All 206 bones
from each and every one of His people, He knows. From the greatest to the least, from the
biggest leg bone to the smallest inner ear bone. And so by His Word and the breath of His
Spirit, with no confusion or mixture, He brings them together again. He raises them. He breathes into them. He re-creates them. For they are His.
And the Spirit, which in the beginning hovered over
the face of the waters when everything was created good (Gen 1:2), now descends into the valley of the shadow of
death (Ps 23) as living water, the water
of life, to dry, dead bones. And there
is again life. And it is again
good. What sin had taken, God
restores. The wages of sin is death (Rom
Which is certainly good news! But if we stop there, we won’t get all
the good news God intended for us. For these
words are about more than just the
resurrection of the dead on the last day, because
you don’t have to wait to be dead to be dry bones.
Ezekiel was speaking this Word of God to a people
whose country had just been conquered by their enemy, whose church had been
bulldozed, and who had been hauled off to live in exile in
And you know what that’s like, because you’ve been
there. You are maybe even there
now. You’ve drunk the wine of sin believing
its false promises, but instead of the pleasure and life the devil promised
you, he just left you very dry and with a hangover. Contentment, fulfillment, life, seem so far
away. Your enemies seem to have the
upper hand. You’ve been overrun by doubt
and despair. Even when you try so hard
to do the right things, all it has gotten you is dried out and dead. Everything may be fine on the outside, but
inside you’re empty, lonely, parched. Living
bags of dry bones.
And you’re not alone. All those names I named before – they knew it
too. There is no difference among us. (Rom
Welcome to the valley. Where the harder you climb, the deeper you
get. The harder you work, the drier you
get. The more you try to live, the more
you die.
“Son of Man, can these bones live?” Can your
tired, old, dry bones live?
Well, the answer is no! Dry is dry and
dead is dead – unless something from
outside the valley enters the valley. Something, or someone. “On the last day of the feast,
the great day, Jesus stood up and cried out, ‘If anyone thirsts, let him come
to me and drink.’ ” And with
that Jesus is giving notice, and wants all of us living bags of dry bones to
know: the One from outside the valley, the One untouched by sin and death, the
One with life had come into the valley with life for the dead! With the living water of His Spirit for dry,
dead bones! And so when the Son of God
came down from Heaven, when Jesus began His public ministry, walking through
the valley amongst the living dead, the dry bones, those looking for life in
all the wrong places – what happened? Life happened! Wherever the Son of Man went, there wasn’t
death, but life. Sinners forgiven, the
diseased healed, lepers cleansed, the blind given sight, the deaf given
hearing, the mute given voice, the paralyzed walking again, the demon-possessed
restored, and the dead raised. As Jesus
walked through the valley, those with ears to hear could hear the bones rattling
and coming together. He breathed His
Word of life and forgiveness, and there was life. Tax collectors, sinners, prostitutes,
centurions, fishermen, rebels, persecutors – no one too dead, no one too dry,
no one too small, no one forgotten.
Because there is no place in this valley of the
shadow of death our Saviour did not reach with His Word and Spirit of
life. Wherever there is dryness, sin,
and death, there He is with life. He was
in the womb as we are, was born as we are, and grew as we grow. Our human nature is His human nature. He lived our life, with all its temptations
and challenges, He died as we die, and was laid in our grave. He came into the valley and took all
of who we are and what we are into Himself – including all
of our life-stealing sin – so that on the cross, He was the dying, thirsting
bag of dry bones. And looking at Him
there, He seemed not a very able God,
but a weak God, a beggar God.
But then He showed
us what kind of a God He is! For on
Easter morning, He showed us most clearly the answer to our question: “Son
of Man, can these bones live?”
They not only can, they do! Jesus
is the only one who ever entered the valley of the shadow of death and came out alive. And He did so for us. That we who are dead
might have hope in Him – the hope of the resurrection to life again, in Him.
And not only on the last day, but already here and now. For He comes to give life to the whole house of
And so God sent His Word and Spirit to His dry, dead
people through prophets like Ezekiel – who by his words pointed them to their
promised Messiah, to their life, that they might have life and hope.
And He sent His Word and Spirit to His dry, dead
people through apostles like Peter – who by his words pointed them to the
Saviour, Jesus the Christ whom they crucified, but whom God raised from the dead,
that they might have life and hope.
And He sends His Word and Spirit to His dry, dead
people today – to you and me – that by His Word, we would be pointed to our
Saviour, the source of living water, so that drinking deeply, we would have
life and hope.
And through those He sends, our Saviour is still
walking among us, giving life, working through His Word of life. For where His Word is, there is He.
Can you hear
it? The rattling? The bones?
Every time a
child or adult is baptized, the living water of God’s Word and Spirit are
giving life, the bones are rattling and coming together, and another life is
raised from the dead. Can you hear it?
Every time the
Word of God is proclaimed, the living water of God’s Word and Spirit are giving
life; dry, dead bones rattling and coming together, and living. Can you
hear it?
Every time we
repent and confess our sins, corporately or privately, and we receive the forgiveness
of God, the living water of God’s Word and Spirit are giving life, and our dry,
dead bones raised up. Can you hear it?
And every time
we come to this altar, where instead of drinking the wine of sin we drink the
blood of our Saviour and eat His body, the living water of God’s Word and
Spirit are giving life, and our dry, dead bones are dry and lifeless no more,
but alive in Christ.
Every time. God’s
Word and Spirit giving life. Every time! Do you hear it? No one too dead. No one too dry. No one too small. No one forgotten.
And that’s what this Day, this Feast, of Pentecost,
is all about. It’s not about speaking in
tongues, prophesying, miracles, and all of that. It’s about life. The life of Christ
Jesus risen from the dead, now given to us, through the living water of His
Spirit, poured out upon the whole house of
So are you thirsty?
“Come and drink! . . . And out
of your heart will flow rivers of living water!”
In the Name of the Father, and of the (+) Son, and
of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Now the peace of God which surpasses all
understanding, keep your hearts and minds steadfast in Christ Jesus our
Lord. Amen.