Our Help Is in the Name of the Lord :: Ezekiel 37:1-14
Therefore, prophesy and say to them: Thus says the Adoni YHWH, Behold, I will open your graves, and raise you from your graves, My people. And I will bring you into the land of Israel. And you will know that I am YHWH, when I open your graves, and raise you from your graves, My people. And I will put my Spirit within you, and you will live, and I will place you in your own land. Then you will know that I am YHWH. I have spoken, and I will do it, declares YHWH (vv 11-14).
[Introduction]
Our world thinks it’s demeaning to need a helper. That’s why little children don’t like their parents doting on them. They don’t want help picking out their own clothes and tying their own shoes ... or pouring milk on their cereal, even if a gallon weighs one-fifth of their body weight.
Our world thinks it’s demeaning to need a helper. That’s why it’s so difficult to sit in a nursing home and allow someone to serve you, wait on you, care for you. It goes against your entire life of being a parent, grandparent, caregiver. We don’t want people to help us go to the bathroom or to wash our back, let alone watch it.
Our world thinks it’s demeaning to need a helper. That’s why men don’t like going to the doctor. I don’t want to take a pill, and I don’t have time to chill, we say. I’m strong and independent. ... By the time my father acknowledged he needed help, the cancer in his lungs was ravaging his entire body. He died one month to the day later.
It’s demeaning to need a helper.
Too often, too many of us think the need for a helper says something about our own incompetence ... our own hopelessness ... our own defeat, our own frailty and failure. So we push away our helper, thinking we can come to the knowledge of the truth on our own. The Old Adam within us doesn’t want to admit he needs help. He prefers to hide in the darkness ... to keep things to himself ... clothing himself, even if it’s only with fig leaves that wither. The Old Adam within us loves being the rebel with or without a cause. Strong. Independent. Proud.
Dear brothers in Christ, get over it!
Our Old Testament reading today from Ezekiel is the perfect reminder of just how helpless and dead and dying we are ... how badly we need a helper. Left to our own devices, we will waste away, dry out, and be dead. But thanks be to God, we have a helper.
OUR HELP IS IN THE NAME OF THE LORD WHO BREATHES INTO US NEW LIFE.
I.
To understand this image Ezekiel is painting for us, it would be helpful to remember what happened to the prophet and the people. The Judeans were in the midst of exile. Ezekiel was a priest without a temple, called to speak to people who needed help. He had been given the challenging task of deflating pride and self-conceit of his hearers so that they will accept the Gospel of restoration.
Ezekiel's congregation is just like yours. Some hear. Some do not whether they want to hear or not. They struggle to acknowledge their own idolatry. They struggle to acknowledge how and when they abandon their helper ... the Lord God himself ... the one who gives us life and sustains life. They had stopped paying attention to their helper.
Like the exiled Judeans, the world around us prefers to listen to their own philosophers, to wax on about their latest creation theory and definition of men and women. And they teach our people to do the same. An alarming number of people are embracing the idea that it’s good to do our own thing, to neglect God’s Word and Divine Service. And all too often, even after losing everything ... their lives, homes, temple ... the world refuses to repent ... to trust God’s promises.
The world needs a helper.
II.
So the hand of the Lord came upon Ezekiel, and he caused him to come out in the Spirit of YHWH and set him down in the midst of a valley full of bones. And he led him around among them. And Ezekiel said, Behold, there were very many on the face of the valley, and behold, they were very dry. And [the Lord asked Ezekiel]: Son of man, can these bones live?
Knowing he needed a helper, Ezekiel responded, O Lord, you know (vv 1-3).
The valley of dry bones shows us our world and reminds us why it needs a helper. The people all around us are dying in sin. They neglect baptism. They do their best to convince friends, family, neighbors, and even congregations to reject the Gospel and instead believe in man’s science, reason, and relative philosophy ... man’s decision theology and prosperity gospel, which is no gospel at all ... all of which offer no help and denies that God’s Word always achieves the purpose for which he gives it.
Then the Lord said to Ezekiel, Prophesy over these bones, Ezekiel. Say to them, O Dry Bones, Hear the Word of YHWH. Thus says Adoni YHWH to these bones: Behold, I will cause the spirit to enter you, and you will live. And I will lay sinews upon you, and will cause flesh to come upon you, and cover you with skin, and put a spirit in you, and you will live, and you will know that I am YHWH (vv 4-6).
III.
Dear brothers in Christ, the Ruach of YHWH who hovered over the waters of creation, who brought order out of chaos, is renewing a right spirit within you, breathing life into you, too. He is restoring the joy of your salvation, reminding you that ... though you were dead in your sin and trespasses ... he makes you alive in Christ. God removes your fear of proclaiming the Gospel and administering the sacraments, where and when the people need it. He brings peace amid chaos ... calm amid storms ... resurrection and renewal to dying bodies. He is your steadfast helper.
Then Ezekiel writes, So I prophesied as I was commanded. And there was a sound, as I prophesied, and behold, a rattling, and the bones came together, bone to its bone. And I looked, and behold, there were sinews on them, and flesh had come upon them, and skin covered them. But there was no spirit in them (vv 7-8).
God’s chosen people had been hopeless and helpless, dead and dying. They were until the Holy Spirit overshadowed them through the faithful proclamation of the Word of God. Our Lord Jesus Christ, our risen and ascended Savior, has sent us “The Helper” ... the Holy Spirit, who calls, gathers, enlightens, and sanctifies the whole Christian church on earth and keeps it in the one true faith. Through his Word, God promises miraculous change, no matter how dry the bones surrounding us may become. And the Lord knows these are very dry, waterless places.
Then the Lord said to Ezekiel, Prophesy to the Spirit. Prophesy, son of man, and say to the Spirit, Thus says Adoni YHWH, come from the four winds, O Spirit, and breathe in these slain, and they will live. So I prophesied as he commanded me, and the Spirit came into them, and they lived and stood upon their feet, an exceedingly great army (vv 9-10).
IV.
The Holy Spirit, the Paraclete, the Comforter, the Lord and giver of life, has been poured out upon you in your baptism and ordination, enlightened you with his gifts, and is sanctifying and keeping you in himself. He helps you hear and proclaim the Truth of the Gospel ... of how Jesus took on flesh for you, lived for you, died for you, was buried for you, and more than that ... how he rose from the dead for you ... so that these bones ... your bones ... will live. Thanks be to God, death has no more dominion over you. We have a helper in the Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit!
God the Father has poured out his Spirit upon us to shine the light of his Gospel on us. As we confess, He has made me and all creatures, given me my body and soul, eyes, ears, and all my members, my reason and all my senses, and still takes care of me. He is our helper.
God the Son has redeemed us ... the lost and condemned ... purchased and won us from all sins, from death and from the power of the devil, not with gold or silver, but with his holy precious blood and innocent suffering and death, that we may be his own. He is our helper.
And God the Holy Spirit is still calling, gathering, and enlightening you and the whole Christian Church on earth, keeping it with Jesus Christ in the one true faith. He is our helper.
Therefore, prophesy and say to them: Thus says the Adoni YHWH, Behold, I will open your graves, and raise you from your graves, My people. And I will bring you into the land of Israel. And you will know that I am YHWH, when I open your graves, and raise you from your graves, My people. And I will put my Spirit within you, and you will live, and I will place you in your own land. Then you will know that I am YHWH. I have spoken, and I will do it, declares YHWH (vv 11-14).
[Conclusion]
Isn’t it amazing what a breath of a heavenly helper can do for us today?
The Holy Spirit was given first to the disciples before our Lord’s ascension when he said, Receive the Holy Spirit; if you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven. And today, the Holy Spirit has also moved upon us all, filling the hearts of the faithful with the good news of everlasting life through Jesus Christ, our Lord. More than that, this same Spirit who is making you temples of the living God is empowering you to share that good news to your family, your friends, your neighbors, your church, your world. And it will come to pass that all who call on the name of the Lord will be saved because the Lord is our helper ... in Jesus’ name.