Ezekiel is probably most well known for two of his prophecies, that of the “Wheel within a wheel” from Chapter 1, and his Valley of Dry Bones from Ch. 37.  And it is probably mostly music that has made them famous.  From “Ezekiel Saw the Wheel” to “Dry Bones” to one of my favorites, “Valley of Dry Bones” by Michael Card, music has made these more than confusing prophecies.

While the wheel within the wheel continues to confuse people, the valley of dry bones has struck a chord in many who have read it.  We get what it is to feel like dry bones: dead, useless, lifeless.  And we can feel the same way about our faith, our church, our society, and even the whole human race sometimes:  dry, dusty, old, barren.

But this message isn’t one of sorrow but one of hope!  Yet the hope comes in stages.  First, Ezekiel sees the bones and is asked by God whether there is any hope.  “Can these dry bones live?”  Message one, no matter how dry, impotent, and dead things may look, God tests us with the question, “Do you still have hope?”  Second, Ezekiel is commanded to call the bones back together, and so he does.  The bones come together into bodies, “but there was no breath in them.”  Message two, we are to call God’s people back into order, back to mission, back to God, but we cannot give them life.  Third, Ezekiel is commanded to call the Breath (the Wind, the Spirit) back into the bodies, and so he does.  The breath enters the bodies, they live, and they become a “vast army”.  Message three, while we cannot bring life to others, we are called to pray that God might bring it.

So have hope, lead well, and pray that God will bring life back to His people.

Ezekiel is probably most well known for two of his prophecies, that of the “Wheel within a wheel” from Chapter 1, and his Valley of Dry Bones from Ch. 37.  And it is probably mostly music that has made them famous.  From “Ezekiel Saw the Wheel” to “Dry Bones” to one of my favorites, “Valley of Dry Bones” by Michael Card, music has made these more than confusing prophecies.

While the wheel within the wheel continues to confuse people, the valley of dry bones has struck a chord in many who have read it.  We get what it is to feel like dry bones: dead, useless, lifeless.  And we can feel the same way about our faith, our church, our society, and even the whole human race sometimes:  dry, dusty, old, barren.

But this message isn’t one of sorrow but one of hope!  Yet the hope comes in stages.  First, Ezekiel sees the bones and is asked by God whether there is any hope.  “Can these dry bones live?”  Message one, no matter how dry, impotent, and dead things may look, God tests us with the question, “Do you still have hope?”  Second, Ezekiel is commanded to call the bones back together, and so he does.  The bones come together into bodies, “but there was no breath in them.”  Message two, we are to call God’s people back into order, back to mission, back to God, but we cannot give them life.  Third, Ezekiel is commanded to call the Breath (the Wind, the Spirit) back into the bodies, and so he does.  The breath enters the bodies, they live, and they become a “vast army”.  Message three, while we cannot bring life to others, we are called to pray that God might bring it.

So have hope, lead well, and pray that God will bring life back to His people.

For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, mutual affection; and to mutual affection, love. For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.

We all have seasons where we feel “ineffective and unproductive” when it comes to our faith.  Some gauge their faith by their outward successes, the number of people introduced to Jesus, the number of days spent serving the poor and needy, their attendance at church.  Some gauge their faith by how they feel, closer or farther from God, wise or foolish, excited by their obedience or like it is a struggle.  However we gauge our faith, every person has bad seasons.

I like that this is Peter sharing this.  Talk about seasons!  From Jesus’ right hand man (just 3 paragraphs later Peter is talking about his time with Jesus on the Mount of Transfiguration) to “Satan’s tool” (Matt. 16:23), from “the Rock on which [Jesus] will build [His] church” (Matt. 16:18) to denying Jesus to His face (Luke 22:54ff).  Peter knew about seasons of power and seasons of “ineffective and unproductive” ministry.  And what was his remedy for these seasons?

“Faith… goodness… knowledge…self-control… perseverance… godliness… mutual affection… love.”  Paul had a list similar to this which we all know as the Fruit of the Spirit.  But for Paul, these are attitudes born out of our proximity to Jesus.  For Peter, these are activities we need to work on and make a part of our daily routine.  Much has been made about whether our holy behaviors and attitudes are “done” or are “grown in us”, but regardless, these are the ways that mark a follower of Jesus.

Take some time today and go over each one.  How are you doing with each?  Any you need to work on?  Any you are doing pretty well with?  Anyone who can help you grow these in your life?

Today’s reading from Ezekiel is all about good and bad shepherds.  It is Ezekiel’s pronouncement of doom on Israel’s bad shepherds, those leaders who lead for their own personal gain.  And it is his promise that God will be their shepherd, protecting and caring for them.  In fact, it was this reading that was read every Hanukkah, the celebration of the Maccabees as good leaders of God’s people.  And it was this reading that was going on in the temple when Jesus interrupted by standing up in the crowd and proclaiming “I AM the Good Shepherd”.

Are these words specific to Ezekiel and his day or are they commands for us today?  This question is deeply important for us and much more than a theological exercise.  For if they are for us today, then we are in terrible trouble.  If they are commands for us and not just for Ezekiel, then we are called to be watchmen for God’s people just like Ezekiel was.  We are called to warn people of the consequences of a life without God, a very unpopular and even dangerous calling indeed.  And what’s more, if we fail to warn them, then their consequences will be theirs, but we will also be held accountable!  Their damnation, the result of a life without Christ, will be on our heads as bad shepherds, people who know the perils but do not tell them.

These are not questions we can ignore.  And they are not questions we can answer based on our own desires.  These are questions we have to approach with scripture, prayer, and meditation, or we risk pretty severe consequences ourselves.

While so many of our popular Christian authors are writing books about how to grow your church, save the next generation, and be effective in ministry, most of the original church fathers and mothers, as well as many of the mystics of today, are writing about how to grow ourselves, how to save our sanity through life’s stages, and be effective in seeing what God is up to in this world.  For them, the focus is not on our doing, but on our witnessing what God is doing.

Richard Rohr, whom I number among the later group, in his book “Falling Upward” speaks of this spiritual growth as life’s first and second journeys.  The first journey, which is life up to what we know of as the mid-life crisis, is all about building the vessel of our life: reputation, career, family, accomplishment, confidence, house and home.  The second journey, which is life after the mid-life crisis, is all about filling that vessel with what really matters in life.  After the mid-life crisis (my words, not his), we find ourselves done with success, being the best, career building, and the like.  Instead, we are more interested in simplicity, service to this world not for our reputation’s sake but for the sake of others, sharing wisdom to help others become mature, and welcoming everyone around us.

The transition between the two, what we might call the mid-life crisis or liminal time, is a time of suffering.  We cannot move from the first journey to the second without a time of suffering.  “All change is viewed as loss” a wise man once said, and this may be the biggest change we face, bigger than adolescence, marriage, or parenting.  So it is logical that this would be a time of suffering.

And maybe that is exactly what Peter is talking about when he says, “…because whoever suffers in the body is done with sin.  As a result, they do not live the rest of their earthly lives for evil human desires, but rather for the will of God.”