Sermon for Lent 5A - Ezekiel 37:1-14; Romans 8:6-11; John 11:1-45

There is a theme that unites all of our readings today and that theme is new life. It can be hard to think about new life when the world around us seems bleak. These days, the news is filled with stories of war, violence, and corruption. 
War, violence, and corruption were part of the every day lives of the writers of our scripture readings today, too. Ezekiel, John, Paul, and the communities to who they wrote, all found themselves living in times not so different from our own. 

Ezekiel was a prophet during the exile of the people of Judah into Babylon (roughly 597-528 BCE). The Babylonians made multiple excursions into Jerusalem where they destroyed virtually all the infrastructure, including the beloved temple built by Solomon. The Babylonians took all the middle and upper class people, marched them 800 miles to Babylon, and made them slaves. The poor they left behind to farm the land for Babylon.

Those left behind struggled to survive, because the economy was shattered. The Babylonians paid meager wages. And, of course, those living in slavery in Babylon struggled mightily, as well.

The introduction to Ezekiel in my favorite study bible describes the situation this way: "In Ezekiel’s world, superpower politics and small scale ethnic nationalism were buttressed by idolatrous practices that legitimated military alliances, violent crimes, and oppressive economic polices. In the face of Israel’s disintegrating independence and identity, old theological certainties collided with the massive shock of warfare, destruction, and deportation. Surrounded by political deportees suffering the consequences of imperialist terror, Ezekiel presents a barrage of evocative, disturbing, bizarre, and unconventional responses to the trauma of exile.  Ezekiel’s goal is to constitute a people whose character corresponds to the holiness of the Lord, and whose identity declares the Lord’s righteousness and justice among the nations" (The New Interpreter’s Study Bible, 2003, p. 1153). 

For John the gospel writer, and his community, life in first century Palestine was equally challenging. This time, instead of being deported, the people were occupied. Roman occupation created economic hardship for them. The taxes were crippling. The violence was unpredictable. And while the Romans were known for Pax Romana, that peace was only truly felt by citizens at the highest levels of Roman society. Countries occupied by Rome were milked for whatever resources could be taken, all for the benefit of the wealthiest Romans. People from all over the Roman empire were captured and carried off to Rome as slaves. It was horrific. 

Roman occupation and oppression continued in Paul’s time. He and the church communities he founded all experienced hardship because of Rome. Rome continued to expand it’s reach and to extort resources from across the region. They called the Mediterranean basin Mare Nostrum (our sea). They controlled everything from Britannia to modern day Turkey and Northern Africa to modern day Germany. 

Shortly after Jesus’ crucifixion, Rome began periodic persecutions of Christians. Paul was martyred in Rome In the year 67. And yet, about ten years earlier, Paul wrote the words that we heard today, encouraging people not to focus on what is broken in this world (the flesh) but to remain focused on the things of God (the Spirit).

So how could Ezekiel, John, and Paul all point towards new life when things seemed so bleak?  Each of them had a profound encounter with God that fired hope within them.

Ezekiel’s hope came from a series of powerful visions. We hear one of them this morning. Ezekiel finds himself in the middle of a valley filled with dry bones. As you can imagine, Ezekiel and the people of Jerusalem must have felt pretty dead and dried out themselves, after all that they’ve been through. So God tells Ezekiel to call the breath, the Spirit, and the bones are resurrected. These bones, that represent the people of Jerusalem, are given muscles and sinews, and then breath. They live again. 

Eventually, Ezekiel’s vision would come true. The people are released from captivity and return to Jerusalem where they reconnect with God, rebuild their lives, and even rebuild the temple. 

John can hope because John has seen Jesus risen from the dead. His gospel is replete with signs that point towards Jesus as the Messiah. Today’s story contains one of those signs. It shows Jesus having power over life and death. His raising of Lazarus from the dead illustrates this power. It also served to strengthen the faith of those in John’s community, who would have seen their share of hardship and persecution.

But what about Paul? As a young man, Paul joined in the persecution of Christians, even participating in the stoning of Stephen, the first Christian martyr. But his perspective and his life changed when he had a profound encounter with the risen Christ. His new life in Christ prompted him to spend the rest of his life spreading the good news about Jesus and founding churches. 

For me, the strongest example of this transformation in Paul comes at the end of the chapter that today’s reading comes from. Here Paul’s words from Romans 8:38-39: “For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
When I researched the lives of Ezekiel, John, and Paul, and what they experienced, my first thought was that there really is nothing new under the sun. We too are living in a time of war. We are dealing with disappointing political leaders at home and abroad. We are watching our immigrant neighbors face threats that would have been unimaginable eighteen months ago. 

These days, David and I can generally tolerate watching the news for about 7 minutes before we need to switch the channel to something far more relaxing - like a cooking competition!  I find that my emotions move back and forth between fury and heartbreak with not much of a pitstop in between. 
Ezekiel had plenty of reasons to despair. So did John and Paul. So do we. Reading the news every morning, I see plenty of reasons to feel hopeless. Our situation isn’t so different from what our ancestors in the faith were experiencing. So how did they cope? How can we?  

There are two things that help me. First, I really, truly lean into these scripture stories about new life. The dry bones readings has always spoken strongly to me. I hope that I have even a tablespoon of the faith that Martha and Mary had when they told Jesus, “If you had been here, my brother would not have died." I remember Paul’s teachings about what faithfulness looks like and that nothing can separate me from the love of God in Christ Jesus.

Truth: I don’t get it right. Not even most of the time. And, when I remember these things, I feel less despair.  I also keep my eyes wide open for signs of new life and hope. Sometimes it’s as simple as watching the daffodils come up outside my office window, or noticing the forsythia begin to bloom in our neighborhood.  I’ve been moved by the stories of gratitude that have been shared here each week during Lent. Our UTO moments of gratitude prompted me to think of my own moments of gratitude and to drop some cash in the mighty mite box.  The Optimist section in the Washington Post shares stories that feature loving kindness. Each of these practices helps me. 

None of these things make what’s hard about this moment go away. But like the dry bones, and Lazarus, and Paul’s call to keep our minds on the Spirit, all of these present day stories about new life prompt me to look up and away from my despair and they remind me that our God is a god of life.  Amen.