Holy Horror 4: In the Valley of Dry Bones

you can find depictions of Christ on the cross with his feet standing on top of a skull, on the top of a pile of bones. They represent the bones of Adam. They represent Christ's victory over the death that Adam brought into the world through his sin and betrayal of God. They represent the victory of Christ over sin, over death itself. They represent resurrection, conquered death, and the hope of new life for everyone. Kind of gives you a different view of the valley of dryness and aridness. So I suppose, in a way, we are all little Ezekiels standing in the valley of dry bones. [00:06:07] (38 seconds)

They represent the victory of Christ over sin, over death itself. They represent resurrection, conquered death, and the hope of new life for everyone. Kind of gives you a different view of the valley of dryness and aridness. [00:06:26] (20 seconds)  #ValleyOfHopeNotDeath

``And God's response to all of this, God's response to this dark, arid voice that blows through the valley is life. God says life, new life, prophesy to the bones, tell them they can live again, tell them they can come together again, tell them that God wants them to be alive, tell them that God wants them to face the fear and defeat the fear, tell them to hear the voice of God that calls them to be reconnected in the valley, to come together in the darkness and climb out of it together. [00:09:20] (34 seconds)  #JesusCallsBonesToRise

lives. To look at our troubled nation and our difficult moment and to hear the voices of the fear that tells us we cannot do hard things anymore, that tells us we cannot talk about hard things anymore, that we can't risk what little we have anymore, that we can't risk disrupting the powers or disturbing those who have power over us, that we cannot stand, we cannot stand the unknown of newness. We can't withstand the powers of the powerful, the voices that tell us we are not enough, that God can't use us, that we are too bad or too weak or too beaten down, too tired, too powerless, too hopeless, but the voice of Christ is stronger than that voice. Faith is stronger than our fear. Hope is stronger than our doubt. God is stronger than our sin, and we are stronger than we think. [00:11:45] (54 seconds)

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We can't withstand the powers of the powerful, the voices that tell us we are not enough, that God can't use us, that we are too bad or too weak or too beaten down, too tired, too powerless, too hopeless, but the voice of Christ is stronger than that voice. Faith is stronger than our fear. Hope is stronger than our doubt. God is stronger than our sin, and we are stronger than we think. [00:12:11] (29 seconds)  #ProphetsOfTheValley

There is life left in us, in all of us. There is life left in the church. There is life left in the church. There is life left in the church. There is life left in the church, in this church, and the church, and there is room for every bone that wants to rattle with us, for everyone that wants to reclaim the full form promised by God, the life, the breath, the hope, to reclaim its identity and its power. Ezekiel's valley reminds us that we have always, always been living in a story of restoration, a story of resurrection, of rattling persistence, of sinewy determination, each of us connected to the other by the muscle of our unity and the flesh of our hope. [00:12:40] (39 seconds)

Ezekiel's valley reminds us that we have always, always been living in a story of restoration, a story of resurrection, of rattling persistence, of sinewy determination, each of us connected to the other by the muscle of our unity and the flesh of our hope. [00:13:02] (18 seconds)  #NotDoneYet

But all of that aside, Ezekiel actually offers us one of the most important things in the book of Ezekiel. Ezekiel offers us one of the more vivid images of hope after horror, of abundant life, of radiant light in the place that seems so dead, in the darkness that seems so deep and so dark. We are not done yet. [00:13:43] (19 seconds)

important things in the book of Ezekiel. Ezekiel offers us one of the more vivid images of hope after horror, of abundant life, of radiant light in the place that seems so dead, in the darkness that seems so deep and so dark. We are not done yet. We are called to be prophets of the valley, to prophesy to the bones, the bones that stand and sit among us, the bones that surround us. We are called to speak to the bones, the bones of our failing strength and our failing hope, and to revive them, revive them with God's breath. With God's promise, we too, having the power to stand in the valley of death and call forth the breath of God, call forth the life force that is God, to help the bones rise again. And there are so many bones, so many people waiting [00:13:47] (56 seconds)

We are called to be prophets of the valley, to prophesy to the bones, the bones that stand and sit among us, the bones that surround us. We are called to speak to the bones, the bones of our failing strength and our failing hope, and to revive them, revive them with God's breath. [00:14:03] (18 seconds)