THE GREAT VIGIL OF EASTER - Genesis 1:1-2:2; Exodus 14:10-15:1; Isaiah 55:1-11; Ezekiel 37:1-14; Romans 6:3-11; Psalm 114; Matthew 28:1-10 - 7 April 2008 - A sermon preached by The Rev. Peter A. Munson for St. Ambrose Episcopal Church, Boulder, Colorado

 

Can These Bones Live?

 

Have you ever gone through a time when you were in such a dark place that you had lost all hope?

 

Have you ever felt stuck and like you were past your prime, and wondered if something new and exciting and deeply fulfilling could come into your life - a feeling sort of like, “I need something totally different to happen!”?

 

Have you ever wondered if this life is all there is, and if there is something to look forward to on the other side?

 

If so, then this is a night for you.

 

EXILE, EZEKIEL, AND THE VISION OF THE DRY BONES

 

In the year 587 B.C.E., Judah was overrun by Nebuchadnezzar and the Babylonian empire. The temple built by Solomon, which had stood for almost 400 years, was destroyed, and many of the Jews, including Ezekiel, were sent into exile in Babylonia - modern-day Iraq. Ezekiel was both a priest and a prophet. He became a prophet after he was sent into exile. In Ezekiel’s eyes, Israel had been unfaithful to God from the very beginning of its existence, and God would be justified in obliterating Israel forever. In other words, Ezekiel was not the most upbeat prophet that the nation of Israel ever encountered.

 

There was no feeling of “light at the end of the tunnel” for Jews during this time. Their nation was under occupation, most of them had been sent into exile, and their prophet was very much a “doom and gloom” kind of guy. Hope? You’re kidding right? Where was hope to be found at a time such as this?

 

But suddenly God grabbed ahold of Ezekiel - picked him up and plopped him down in a valley, and gave him a vision. As you heard, “The hand of the Lord came upon me, and he brought me out by the spirit of the Lord, and set me down in the middle of a valley; it as full of bones.” Very dry, lifeless bones. A scene of utter desolation. All that was missing was the actual darkness, but make no mistake - this was the darkness, this was scattered Israel, during Ezekiel’s time.

 

You heard the rest of that vision. “Prophesy to these bones... Thus says the Lord to these bones: I will cause breath [or “spirit”] to enter you, and you shall live.” And Ezekiel prophesied, and suddenly there was a noise, a rattling, and the bones came together. But no breath in them yet. And Ezekiel was commanded to prophesy to the breath. “Breathe upon these slain, that they may live.” He did so, and “the breath came into them, and they lived, and stood on their feet, a vast multitude.”

 

Then Ezekiel heard, “These bones are the whole house of Israel [scattered all over, in the various places where Jews reside right now]. They say, ‘Our bones are dried up, and our hope is lost; we are cast off completely.”

 

Whatever darkness you might have faced, or may be facing now, it is no worse than what Jews were going through at this time. They were as good as dead, and felt that way. And God’s word came to them: “I am going to open your graves and bring you up from your graves, O my people; and I will bring you back to the land of Israel.”

 

Suddenly, the doom and gloom prophet had a word of hope for his fellow Jews. Suddenly it seemed that there was a little light in all that darkness. And within a relatively short amount of time, Babylon was overthrown by another power - Cyrus of Persia - and the Jews were allowed to go home. And they went home, and started to rebuild the temple, and rebuild their lives.

 

MIDDLE-AGED... NOW WHAT?

 

I’ve figured out something in the last year or two. I am middle-aged. Shoot, unless I live to be 100, I am past middle-aged. The signs are all around me.

 

When I drive down the road, most of the drivers I see are younger than me.

 

I have two teenagers living in my house.

 

I have been driving for eight years longer than one of my secretaries has been alive.

 

I don’t recognize most of the bands that are reviewed in the newspapers and magazines.

 

I complain about all the noise and commotion that is thrown at me between half-innings when I attend a Rockies game, or during a timeout at a Nuggets or Avs game.

 

Sometimes my lower back hurts, and I rub a certain place and remember, “This is what my dad used to look like - when he was in his 50's! Oh, Lord!”

 

And sometimes I think to myself, “Okay. What has been my contribution so far? And what’s next? What is the next challenge that God has for me?”

 

Sometimes I feel a little stuck, a little past my prime, and I think, “I need something totally different to happen!” Yeah, I’m definitely in mid-life.

 

Over the years, I haven’t paid much attention to the reading from Romans 6 on this night. After all the dramatic readings in the darkness, and then hearing about the encounter of the women at the tomb, this reading in the middle has gotten lost in all that surrounds it. But not this year.

 

Romans 6 is a great reading for all of us middle-aged folks, who might be feeling a little bit like, “Well, what’s next?”

 

Paul, as he reminds the Romans what their baptism was all about, tells them that there is new life in Christ - a whole new life.

 

“Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? Therefore we have been buried with him by baptism into death, so that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life.”

 

In other words, eternal life doesn’t begin when you die. It begins the moment you welcome Christ into your life. There are new possibilities each and every day, when we walk with Christ. And in a very real sense, what’s past is past. Yesterday is yesterday. Today - who knows what might happen, if we trust our Lord, and step out in faith? As Paul wrote to the Philippians, “... this one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the heavenly [or “upward”] call of God in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 3:13-14)

 

Today, starting today, I can begin going to a whole new level in my relationship with Julia, or with my friends. Today I might begin to learn more about how to love my enemies. Today, by God’s grace, I might learn something that helps me be a better priest, or simply a more compassionate person.

 

Paul reminds us, again in Romans 6, “You also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.”

 

Some of us might be middle-aged around here. Some of us might feel a little bit stuck. But if we can stay “alive to God in Christ Jesus”, look out! Because there is a lot of living and growing ahead of us. A relationship with God is all about transformation, so if you’re ready for something new, God is going to be there for you. God will oblige that desire of your heart. And who knows where you will be, one year from now?

 

BEYOND THIS LIFE

 

And if your world feels like it has been turned totally upside down, as it was for the disciples after their Lord and teacher was crucified... or if you have lived for a long time, and been a faithful example for the rest of us, and you’re a little bit tired or a lot tired, and you’re wondering if there is something to look forward to on the other side... this is a night for you, too.

 

Those courageous women ran to the tomb as soon as they could - when the sabbath was over, and there was finally enough light emerging so that could go and anoint Jesus’ body for a proper burial. But how were they going to roll that stone back?

 

And suddenly it seemed like things were getting worse. How could that be possible? The ground shook violently. But then the stone was rolled back, and something like an angel was talking to them. Was this really happening? “Do not be afraid...” How could they not be afraid? “I know that you are looking for Jesus who was crucified. He is not here; for he has been raised, as he said. Come, see the place where he lay.” (Matthew 28:5-6)

 

And they looked into the tomb. Empty! He has been raised? As in, He’s alive again?

 

“So they left the tomb quickly with fear and great joy...” Don’t you love that? They were feeling fear and great joy all at the same time.

 

And suddenly Jesus was there, right in front of them. “Greetings!” (“Hey! What’s up!”)

 

And they came to him. Was it really him? They fell down at his feet, grabbed hold, and worshiped him. And those words again, this time from Jesus. “Don’t be afraid!” Go tell the rest to go to Galilee. They’ll see me there.

 

Back to Romans 6 for a moment. “For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we will certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his.” (Romans 6:5)

 

Do not be afraid. This is the hope that has been given to us who believe. The same God who brought Jesus back from the dead will do the same for us. And you’ve got to think that life spent in the nearer presence of God is going to be even better - amazingly better - than whatever good we have been blessed to experience in this world.

 

CONCLUSION

 

So if you’re in a dark place.. if you’re in a stuck place, or in a bit of a mid-life crisis... if you’re getting towards the end of your life, or just wondering what life will be like beyond this life - this is a night for you.

 

Alleluia, He is risen! The Lord is risen indeed!