Resurrected Bones - A Sermon for the Second Sunday of Advent December 7 2025

Two words for us this Advent are Faithful Presence.

God has always been faithful with God’s people,

and our God continues to be a faithful presence

in our lives.

Our invitation then is to be a faithful presence

in our communities and neighbourhoods.

We have been hearing stories about

the Jewish exile to Babylon,

hearing prophecy and stories

that speak to the experience of displacement,

the experience of loss of culture,

home, land,

way of life, and so on.

The prophet Jeremiah told the people that

the exile was their own fault for faithlessness.

Jeremiah wasn’t exiled,

he wrote to the exiles from their old home.

Jeremiah told them to work for the welfare of their city,

to be a people of Shalom in their new homes.

Last week we heard the story of

Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego,

who refused to worship King Nebuchadnezzar’s

90 foot golden toothpick

and were thrown into the furnace of fire.

But God was with them,

God kept them in that furnace,

and their faithful presence brought about positive change.

That story was written about 400 years after the exile,

but that story gave hope to Israelites

in their own suffering in that time.

Invite scripture reader forward.

Today we hear the prophet Ezekiel,

who wrote during the Exile,

and who was exiled himself.

Jeremiah’s vision of hope

was from Jerusalem, from Zion,

a vision of a return home.

Ezekiel, living in exile himself,

is given a different vision from inside the valley,

and this vision is resurrection.

Let’s open our hearts and minds

to God’s Word for us today.

FIRST READING: Ezekiel 37:1-14

A reading from Ezekiel.

Ezekiel’s vision of the valley of dry bones is a promise that Israel as a nation, though dead in exile, will live again in their land through God’s life-giving spirit. Three times Israel is assured that through this vision they will know that “I am the Lord.”

1The 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 was full of bones. 2He led me all around them; there were very many lying in the valley, and they were very dry. 3He said to me, “Mortal, can these bones live?” I answered, “O Lord God, you know.” 4Then he said to me, “Prophesy to these bones, and say to them: O dry bones, hear the word of the Lord. 5Thus says the Lord God to these bones: I will cause breath to enter you, and you shall live. 6I will lay sinews on you, and will cause flesh to come upon you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and you shall live; and you shall know that I am the Lord.”

  7So I prophesied as I had been commanded; and as I prophesied, suddenly there was a noise, a rattling, and the bones came together, bone to its bone. 8I looked, and there were sinews on them, and flesh had come upon them, and skin had covered them; but there was no breath in them. 9Then he said to me, “Prophesy to the breath, prophesy, mortal, and say to the breath: Thus says the Lord God: Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe upon these slain, that they may live.” 10I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived, and stood on their feet, a vast multitude.

  11Then he said to me, “Mortal, these bones are the whole house of Israel. They say, ‘Our bones are dried up, and our hope is lost; we are cut off completely.’ 12Therefore prophesy, and say to them, Thus says the Lord God: 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. 13And you shall know that I am the Lord, when I open your graves, and bring you up from your graves, O my people. 14I will put my spirit within you, and you shall live, and I will place you on your own soil; then you shall know that I, the Lord, have spoken and will act, says the Lord.”

The word of the Lord.

Thanks be to God.

I was watching a Sci-Fi TV show the other day.

The cyborg searched the halls and rooms

for signs of life,

and instead came across signs of death.

Bones. Skulls.

The cyborg determined it was a place of danger,

and they wanted nothing to do with it.

They tried to escape.

As you might expect,

as they left the building,

the threat emerged and the attack came.

But - it reminded me that we humans

want to escape death,

at most any cost.

The sight of human bones is scary.

But the prophet didn’t run away from the valley of bones,

even if it reeked of death.

What does the valley of dry bones look like to you?

Bones upon bones, 

evidence of life that once was,

remnants of death.

Did it look like a graveyard?

Did it look like a battlefield?

Granted, not everyone is afraid of bones;

some cultures have beautiful traditions

that include washing the bones of the deceased.

But I’m going to say that

it must have been a fearful image.

Bones means death,

and we humans are afraid of death.

Exile was like a death sentence for many.

Ezekiel knows this kind of death well.

he is not only prophesying to the exiles,

but he is an exile himself.

He was one of the first to be deported.

These are the bones of the deceased,

the slain and slaughtered.

The people Israel have faced violence in exile.

The people feel completely cut off from God.

His former nation is dead.

The temple is in ruins.

The Holy City is conquered.

All that remains are remains: bones.

dead bones.

cracked.

dry.

perhaps broken or fractured.

There is no meat on these bones.

The flesh is gone.

The muscle and fat and tissue has fallen to dust.

And these aren’t just any bones:

they are the bones of Israel.

The bones Ezekiel sees are the bones of his family,

his neighbours,

his country people;

women, men, siblings, children:

remains of life that once was.

And the bones he sees may very well be his own.

The image is hopeless.

Despair.

Fear.

Failure.

Death.

And Truth.

But when all looks hopeless and dead and dry:

Ruah happens.

The Hebrew word Ruah means breath,

it means spirit, it means wind, it means God.

When all looks hopeless:

God happens.

Spirit happens.

Ruah happens.

Prophecy happens.

Resurrection happens.

The Word of God happens

and these bones are no longer dry.

They are no longer dead and cracked and fractured.

Can these bones live?

God says YES!

When God’s Spirit shows up,

We can live.

God says to Ezekiel:

The bones of your people, my people

your neighbours,

your family - your own bones - will live.

Israel’s dead bones will live.

The deceased to be raised from their graves,

and there’s a collective,

community resurrection,

new life - restoration - for the community.

I believe God has a message for Christ’s Church,

in this time that might feel like an exile,

or like an impending death.

There was a report made public in recent years,

that based on current trends,

the Anglican Church of Canada

will no longer exist by the year 2040.

I’m sure you can find similar stats

for other denominations, let alone ours.

I hear the fear from many Christians

who look around at our churches today

and instead of life

they see empty pews and despairdry bones.

Can the Church’s dry bones live?

YES! Says our God.

When God’s Spirit shows up,

We can live.

When our bones are dried up,

and our hope is lost

and we feel cut off completely;

then says the Lord God:

I am going to open your graves,

and bring you up from your graves,

O my people.

And you shall know that I am the Lord.

I will put my Spirit within you,

and you shall live.

It happened to Israel.

They were given a return from exile.

Healing brokenness between nations was given

and it was all God’s work

and it happened.

God gave the dry bones of Israel

new flesh and blood and breath.

But it wasn’t a return to their glory days.

They returned to Jerusalem,

but it was devastated.

God’s Spirit doesn’t bring back what was,

God’s Spirit is not about resuscitation -

but resurrection.

God’s Spirit is transforming what was

into something new.

God does a new thing.

Life for Israel looked much different after the exile.

Today it is the church’s bones

that seem drying and cracking,

but God’s work will bring them back to life:

even if they need to die first.

The promise isn’t that congregations

will return to the glory days.

The promise is new life and transformation.

Maybe there needs to be a kind of death for the church

so that the Spirit can resurrect it

into something new.

The image of resurrection and new life for Israel

seemed to be on delay.

They waited for the day of return.

In our own way, we wait for Christ’s return.

But the promise of resurrection and new life,

as much as it is a promise that awaits us after death,

it is a promise for today,

for this precise Advent moment.

Resurrection need not wait until you die.

The resurrected life is yours, now.

God has more for you than death

and suffering

and pain

and brokenness.

You might see bones,

your bones,

your loved one’s bones,

dry and cracking,

Oh, but by God’s promise,

by Ruah, by the Spirit, the breath of God,

resurrection and new life is yours, now.

And it is happening in our midst.

People of God,

the church today needs prophets.

I’m not talking about end-time fanatics

who predict some sort of apocalypse.

I’m talking about prophetic truth tellers,

like Ezekiel,

who can see dry bones when others can’t.

But more importantly,

we need prophets who can see flesh and muscle

growing on the dry bones,

who can see the breath of God

enlivening what was dead.

We need prophets who can see God

breathing new life.

I’ve seen it here in this place,

and not just on a Sunday.

But new life happens here

with Christ’s love extended.

I’ve seen dry bones come to life

in hospital rooms

and lonely apartments,

and at the pub in Ranchlands

and scenic acres

and Beddington.

I’ve seen dry bones come to life

in the coffee shop,

I’ve seen it happen at the playground,

And you know,

it seems that almost every time

I see resurrection and new life happen,

it somehow involves coffee.

Don’t lose sight of the power of coffee.

But sometimes resurrection and new life

happens without coffee.

Coffee is not the power.

The Word of God;

the Spirit of God;

our Creator and Sustainer is the power;

our God makes resurrection happen.

People of God, can our dry bones live?

YES. 70 times 7 times Yes.

Today and every day,

God is bringing life to dry bones:

in our neighbourhoods,

in our schools,

in our workplaces

and, yes,

even in our churches.

The Breath of God brings people back to life.

May the Breath of God bring you back to life.