Can These Bones Live?
The church I went to as soon as I graduated from seminary was a nightmare. My predecessor had engaged in what is now called “sexual misconduct”. I won’t tell you what the D.S. called it, but he didn’t mince words when he said I was being appointed there. The congregation had dropped from full pews to empty seats. Naturally, they assumed that the new young pastor with the pretty wife and new baby would make everything better. Naturally, I didn’t. The church struggled for a couple of years, but by years three and four, it began to turn around.
One Sunday, during the fourth year, I spotted a young man in his 20’s who was visiting and I made a point of chatting with him after the service. He told me that he had visited the church two years earlier and had never come back. The place, he said, was cold and dead. But he had, for some reason, decided to give us another chance. He said with some wonder in his voice, “It’s a different place”.
When we read about Ezekiel reviving dry bones with his preaching and prophesying or we hear Paul say “set your mind on the Spirit”, we have the impression that they are talking about a realm that only mystics and miracle workers ever visit. In fact, they are talking about stuff that we live with everyday. It’s the “atmosphere” or the “culture” or the “personality” of the organization or business you work for, the community you live in, the church you worship in, and the home you make with your family. You can often sense this “spirit” as soon as you walk in the door. There are workplaces that are seething with anger or cringing in fear. There are others that feel “up” and happy. There are communities torn apart with tensions and others where people work together for the common good.
Just before I wrote this, I was going over a list of visitors who have come to our church recently – and come back. There are a number of reasons for why this list is growing longer, but one of them, I believe, is because of a subtle shift in the “spirit” of our church. It’s not that any of us, as individuals, have changed a great deal. People are about as friendly and welcoming as ever; my sermons are just as long, but something has changed. I can’t quite put my finger on what it is. Perhaps we are a little less afraid, a little less pessimistic, a little less blaming, a little less discouraged. It’s funny how, when we get a “little less” of these, we get a little more of holy spirit, wholesome spirit, whole spirit – all of it the work of the Holy Spirit.
Miracles, even resurrections, may be happening around you. Keep your eyes open and watch for them.
