Today is the last of the big conversion stories of John’s Gospel—the raising of Lazarus. It is a wonderful story, filled with Martha’s coming to mature faith, the promise to us of resurrection, and the power of Jesus. All of these are worthy of taking time to ponder. However, I want to talk about the Ezekiel reading. The excerpt we have today follows the bringing to life of the field of dry bones. As a child you might have sung the song “Dem bones, dem bones, dem dry bones” in Sunday school. The Lord God breathes on a wasteland covered with bleached bones. Then the bones connect, are covered with sinew, muscle, and skin. It is a foreshadowing of resurrection, but I was thinking about our bodies—how wondrously we are fashioned! We are a miracle! Each and every one of us is a miracle! We are filled with the breath of God, have an intricate well-designed body formed for working to make the Kingdom alive in our world. Sometimes all we see is the dry desolate state of the world—dry bleached bones. But with our hands, we bring God’s breath, we bring life, we cover the hungry and naked. Dem dry bones can and will come to life with our help
