Are you are glass half-full or a glass half-empty person? Those who say “the glass is half-full” we call optimists. Those who say “it’s half-empty” we call pessimists. Those who say “Exactly 50% of the volume of this glass is occupied by H2O” we call realists (or maybe scientists – or perhaps just bores who should get out more). Those who say “The glass is twice the size it needs to be” are pragmatists. And while everyone is just standing around talking about this, those who pick the glass up and drink the contents we call opportunists.
So - glass half-full or a glass half-empty?
If you’re a pessimist, I have the perfect gift for you.
If you can’t read it at the back… you should sit further forward. No, seriously, it has a line mid-way down the glass and says ‘This glass is now half-empty.’
This is from a website called despair.com whose slogan is “Welcome to the cure for hope.”
Believe it or not, there’s a company that runs this site called “Despair Inc” that sells depressing t-shirts, cheerless calendars and discouraging poster designs that they call demotivators.
In fact, at Despair Inc create soul-crushingly depressing Demotivator designs, so you can skip the delusions that positive products induce and head straight for the disappointments that follow!
Here’s an example of a Demotivator poster. Here’s what looks to be a long distance race and again in case you can’t see at the back (and for the benefit of those listening on the website) - the strap line says “Defeat: For every winner there are dozens of losers. Odds are you one them.”
Here’s another one of a pencil sharpened down to about two inches in length. It says “Retirement. Because you've given so much of yourself to the company that you don't have anything left we can use.”
And here’s one more. The picture is of a canoeist at the top of some fairly treacherous looking rapids. And it says “Believe in yourself. Because the rest of us think you're an idiot.”
What do you think Despair Inc. would make of Ezekiel’s valley of dry bones?
Hope to the Hopeless
But Ezekiel’s vision, which is supposed to be the most wretched, most hopeless, most unpromising and depressing of bleak outlooks imaginable, is just the opposite of all those Demotivator posters. It’s about hope to the hopeless, life to the lifeless and a future for those who had none. God is in the business of doing that.
A friend of mine in Southampton conducted a funeral service on Thursday in which he talked about the woman who had died in his eulogy. At the end of the service the woman’s daughter was kind enough to thank him for his words, saying that he’d described her very accurately. She said, “You really brought mum back to life!”
Well, not quite. But in Ezekiel’s vision the dead do come back to life.
Some situations in life do appear to be completely and utterly hopeless don’t they? Can you think of one in yours?
A spouse you’ve prayed for over many years and who shows no signs of interest in spiritual things - even though others come to faith?
A problem with your health that you have battled with and that is no better despite much prayer and frequent ministry - even though others are gloriously healed?
Debts that just seem eternally unpayable - even though others manage to pull themselves into the black? Or whatever?
The Hand of the Lord
Ezekiel 37.1-2 says this. “The hand of the Lord was on me, and he brought me out by the Spirit of the Lord and set me in the middle of a valley; it was full of bones. He led me back and forth among them, and I saw a great many bones on the floor of the valley, bones that were very dry.”
The picture here is of the nation of Israel. England has a lion, Wales has a dragon, the USA has an eagle. Israel, at this point in its history is just a whole pile of dry bones. Why? Because the nation has been forced out of its own land into exile, into captivity, in a far off place called Babylon.
The capital Jerusalem is smashed to rubble. The land is laid waste. The leaders have been deposed or executed. The villages have been depopulated. And God, who is supposed to be on their side, has not stopped it. The nation is defeated, scattered, and lifeless with no future - just like these old bones strewn across the killing fields. Surely there is no way back from this. It is over!
You look at a situation like this and faith just drains out of you. But v1 says this; “The hand of the Lord was on me…” If the hand of the Lord is on you, no matter what your situation looks like, there’s still hope.
One afternoon a man was walking his dog when he came across a children’s football match. He saw a boy all dressed up in his kit on the bench so he asked him what the score was. The boy said, “We’re losing 16-0.” “Well,” says the man, “I’m sorry to hear that, you must be really devastated.” The kid turns and looks up at him and says, “No! Why should I be? It’s not even half-time. And in the second half, I’m coming on as a sub! This game’s not over yet.”
Some of you this morning need to hear this word: There are no hopeless situations. There are only people who have grown hopeless about them.
I want you to see how destructive pessimism and moaning can be. The Israelites had grown hopeless. Look at v11; “Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel.” Now listen carefully. “They say, ‘Our bones are dried up and our hope is gone; we are cut off.’”
But if the hand of the Lord is on you there’s hope.
If all I had to read were newspapers, I would become quite disheartened. I would probably begin to wonder if there was any hope at all for our nation and for the world.
But I do read something else every day and that’s the Bible. And because of what I read here, I know there is hope for the future. The Bible tells me that I live in a world that is marked by evil and violence. God’s word is realistic about that. But it tells me the end as well and, in the end, Christ is going to put evil under his feet.
There is no greater state of hopelessness than of a man or woman without Christ. If you are living without Christ this morning, let me tell you that God loves you, and wants you to know him. And he has made that possible through Jesus Christ. Everybody is separated from God because of sin, but through his death on the cross Jesus made it possible to be right with God and start a new life. Don't ignore the spiritual side of you, but put your life into Christ's hands today and begin to follow him.
So the hand of the Lord was on Ezekiel.
Prophesy to These Bones
What happens afterwards is very instructive. God asks “Can these bones live?” What do you think?
Is there any possibility that this desperate state of affairs could somehow turn around? Think once again about your life’s most hopeless situation. “Any hope?” What do you say?
I love the way Ezekiel sits on the fence. (“Sovereign Lord, you alone know.”) In other words, “If I’m being really honest, they do look a bit pasty. I’ll leave that one with you, Lord.”
Whenever we are faced with hopelessness or impossibility we usually do one of two things. Either we give up and say “it’s beyond the pale” or we pray about it. “Lord, you see this hopeless situation, please do a miracle and change everything round.”
Praying in desperation is better than giving up. But there’s a third option; one we don’t often take or even think about.
Often - and in particular when a situation is especially hopeless - God wants us to do something else entirely and we have an example of it here.
Verse 4: “Then he said to me, ‘Prophesy to these bones and say to them, Dry bones, hear the word of the Lord!’”
“This is what the Sovereign Lord says to these bones: I will make breath enter you, and you will come to life. I will attach tendons to you and make flesh come upon you and cover you with skin; I will put breath in you, and you will come to life. Then you will know that I am the Lord.’”
Sometimes God calls us to take authority and prophetically speak out his Word into the hopelessness. This is what he asked Ezekiel to do.
Jesus said to do this as well. “Truly I tell you, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move.” (Matthew 17.20)
Notice what Jesus doesn’t say. He doesn’t say, “If you have faith as small as a mustard seed pray about the mountain.”
You speak to the mountain. I don’t think Jesus was talking about literal mountains. In fact, I’m pretty sure he wasn’t.
I was out shovelling a large pile of gravel with yesterday at Preston Primary School as part of Love Stockton. And I mentioned this verse to Linda Errington, saying it would save my back just to speak to the pile of gravel in faith and tell it to move 30 feet to the left. So I did. And nothing happened - which didn’t really surprise me. It’s not about literal mountains, it’s about immovable problems. It’s about hopeless situations.
So I ask again. What’s the mountain in your life?
I mentioned a few earlier. Here are some others. A long-term illness? A marriage that is going wrong? A son or daughter drifting away from God? A fruitless search for a job? A salary that just isn’t meeting the bills? Speak to it. Say “Hear the word of the Lord.” And proclaim truth to it in faith and with authority.
Even Christians who know the Bible well are not always familiar with all this.
But when Peter and John met a crippled man in Acts 3 they didn’t close their eyes and say “Father, we just pray that this man will get better.” They spoke to the mountain. They opened their eyes, looked straight at the man and said, “In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk!” That’s prophesying to the bones. That’s telling the mountain to move.
Here’s another example, there are many. In Acts 19, Paul is preaching a sermon on the third floor of a building. The Bible says “he talked on and on.” You can probably relate to this story… And the sermon is so long and so boring that a man called Eutychus, who is sitting by an open window, dozes off, falls out of the window and lands dead below. Again, Paul doesn’t close his eyes, put his hands together and pray about the tragedy. He prophesies to the bones, he speaks to the mountain. “He’s alive!” he says and the young man revives.
Most of Jesus’ healings and miracles are like this. Look it up. Read the gospels through.
To a crippled woman: “Woman, you are set free from your infirmity.”
To a deaf man he puts his fingers in the ears; “Be opened.”
To Jairus’ dead daughter; “My child, get up!”
To a leper; “Be cleansed.”
To the storm on the Sea of Galilee; “Be still!”
To the paralysed man; “Get up, take your mat and go home.”
Speak to the mountain! Prophesy to the bones!
I’m learning to do this in prayer ministry now. I try to avoid long-winded prayers about an illness or situation and instead I try to remember to use the authority I have as a child of God to speak God’s word to a situation in faith. Because it’s the truth that sets people free.
Ending
Back to Ezekiel. Verses 7 and 10; “So I prophesied as I was commanded.” And the bones come together. And tendons, flesh and skin appear. And breath enters them.
Here’s the meaning; v14; “I will put my Spirit in you and you will live, and I will settle you in your own land.”
And they did. 70 years after entering exile, against all odds, the Israelites did return to their land and became a nation again. Historical records in Babylon and elsewhere confirm what the Bible says. The word of the Lord came to pass.
May it come to pass in situations of hopeless desperation around you. May the hand of the Lord be on you as you take authority in faith and prophesy to the bones and speak to the mountains.
Sermon preached at All Saints' Preston on Tees, 20th May 2012
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