Scripture: Ezekiel 37:11–14 (NRSVUE)
Key Verse: “Then 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.”’” (Ezekiel 37:11)
Reflection:
When the vision ends, God interprets it. “These bones are the whole house of Israel.” Then God quotes the people back to themselves: “Our bones are dried up, and our hope is lost; we are cut off completely.” The valley was their own language. In Babylon they had begun describing themselves as a graveyard, and the description had hardened into identity. God does not correct their grammar or tell them to look on the bright side. God answers the lament with a promise. “I am going to open your graves.” “I will put my spirit within you, and you shall live.” “I have spoken and will act.”
The sentences we repeat about ourselves become the walls we live inside. “I’m not a people person.” “We’re a small, aging church.” “Our family doesn’t talk about things.” Each may hold some truth. Each also tends to work as a verdict, a way of closing the question before we can hear God asking it again. Churches are especially fluent here. We say “we tried that once” and treat a single attempt as permanent evidence. God in Ezekiel takes such sentences seriously enough to reply, which is a long way from agreeing with them.
This is a good week to find your Star Word again, and if you don’t have a Star Word, choose a word that names something life-giving you long to cultivate. By November many of us have filed it away, or we have turned it into one more verdict: the word I was supposed to grow into and didn’t. Set it beside the sentence you have been saying about yourself this year. Whether your word was handed to you or chosen today, let it interrupt the sentences you’ve been repeating about yourself. A slip of paper holds no power, and God is not bound to it. If your word has gone dry, ask of it what God asked of the bones. Can this word live? Then listen for what it says back to the verdict you have been living under.
Writing Prompt: Write the sentence you most often say about yourself, or about your church, when things are hard. Write your Star Word or chosen word beneath it. Which of the two have you believed more this year? Write about what keeps that sentence in charge.
Application: Find your Star Word or chosen word and put it where you will see it every day this week: the bathroom mirror, the dashboard, the back of your phone. Then tell one person your word and the sentence it is arguing with.
Prayer: God, I have said “my hope is lost” so often that it sounds like truth. You heard Israel’s lament and answered with a promise. Answer mine. Interrupt the verdicts I keep repeating. Put your spirit in me, and let me live. Amen.