O Lord, You Know
Grace to you and peace from God our heavenly Father and the Lord, Jesus Christ. Amen.
This week our great nation gained the distinction of having the greatest number of cases of COVID-19 of any nation on earth. That’s a prize we don’t want, but we have it. It’s ours; the good ol’ U.S.A. has yet another championship on the world stage. We could go back and forth all day about who to blame for this blunder. As for me, I blame sin. Not some specific sin plaguing our country, just sin. The sin we inherited from Adam that corrupted all of creation—every man, woman, and child; every beast of the field and bird of the air; the very ground itself; and yes, even, viruses. This world is broken; that’s not news to anybody. In spite of the brokenness, we know that the Lord of Creation is at work. He will use this evil to bring about good, just as He has always done.
Today we look at the story from the Prophet Ezekiel read a few minutes ago. The Prophet is taken to a valley of old, dried out, dusty bones where God poses the question, “Son of man, can these bones live?” (Ezk. 37:3) The people in the pungent pit of passing have decayed; they’ve been in there a long time. Their bones are brittle beyond belief. They’re not only merely dead; they’re really most sincerely dead. Anyone with eyes to see knows this, but God asks the preposterous question, “Can these bones live?” The obvious answer is, “Of course not! There’s nothing left but bones. The skin has long been destroyed. Their muscles and tendons have returned to the dust from whence they came. Every essential system of the body has not only shut down the pieces are long gone. They’re dead! How can they live? But, that’s not how Ezekiel replies. He simply says, “O Lord God, You know.” (Ezk. 37:3) Ezekiel knows just who he is standing before. The One who created the cosmos from nothing by his word had brought him to this place of despair and death. Ezekiel had faith in God to do all things. In effect, he’s saying, “These folks look dead to me, but you are the Creator of the universe, the Lord of life. You know the number of hairs that each person here in this valley had on their heads when they were living. If You want them to return to life, then they will.” And God, had even more in mind than simply bringing bones back to life. He was going to give Ezekiel the very words to speak that, by God’s own power, would rebuild and reanimate the dry, dusty deceased. “Thus says the Lord,” declares Ezekiel, and it is so. As amazing as this action is, God has something even greater in mind.
What does this have to do with you and me in the midst of the present plague? As always, our God provides the answer. “Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel. Behold, they say, ‘Our bones are dried up, and our hope is lost.” (Ezk 37:11) Like the people in the days of Ezekiel, you are in exile from the Holy House of God. We are unable to gather together in person in this sanctuary around this altar to hear God’s Word and receive the body and blood of His Son. Life as we know it has come to a standstill. Life for the Exiles in Babylon was relatively normal, except for one big thing—the Temple, the very house of God on earth, was back in Jerusalem ruined by the fighting that led to their captivity. They were hundreds of miles away from home among a foreign people and foreign gods. It was impossible to make the sacrifices required of them for the atonement of the people’s sins. There would be no Passover gathering in the Holy City, and the people, like you and I today, pleaded with the Lord for deliverance. We, too, are cut off from the Holy Sacrament that delivers to our mouths the body and blood of the final Passover Lamb for the forgiveness of sins. With our forefathers in the faith, we cry out, “How long, O Lord?” and, it’s only been two weeks since we last gathered together here in God’s house. Many people around the world are wondering aloud, “Did God send this evil upon us?” We know the answer—nothing evil comes from a Holy God. But, we wonder, what did we do to bring this catastrophe upon ourselves? In our sinfulness, we seek someone to blame for our troubles. God seems like a convenient scape goat. He’s used plagues before to punish Egypt and convince Pharaoh to let the captive Israelites go. He once flooded the whole earth as a result of man’s ever growing sinfulness. Could it be? Is this disease punishment for some evil? Maybe it is; maybe it isn’t. Don’t waste your time trying to figure out the hidden things of God. As His people, we are bound by what He has revealed to us, no more and no less. Looking for some hidden meaning in all of this is a dangerous game that we ought not play.
What then shall we do? First, continue to cry out to God. Call upon Him in everything. He listens. He hears your pleas for, and He will respond. Be prepared for this to go on for a while. The Israelites were enslaved in Egypt for four centuries. The Exiles remained in Babylon for nearly two generations. Jesus promised to return two millennia ago. God’s time is not like our time. Look around the world and see what is happening other places. Some have been social distancing since January. Experts expect a vaccine to take at least a year to safely develop. The virus is better controlled and medical professionals are able to keep up in places where people have sheltered in place. There will be an end to this pandemic as there has been for others. God uses difficult times for the betterment of His creation. He’s given us the ability to fend off all sorts of diseases that a hundred years ago were a death sentence for anyone who contracted them. Be patient, call upon the Lord.
Second, repent of your sins. You’ll have plenty of time for self-examination right now. Is there someone you’ve had an ongoing dispute with? Have you neglected the fellowship of believers by your absence from Divine Service? Have you been lax on your study of God’s Word? Repent. Change your ways. Offer words of apology to those you’ve wronged. Reach out to the people you really don’t want to talk to. Read your Bible. Dust off your Catechism and open it up. Pray with your family. Turn back to Christ and His Church.
Third, Trust that God will work this evil to further His kingdom. Now is not the time to point the finger of blame at God, but rather we are to continue doing what the people of God do. We are staring death in the face with the rest of the world, but we have the ultimate solution. Christ Jesus was raised from the dead. The battle is over. The victory is own. The Unholy Trinity-sin, Satan, and death-has been overcome. Share this comfort with your neighbors. Share it on Facebook. Call up your brothers and sisters in Christ on the phone and remind each other of this good news. Because Christ was raised from the dead; we, too, will rise again to new life with Him. All of us who were baptized with Christ Jesus were baptized into His death and because of this we have the glorious, certain, hope of the resurrection of the dead and the life of the world to come. Share this. It’s a matter of life and death. There is more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance. God is already at work, using this evil for His good. Last Sunday our attendance tripled. The pews here were empty, but more than 200 people watched as the service was live streamed. In the last week 850 separate Facebook accounts have watched a portion of the service. People around the world are turning (or returning) to the Body of Christ! We pray that this virtual return translates to an ongoing walk within the Church when this crisis is over.
Finally, cling to the hope given to you in the resurrection of the dead and the life of the world to come. Like Ezekiel, we’re looking at a Valley of Dry Bones. Death is before our eyes. We could very well find ourselves facing death—our own or that of a loved one. Know without a doubt that on the Last Day, when Jesus returns with the blast of trumpets, the dead in Christ will be raises to meet the Lord in the sky face-to-face as perfect, glorified creatures to live forever with Him in Paradise. The promise given Ezekiel at the Valley of Dry Bones is for you also. As Ezekiel spoke, “there was a sound, and behold a rattling, and the bones came together, bone to bone. And [he] looked and behold there was sinews on them, and flesh had come upon them, and skin had covered them.” (Ezk. 37:7-8a) Yet they still lacked one thing-the breath of life. So through the prophet, God provided just what they needed. “The breath came into them, and they lived and stood on their feet, an exceedingly great army.” (Ezk. 37:10) Take comfort in God’s ultimate promise—“I will open your graves and will raise you from the grave, O my people. And I will bring you into the land of Israel. And you shall know that I am the Lord when I open your graves and raise you from your graves, O my people. And I will put my Spirit within you, and you shall live…I have spoken and I will do it, declares the Lord.” (Ezk. 37:14) There is no greater comfort than this; the last enemy to be destroyed is death. Jesus said, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me will live even though he dies; and whoever believes in Me will never die.
And the peace of God which passes all understanding keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus, our Lord. Amen.