If I could tell this to my children today, they would not believe me. I grew up in the eighties and we had only 3 tv programs. It was full colour but we still had to get up to change the channel. I watched tv with my sister who was 6 years older than me.  Jaws and other scary movies were quite popular at that time. I remember that I sat there with a pillow and when the scary music started and I knew what was coming I got so scared that I held the pillow in front of my face. Thank goodness the scary movies usually ended good. Most movies end good, anyway.

The text for today comes from Ezekiel 37 :1-14.

Ezekiel experiences something remarkable and writes it down.

The Valley of Dry Bones

1 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. 

2 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. 

A huge valley full of human bones. God led Ezekiel to this valley and showed it to him. That is what the Bible says. I read it and saw it in my mind's eye. It is there in my mind. I can't switch it off. And a pillow won't help either. 

A pillow does not help in the world today. Not in my world and not in yours. I may sometimes try it: I close my eyes or I look away. But the dried out world is still there. People are dying; people kill. In war; with bombs; massacres happen. Nations kill each other. Innocent people suffer. Some people, like soldiers must kill because they get the order to do so. Some people say that war is a good thing. Mostly the dead people are taken away. They do not lie there like the dead bones that Ezekiel saw. 

Murder and manslaughter do happen in our world. My pillow does not help. The scary movie continues. Live and in full colour. And then? Ezekiel hears the following and writes it down. 

3 He asked me, “Son of man, can these bones live?” I said, “Sovereign Lord, you alone know.”

4 Then he said to me, “Prophesy to these bones and say to them, ‘Dry bones, hear the word of the Lord! 

5 This is what the Sovereign Lord says to these bones: I will make breath[a] enter you, and you will come to life. 

6 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.’”

7 So I prophesied as I was commanded. And as I was prophesying, there was a noise, a rattling sound, and the bones came together, bone to bone. 

8 I looked, and tendons and flesh appeared on them and skin covered them, but there was no breath in them.

The creepy story goes on. God told Ezekiel to say the prophesy. He did say it. And it happened. The bones moved. They came together. The bones became people. But they had no breath in them. 

Ezekiel, the prophet of the Lord said something in the name of God. And it happened exactly so. Life came back to those in the Ezekiel's valley of death.

It seems that there is more in this world than hatred and death and fields of death. 

Ezekiel spoke more or less a word of creation. Like God spoke to create the world in the beginning. And look: it happened. A word spoken in God's name came true. 

Does God also give us this power? A word to set things in motion? A word to make lives whole again?

Then he said to me, “Prophesy to the breath; prophesy, son of man, and say to it, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Come, breath, from the four winds and breathe into these slain, that they may live.’” 10 So I prophesied as he commanded me, and breath entered them; they came to life and stood up on their feet—a vast army.

Dear congregation, 

Pentecost. Yes we do have words. We do have good words. Words from God. Words that give life, that we can say. We must say them, especially where there is hatred and where people are ruined and where they are killed with words or deeds. 

The words of creation, words that heal, words that bring life, those are the words that we must speak. Even if we think that we cannot achieve much. We must encourage each other. We can, most probably not change the world, but we can change the world for a single person. Someone in our class or in our family. There where we are. Our words can set something in motion. In good and in bad situations. I hope we always speak with good intentions. That was the case with Ezekiel. God gives the words and we say it. Life comes back to where death was. Everywhere where despair was. Love takes the place of hate. 

Ezekiel continues:

11 Then he said to me: “Son of man, these bones are the people of Israel. They say, ‘Our bones are dried up and our hope is gone; we are cut off.’ 

12 Therefore prophesy and say to them: ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: My people, I am going to open your graves and bring you up from them; I will bring you back to the land of Israel. 

13 Then you, my people, will know that I am the Lord, when I open your graves and bring you up from them. 

I agree with this wholeheartedly. To me that is a beautiful picture: graves opening up just like the stone of the grave of Jesus was rolled aside. God takes us from the graves to him in eternity. 

But first we must accept that we are not this nation to whom Ezekiel is speaking. He speaks in the name of God to God's own people: the Israelites. 

They had suffered death and destruction in their country. That was in 587 BC, and Ezekiel was there. 

They had been abducted and were left for dead. They suffered death. Since then God's own people have suffered this fate over and over. The history of anti-Semitism comes from long long ago until today. No. The words of Ezekiel do not apply to us. They are meant for God's own people. 

We can criticize the politics of the state of Israel. But this is not the same as hatred against the Jews. They are two very different things. 

The first is allowed. But the second is sin. Life has been promised to the people of Israel. When we take part in the good films - of peace and love – then these words also apply to us: that death can become life . Then the story of Ezekiel's field of death becomes our story too. 

This is how our text for today ends:

14 I will put my Spirit in you and you will live, and I will settle you in your own land. Then you will know that I the Lord have spoken, and I have done it, declares the Lord.’”

We are not these people; but actually we are. Today we are celebrating Pentecost. And that includes all God's people. 

From the time of Ezekiel and further back. Jesus too. He is a Jew from Nazareth. He died for us and was resurrected and ascended to heaven. He sent us the holy spirit that we are celebrating to day. Our baptism makes us part of his congregation. The holy spirit can resurrect fields of death. He builds churches and keeps them. There have been good times and bad times in the history of the church. At times people spoke words of destruction in the name of God. 

God is the one who can give us words of creation; we must listen carefully and trust in God. 

God is love. That is the benchmark of all these words. It is against death and hatred. From there comes life in us and in the world.  

 I will put my Spirit in you and you will live, and I will settle you in your own land. Then you will know that I the Lord have spoken, and I have done it, declares the Lord.’”

Today is Pentecost. We can experience that god is the Lord. 

He is with us with his holy spirit. That is no scary film and we do not need a pillow. We can watch and what we see is beautiful. 

Amen.