Divine CPR

Suddenly I'm without sleep. I woke this morning at 2:30 a.m. after waking yesterday at 3. I'm writing this at 6:38 after having had breakfast, before my ride on the stationary bike. What has happened? The main issue seems to be I have so much on my mind. There are meetings to be held about meetings to be held, and I have to get it all planned, then all done. And while I'm at it, I need to take time to pray about the two churches that have my name on the sign. Both need an infusion of the breath of their loving God.
So, while I finished my second big cup of Joe before dawn, I pondered the scripture that speaks most to the situation.

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

As Ezekiel preaches, the bones come together and take on flesh, yet without life. The bones are revived in two stages, similar to the creation of Adam in Genesis--first the body, then the breath. So Ezekiel next preaches to the wind. The “four winds” (verse 9) is an expression for the four corners of the world. Scientists say that, while the earth is round, there are four corners geographically. In this context, it means “from every direction.” The Spirit of God then enters these bodies, giving them life, raising them up. 

The Spirit of God, the breath of God, gives those bones life.

In all our mission statements and demographic research and the like, have we ever stopped and pondered this passage? The bodies are there, hanging around, doing little before the Spirit enters and changes everything.

Doesn't that seem to be the answer to all these little churches?

Dem bones are lying there. Dem churches are lying there. Dem bones are raised up. Dem churches can be raised up. Dem bones are given life. Dem churches can be resurrected by the Spirit and power of a holy God.

The story of Ezekiel and the valley of the bones is explained later in the 37th chapter of the prophet's work. In the Message it reads, "Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel. Listen to what they're saying: 'Our bones are dried up, our hope is gone, there's nothing left of us."

A tired clergy. A winded laity. Bland worship. Boring service. "Our bones are dried up, our hope is gone, there's nothing left of us," sounds an awful lot like Sunday morning coming down.

What to do?

God says, "I'll breathe my life into you and you'll live."

I...Him ... not us...no plan, no mission, no leadership training, no seminary, nothing natural except God breathing into us like it was divine CPR, which is what we need. The body of Christ is damaged. The heart is barely pumping. The lungs aren't producing much. Some even say the body is dying.

But not Him, and not us. Let's stop what we're doing and let him breathe. That will fix what ails us, I believe.

Divine CPR is needed, and quickly now.