Following is the sermon from the Memorial Service held at the 2024 Susquehanna Annual Conference on Thursday, May 30. You can view this service and sermon (at 36:33) HERE.
Ezekiel 37:1-6 Hebrews 12:1-3 John 8:29-32
We are here again as the gathering of the family of God and the people called United Methodist. We share a common ministry as people of Jesus and claim our roles as Disciples to bear witness to the Gospel and to do everything in our power to live it out for as long as we have breath. And on this night, we remember those who in their time on earth walked with us as colleagues, served with us as holy laborers, journeyed with us, inspired us and helped to remind each of us of the true greatness of the God we serve.
Their titles may have differed: they were called elder, deacon, associate member, local pastor, CLM, or lay member; but they shared with us a common cause: to help change this world for the good and to testify to the unimaginable strength of God’s love. Now we who follow in that same path of ministry that they helped carve out pause to honor them and honor their families who lent them to us. To those family members gathered here, from the bottom of our hearts and souls, we say thank you!
Ministry is a journey of ups and downs, mountains and valleys…and sometimes in that journey we have watershed moments so profound that they help re-define our call and our purpose. For me it was a conversation that I was privy to 42 years ago when I was a staff member at the United Methodist Home for Children. A fourteen-year-old teenager had been adjudicated delinquent. His mother had made the decision to give up custody since she felt she could no longer deal with him. In a public courtroom, she looked at her son and uttered the words “I don’t love you anymore.” Those words cut through the air of that courtroom like a knife. I believe in the heart of that young man who already felt he had so little…he now believed he had nothing.
From that point forward, I came to strongly believe that the state of being unloved is the most unnatural state of humanity. We were not created to be unloved. We were not redeemed on a cross to be unloved. And I am convinced beyond the shadow of a doubt, we cannot thrive in any way unless we know we are loved by someone. And I believe it is our shared task as the people of Jesus Christ to do everything in our earthly power to be that someone who shows to those who are broken, those who are hurting, and those who feel alone…. that they are loved no matter what.
The prophet Ezekiel spoke to us about a vision of a Valley of Dry Bones. For many of us this never rises above the level of a metaphor, but there is some real truth surrounding Ezekiel’s words. In the history of war that extends much farther back than written history, there was a common tradition that once an army was defeated in battle, the victors gave the vanquished the opportunity to bury their dead, to have some dignity in defeat. But in that rare instance where the victor had nothing but contempt and disdain for their enemy, they did not allow this to happen. The bodies of the defeated remained on the battlefield to decay and yes, turn to dry bones. It was the ultimate insult and indignity.
Ezekiel’s vision depicts God bringing Ezekiel to such a valley where there were bones everywhere. God led Ezekiel through this valley to see the abundance of bones and that they were dry, which meant even after much time no one had given them the dignity of burial; no one said they mattered. In many ways no one could be more forgotten than the people whose bones filled that valley. Basically, It was the end of their story...but not quite.
God asks Ezekiel, “Can these bones live?” Ezekiel responds with an answer many of us have employed in ministry more often than we admit…. “I don’t know,” or what he probably was feeling, “Lord you know, ‘cause I sure don’t!”
Then God said, “Prophesy to these bones, these bones that the world has given up on…Prophesy! And prophesy like you believe something is going to happen! And as you tell those bones to hear the word of the Lord, I will put in your mouth the same breath that first filled Adam’s lungs and they will come to life…. the bones, the tendons, the flesh and the skin! These bones will live!” God still addresses that same question “Can these bones live?” to all of us who preach and witness for Jesus Christ. Can we have that same conviction in our answer to God when we face the valleys that our society and culture have created that say certain people don’t matter anymore. Can we love in places where others have given up on love?
It is 2024….and once again Pennsylvania is a purple state…a key electoral state in a bitterly divided nation. We will once again have the dubious honor of more money spent on political ads per capita than anywhere in this nation…. Every time we turn on the TV, listen to a radio, or connect with social media we will hear the negative voices. We will hear about valleys of dry bones…. But the question is: can we the people of Jesus Christ believe that even these bones can live? Can we believe in grace? Can we believe that in this time of constant confrontation, we can be the witness of true peace and love to all people? Are we the people of the resurrection or are we not?
Hebrews 12 speaks to us of a great cloud of witnesses …those who have walked before us…those who have set the example. We gather tonight to honor our colleagues who have become part of this cloud of witnesses. We honor them when we run the race for which they have blazed the trail. When we persevere and when we endure, we tell those colleagues that their dreams and visions are not forgotten but carried on in everything we claim to be as believers in Jesus Christ and witnesses of the Gospel.
And to the precious family members who gather with us tonight: You may not have a title before or after your name but you were called just the same. You prayed to God…You gave up a portion of your life for ministry…You loved your churches like you cherished your loved one. We can never thank you enough for the contributions you made—and most of those contributions we will never know. But in memory of your loved one, we will continue to run the race, we will continue to preach the Gospel, we will continue to honor Christ in all that we do. We shall never rest until every disciple is made and this world is transformed through faith, love, peace and justice. This is our pledge to you!
We know it won’t be easy…. I ‘m not sure it’s ever been easy…. but we have to do the hard work for the sake of the Gospel. As our Conference theme declares “The Harvest is Plentiful’, but we still need to put in the hard work. This is not one of those fishing shows on Discovery Channel where the fish just jump in the boat. We will need to work for the harvest; ….and when the circumstances are most difficult, we have to be willing to glean. When others observe the field and say there is nothing left, we say we are not finished yet! We are the children of Ruth, who demonstrated to us what perseverance really means…. We can’t quit when ministry becomes difficult…. we have to get on our knees and get our hands dirty for the sake of the Gospel….it is who God has called us to be!
The Bible is full of moments when the people of faith were willing to glean, searching for holy sustenance when the rest of the world has given up. My friends, there are no dry bones in our valleys. Be strong and courageous! Believe in the Good News - the ever-present power of our God to change hearts, change lives and change the world. It’s still the truth that sets us free. It is an old story but it is still the greatest story ever told!
It is time to sing, my friends, but I need help… let’s celebrate our “Victory in Jesus!”
