The Message, June 28, 2026: "Breath of Hope," Ezekiel 37:1-14

Author: Rev. Scott W. Cousineau
June 30, 2026

 

“Breath of Hope”
A Message by Rev. Scott W. Cousineau
Ezekiel 37:1-14

Introduction:
            Good Morning, Everyone!

            I would like to begin by thanking the Ocean Park Association for the opportunity to come and check up on the members of First Parish Church that tiptoe over here in the summertime and say, “See you in September, Pastor.” I will begin by taking attendance … would you please stand up when I call your name? Just kidding.

            But … I should tell you that I do watch the live-stream every Sunday. However, I never get a good look at the whole congregation. Actually … Andrew … could you do a nice, slow pan of the congregation every Sunday from now on?

            I must admit that it is a bit surreal standing here this morning. I am not one of those multi-generational who came here for the first time in their mother’s womb and stayed in their great-grandparents’ house. However, I have been coming to Ocean Park since I was ten years old. There are people in this room … other than my family … that I have known most of my life. I have known Barry Jackman for over fifty years!

            My mother was introduced to Ocean Park by Bob Baggs and thankfully that blessing was passed along to me.

            On two different occasions, I served as the chaplain for the Christian Youth Conference. In that capacity I led twenty, or so, chapel services here in the Temple. And, you probably do not have any recollection of this … but I did participate in the Summer Worship Series during the Summer of COVID. Father Gregory Boyle, the founder of Homeboy Ministries, was supposed to preach here in the Temple, but because of COVID he did not feel comfortable making the trip. So … you got me!

            Now is the time when some of you are saying, “I THOUGHT that guy looked familiar!”

            Of course, Gregory Boyle, I am not. I more closely resemble Peter Boyle, the actor that played the Frankenstein monster in Mel Brook’s classic movie, “Young Frankenstein.”

             I do not know if any of you have ever had those dreams … or nightmares … in which you show up after the final exam is over, or arrive after the wedding is over, or try to run to work but feel as though you are running in quicksand. Those are the dreams from which you wake with a start, bathed in sweat. Those are the dreams that stay with you for hours … even days.

            This was not a dream, but on the occasion that I preached in the place of Gregory Boyle I experienced every preacher’s worst nightmare in real life. I stood in this spot looking at a sea of empty wooden chairs and benches. The only person in the room, other than my mom, was Gerry Gosselin behind the camera. So, as a congregation, all you have to do today is breathe and you will be better than those dry, wooden chairs. The pressure is off. You do not even need to laugh at my jokes!

            Of course, that “nightmare” was nothing compared to what Ezekiel experienced in our passage this morning. [Yes, I finally got around to it.]

            The passage is the basis of the Spiritual, “Dem Bones,” written by James Weldon Johnson. (Who also wrote, “Lift Every Voice and Sing.”) But the vision that Ezekiel experienced was not nearly as fun and snappy as the song might have you believe.

            Dem bones, dem bones, dem dry bones.
            Dem bones, dem bones, dem dry bones.
            Dem bones, dem bones, dem dry bones.
            Now hear the Word of the Lord.
            Toe bone connected to the foot bone,
            Foot bone connected to the heel bone,
            Heel bone connected to the ankle bone …

            And so on until the whole skeleton is connected. It is a popular children’s song. Kids sing it at Halloween parties. Adults sing the jaunty tune snapping their fingers and tapping their toes, but again, there is nothing happy or snappy or toe-tappy about it.

            Let us explore the context of the passage. Ezekiel was a priest who had been living in Jerusalem during the first Babylonian attack on the city. The city itself was spared, but the king of Babylon took the first wave of Israelite prisoners into exile. Ezekiel was among them. The book begins five years after these traumatic events, and we find Ezekiel sitting on the bank of an irrigation canal near his Israelite refugee camp, on his 30th birthday no less. It is the year that he would have been installed as a priest in Jerusalem.

            God first spoke to Ezekiel from atop the throne chariot and commissioned him as a prophet. He was to accuse Israel of breaking the covenant agreement with their God. Israel had given their allegiance to other gods and has been worshiping idols, which has led to rampant social injustice and violence. In response to all this, God called Ezekiel to warn Israel that the first Babylonian attack on Jerusalem would be matched by a second, except this time the city and its temple will be totally destroyed. God had also informed Ezekiel that the people would not listen to him, they would reject him because they had hardened their hearts against God.

            In the midst of the prophecies and the warnings most of the people failed to see or understand the glimmer of hope that was contained within them. That hope was that God was WITH THEM in the exile. God was not sitting back in Jerusalem twiddling God-Thumbs and playing Solitaire. God was in exile with them. God’s visions came to Ezekiel in Babylon. God had not abandoned them.

            However, the bad news did keep coming. They did receive the heart-destroying news that Babylon had indeed attacked Jerusalem again and that this time they had destroyed their holy city. The Temple, the center of their life and worship had been destroyed. It was the worst news that they could possibly have heard. Everything … their homeland, their heritage, everything … was gone. Destroyed. THEY were destroyed. THEY were cut off from all that mattered to them. We, the modern reader, can say, “Wait, remember chapter eleven. God is with you.” But the people did not have chapter eleven. They did have shattered hearts. Their dreams were shattered. They had lost all hope. They were doomed. They were … dead. As far as the people were concerned, they were already sealed inside their tombs.

            As we heard in the scripture lesson, God took Ezekiel by the hand, lifted him and carried him to a place in which he saw and experienced something beyond horrific. Can you imagine. An entire valley … or an expansive plain … littered with the bones of the dead. An entire legion of soldiers dead and their bodies left exposed to the elements, desecrated. It was made even worse for Ezekiel because of the fact that he was a priest. Coming into contact with a dead body would have made him ritually unclean.

            Then God broke into Ezekiel’s shock and horror. “Mortal, can these bones live?”

            Without a doubt, the question would have shocked Ezekiel. “Can these bones live?! Really, God?!” God’s question seems utterly ridiculous. “Of course they cannot live! These dried up old bones have NO CHANCE of living again!”

            But, as we heard, that was not what Ezekiel said. “O Lord God, you know.” The only hope that this valley of bones has will require the awesome power of God, and God alone.

            Then God followed up the ridiculous question with a ridiculous instruction. “Prophesy to them. Preach to them.” (That is worse than preaching to six hundred empty chairs.)

            Even though there was no prospect of those soldiers ever fighting again, even though it was impossible for those bones to ever live again … “Prophesy to them.” And he did. He prophesied to those dried up old bones and they began to rattle and shake, they began to move and draw themselves together … ‘the toe bone connected to the foot bone.’ Then sinews and muscles and tissue and flesh wrapped those bones, but those were still not alive.

            Then God spoke again, “Prophesy to the breath, O Mortal, prophesy to the breath.” Ezekiel prophesied to the breath, and the four winds came and filled them. The “ru’ah” the Breath of God filled them. The Spirit came and filled them and then they lived. They stood before Ezekiel filled with God’s Spirit!

            Ezekiel began his prophetic career warning the people of Israel. He told them that their confidence in the future was misplaced. He warned them that they would not enjoy the future that they foresaw because of the sinful ways that they were living. He warned them again and again, and just as God had told Ezekiel, the people did not listen.

            And now, with this vision, Ezekiel’s role changed. Ezekiel, the Confronter, had to become Ezekiel the Comforter. Ezekiel’s call had changed. God was sending him now to console the people. Ezekiel had to assure them that they did indeed have a future. He told them that God was with them, that God had always been with them, and that God would provide for them.
God was renewing the covenantal language. “A new heart I will give you and a new spirit I will put within you. … You shall be my people, and I will be your God.” (Ezekiel 36:8; 17-28)
            God will restore the people.
            God will restore them to their homeland.
            God will restore their hope.

            There are those who insist that this passage is about the bodily resurrection of the dead. But it is not.
            It IS about the restoration of exiles that were completely without hope.
            It IS about the life-giving power of God. To those whose lives were really nothing more than a living death, new life was given. New hope was given.

            You do not need me to consider the circumstances that we find ourselves in twenty-five hundred years later. We know all too well the valleys that we visit. We have “seen” fields full of bones. We have seen the horror. We have experienced the trauma. We know the pain of dislocation and isolation. We know the pain of loss. We know the pain of division. We know the pain of losing hope. We also know that in our lives, those valleys or plains full of bones are not visions or dreams, they are real life.

            But we also know the promise and the power of God. “Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me, O God. Your rod and your staff, they guide me and protect me. Because you, O God, have prepared a place for me in the presence of my enemies, in the midst of my struggles and my difficulties. You are with me. You bless me, O God. You anoint my head with oil and your blessings overflow.”

            Before Renee and I moved to Maine seven years ago, I had a physical reaction every time I crossed the railroad tracks and entered into Ocean Park.

(Let us pause for a moment of silent prayer. May the man that was killed on those railroad tracks the other day rest in the comfort of God’s loving arms and God’s peace.)

            As I crossed those tracks, I felt my breathing relax. I could feel my shoulders relax. I could feel God’s peace settling in and filling me. This is one of those liminal places where heaven and earth come together and we can experience God in powerful and profound ways. Whether it is the pull of the ocean, or the refreshing air, of the towering pines, or the community of people this place is a manifestation of God’s loving Spirit. This place restores my soul.

            This passage … this vision … is not one that speaks only to prophets, preachers and pastors. It speaks to all of us. It meets us wherever we are.
“Where shall I go from your Spirit, O God? Or where shall I flee from your presence? If I ascend to heaven, you are there! If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there!” (Psalm 139:7-8)

            If we find ourselves in a valley of dry bones, feeling as though we are cut off, feeling as though we have no hope, we hear the promise and the assurance that we are not alone. We hear the promise that we are not destined for desolation. We receive the assurance that God is with us. God is our hope.

            Breathe. Breathe God in.
            Breathe. Allow God’s Spirit to fill you and heal you.
            Breathe. Feel God’s wonderful peace deep down inside.
            Do not let your hearts be troubled.
            Be still and know that God is with us.
            Amen.

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