Prophesy, O Mortal
Ezekiel 37: 1 - 14 In the pilgrimage toward Christ’s birth, as we move forward unto the glory of the Lord shining all around and in our hearts, it might feel like we are in the messy middle. We might need to take a step back and remember why we are where we are today and how that gets us to where we long to be. We’re not reading about Elizabeth or Zechariah or angels saying “do not be afraid.” We are not thinking about Mary’s call for justice or Joseph’s hard decision. Instead we are in the valley of dry bones. So as I prepared for today, I felt the need to help us spiral up to a 30,000 foot view and remember why, here in the heart of December, we continue to read from the old testament prophets. The narrative lectionary, the “reading plan” that we are using to work our way through much of scripture over the course of four years, focuses each year – from Advent through Easter at least – on a single Gospel. This year, the gospel text is John, and as we w...