Free From the Burden of Survival Ezekiel 37:1-14 Phil Waite
I hear speculation these days about the viability and survivability of First Mennonite Church. These concerns are not new. I have been hearing people wonder aloud about the future of our congregation since before I was installed as pastor four years ago. There is a heaviness in this talk. It gives voice to what feels to some like an existential crises, a wondering if we will still exist as a congregation in another 15, 10, five, years. Some voices I hear suggest that, given the population trends in Moundridge, closing our doors or merging with other Mennonite congregations is inevitable, and we are best served by preparing for that eventuality. Others are not resigned to this future, but feel the heavy burden of survival. Is this congregation dying? Are the bones dry? First Mennonite has a rich math history. I do not share it. Math is not one of my gifts. But even with my relatively poor math skills and statistical incompetence, I know a trend line when I see it. I can see clearly that roughly one-quarter of our full membership does not even live in this area. I am aware that less than nine percent of those baptized here in the last fifty years are still resident and active members of our congregation. The vast majority of the other 91 percent have moved away. It is plain to anyone paying attention that the population of Moundridge is becoming increasingly less Mennonite. I don't need a Ph.D. in statistics to know that this situation is not sustainable. This is not anyone's fault. These trends are happening across the country, and simply reveal the tides of history. But the trends do raise questions we should ask. Openly, calmly and without fear or blame. Is this congregation dying? Are the bones dry? If so, we have company. These questions are also being asked about our denomination. Is Mennonite Church USA dying? Does it have a future? Are the bones dry? And it goes beyond Mennonites. Most Christian denominations in North America are losing ground. We are experiencing a sea change in our culture where church is increasingly less central to the lives people lead. So while our situation in Moundridge carries a higher degree of urgency because of dramatic shifts in population, Christian churches across the country are facing similar realities. Is the Church in North America dying? Are the bones dry? The Hebrew people in Ezekiel's time had dry bones. Their faith was dying. Jerusalem had fallen to the Babylonian Empire, and thousands had been taken captive, and exiled to Babylon. Ezekiel himself was among those in the first wave. The temple in Jerusalem had been destroyed. Judah had become a Babylonian province. It's days of independence were behind it. This relatively tiny, inconsequential nation, was being swallowed up by a great and historic empire. The result was not primarily a political, economic or social crisis, but a theological crisis. Faith in God was in jeopardy. Doubt was high. How could God let this happen? The exiles began to feel at home in Babylon. They were becoming familiar with Babylonian gods. Biblical faith itself was experiencing the existential crisis. Would biblical faith die out? Would God's people simply become assimilated into the Babylonian empire, never to be heard from again? Would the Hebrew people survive as a people? Or would they go the way of the northern kingdom, what we know today as the ten lost tribes of Israel, never heard from after the year 722 B.C.? Everything was stacked against them. Babylon was a powerful political, military, economic, cultural and religious empire. It was a tidal wave of history set to wipe out all in its path. On the surface of things it would seem the Hebrew people had no more hope of maintaining their integrity as a people than the moon has of breaking free from earth's gravity. History is as relentless as gravity. And no people have defied the life and death cycles of cultures and religions. The people were without hope. After all, what could possibly make the Hebrew people, the biblical people, this minor nation in the crossroads of empires, think that they, of all people, could defy history? But God gave Ezekiel a vision. Prophesy to the dry bones. Prophesy to my people in existential crisis. Prophesy to those ready to accept what seem to be the tides of history. Prophesy to those laden with the burden of survival. Hear the word of the Lord. Thus says the Lord God to these dry bones. I will cause breath, wind, spirit, to enter you and you shall live. The Hebrew here is ruach also used for God's Spirit the Spirit. It is the ruach of God that hovers over the face of the deep in Genesis 1 at creation. God's ruach by it's very nature gives life, and in Ezekiel's great vision, it gives life to God's people when they think they are done for. Ezekiel's vision proved true, although perhaps not in ways he expected. The Hebrew people and their biblical faith did not die. Against all odds, biblical faith survived and it was the Babylonian religion that disappeared. Although Ezekiel would be surprised by exactly how things turned out, make no mistake, the most vital, vibrant and vigorous witness of the Hebrew people was yet to come. Ezekiel would be shocked to learn that his words were put in something we have come to call the Bible, a book which became the number one bestseller of all time. The so-called glory days of David and Solomon never returned. But there is more breath and life in what once were dry bones than ever there had been at any time in Hebrew history. And one might say that it was the existential crisis itself that made it possible for the Spirit of God to do this greater work among the people. Keith Harder, one of our leaders in Mennonite Church USA, has heard the talk forecasting doom for our denomination. Will there be a Mennonite Church in fifty years? Yes, of course there will be, he says. It will look different than it does now. The dimensions of folk culture and kinship ties will likely be gone. Mennonite identity will not be rooted in a common immigrant experience. And the Mennonite Church may be considerably smaller than it is now. But the theology, faith practices, and ideas, that have given our tradition its vigor and vitality for five centuries will be more alive than they have been in a very long time. The glory years of the Mennonite church are in the future, not the past. The most profound, powerful and effective witness of the Mennonite church to the world is yet to come. Keith Harder, prophesy to the dry bones. My father-in-law was teaching in Pennsylvania recently, and he worshipped at Laurel Street Mennonite Church in Lancaster. Ten years or so ago this church had dry bones. Attendance had dwindled to less than thirty. The traditional Mennonites in the neighborhood had moved out. Those that had been coming back into the city for the church's programs found more programs in churches closer to home. The neighborhood had become largely Latino. Laurel Street Mennonite's prospects were grim. It had little hope for survival. It showed all the signs of a dying church. And who would miss it, really? How many other Mennonite churches are there in Lancaster? But God said, mortal, prophesy to the dry bones. And the Spirit of the Living God fell afresh on Laurel Street Mennonite and breathed new life into the church. Their Spirit-filled imaginations started kicking into high gear. They started worshipping in Spanglish, a blend of Spanish and English, letting neighbors know they were welcome. Their attendance is back up to sixty, which is nothing especially spectacular. This church will never be a mega church. But there is vitality and vigor and a vibrant ministry. There is warmth and joy and love and charity. This church's worship looks nothing like it was twenty years ago. But in terms of vitality and effectiveness of witness and outreach, the church is alive and is experiencing some of the best years of its existence. Now nobody is suggesting that Laurel Street Mennonite is dying. Last summer our family worshipped at Florence Church of the Brethren, which also has Mennonite affiliation. Our friend Nina pastors this church in rural southern Michigan, in the middle of corn fields. This church was started by Church of the Brethren farmers many decades ago. Those farmers are long gone, and not many if any of their descendants are left in the church. Florence underwent a split some twenty to thirty years ago that nearly killed it. And who would miss such a church out in the country? But God said, mortal, prophesy to the bones. And the Spirit of the Living God fell afresh on Florence Church and breathed new life into it. Today that church is very much alive. Florence too has a worship life that looks little like what it would have at the peak of that farming culture. It's current attendance is likely less than it was at that time as well. But it's witness to its community is profound and filled with creativity and imagination. The congregation is filled with diversity in almost every way, professionals, students, farmers, social workers, factory workers, recent immigrants, Native Americans, Latinos. There are a few traditional Mennonites and Church of the Brethren folk, but not many. This church is vital and vibrant and vigorous. Now nobody is suggesting that Florence Church is dying. Is First Mennonite dying? No, First Mennonite is not dying. Not because I can't do math. I see the trends. I see the changes in our community. I see that a populace the size of Moundridge cannot support three congregations from one denomination, at least not three congregations as they have been, filled with mostly heritage Mennonites. I see the tides of history turned against us. But I've heard stories like this before. I do not underestimate the imagination of the Holy Spirit. I believe in the power of the Holy Spirit to give new life to dry bones. I believe the glory years of this congregation are in the future, not the past. The most vibrant, vital and vigorous years of Christian witness through First Mennonite have yet to be. Do I know what that new life will look like? Not especially. But you do, at least a little bit. And you will discover more as the Holy Spirit breathes life into your imaginations. The burden of survival as a congregation does not fall on us. But the Spirit of the Living God does fall on us, freeing us from that burden. The Spirit of the Living God empowers us to be faithful and effective witnesses to the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Hear the word of the Lord. Thus says the Lord God, I will cause breath to enter you and you will live. Holy Spirit, come with power. Spirit of the Living God, fall afresh on us. Come, Holy Spirit, Come.
