Breath of Life

The sermon on my heart these days is about the Breath of Life. I first preached this to my kids a couple months ago, again to a group of kids at another church nearby, and again on Father's Day, I preached this message to my entire congregation (adults included).

I started by talking about the book and movie "Holes." It is the story about a young boy, named Stanley who is innocently walking one day when a pair of shoes comes flying from the sky and hits him in the head. It turns out these shoes are Clide Livingston's shoes and are worth a significant amount of money. He is caught by the police and is taken to court where the judge does not believe he is innocent. The judge sentences him to Camp Green Lake, where there is nothing green and certainly no lake.

At this camp the boys (sentenced there) are to dig holes, 5 feet by 5 feet. Their shovel is their measuring tool. They dig holes in the hot sun. Sweat pours from their face and their hands crack and bleed. Digging holes is a nothing, hopeless situation.

The situation in Holes reminds me a lot of situations we see in scripture. In Genesis 1:1-2 we see formless void and nothing. What kind of an image does that create for you? Not a good one. It is almost like you can hear the scraping of Stanley's shovel in the dirt. Can you hear it? Hopelessness.

But what does God do with the formless void and the nothing? Genesis 2:7, "then the Lrod God formed man from the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life and the man became a living being." God breathes life.

In Ezekiel we see this crazy prophet set before dry bones. Dry bones... that's a nice mental picture, isn't it? It is almost as if you can hear the scraping of Stanley's shovel in the dirt. Can you hear it? Hopelessness.

But what does God do with the dry bones? Ezekiel 37:10, "I prophesied as he (the Lord) commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived, and stood on their feet, a vast multitude." God breathes life into the dry bones.

In John we see the story of Jesus dying on a cross. He bows his head and breathes his last. It is hopeless. It is almost as if you can hear the scraping of Stanley's shovel in the dirt? Can you hear it? Nothing. Hoplessness.

But what does God do with the formless void, the nothing, the dry bones, and EVEN death? God breathes life. John 20:19 says, "Jesus" (who had just died in chapter 19) "came and stood among them and said, 'Peace be with you." This shows that God breathed life into death! God is a God who breathes life into nothing!

When we look at our lives, we see some fairly hopeless nothing situations. Maybe its our family life. Perhaps you have looked at your family situation and wondered how in the world God was going to act. No one listens to you. Nothing goes right and it makes you feel the nothing. You feel the void. You feel the darkness. You feel the dry bones in your life.

Maybe someone in your life has died. You want to spend time with that person more then anything else. You miss them. You miss the relationship you had with them. It makes you feel the nothing. You feel the void. You feel the darkness. You feel the dry bones in your life

Maybe people have been mean to you. People you thought you could trust betrayed you and you are really hurting. It makes you feel the nothing. You feel the void. You feel the darkness. You feel the dry bones in your life.

Perhaps it is finances. No matter how many times you look at your books, it just does not work out. In fact, talking about money makes you feel sick. You feel the nothing. You feel the void. You feel the darkness. You feel the dry bones in your life.

There are some pretty helpless situations we find ourselves in that cause us to feel the death, darkness, formless void, and dry bones. BUT... when has this ever been the end of God's story?! WHEN?! God is a God who breaths life into the nothing.

When I preached this sermon to adults I gave them a card in their bulletin. This card had a picture of a flower coming out of snow with the word "hope" written under it. The sentence above a blank line read something like, "What do you need God to breathe life into the formless void, darkness, nothing, dry bones, and even death in your life?" And I played Jeremy Camp's song, "Letting Go," as I allowed them to think about what they needed to let go of and give to God for God's life-giving power and breath.

I am typing this out on my blog because I need to hear my own sermon. I need to hear God's Word to me... that no matter what happens, God is a God who breathes life into hopeless situations.

My pastoral prayer the morning I preached this sermon to adults was...
"Dear Lord God, the one who breathes life into our hopeless, darkness, void, and nothingness, Come near to us even now. May we sense the presence of your Holy Spirit's breath in our lives and in this world. And may we actually BE your hands and feet in the world where people feel so much hopelessness, darkness, and void. But God, sometimes we hurt. And it makes it really difficult to BE the Church when we hurt so deeply, when we suffer so much it takes our very breath away. Sometimes we are in so much pain we have no words to speak them to you. Come near to us in those moments. Remind us of your life-giving breath that you breathe out on all of us. That there is no situation too hopeless for you. There is always hope-- because you are a God who breathes life into our nothing. We are completely dependent on you each day. God we love you and confess together, Jesus Christ is Lord. Amen."