LCMS Convention Proceedings St. Louis, Missouri — 2013, Page 77

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Convention Sermon

❾ Commemoration of the Faithful Departed
Ezekiel 37:1–14 • Wednesday Midday

By the Rev. Dr. Lee Hagan, pastor of St. paul Lutheran Church, Concordia, MO.,
and First Vice-President of the LCMS Missouri District+
65th Regular Convention of The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod | July 24, 2013

The hand of the Lord was upon me, and he brought me out in the
Spirit of the Lord and set me down in the middle of the valley; it was
full of bones. And he led me around among them, and behold, there
were very many on the surface of the valley, and behold, they were
very dry. And he said to me, “Son of man, can these bones live?” And
I answered, “O Lord God, you know.” Then he said to me, “Prophesy
over these bones, and say to them, O dry bones, hear the word of the
Lord. Thus says the Lord God to these bones: Behold, I will cause
breath to enter you, and you shall live. And I will lay sinews upon
you, and will cause flesh to come upon you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and you shall live, and you
shall know that I am the Lord.”
So I prophesied as I was commanded. And as I prophesied, there was a sound, and behold, a rattling, and the bones
came together, bone to its bone. And I looked, and behold, there were sinews on them, and flesh had come upon them,
and skin had covered them. But there was no breath in them. Then he said to me, “Prophesy to the breath; prophesy,
son of man, and say to the breath, Thus says the Lord God: Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe on these
slain, that they may live.” So I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived and
stood on their feet, an exceedingly great army.
Then he said to me, “Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel. Behold, they say, ‘Our bones are dried up,
and our hope is lost; we are indeed cut off.’ Therefore prophesy, and say to them, Thus says the Lord God: Behold, I
will open your graves and raise you from your graves, O my people. And I will bring you into the land of Israel. And
you shall know that I am the Lord, when I open your graves, and raise you from your graves, O my people. And I will
put my Spirit within you, and you shall live, and I will place you in your own land. Then you shall know that I am the
Lord; I have spoken, and I will do it, declares the Lord.”

W

hile we go about our work here, less than a mile away
there is another group gathered in St. Louis—a group of
coroners and medical examiners. Talk about irony—the
death squad and the God squad together at loose on the streets of
St. Louis. What a stark contrast! While they talk about death, we
are talking about life in Christ. While they discuss the process of
dying, we proclaim the means by which we live. Maybe we should
have invited them down for this memorial service because even
when we talk about death, we cannot help but to speak about the
life we have in Christ. We hear God’s promise to dry bones: “You
shall live.”
The scene of Ezekiel standing among the many dry bones is quite
unique in the Scriptures. While we have seen everyone from the

C o n v e n t io n se r m o n s

prophet Elijah to St. Paul raise the dead and, most certainly, our
Lord, the valley of dry bones is unique because it is a corporate
resurrection. Just as God breathed into Adam the breath of life at
his creation, what we see in this resurrection prophecy is the Spirit
of God coming upon those who are dead, making dry bones live.
This is the Spirit who gives life through the water and the Word
at the font, and this is also the Spirit who will bring life to those
who are dead at the resurrection on the Last Day. This is God’s
faithful promise to the Church Militant waiting as we wait to join
the Church Triumphant: “You shall live.”
If you haven’t counted, there are 457 pages in the Convention
Workbook, another 99 pages of biographical information on the
nominees, and now some 456 pages in the various editions of
2 0 1 3 C o n v e n t io n P r o c e e d i n g s

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