From Bones To A Battalion.

A Word of Hope for the Leader in the Valley.

"I was carried away by the Spirit of the Lord to a valley filled with bones. He led me all around the bones that covered the valley floor. They were scattered everywhere across the ground and were completely dried out. Then He asked me, 'Son of man, can these bones become living people again.'" Ezekiel 37:1-3, New Living Translation

Any pastor who has served long enough in a particular church has found himself in a valley. Not a literal valley, but a figurative one like the one Ezekiel describes and experiences himself in the text. We stand in the pulpit on Sundays and the look from our elevated view is not one of a living, energized, and ready for battle army; but rather looks more like a valley of dry bones. The church that was once on fire has now fizzled. The people who seemingly used to be so anxious to get to church on Sundays and would stay all day now get there and immediately start watching the clock on their smartphones. The young people that used to sit in the pews and symbolize a bright future for the church are gone, leaving nothing but the reality that the life of the church will end soon once the "seasoned saints" in the pews go on to glory.

If this is you, don't be ashamed nor feel like a failure. There is a great cloud of witnesses around you in the form of many pastors. The good news is that the Lord once walked a preacher by the name of Ezekiel to a valley full of dry bones and from there sets the blueprint for any ministry leader that is tasked to bring a dry and dead congregation back to life.

God Placed You In The Valley.

Notice that Ezekiel did not wander into the valley. He specifically says that "the Lord took hold of me and I was carried away by the Spirit of the Lord to a valley full of bones."

Again, the Lord put Ezekiel there. This is nothing to glance past too fast because too oftentimes when we as pastors find ourselves leading congregations that are decaying, declining, dried up, and dying. This is when the enemy will try to convince us that we are not the person for the job, we made some mistake, and somebody else could have done a better a job than we have. However, understand the valley is not a detour or a dead-end; but it is a divine destination. God does not always send His servants to a flourishing "major situation" as the young preachers call them or ready-made, thriving congregations. No, He sends them to dead places where only the power of God can bring about a congregational resurrection.

The Lord even led Ezekiel around the valley to survey the bones. All Ezekiel saw was death and bones; bones and death. However, again note that even though the scene called for a county coroner and a funeral director, God called for a preacher. Before the preacher could appreciate the power of the ministry's resurrected life, the Lord made Ezekiel to understand the fullness of the congregation's death. If you find yourself taking over as a leader of a ministry that seemingly has aging bodies, limited resources, and lacking a vision; trust that God is preparing you for the miracle that is about to take place.

"Can These Bones Live?"

After the Lord takes Ezekiel on a survey tour of the valley with dry bones. He asked Ezekiel a question, "Son of man, can these bones lives?" This is question every revitalization leader can hear if they listen closely to the voice of God as they survey the dry and dead congregation that they have been tasked to lead.

Look at how Ezekiel responds. He does not act as if the bones are in okay shape because that is totally not the case nor does he declare that the bones are helpless either. He seemingly doesn't but he actually does give a deep theological answer when he simply replies, "Sovereign Lord, you alone know the answer." In other words, I would call the coroner and the funeral director, but I'm not going to limit what you can do God!

Deep Dive I:

We do not have the final word over any ministry, that power belongs to God and God alone.

Don't Pronounce, Preach!

Herein lies the problem. We get so caught up in pronouncing death that we forget that we were not called to sign ministry death certificates, but to preach the Word of God and bring life back to dying situations. We can identify everything wrong with a church: the lack of youth, the aging membership, the absent of relevant ministries, "the church has gone down over the years," and so on. However, God did not call us to analyze, He called us to preach.

He tells Ezekiel to "Speak a prophetic message to the bones." Now that might sound absolutely crazy to somebody reading this blog. God tells a preacher to preach to an audience that is totally incapable of responding. Ezekiel's audience is just bones. They can't say "Amen," they can't nod their heads in agreement, they can't respond "Go head and preach preacher" as they do in the African American context. Afterall, they are just bones. Dead and dry bones. However, the Lord tells Ezekiel to preach to the dead until the dead come back to life.

This is the assignment and the true measure of every pastor. It is easy to preach to a lively and packed congregation. The question on the floor is will you still give your best preaching effort when the congregation is limited and lifeless? The call to every preacher of the Gospel is to preach and faithfully proclaim God's Word even when the congregation does not show a sign of life. My late grandfather, Rev. C. L. Guyse, used to preach and say "Amen lights" when the congregation acted dead and dry on Sunday mornings.

Remember that revival does not begin with responsive crowds, it starts with a faithful voice declaring God's Word to a valley that is silent.

Reassembling Happens Before Revival.

Ezekiel obeyed the Lord's mandate to prophecy to the dry bones and something miraculous began to happen. Ezekiel says in verse 7, "There was a rattling noise all across the valley." The bones began to come back together. The old children's song Dem Bones that we used to sing as kids literally began to take place in the valley. The foot bone connected to the ankle bone. The ankle bone connected to the leg bone. The leg bone connected to the thigh bone. The backbone connected to the neck bone. The neck bone connected to the head bone. You get the picture. Verse 8 says, "I watched muscles and flesh formed over the bones. Then skin formed to cover their bodies, but they still had no breath in them."

God reassembled before He revived. He put the body back in place before the breath came. Do not miss the important lesson in that revitalization begins with reorganization before the resurrection. Things must be brought back together first. Relationships must be brought back together that was scattered then the body begins to take shape.

Deep Dive II

Be wary of settling for being a well-organized corpse. A church can be perfectly structured: right programs, right church leaders, right style of worship service and still be nothing more than a well-organized corpse. Organization is necessary, but organization does not equate to life.

It Takes The Holy Spirit.

After the bones began to come back together, the Lord gave Ezekiel a second command in Ezekiel 37:9-10, "Speak a prophetic message to the winds, son of man...Come, O breath, from the four winds! Breathe into these dead bodies so that they may live again. So I spoke the message as he commanded me, and breath came into their bodies. They all came to life and stood up on their feet, a great army."

In verse 8, we have organization. In verses 9-10, we have an organism. The difference-maker is the Holy Spirit. In his book entitled Can These Bones Live, Bill Henard writes, "God uses people and structures. He affirms programs and mission statements. I do not believe that God is anti-methodology, yet these things are irrelevant if God's Spirit does not move."(1) This is the key ingredient needed in the revitalization of every dry and dying congregation. Not better marketing strategies, not a more appealing seeker service, not a Hip-Hop church to reach the younger congregation. We need breath. We need the Spirit of the living God to fall on us all. Ministering to dry bones is not a management task, but a prayer warrior's burden and a preacher's responsibility.

When we do our part in preaching to the dry bones and praying for revival, the Holy Spirit does its job in raising the dead back to life. The Holy Spirit can do more than any religious program we could ever put on. Revitalization absent of Pneumatology, the presence and power of the Holy Spirit, is just rearranging the graves around the cemetery.

From Bones To Battalion.

Look at what God did. The same bones that were dead, dry, and scattered all over the valley floor are now an assembled, animated, and activated battalion. God did not resurrect them into some small "yet still holding on" remnant. He raised up a revitalized army ready for assignment.

The good news is that the same God that raised up the dead and dry congregation in Ezekiel can do the same for your ministry as well. He can take the congregation that is aging and just sitting settled while dying and raise them back to life to build beyond the building and advance the kingdom of God. The goal of resurrection is not survival but service.

So, take comfort when you find yourself standing from your pulpit on Sunday looking over a congregation that is seemingly dead and dry. What you see is not the final scene, it is just the closing of one chapter in the life of the ministry as revitalization turns the page and reveals a new chapter. I encourage you to keep preaching the Word of God to the dry bones. Keep communicating the vision. But most importantly, keep praying for the Holy Spirit to breath on you all. The same God that empties tombs is the same God that brings life back to the valleys of dry bones. One thing about God, He has never been outmatched by death.

Your congregation can live again. Just keep preaching and praying until they rise!

Moments Of Reflection:

• As a pastor, how would you assess the current state of the congregation you serve?

• As a prospective pastor, would you consider a church that is just bones are will you only take a church that resembles a ready-made battalion?

• In what ways has your church become dry and dead?

• What is the vision to bring the ministry back to life?

• Are we fasting and praying for the leading of the Holy Spirit in the revitalization effort?

1) Henard, Bill. Can These Bones Live: A Practical Guide to Church Revitalization. Athens, TN: Reclaimed Church Publishing, 2021, p. 24.