March 22, 2026
Ezekiel 37:1–14 and the Gospel: John 11:1–45
Sermon Theme: Come Out to New Life
Friends, in the OT and Gospel reading today, we hear two powerful stories; Ezekiel standing in a valley of dry bones, and Jesus standing before the tomb of Lazarus. Both scenes begin in places that feel hopeless. And both reveal a God who refuses to leave us there because of His love for humanity.
In Ezekiel 37:1, he says “the hand of the Lord came upon me” and the hand of the Lord set Ezekiel “down in the middle of a valley full of dry bones (v.1) Notice: God doesn’t take Ezekiel around the valley. God doesn’t spare him from the sight. God places Ezekiel right in the middle of the valley.
My dear friends, sometimes God does the same with us.
Not to punish us, but to help us see clearly what needs healing, what needs reviving, and what needs God’s breath in our lives.
After setting the prophet right in the middle of a valley filled with dry bones-most probably a place that is long forgotten. God asks him, “Can these bones live?” v.3a. It’s a question that reaches right into our own lives as children of God living in a broken and wounded world. The questions we ask today are like; Can we survive this situation? Can this relationship live? Can this church live? Can my tired spirit live?
Ezekiel doesn’t pretend to know. He simply says, “O Lord God, you know.” (v.3b). And that honesty opens the door for God to act. God tells him to speak to proclaim life where there is no life. And as he speaks, the bones begin to rattle. They come together. Breath enters them. And what was dead comes back to life.
Every person, every family, every congregation, every nation has its own “valley”. These are places where we say there is no hope left, where energy has dried up, where we wonder if anything can change.
This is what God does in such situations of hopelessness: 1. God speaks. 2. God breathes. 3. God restores.
And then we turn to the Gospel of John 11. Jesus arrives at the tomb of his friend Lazarus. He does not arrive with quick fix. He does not rush past the pain. He weeps with those who are grieving. But then he asks them to roll away the stone-the barrier they had accepted as final.
There is always a stone in our lives. Something heavy we’ve learned to live with. Something we’ve sealed off because we can’t imagine anything changing.
But Jesus stands before the tomb and cries out, “Lazarus, come out!” And Lazarus does. Still wrapped in grave clothes, still marked by what he’s been through-but alive. And Jesus turns to the community and says, “Unbind him, and let him go.”
These stories are not just ancient miracles. They are God’s promise to us today.
God is inviting us this morning to remember that, where we see dryness, God sees possibility. Where we see a tomb, God sees a doorway. Where we see an ending, God sees a beginning.
Maybe you carry your own valley of your own past this morning-your own grief, your own pain and exhaustion, your own sense of being stuck. Maybe you feel wrapped in something you can’t free yourself from. Hear this: God has not given up on you. God is already speaking life over you. God is already calling your name.
And as the body of Christ, we are called to help one another roll away stones and unbind the grave clothes-through prayer, compassion, and shared ministry.
My dear friends, the God who raised Lazarus, the God who breathed life into dry bones, is the God who breathes life into us today. And God is still asking, “Can these bones live?” The answer is yes-because God is still speaking, still breathing, still calling us into new life.
Pass Me Not O Gentle Savior