I wish I had a cool conversion story. Saint Paul did, and he told people about it all the time. He would tell them about his previous way of life, how he advanced in Judaism beyond many Jews of his age and how he was extremely zealous for the traditions of the fathers. He was so zealous that he saw Christianity as a threat to his way of life and so began to persecute Christians. He hunted them down had them thrown in jail or be executed. But one day when on his way to Damascus to persecute Christians, the risen and ascended Lord Jesus appeared to Paul. The sight of the Savior knocked him off his donkey. As he laid in the dirt Jesus asked, “why do you persecute me?” In desperation and fear Paul asked, “who are you, Lord?” That is when Paul heard the words that would cut him to the heart and would change the course of his life forever, “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting.” “Now get up and go into the city, and you will be told what to do.” Paul would tell this story over and over as he traveled from city to city trying to convert people to Christianity with as much zeal as he once used to persecute them.
I wish I had a cool conversion story like that. Maybe it is all those years I spent in Baptist territory, but I wish I had experienced some sort of dramatic event or was witness to a spectacular display of divine power. Maybe an ominous voice from heaven calling my name, “HARMON!” or the appearance of an arch angel bathed in blinding light and holding a flaming sword. I wish I had a cool conversion story to tell, but I honestly don’t remember my conversion. Probably a good thing for y’all that I don’t. If I had a cool conversion story to tell I would find a way to tell it in every conversation I had, it would come up at least once a month in the sermons that I preached and would be the recuring illustration in every bible class I taught. If I had a cool conversion story you would know it.
If any of you have a cool conversion story, I would like to hear it sometime. I’m guessing that you don’t have one, otherwise I would have heard it by now. Most of us probably have no memory of our conversion. Most of us were baptized into the faith when we were babies and were raised in Christian homes. Over the years our faith may have fluctuated but for the most part, there is not really anything exciting to tell, we have just kind of always been Christians. Maybe some of you can talk about your life before you were a Christian and your life after becoming a Christian, but it is unlikely that you have a cool Saint Paul kind of conversion story to tell… or do you?
I may not remember my conversion, you may not remember yours, but that doesn’t mean that you don’t have a cool conversion story to tell. Today, we travel with the prophet Ezekiel into a valley of dry bones. There we will hear a bone rattling message that reminds us that we each have a cool conversion story to tell.
Our descent into the valley of dry bones begins in verses 1-2. There the prophet writes, “1 The hand of the LORD was upon me, and he brought me out by the Spirit of the LORD and set me in the middle of a valley; it was full of bones. 2 He led me back and forth among them, and I saw a great many bones on the floor of the valley, bones that were very dry.” Here the prophet shows us a great many bones that have been scattered across a valley floor. It seems as if some great massacre has occurred here. The slaughtered soldiers must have been left unburied. Their flesh has been picked clean by scavengers or decomposed by the elements and the sun has bleached their bones dry.
The sight of these very dry bones makes us think of the LORD’s judgement. Throughout Scripture the LORD sends droughts upon the land and causes the withering of limbs as a sign of His judgement. This valley of very dry bones makes us think of the LORD’s judgement not upon these fallen soldiers but upon us sinners. The prophet has himself previously stated “the soul who sins is the one who will die”.[1] The valley is filled with the bones of those who have not loved the LORD their God with all their heart, soul, and strength but have rather forced the LORD God to take a back seat to their wants and wishes, passions and desires, plans and priorities. The valley is filled with the bones of those who have not loved their neighbors as themselves but rather see their neighbors as a resource to consume, an object to exploit, or a target for their animosity. The valley is filled with the bones of those who are, as Saint Paul wrote in his letter to the Ephesians, “dead in their transgressions and sins.”[2] We were the valley of very dry bones.
As we stand in the valley filled with very dry bones that symbolize our unconverted condition, the LORD asks the prophet a question, “Son of man, can these bones live?” The prophet answers, “O Sovereign LORD, you alone know.” The prophet’s answer implies incompetence, an incompetence that we readily confess we share. There is no power or procedure among men that can reanimate a pile of very dry bones and fill them with the full vigor of life. Likewise, there is no power or procedure among men that can reanimate the soul that is dead in its transgressions and sins. There is no decision that can be made, no invitation that can be extended, no door that can be opened by the soul that is dead in its transgression and sins. People don’t convert themselves any more than dry bones bring themselves to life. If it were left to us, we would remain a valley of very dry bones. The prophet’s answer acknowledges our incompetence, but it also expresses confidence. The prophet knew it was impossible for these bones to reanimate themselves, but he also knew that the Sovereign LORD often and easily does the impossible. “O Sovereign LORD, you alone know.” The prophet’s answer implies anticipation.
We see the prophet’s anticipation realized when the Sovereign LORD says to him, “4… Prophesy to these bones and say to them, ‘Dry bones, hear the word of the LORD!” and as Ezekiel preaches the Word of the LORD, we hear a noise, “7… a rattling sound” and we see “the bones come together, bone to bone.” As we look, we see “8… tendons and flesh appear on them, and skin cover them.” The bodies have been reassembled but they are not yet alive. There is no breath in them. But then we hear the Sovereign LORD say, “9… Prophesy to the breath; prophesy, son of man, and say to it, ‘This is what the Sovereign LORD says: Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe into these slain, that they may live.’” And suddenly, where scattered bones once lay, a vast army stands before us.
The word of the Sovereign LORD rattled those bones to life. No scientific equation, no poetic expression, no political oration could rattle those bones back to life, but the word of the Sovereign LORD did. The Word of the Sovereign LORD did the impossible, it did the impossible in the valley of dry bones and it did the impossible inside of you. Regardless of whether or not you remember it, your conversion was both a dramatic event and a spectacular display of divine power. The Sovereign LORD sent someone to tell you about Jesus whose perfect life satisfied the demands of the law in your place. They told you about Jesus whose innocent death paid your debt of sin in full. They told you about Jesus whose resurrection and ascension secured your salvation. The Sovereign LORD sent someone to share the Word of God with you and it rattled your bones.
You who were once represented by a valley of very dry bones have been brought to life and are now represented by a vast army that stands before the Sovereign LORD. You have a very cool conversion story to tell. So, tell it. Though you have been animated by the breath of the Sovereign LORD, you are still standing in the middle of a valley full of very dry bones. Some of those bones belong to the teachers at your kids’ school, some belong to the waitress who brings you your food, some belong to the parents cheering beside you on the sidelines, some belong to your neighbors mowing their lawns across the street, some belong to the coworker you eat lunch with, and some belong to the kid sitting two desks ahead of you. You are surrounded by a great many bones; bones that are very dry. You are surrounded by people who don’t know who Jesus is. They don’t know about the perfect life He lived to satisfy the demands of the law in their place. They don’t know about the innocent death He died so that their debt of sin could be paid in full. They don’t know about His resurrection and ascension that secured their salvation. You are surrounded by people who don’t know Jesus. In many ways these people appear very much alive, but in the most important of ways they are not really living, rather spiritually speaking, they are very dry bones.
Just as you were unable to convert yourself, so also these people, if left to themselves will remain a valley of very dry bones. So, prophesy sons and daughters of men! Tell them what the Sovereign LORD says! Tell them about Jesus! Tell them about the perfect life that satisfied the demands of the law! Tell them about the innocent death that paid their debt of sin in full! Tell them about the resurrection and ascension that secured their salvation! Tell them what the Sovereign LORD says and watch as the Word of God rattles their bones.
It turns out every single one of us has a cool conversion story to tell. We can tell people how even though we may not remember it, the Sovereign LORD sent someone to speak the Word of the LORD to us and it rattled our bones. We each have our own cool conversion story to tell, but how much cooler would it be, if we became part of someone else’s cool conversion story? How cool would it be if when someone was telling their cool conversion story, they tell people that we were the one the Sovereign LORD sent to speak the Words that rattled their bones? I know this makes me sound greedy, but now I want multiple cool conversion stories to tell. May the Holy Spirit bless us all as we prophesy His bone rattling message! Amen.
[1] Ezekiel 18:4
[2] Ephesians 2:1