The Old Testament book of Ezekiel is not an easy read! I find most of it very tough going. His is one of the three major prophetic books in the Old Testament, (the others being Isaiah and Jeremiah). The book of Ezekiel includes, though, one powerful story and one, justifiably, famous saying. The saying is “without a vision the people perish”. The story is one of dried out bones littering a valley and God’s Spirit breathing new life into them.
Sunday 24th May is when Christians celebrate Pentecost, (traditionally know as Whitsun), when the Holy Spirit came upon the early disciples.
They were in many ways – and all the gospels tell us this – a pretty ordinary lot. It took a long time for them to realise that Jesus was someone different, they argued between themselves who was the best, they melted away when things got tough the night Jesus was arrested. They then meet the risen Jesus and on one level that of course transforms their lives. Yet those meetings cease and they hang around really not knowing what to do.
And then, at a meal together, something happens: they are touched with vision and purpose – touched by a wind and fire and out they go and start telling people that Jesus who was crucified is risen and he is God’s Son and that we are to turn to him and follow his way of love. The first Pentecost. These very ordinary people go out and literally transform the world with that message. What’s more, we know that most of them went to martyrs’ death proclaiming it.
Dry bones are breathed into and given new life. St Paul (I suspect never just an ordinary person!) says in his letter to the church at Ephesus that our old selves are transformed by God’s Spirit, renewing our minds and becoming a new self, centred on God and his love.
Many commentators – not just people of faith – suggest there is a deep malaise in our society of rootlessness and lack purpose and vision. I sometimes get frustrated in our modern society, because my experience is that the Christian faith is a great antidote to this: as Paul says, it can renew us and set us on a new journey with a vision and a purpose. That does not mean life is going to be easy, without difficulties and sometimes doubts, (I am writing this the day before the second Sunday of Easter where the set gospel is the story of doubting Thomas!). But as that first Pentecost shows, it can be transformative.
Without a vision, the people perish.