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May Focus - Faith
Dry Bones Dance
This month our parish celebrates 50 years of ministry in Mountain View. Every celebration reminds us of God's gracious presence in our lives. A vibrant parish witnesses to the power of the Holy Spirit at work in the world through those who believe.
An animated parish has no claim on the Holy Spirit's presence. Nor is vitality and energy a reason to boast. They are simply signs of the Holy Spirit at work in partnership faith.
Consider the well-known Old Testament passage often read in the Easter season, Ezekiel 37. The prophet receives a vision of a valley of dry bones. They are skeletal remains, parched and white, people long dead. Perhaps they are all that remain of a defeated army. Maybe they are a village overcome by draught or plague or overrun by marauders.
Having already stung, death has lost its sting. Bones make no appeal to justice. The Lord God asks the prophet, "Can these bones live?"
The answer is obvious. Bones are biological artifacts, as inert as a potsherd or a piece of broken glass. Bones have no power for life. But the prophet answers wisely, "O Lord God you know."
The Lord God does indeed know. Bones in and of themselves cannot live. But let the breath of the Lord come upon them and they will stand up and dance.
A vibrant parish is the dry bones of a cynical and skeptical humanity that have been filled with the breath of God. Faith responds to an invitation of the Holy Spirit for life. After fifty years in Mountain View this parish is still dancing.
A close study of Scripture makes clear that the Holy Spirit is not the divine life imparted to an individual alone. Personal faith is something one person shares with others.
The Holy Spirit is the divine life imparted to someone who responds to God's promise in covenant community. In the Ezekiel passage cited above, just to take one example, the dry bones, once enlivened by the breath of the Lord, do not a single soldier make, but rather, "an exceedingly great host."
The Holy Spirit is God's self given to empower the life of a faithful covenant community. A person participates and partakes in the divine gift in so far as he or she unites with others in the life of faith.
This is why the baptism liturgy in the Book of Common Prayer takes place in the midst of the worshiping congregation. Note how the Baptismal Covenant includes the necessary clause: "Will you continue in the Apostle's teaching and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in the prayers?"
The Apostle's teaching, in both form and content, lifts up the priority of the faithful community. "The fellowship," "the breaking of bread," "the prayers" all refer to communal action - personal faith responding with others to the divine invitation.
In faith the individual is anointed with oil, a sign of the anointing of the Holy Spirit. In so far as the baptized individual lives out his or her covenant commitment in community he or she participates in the divine life of the Holy Spirit. The personal life of faith includes struggling and stumbling, failing and learning, turning away and returning. The corporate life of faith remains constant, a stable witness throughout.
For fifty years this parish has called out to dry bones of successive generations. The dance of dry bones is the only proof one needs for the partnership of faith and the Holy Spirit in our midst.
Come dance with us, dry bone, and live.
Monthly Focus Archive
2006:
Easter Focus: New Covenant
Lenten Focus: A Covenantal Response to Poverty
February Focus: Moving Forward
2005:
December Focus: Longing
November Focus: The Gift of Years
October Focus: Stewardship
September Focus: Foundations
Summer Focus: The Book of Acts
Easter Focus: Tapestry
Lenten Focus: Rule of Life
January Focus: The Next Wave
2004:
December Focus: Surprising Grace
November Focus: Free Indeed
October Focus: Money Madness
September Focus: The Outrageous Promise
Summer Focus: Into the Fullness
June Focus: Thick Faith
Easter Focus: All Things New
Lent Focus: A Hungry World
February Focus: Commitment
January Focus: Unity
2003:
December Focus: Hope
November Focus: Worship
October Focus: Stewardship
September Focus: Seasons of Faith
Summer Focus: The Gospel of John
May Focus: Faith
April Focus: Resurrection
March Focus: Truth
February Focus: Covenant Groups
January Focus: Sabbath
2002:
December Focus: Shut Up and Sing
November Focus: Spiritual Gifts
October Focus: Stewardship
September Focus: Intentional Faith
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