Where Have You Laid Him?

Ezekiel was despondent, and all of Israel with him – if there even was still an Israel. The kingdom had been divided and scattered for so long…any hope of restoration and reunification seemed like a mirage in the desert. Israel was like a pile of dry bones, dead hopes, laid down as the years past in the valley between the dunes.

Mary and Martha, too, were despondent, and all of the Jews of Bethany with them. Lazarus had been sick. They sent word to Jesus, but as the days past and he didn’t come, Lazarus was getting weaker and weaker…until his last breath left him. Any hope of healing and life seemed like a mirage in the desert. Lazarus was dead, and Jesus didn’t come. They wrapped his body and laid it in the family tomb.

The Spirit of the Lord asks Ezekiel as he sees the buried, decaying hope that Israel would ever again be the people of God, ever live in right relationship with God, ever bring God’s kingdom on earth, “Can these bones live?”

Martha hears that Jesus has come and goes out to meet him before he reaches the house. She shares the news, “Lazarus had died. If you had been here, he would be too. Whatever you ask, I know God will give you.” And Jesus responds, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; and whoever lives by believing in me will never die. Do you believe this?”

We face these questions every day. “Can these bones live? Do you believe in the power of resurrection and life in Christ?” We answer them every time we lay down our hopes, our efforts to restore, to reunify, to heal sickness and woundedness, to be the people of God, to live in right relationship with God and one another, to bring God’s kingdom on earth. Where have you laid them? Where have you laid your hopes?

On Easter Sunday each year, we participate in the One Great Hour of Sharing Offering. The offering supports the work of Presbyterian Disaster Assistance to restore hope where it has been laid down. The work of Presbyterian Disaster Assistance is achieved through partnerships, through coming together, uniting to respond to needs across 37 denominations – including Episcopal, Methodist, Baptist, UCC, Eastern Orthodox, and Presbyterian – and partner non-profit organizations around the world. Last year, our congregation’s One Great Hour of Sharing Offering was over $6,000 to support emergency shelter and assistance in Ukraine. This year our offering will support Presbyterian Disaster Assistance as well as Presbyterian Hunger Program, and the Self-Development of People program that works in developing areas to provide farming and job skills so that people are able to support themselves.

These ministries prophesy to dry bones all over the world, “Hear the Word of the Lord! Receive the breath of God. Come out of your grave.”

Smitha Krishnan had every reason to lay down her hopes in a valley of dry bones. She lives in a town in India of about 25,000 where the main industry is rice mills.
Smitha is 37 years old, a mother, and a widow. When her husband died and left her as the sole provider for the family, she could have laid down her hope.
As a trained seamstress, though, she used what she had to make a living. But, she is a woman and a Dalit. Dalit women are the lowest social group in the Hindu caste system. Along with about 16% of the women in India, Smitha is among the world’s most oppressed, and she faced economic discrimination, not being paid justly for her work. She could have laid down her hope.
Smitha, because she is Dalit, is forbidden to draw water from the common well, forbidden to enter temples, given the leftovers thrown away by the higher classes, and barred from the right to education. She lives in a valley, and she could have laid down her hope.

Just after her husband died, a tsunami washed away their thatched and mud house and everything in it, including her means to make a living. Smitha said, ““The destruction of my old sewing machine, which was my only source of income, and the death of my husband, leaving me with five kids to take care of, made life extremely tough for me and my kids.” She could have laid down her hope.

Today, through a grant from Presbyterian Disaster Assistance, the bones are coming together and new life is being breathed into them. Hope is being restored. Smitha and her community are experiencing the promise of Ezekiel’s prophecy, “Then you, my people, will know that I am the Lord, when I open your graves and bring you up from them. I will put my Spirit in you and you will live.” Two initiatives of the One Great Hour of Sharing offering are coming together: disaster relief and self-development of people. Smitha and her 5 children have a home again, and she has a new sewing machine. Her reaction? “It was lifesaving when you came to our community to provide us with disaster-resistant shelter and sewing machines, which I never imagined would happen.” Jesus tells us to take away the stone rolled across the door of the grave.

Then, Presbyterian Disaster Assistance provided Smitha, and other seamstresses in her community, with work, to make masks to slow the spread of COVID. As they raised awareness in rural and underdeveloped areas about WASH (water, sanitation, and hygiene). Jesus calls, “Come out! Come out of your grave.”

Presbyterian Disaster Assistance’s work doesn’t stop with their community and reconstruction after the tsunami. For the last 7 years, they have been working with a non-governmental partner in the area to dismantle structural racism, advocating for Dalits to be recognized and registered as citizens of India.

Smitha Krishnan’s tears of joy tell the whole story:
“The shelter and sewing machine donated to me by Presbyterian Disaster Assistance has not only restored my livelihood but has also restored my hope and dignity in my community,” she said. “At the same time, it has enabled me to provide face masks at an affordable price to other community members during COVID-19, who were also finding it difficult to have face masks.”
“Because of people’s gifts to One Great Hour of Sharing, we now live in a permanent and disaster-resistant shelter, my kids are back in school, I am able to feed and clothe them, and when they get sick, I am able to take care of their medication, too. Thank you. And may the Lord continue to provide for those who continue to give to One Great Hour of Sharing.”
When Lazarus came out of the tomb after lying there dead for four days, Jesus commanded, “Take off the grave clothes and let him go.”

Where have you laid down your hope?

God’s Spirit asks, “Can these bones live? Do you believe in the power of resurrection and life in Christ?” Take away the stone rolled across the door. Take off the grave clothes and let those bones live. Come out to live abundantly! – Jesus is calling.

If anyone has hears to hear, let them hear. Amen.