Bible Text: Ezekiel 37:1-14, John 16: 4b-15, Psalm 104:24-24 | Preacher: Rev. Jenn Geddes
Have you ever wondered why mint is the dominant flavour in toothpaste? I actually have, because, to be honest, I much prefer cinnamon to mint but few companies make cinnamon toothpaste anymore. And so, as with any life-challenging question, I decided to do some research. I looked it up on Google. “Why is mint the dominant flavour in toothpaste?” I discovered that this is a fairly new phenomenon. In the past, cultures have used crushed shells, chalk or brick dust to clean their teeth; well before toothpaste was invented. In fact, vinegar was developed as a mouth wash in medieval Europe. But when early manufacturers of toothpaste were trying to develop a product that would sell, the cheapest and easiest oil to make in North America was mint oil. We all know how well mint grows in the Pacific Northwest- well, it does just as well in the North-East. And in 1873 a company called Colgate was developing a tooth cleaning paste in New York City and there happened to be a lot of mint in their estate garden. However, I did some further research which exposed that it wasn’t just the easy accessibility that made mint a prominent ingredient. It is mint’s ability to make the mouth feel cold or refreshed or breathless. It is the sensation more than the scent or taste that cause us to associate mint with clean mouths. Apparently it is called a thermal illusion because the temperature of one’s mouth doesn’t change. However, within the mouth there are cells that will send messages to the brain when something is extremely hot or cold and menthol or mint oil turns on these cells without actually changing the temperature in the mouth. It gives us the illusion that it is taking our breath away and that, my friends, is why mint is the predominant flavour in toothpaste. The things you learn at church. It is actually that sensation of a cold mouth – or feeling breathless – that makes me prefer cinnamon.
While today is Pentecost, a day in which we traditionally hear the words from Acts 2, I wanted to shift our focus. The passage from Ezekiel and the passage from John are not the typical passages for Pentecost and yet they link us to the Spirit – to that refreshing breath of God. Even the psalm today will help us connect with the Spirit. More than a celebration marking the birth of the church, today’s focus is on celebrating the Holy Spirit. This incredible gift, the advocate, the one that will guide us in truth. But I was also struck by the image of the Spirit giving breath to the breathless in Ezekiel 37. In fact, the Spirit is often referred to as the breath of God. In Hebrew the word “Ruah” is the same word that is used for Spirit, wind and breath. Pentecost is when God breathes life into the church. There are many stories in which God breathes and it is not a thermal illusion but life giving truth.
God is big on restoration and recovery and that is evident in all of our passages today, and we must remember that Jesus’ promise of an advocate and the events in Jerusalem on Pentecost were not new ideas. From the very beginning of creation God’s Spirit breathes life, hovers over waters, creates and sustains all things. This tells me that God has a passion for not only creating but restoring life time and time again. The story in Ezekiel is just one example but it is also rich in drama and imagery.
In Eugene Petersen’s paraphrase, The Message, the story begins, “God grabbed me. God’s Spirit took me up and sat me down …” This story is not only about a restoration image but it describes the Spirit as taking Ezekiel – grabbing him, raising him up and sitting him down. Perhaps you too have had that feeling of the Spirit taking a hold of you or perhaps more common is, when under a lot of pressure or when dealing with a lot of grief or challenged by a lot of pain, you know that you need to stop, and be grabbed by God’s embrace and sit down surrounded by the Spirit. The Spirit is not only an advocate, someone who supports, promotes and speaks on our behalf but also a comforter. The Spirit can and does sit us down – especially when we are feeling lifeless.
The Spirit can also lead us into places that terrify us. For Ezekiel that place is a vision, a visual metaphor, that is a little eerie. I am sure that apocalyptic comic and movie franchise Mad Max used this passage for inspiration. It is a desert or plain strewn with bones and the Spirit leads Ezekiel around them. Ezekiel essentially wades through bones in this dry place. And the bones have been there a long time because they are bleached by the sun. Ezekiel is told to preach to these dry, bleached, bones and as he does so he hears rustling.
Notice how Ezekiel is told to prophesy three times. The first time the bones begin to rustle and connect, soon sinew and skin joins them together but they have no breath. The second prophesy gives them breath and they come alive. One might think that the process is done – that now that life has been restored the vision is complete, but instead God tells Ezekiel to prophesy a third time. It is in this third prophecy that true restoration occurs because the people are given knowledge about God and God’s love for them. God explains that these bones represent the house of Israel – the exiles – the people who are scattered and strewn across a foreign land. Ezekiel is commanded to tell these exiles that God will breathe life back into them. The bones Ezekiel observes in the valley are not only dry and lifeless; they are cut off and scattered. Their renewal includes not only connecting them back together, but a restoration of the land AND the knowledge of the Lord. The bones’ transition from death to life stems from an infusion of God’s Spirit. And just like in Ezekiel’s vision it doesn’t always happen in one go. First, we need our bodies to be connected, then we need the divine breath – but it doesn’t stop there. True restoration occurs when we allow ourselves to be open to the wisdom of God.
The Hebrew word ruah is used multiple times in this passage. It is first used in verse one to mean God’s Spirit and then the preceding four times it is used to mean breath – God’s breath. And while the story in Ezekiel is a vision or a metaphor for the Israelites, read through the lens of Christianity we see that it is about a restoration of all people. It is the Spirit that will breathe life into the disciples as they gather in fear at Pentecost. This Spirit is still breathing life today. I know you are tired, I know you have endured much, I know – but breathe deep the restorative power of God.
The psalmists knew these realities all too well and psalm 104 does not deny it but it does move us away from dwelling on all that burdens us and reorients us to the indwelling of the Spirit. There are many times when we might feel like lifeless bones but the psalmist gives us a bigger perspective with broad scenes of the earth and sea and the abundance of life and activity that goes on with the unstoppable sustenance of God. I think back to some of the images my Father showed us at the Gazing Upwards event – the picture of planet earth on the edge of the Milky Way galaxy. That the world exists at all, that there is such variety and expansiveness to behold, is cause enough to celebrate our own life. Imagine – of everything that continues to be found in this universe God chooses to breathe life into us- God chose to breathe life into one just like us. God’s Spirit advocates for us. In Psalm 104 the psalmist is taking in what he sees around him, understanding the world as belonging to God and beloved by God.
There are many forces in this world that want us to believe that there is no hope, that it is a thermal illusion, that God does not exist or is not needed. Yet the story in Ezekiel, the promise of an advocate, the events at Pentecost, the awe of the psalmists, testify that God breathes life wherever hope has been lost, wherever people feel alienated or tired, wherever nature lies dormant, wherever new beginnings are needed, “wherever there is a longing to dream and be drenched in God’s presence, wherever people search for God’s truth and knowledge”. God restores life to whole communities and to individuals- animating the world. You may feel breathless both physically and spiritually but God breathes into all of us. Amen