Discipling Life

What does a locked room mean to you? It might represent a feeling of being trapped and unable to move on. Maybe it is a desire to cocoon into a private and secure space to feel safe. Perhaps it is a way to step back from the vulnerability you feel closing in. I can say that I have experienced all of these and more. I imagine the disciples were locked in that room for different reasons. Fear? Reflection? Control? Yes, and more. I am struck by the fact that they have all come together in one place. After Jesus was arrested, they scattered. Mark 14:50 tells us that “All of them deserted him and fled.” But now they have come to huddle together. John 20:19-31 models a church that is both vulnerable and brave together. It is a community where Christ comes into our locked places, breathes the Spirit, forgives, and sends us out to embody peace. The Gospel tells us, “Jesus came and stood among them and said, ‘Peace be with you’” (John 20:19). He does not wait for the doors to be opened. He...

This week we have been looking at the scripture texts assigned by the lectionary for this Sunday — the Fifth Sunday of Lent. Ezekiel 37:1–14; Psalm 130; Romans 8:6–11; John 11:1–45 Each of these scriptures points us to the heart of God’s promise: death does not have the final word . Lent leads us through times of emptiness, confession, and longing, but always with the whisper of resurrection waiting ahead. In Ezekiel’s vision, God brings the prophet to a valley full of dry bones. It is a place that once held life but now lies silent and bare. God asks, “Can these bones live?” Only God knows the answer. Then the breath of God moves through the valley, and the bones rattle together, rise, and live again. The Spirit brings life where there was only death. The breath of God brings renewal. What seemed hopeless is restored. Psalm 130 echoes that same cry—from the depths of despair, the psalmist waits for God’s mercy. “I wait for the Lord, my soul waits, and in his word I hope.” Even...

Where are you in your daily walk with God? Some people still feel lost or disoriented after COVID. Things in their home church may seem so unfamiliar that it is almost a different church than the one they called home. All the divisiveness in our society and congregations have only added to the feeling of ennui many of us have experienced. That brings us to today’s text: Ezekiel 37:1-14 Many churches today know what Ezekiel’s valley of dry bones feels like. After COVID closures, some congregations returned to sanctuaries that felt emptier than before. Pews that once held familiar faces now hold silence. Programs that once brought energy now feel harder to sustain. It is easy to look around and quietly echo the words of Israel: “Our bones are dried up, and our hope is lost; we are cut off completely” (v. 11). Ezekiel is taken by God into a valley filled with bones—scattered, brittle, long forgotten. God asks him, “Mortal, can these bones live?” (v. 3). Ezekiel doesn’t pretend t...