There are at least two ways to read the title above. One way is to hear it as a question of the weary asking if we are still yet alive or are we the walking dead. The second is to read it as a question of anticipation and hope. Have we received yet the breath and life of the Spirit that makes us new. Sometimes the two are inseparable.
Have you ever paused to think about the rhythm of breathing? Every breath does two very important things. With every inhale we bring in precious oxygen, the energy, the combustible that is essential for life. Equally important, however, is exhaling and expelling from the body CO2 the residue from what has been used. In with the new and out with the old. Receiving life energy with every breath and releasing back out the used and cast off.
If we really stop to think about it that exhale and expelling out of the used is in many ways the first, the a priori cycle. Out with the old and then in with the new. If we have not emptied our lungs we are unable to receive any new energy with a breath.
Take a huge, deep breath and dive into a pool holding that breath and in a short time your body will be screaming for more air. Your lungs are still inflated in the pool and at capacity but the vital O2 and energy has been spent and your lungs burn as the body demands more fresh O2 and energy.
The Body of Christ is much like the human bodies that make it up. It constantly needs to be breathing in the breath of the Spirit for new energy and vitality. It needs to receive the power of the life it receives from God. This is reflected in our hymnody in songs like "Breathe on Me Breath of God." Sometimes, however, we can forget to exhale and to release the things that are used up and no longer serve the Body and the work of the kingdom.
The challenge in every generation is to know what things have served their purpose and can be released and what is vital to the body like the skeleton, muscles, and skin. As Ezekiel stood in the valley of dry bones he spoke the word of God to the existing bones, he called for muscle, tendons and flesh to come together and then he spoke into those bodies a new breath of life. A new breath of life from God speaking life into the people dead in their isolation and exile from God. It was a new breath of life to animate dry bones and call them back into relationship with God.
In what ways is God challenging you to breath out the old, the used up, and the lifeless so that you can receive a new breath and new life? What must you let go of so that you can receive something new and fresh from God?
The same is true of congregations. What is foundational and the core that is unchanging and what needs transformed by a living Spirit. Or as Luther would suggest what is essential and what is adiaphora, What although it has been useful can be released like old breath. What must we let go of so that we can receive a deep breath of the Spirit? This is a crucial question.
As community of broken saints and healing sinners we are called to be a place where dead wood is trimmed and fresh, green wood is grafted on to the body. The community of the future may look nothing like it does today; it must, however, always be built around the Gospel of Jesus Christ that is bone, flesh and sinew. Then exhale with all your strength until gasping and letting loose of what no longer sustains life you take in the breath deep the Spirit, "cuz Dem bones, dem bones are gonna rise again, Hear the Word of the Lord."