At the San Francisco Theological Seminary luncheon on Wednesday, Rev. Dr. Yolanda Norton, the new Assistant Professor of Old Testament, challenged listeners with Ezekiel’s vision of the dry bones by saying, “If we think we are the dry bones of Ezekiel, we are missing the point.” We are the sinew. We are the flesh and blood that God is putting onto the dry bones of our country and world.
“We will no longer hide in our offices,” she said. “We are going to bring theological education to the world. … Do not think we are going to roll over and play dead. We are bringing new vision, … new pastor activists who will no longer be part of the problem, but will be part of the solution.”
A powerful message for a denomination struggling with a new reality wherein many who have been disgruntled for years have now left in a mass exodus. The tone of this General Assembly has been one of prophetic witness, challenging the PC(USA) to get out of our comfortable pews, get into the streets of our communities, and stand with and amplify the voices of those crying out for peace and justice.
Prominent in the thoughts, liturgy, and messaging of this General Assembly has been the Trump Administration’s immigration policy that is separating families, an ethos that the President has brought to the surface from within our society of racism that has been simmering for centuries, and a culture of hate and division that has overtaken our neighborhoods. And the call to the church is to step into those scary places, face the hate, and bridge divisions that perpetuate the seemingly deliberate unknowingness that I see even in my own church and neighborhood.
“There are dry bones,” Dr. Norton said in her prophetic sermon that brought a standing ovation. “It would be foolish to ignore them. They will have flesh. … But our text says we need to be part of the breath that will breathe new life into the dark corners. … We are not going to be passive participants. We are going to be a part of pointing the church in new and exciting directions that promote peace, love, and justice.”
The messaging coming out of assembly committees, and will be presented to the assembly in the coming days in the form of recommendations, has been loud and clear: we will no longer sit idly by while watching corporations destroy the environment, we will no longer sit idly by while children are ripped from their parents’ arms because they sought refuge in the U.S. from violence in their home countries, we will no longer sit idly by while police and communities continue to enslave our black siblings for being black, we will no longer sit idly by while our LGBTQ+ siblings remain unprotected from discrimination or are forced into awkward and unnecessary situations due to our limited binary understanding of gender.
It is a new church that is finally emerging, a church that is after the heart of Jesus in powerful ways. We are seeing the Church be the church!