We have to understand what God is talking about in Exodus 21 when he gave Israel rules for slaves. It was completely different from what we know from our own American history, and the word the Lord used in Exodus referred more to hired servants than to slaves. The horrors of involuntary slavery that is part of the shame of our past and that still exists in many places in the world today is never condoned by Scripture. In fact, that is clearly stated just a few verses later in the chapter when God says, “Whoever steals a man and sells him, and anyone found in possession of him, shall be put to death.” Apply that to 1850 America and the one who sold the slave and the one who bought the slave would both receive the death penalty. And the slave would be set free.

Servitude in ancient Israel stood apart from other nations in three ways. It was voluntary, often entered into because a man wanted to get out of debt. It was temporary; the servant was released after 6 years. And it kept marriages intact. There is also a beautiful picture of something greater in these covenant rules for servants.

 If a man served a master and his master provided a wife for him, at the end of his time of service, he couldn’t just take his wife and any children they had together: those belonged to the master. He could either go out and earn enough to redeem them, or he could offer himself as a lifelong servant to the master. I love the language of the servant in the text. He says, “I love my master, my wife, and my children.” Why would anyone sign up for a lifetime of serving another? Love. He didn’t say, “I love my wife and children and if the only way I can get them is to put up with the master and a life of servitude, then ok. I will have to do that.” No, his first statement is, “I love my master!” What kind of master would merit such an action? A loving master. A master who was gentle and kind and took care of his servants. In fact, he was a master who treated his servants just like family. 

When the man declared this kind of love, his master would “bring him to God.” Some believe this meant he was taken before the elders of Israel so they would know that this man was making a covenant before God and witnesses. That he was choosing this life. Then he was taken by the elders to the door or the doorpost of the master’s house and a sharp object, like an awl, was driven through his ear and into the door. He had his ear pierced to mark this blood covenant. The servant was now attached to the master’s house, and the earring he would wear afterward would signal to all who saw him that he had surrendered his life to another. He had chosen to serve because of his love.

Many believe David was thinking of this scene when he wrote this in Psalm 40: “In sacrifice and offering you have not delighted, but you have given me an open (pierced) ear. Burnt offering and sin offering you have not required. Then I said, ‘Behold, I have come; in the scroll of the book it is written of me: I delight to do your will, O my God; your law is within my heart.’” David was confessing that his greatest desire was to do God’s will. He knew that a mere sacrifice could not substitute for an ear that was hearing and a heart that was obedient, fully surrendered to God’s will. David was offering himself as a slave to God.

David points forward to a greater slave, the one took the very nature of a servant, the one who was born in the likeness of God. The one who said he had not come to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many. The one who humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Because Jesus loved the Father, he laid down his life for his bride, his sons and daughters. You and me.

How could we trade away that love for anything else in the world? How could we serve anyone else but Jesus? 

We need the power of the Holy Spirit if we are going to raise the dead. Wait, what? You may be thinking this pastor has slipped over the edge, writing such sensational nonsense. The truth is, I have never raised anyone from the dead, at least none who were not breathing anymore and whose bodies had turned gray and cold. But I have seen dead people come to life. Think about it this way. Do you know the story in the Bible when Elisha raised the Shunammite woman’s son from the dead? The child had been given to her and her husband by God as a reward for her kindness to the prophet and now the child lay dead. The dear woman was beside herself with sorrow and grief and hurried to where Elisha was, falling at his feet in great agony. Elisha sent his servant Gehazi to see the child and to lay his staff on the boy’s face, but Gehazi came back and said, “the boy has not awakened.” So Elisha went in and closed the door where the boy was lying, so it was just the two of them in the room and Elisha prayed to the Lord. Then he lay on the child, putting his mouth on the boy’s mouth, his eyes on the boy’s eyes, his hands on the boy’s hands. The boy’s body grew warm, so Elisha got up and walked about the house, perhaps praying again, and then went and stretched himself upon the boy a second time. And the boy sneezed seven times and then opened his eyes. He was alive! 

What is the point? We have children in our homes and perhaps adults as well, who are dead, “dead in trespasses and sins.” Just as we once were, those of us who believe. But we were raised from the dead. Our position with regard to those who are spiritually dead is the same as Elisha’s. He had to deal with a natural death and his only hope for that child’s life was God, and Elisha was determined to do all that he could do to see that boy resurrected by the power of God. We deal with spiritually dead people every day and their only hope is the resurrection power of Jesus Christ. And we have been given the Holy Spirit so that, by his power, we are to do all that we can to see dead people come to life. “Can these bones live?” God asked Ezekiel. “O Lord God, you know,” said Ezekiel. 

Believers, God has given us power through the Holy Spirit to speak to dry bones. Will they live? God knows. Our job is to go. Our job is to speak. Go, speak, and perhaps God will do what he does best, and raise the dead.

Can an orange tree that never produces fruit call itself an orange tree? I mean, with a straight face. Neither can a church call itself a church if it is not about the business of producing disciples of Jesus Christ. The church exists to pursue God and to live righteous lives in community with other believers. If we are doing that, then two things happen. We will produce disciples of Jesus Christ. Healthy orange trees produce healthy oranges, and healthy churches produce healthy disciples of Jesus Christ. 

That is what Jesus told us to do. He said to his disciples, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.” If he has all authority in all places, then what he says next is all-important. Here it is: “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” What are we as disciples of Christ called to do? Make disciples of all people, every nation, every tribe every tongue. We cannot fulfill that calling by ourselves. But the church in every place is working together to accomplish this task, by God’s grace. We are called and gifted by God to make disciples. And that process involves, in part, “teaching them to observe all that (Jesus) has commanded.” And the promise to us is this: Jesus said, “I am with you always, to the end of the age.” We do not do it all, and what we do, we do not do alone. Jesus does it in and through us.

We in the local church are joined and held together and grow as disciples and as a church when every joint is working properly. Joined and held together. Look around at the people gathered around you for worship on Sunday morning. And consider these questions: is there enough evidence to convict us of being joined and held together? How close are we? Could we be accused of being “devoted to fellowship?” Is it evident in our faces when we are together? Can we see it in our hugs and handshakes, can we hear excitement in our voices when we meet? And, are we growing as disciples of Jesus?

I think one of the reasons God struck down Ananias and Sapphira in the early days of the church was that they were more interested in doing something for themselves than for the ones with whom they were joined and held together.  Ananias and Sapphira, in my opinion, were the first pew warmers in the church. They were the first couple in the new church who came in with the mindset, “What’s in this for me? How can I get what I need out of this deal without having to invest a lot myself? How can I make sure my needs are met?” I don’t believe they saw themselves as “joined and held together” with the rest of the body. 

I will be honest with you. The older I get, the less patient I am with those who just want to “play church.” The less I understand how anyone who says he is a believer is content to show up once a month or so when the body of Christ gathers. Or just show up online. Or not at all. I am simply less interested in chasing down people who don’t see themselves as “joined and held together” with the rest of the body and cannot seem to find time the church body into their schedule. The older I get, the more I treasure the friendship and fellowship of those with whom I am standing next to, stuck like glue, compacted together for the long haul. That doesn’t mean God cannot and will not move people around to different battlefields. He does! But it does mean that when God places you on the battlefield somewhere, the other people around you on that battlefield depend upon you with their very lives. Don’t take that lightly. Don’t misuse or abuse or neglect that relationship. 

It is vital, not only to the health of the local body you are connected to, but to your own spiritual health as well.