New York. That’s where I was last week Rochester New York. I know there is a Rochester Indiana. And probably Rochester a lot of places. A quick internet search shows that we are surrounded with states that have a Rochester in them. We can probably assume even further out, but I’m not that interested in finding out. The point is I told everyone who reads this that last weekend I was in Rochester instead of in my pulpit in Fort Wayne Indiana. But I didn’t say where. A few read on to see that I flew there, so they assumed it wasn’t Indiana. But they didn’t know. And they wondered.
My bad. I should have given more information. I could have said no one asked, but that’s a little disingenuous. I was asking for prayer. I should have been more specific. Should have trusted, should have shared, should have informed. OK, it seems a minor point, but it might be revealing of a deeper issue. We’re afraid to share too much information about ourselves, our lives, our hearts, our hurts and our joys. We’re afraid, or hesitant for lots of reasons - we think no one cares, or that someone will take advantage of us, or that we will be seen as weak, or we just don’t wanna. Who knows what the reasons are. We are private people. We keep to ourselves. Faith is personal, we believe, just between me and God. Never mind the constant scriptural witness that tells us faith is a public, community, shared experience. Our culture tells us to keep it to ourselves. To go it alone, to bear our own burdens, to keep quiet.
It’s a seductive call, this desire to go it alone. Self-sufficient, self-motivated, self-actualized; these are all valued in our culture, goals to be reached, traits to claim. They look good on a resume. Any of us can see this as the ultimate way to live, Dependent on no one, beholden to no one. And a certain amount of this self stuff is good. Don’t get me wrong. I’m proud of the independence of my children. They are growing into adults who are complete and content in and of themselves. But I also pray that they know they need others, need me and their mom, need friends and loved ones, need a community of faith. And above and beyond it all, they need the indwelling Spirit of God without whom they will always be searching, be incomplete.
What if, just supposing, what if we all knew that our health and well-being was wrapped up in the health and well-being of every other child of God? That might change our attitudes toward health care, not to mention intercessory prayer. Or actually, to mention intercessory prayer. That’s what we’re about this series, mentioning prayer. And it is what James is about in our text for today.
James 5:13-18 Are any among you suffering? They should pray. Are any cheerful? They should sing songs of praise. 14 Are any among you sick? They should call for the elders of the church and have them pray over them, anointing them with oil in the name of the Lord. 15 The prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise them up; and anyone who has committed sins will be forgiven. 16 Therefore confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another, so that you may be healed. The prayer of the righteous is powerful and effective. 17 Elijah was a human being like us, and he prayed fervently that it might not rain, and for three years and six months it did not rain on the earth. 18 Then he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain and the earth yielded its harvest.
James. The Epistle of Straw. Luther called it that. He was upset about the fact that James wanted followers to do something. He was light on just believing, Luther thought, seemed to imply that salvation was based on what you did and not on the grace that comes through faith in the resurrected Christ. Works righteousness, that’s what Luther thought, and others who frown at James seemed to think. I think he was wrong. I know, who am I? Luther launched a reformation that changed the face of the Christian world. Who am I to challenge him? Well, it’s not just me. I’m nobody. But we, the community of faith we, are somebody.
What I think they were wrong about is simple. The accusation that James claimed that salvation is based on works is not a careful reading of the text. In fact, I think James would say the opposite of that. He would argue that our works are based on our salvation. See what I did there? His argument is that if our faith hasn’t made a difference in how we live our lives then do we really have it? Do we really understand it? Has it seeped into every corner of our being and now we walk with a skip in our step, we greet the world with a smile on our face, we offer a hand with a hope of a better tomorrow. We are called to live optimistically. Called to trust that the tomorrow God has in store is better than the todays that the world can offer. And because we hope, we are able to pray.
That’s how James ends his whole letter, with a call to prayer. But there are some fascinating statements in these verses that we sometimes slide over. Verse thirteen simply says pray always. Whatever our circumstance we should offer it up to God. Bad stuff? Lift it up to God. Good stuff? Lift it up to God. It’s just a given of the life of faith. We include God in our conversations. We seek God’s help, we give God thanks. It is just who we are. I can almost hear the “duh” at the end of verse thirteen.
The next verse gets a little more specific. Are any sick? They should call for prayer. They should call. We don’t want to impose. We don’t want people to know our business, our weaknesses. If someone stumbles on my hurt, then ok, go ahead and pray, but don’t let anyone else know. James envisions a different kind of church. One where we demand prayers from the community. Call folks, say get over here and pray for me!
In that culture the sick were to be avoided. Jesus scandalized even his own followers by embracing a leper. The sick are akin to outcast, until they can prove they are well again. But James says, no the sick have authority. The authority to call on the church to come and pray. To lay hands on, to anoint with oil - you can’t do that over the phone. You can’t do that from across the room. They should call the elders of the church, the leaders who should be leading by example, the leaders who show the whole church how it ought to be done. This isn’t just the prayer team, this is everyone, it’s the kind of community we should be. Don’t be sick alone, call the church.
Why? Because verse fifteen. The prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise them up; and anyone who has committed sins will be forgiven. Wow. That verse has a lot in it. But not what we might assume is in it. First of all some have seen an implied connection between sickness and sin. While that was a common belief at the time, we know that it isn’t necessarily the case. Illnesses have many points of origin, a lot of which are accidental. But the verse points out that they have a similar effect, both illness and sinfulness separate the community and there needs to be reconciliation. That’s the connection, not a cause an effect.
The trickier point, however, is the implication that if the prayer is faithful enough then the sick person will get well again. But if you look closely, it doesn’t say that. The prayer of faith can save the sick. Sozo in Greek, sometimes means physical wellness, but also means spiritual well-being. Save the sick. We save someone who is ill by including them, by remembering them, by telling them they matter to us and they matter to God. Our prayers save them and remind them and us that God will raise them. Maybe off the sick bed, maybe from the grave, raising is raising. It isn’t what we want, many times, but it is the promise.
But the part that caught my eye the most is what follows. Not the Elijah part, which simply says “See? Prayer works in amazing ways!” But the second person part. The passage begins in third person - they and them. In verse sixteen it become personal. You! Confess your sins to one another, pray for one another, so that you may be healed. You may be healed. But I’m not sick! But someone is, someone in the community is sick, is in need of your prayer. And you are not whole, you are not well, not healed as long as any are sick. My wellness is wrapped up in yours. Your wholeness is wrapped up in mine. As long as there are sinners to redeem and the sick to be made well, we are not healed. So it is in my interest to know your need, and in your interest to know mine.
Righteous means faithful to relationships. We pray righteously when we remember we belong to others, when we remember that our well being is dependent upon those for whom we pray. We are righteous in our prayers when we praise God first, lift up others second and confess our sinfulness and need for a savior last. That kind of praying is powerful and effective. In whichever Rochester you find yourself.
Shalom,
Derek
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