"Let Them Pray"

 

"Is anyone among you in trouble? Let them pray. Is anyone happy? Let them sing songs of praise. Is anyone among you sick? Let them call the elders of the church to pray over them and anoint them with oil in the name of the Lord."

 

            The letter of James ends abruptly. There are no final greetings or a benediction as we are used to in Paul's letters. Instead James ends with a call to prayer and to the actions that come from prayer. Prayer always leads us to act.

            In a recent newsletter, Covenant missionary Andy Larsen writes, "This past month I've had the wonderful privilege of going deeper and wider in my walk with Christ. We must experience deeper communion with Christ while simultaneously reaching wider and farther in bearing witness to his love for the world."

            James has an interesting way of calling us to prayer. He says, "Is anyone among you in trouble? Let them pray." The New Living Translation may say it more accurately, "Those who are suffering should keep on praying." We go through times that are difficult and we do not give up; we should continue to pray through the hard days.

            Then he says "Is anyone happy? Let them sing songs of praise." Again, the New Living Translation says, "The happy should continually sing praises to the Lord." Here the word "happy" means those who live with a sense of contentment, a deep trust in God. Those should keep praying and singing praises, or Psalms, to the Lord.

            Then "Is anyone among you sick? Let them call the elders of the church to pray over them." There are times when you simply can't pray, when you do not have words. There are times when you need someone to pray for you. So he says, in those times, turn to the church. James is not here talking about someone with a gift of healing. He is saying that some of the leaders of the church, those who represent the church, should actually come and pray for the person and anoint them with oil. In the Old Testament kings were anointed with oil when they took office. The oil symbolized the presence of God's spirit upon them, and it was a way of setting them apart for special service. So prayer with anointing when someone is sick is a way of demonstrating the presence of God in that person's healing. God is with you and for you in this time. What is important to see is that when someone is facing a serious illness, it is not the responsibility of that person to pray, or pray more or have more faith. The church takes the burden, the responsibility of prayer, and prays for that person in need. The individual is relieved of the anxiety about whether I have enough faith, or whether God hears me, or whether I am praying in the right way. The church comes and prays.

            Our deacons have gathered around people a number of times of services of healing prayer, and we welcome every invitation to be used in that way. In praying for healing we always then look to see how God begins to work in that life. There are many parts to healing and many ways to experience healing. It is not always the way we expect or even desire.

            A friend of mine wrote about prayer, "Many times when we pray, we don't really ask God for anything. Our prayers seem more for our protection against disappointment, than petitions before an all powerful King."

            James calls us to the kind of praying where we actually ask God for what we need, and then we watch to see what happens next. Individual praying is vital and necessary in the Christian walk, but praying together with others, and especially allowing people to pray with you, so they can touch you, even put oil on you, that kind of praying leads you to experience the goodness of God. Sometimes when we try to do all our praying alone we become isolated and frustrated in our praying. But when we allow others to pray for our need, there is a special grace that we feel.

            Notice in the Gospel lesson from Luke how Jesus prayed. First he healed those who needed to be healed. Then, when he was aware of the hunger in the crowd, he took the bread and fish in faith and confidence in the goodness of God, and he gave thanks, and then broke it and distributed it by the apostles. You see how his praying built community. Jesus is always leading people to the goodness of God through prayer. And he is also touching people and including people in his praying.

            James concludes his letter by saying "you should pray." Then he says also that you should ask others to pray for you and especially to pray with you, so they can touch you. The prayer chain is a good thing. I am glad we have it. I do worry sometimes that it can be used to replace praying together. It can replace touch, the sense of the church gathered around you.

            At the missionary consecration services held at the Covenant Annual Meetings, I like the way they pray for the new missionaries. After they are installed, they are sent out into the congregation, spread out around the auditorium. Then the congregation is told to gather around each one, forming circles to lay hands on them and pray for them. I think that is a great way to be sent out into missionary service.

            James then goes on from prayer to talk about the actions that come from prayer. The first action is the confession of sin, and it comes from healing prayer. The state of our mind and spirit can influence the health of our physical body. Honesty about sin and the release of guilt that comes from confession can contribute to the healing process. Forgiveness and healing often go together. Not always, but often. So James calls us not just to pray for one another, but also to confess our sin to each other. Craig Blomberg writes, "Confession is not merely a mental activity as we talk to God in our individual prayer times, but also a corporate activity that involves the people we have hurt or offended."

            We live in a community where I sense people do not apologize to each other very much. These communities are pretty dedicated to upholding an image of perfection: We don't make mistakes, we pursue excellence. So confession of sin, which is deeper than apologizing, is risky, counter-cultural. But if we could build some safety around it, it would be very healing and freeing for us. Blomberg writes that "The Christian life should not be lived apart from community." We should seek to be in some accountability group, to have a mentor or a soul friend where we could confess our sin and experience true forgiveness and the lifting of fear.

            James says "pray for each other so that you may be healed." I know as we move into a new season of the year, that I want to pray more diligently for our church and seek in prayer how we might be more deeply healed. In the last few years in working with Natural Church Development, we have learned that a growing church is not always a healthy church, but healthy churches grow. We do not seem to be able to sustain growth and I often wonder why. I don't think we have really come to the bottom of that question yet. I think the health we desire needs to come from God, and to come in a deep way. "Pray for each other so that you may be healed."

            Then James closes the letter speaking about those who wander from the faith and those who seek them and bring them back. David Nystrom says that in the Old Testament, wandering or going astray was usually connected to idolatry, often the idolatry of the kings. Through the prophets we hear the heart of God for the lost, that God is the shepherd of Israel, the one who desires to restore the wayward people.

            Ezekiel 33:11: "As surely as I live, declares the Sovereign Lord, I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that they turn from their ways and live." This is a theme that Jesus picks up as the good shepherd. He seeks the lost sheep. Those who have a burden for seeking lost sinners are imitators of God. This is where James leaves us.

            James raises many issues in this letter that do not seem to have resolution. He talks about unjust and powerful people, about tongues that are not controlled, about fights and quarrels and internal desires. He speaks out against Christians who teach a different Gospel and do not listen to Jesus, about anger and temptation. It is all quite a stew. It is not easy to fix, or even understand. So this life we encounter leads us to pray, because we don't understand, and we can't fix it all. But prayer gives us the heart of God, and leads us to the response of the shepherd.

            Amen.