Are any among you suffering? They should pray. Are any cheerful? They should sing songs of praise. 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. The prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise them up; and anyone who has committed sins will be forgiven. 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. 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. Then he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain and the earth yielded its harvest.
Would you categorize yourself as a cynic? What about a victim? Ever fall into "victim" type thinking? The Gentile world in which Paul traveled, establishing churches and developing disciples for Christ, was shaped by Greek and Roman gods and philosophies. Life happened ... at the whims of the "gods". It was fate ... no room for hope. The Jewish world at the time connected all sickness and suffering with sin. You've done something against God and were suffering or sick because of it. Jesus refuted that mentality in John 9 after healing a blind man.
James steps into the pages of history with a different message for us ... for believers in Christ. He offers hope.
In this passage we are given instruction ... PRAY.
In times of trouble ... pray
In times of blessing ... pray (and sing songs of praise!)
In times of sickness ... pray
In times of sin ... pray
The vital message from James is that through whatever circumstances we must navigate ... we must keep our hearts connected to the heart of God. And that is what prayer does.
Beth Moore writes: "We can decide that we're mostly powerless down here on planet Earth and that God is going to do what God is going to do, no matter what. We can default into the mentality of pawns and puppets and resolve that our only real decision is whose victim we're going to be."Sounds very similar to Greek philosophy, doesn't it.
There is a white elephant in the room (or on the page!) ... and that elephant is: "But I prayed, fervently ... our entire church prayed, fervently ... and the loved one died ... he/she was not healed." I wish I knew how to respond to that. I have participated in my own times of prayer that seemed to fall unanswered on the floor. But even with the confusion ... even with the lack of understanding ... none of it negates James' wisdom or Christ's, for that matter ... as God-followers ... we are to pray ... fervently, in faith, believing. And then we must TRUST the hand of our sovereign, good God.
There are two readings that I want to share with you today ... in this context.
Sue Monk Kidd, in her book, When the Heart Waits: Spiritual Direction for Life's Sacred Questions, writes of an experience she had once while on a spiritual retreat:
One day after morning prayers, I walked to the edge of the pond and sat on the grass. I listened to the wind sigh over the water and tried to be still, to simply be there and wait in the moment. But almost instantly my inner chaos rose up. The need to keep moving, to act, to solve everything overpowered me. I got to my feet.
As I returned to the guest quarter, I noticed a monk, ski cap pulled over his ears, sitting perfectly still beneath a tree. There was such reverence in his silhouette, such tranquil sturdiness, that I paused to watch. He was the picture of waiting.
Later I sought him out. "I saw you sitting beneath the tree - just sitting there so still. How is it that you can wait so patiently in the moment? I can't seem to get used to the idea of doing nothing."
He broke into a wonderful grin, "Well, there's the problem right there, young lady. You've bought into the cultural myth that when you're waiting you're doing nothing."
Then he took his hands and placed them on my shoulders, peered straight into my eyes and said, "I hope that you'll hear what I'm about to tell you. I hope you'll hear it all the way down to your toes. When you're waiting, you're not doing nothing. You're doing the most important something there is. You're allowing your soul to grow up. If you can't be still and wait, you can't become what God created you to be."
The second reading for you today is from the pen of Hannah More (1745 - 1833). In the 1780s she became active in the campaign to end the slave trade in England, working with John Newton and William Wilberforce. She suffered from asthma and bronchitis. She said:
Affliction is the school in which great virtues are acquired and in which great characters are formed. It is like a spiritual gymnasium in which the disciples of Christ are trained in robust exercise, hardy exertion and severe conflict.
We do not hear of military heroes in peacetime, nor of the most distinguished saints in the quiet and unmolested periods of church history. The courage in the warrior and the devotion in the saint continue to survive, ready to be brought into action when perils beset the country or trials assail the Church, but it must be admitted that in long periods of inaction both are susceptible to decay.
Are you in a time of struggle right now? Are you suffering? My friend, pray.
Are you in a season of peace right now? Do blessings seem to be pouring all over you? Sing for joy and pray prayers of thanksgiving to Jehovah God.
Are you sick? Do you struggle with a chronic illness that plagues you? Remember, so did Paul. Pray. Ask your elders to pray over you. Ask them to anoint you with oil and pray.
Then ... in peace of heart ... rest in the arms of your compassionate and merciful God.
Our Father who art in heaven ... we give you our heart concerns today. And through Your Spirit ... we will wait for Your healing touch.
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