When you are up against it, when you are facing things that you never thought you would face, when your life is not working according to your plan, where do you run? What do you do? When things are going very well, when you are tasting God's blessing, when you are very aware of the good things that you have been given, where do you run? What do you do? Well, we're about at the end of this letter from James. I must confess I'm a bit sad. James has done a wonderful job of painting for us a portrait of the messiness of the life of faith in a fallen world - struggles of trial, struggles of temptation, struggles of anger and conflict, struggles of partiality, the struggle of faith and works, struggles of wisdom, struggles of conflict.
Where Do You Run?
And yet, I am deeply persuaded that with all the helpfulness of that and all the reality that all of us can relate to all of those struggles because they are present in all of our lives, perhaps the thing that James ends with here is the most important perspective that you could ever carry as you struggle to live a life of faith in this fallen world. Remember what James has done; he has invited us to consider an entirely new paradigm for living. No longer is my life shaped by the small kingdom agenda of my wants, my needs, and my feelings.
God invites me to be part of the big sky agenda of the Kingdom of God. And James is very honest about the struggle of that life, about what the walk of faith looks like at the street level where all of us live. We don't always welcome trial with joy, in case you hadn't figured that out. We point the finger when we sin outside of ourselves, hard to imagine that our sin is caused by something that goes on inside of us. In moments of conflict, we're convinced that it's not us. We often think we're wiser than we are.
We act like we're more sovereign then we will ever be. And so there's a way in which the portrait that James paints is a portrait of all of us, it's a portrait of all of our struggles, and yet James would end with something that is radical and important. In talking to us about prayer, James calls us to remember something that's very, very important to remember. In all of these struggles and all of the messiness of seeking to live the life of faith in this broken world, it is vital to remember day after day, after day, again, and again, and again, that God is with you and God is for you.
Prayer does that! Let me read this passage again for you: Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing praise. Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer of faith will save the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed.
The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working. Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, 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 heaven gave rain, and the earth bore its fruit. (ESV) Where does James start when he says, "Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray"? Here it is: God invites you to seek His help in your moment of trouble. It's an amazing thing, prayer is. Think about what prayer is about.
When you pray, you recognize the sovereignty of God. When you pray, you recognize the presence of God. When you pray, you recognize the power of God. When you pray, you recognize the love and mercy and grace of God. Hear this, "When you pray, you are not only seeking God's help, you are warring for your own soul." Prayer is spiritual warfare because in that moment of trouble, what are all of us tempted to think? Perhaps God's not in control of this world. Perhaps God doesn't have power. Perhaps God is not near.
Perhaps God does not care. All of us have revisited the promises of God. All of us have wondered about His nearness. All of us have questioned His sovereignty. All of us have doubted His power, and prayer invites us again to embrace what God has said about Himself, to believe it's actually true and to seek His help. I am persuaded of this, that perhaps there is no more radical act in the Christian faith than prayer; to take your life, to take your struggle, to take your most precious things, to take your most difficult things and to place them in the hands of Someone you can't see, and you can't hear, you can't touch, you can't feel; it's an act so radical it can hardly be described.
Living My Theology
It's then that I live my theology. It's then that I say, "Life is greater than what I can measure, and what I can quantify, and what I can hear, and what I can understand. It's there that you and I set ourselves apart from the rest of humanity, who believes if you can't touch it, if you can't hear it, if you can't see it, it's not real. Prayer invites you to embrace the reality of the existence of God and rest. I wish I could say that that is easy for me. I wish I could say in those dark moments of my life that I, immediately, this is my first instinct.
I wish I could say that I was a better prayer than a grumbler. I wish I could say that I've never wondered what it would be like if I were ruling the world. Shocking thought that; pray that that never happens. And this is an invitation by a God of grace to embrace the reality of His existence, the reality of His rule, the reality of His power, the reality of His grace. Brothers and sisters, to act like those things are real and to believe that there's something in this universe more ultimate than anything my natural senses can embrace, and that ultimate thing is the Lord of glory and power and grace.
I would ask you tonight, "Do you believe Him?" What a sweet way for James to end this epistle. Because, I don't know about you, I found James to be a bit violent. I felt in ways worked over. I felt again and again the height of the call of this life of faith in this broken world. I need the reminder that God is present; He is near, and He's a God of powerful, transforming grace. Do you live like you believe that? Have you received that welcome? Or, do you pray, but take up your life once again, take it back, hold it in your hands, turn it over again, growing more anxious with every determination?
In all of your examination, it won't all ever make sense to you. That's where rest is found, not in my understanding; rest is found in placing myself in the hands of a person that I really do believe exists; I believe; I believe; I believe. James says then, "Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing praise." Why run to God when you're happy? Why run to God when you're in a moment of joy, delight, celebration? Well once again, you're recognizing things in doing that that are important to recognize. Think about this.
If this world is as broken as Scripture describes it to be, if the reality of the fall has literally altered everything that exists so there's a way in which nothing perfectly operates in the way that it was intended, if in fact this world, this entire world, is groaning, waiting for redemption. And, if it is in fact a fact that all of us, every human being, is a flawed human being because sin in some way has damaged every aspect of my personhood, and if all of us are bumping around together, broken people that we are, and we're bumping around in this fallen world, how in the world does anything ever good happen?
You would argue that this should be an utterly horrific place to live. And yet, all of us experience joys. All of us experience wonderful things. All of us experience things that have come to us that we could've never planned, we could've never controlled. Hear this truth, "If ever in this fallen world you have a reason to be cheerful, you are experiencing the grace of God." It's God that withholds that sin so it doesn't reach its full expression. It's God who provides for us. It's God who protects us.
God Defends Us From Us
It's God who defends us from us. It's God who holds His world together in a level of unity and harmony that should not be possible given the brokenness of the world. Now, you have to wonder when you drive the streets of Philadelphia and all the traffic, why all of these self-oriented sinners don't just break all the laws all at once? Grace of God! And there are arguments after arguments all around us, that when we are experiencing good things, it is right to sing hymns of praise because those good things come from the hand of God.
James is just reminding us of what he said earlier in this letter, "Every good and perfect gift comes from above." Hear this, "There is never a day when we don't experience that restraining Grace in ways that make our lives livable and easier and doable. Why? There's only one reason. We don't deserve any of that. There's only one reason; our God is a God of amazing Grace, and He graces you every day! Our problem is we don't see it. Now think of what James has done. He's depicted that bi-factorial struggle of the Christian experience; that sadness that all of us face as we live in the struggles of life in a broken world and that celebration that all of us can be part of as we recognize God's grace.
And we only can exist in the middle of sadness, and we only have reason to celebrate because of the existence of God. Listen, here's what James is doing. He's calling us away from subtle naturalism and materialism and some kind of mechanical view of this world we live in. James is inviting you to radically embrace the existence of your God. But not only does God welcome us to come to Him in trouble and invite us to seek Him, and praise Him, and sing to Him when we have reason to celebrate, God in His grace, has provided for us resources of help.
Look at what's said next: Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer of faith will save the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. (ESV) God has given us resources of help in His church. Hear me say this, "Your walk with God is a community project."
We have to reject the privatized 'Jesus and me religion' of Western culture, where we prize our individualism, where we prize our privacy. You were not hardwired to do this by yourself. This is a community faith, and God incarnates His love in resources that He has given us. We're not meant to attempt to do this by ourselves. First, James would point to the resources of the elders of the church of Jesus Christ. God has qualified and set apart a leadership for His church, and those leaders are commissioned with providing pastoral care for the body of Christ; what a wonderful thing that is, that God has established a way for there to be physical, visible care for me.
How sweet that is. And that care pictures the care that God has for me in a real way; it puts flesh and blood on the care that God has for me. If you look at the words here, the words sort of point to the reality that this is probably a fairly serious sickness. The elders are coming to that person there. They're praying over him; it has that kind of flavor. But God has ordained care, and I would ask you in those moments of serious difficulty and in the situation of sickness, are you seeking the help that God has established for you in His church?
The presence of elders in the body of Christ is a sure sign of God's love for you. It says here that the elders come anointing that person with oil. There's, in case you wondered, no magic in the oil, as there is no magic in the waters of baptism. The oil is a visible sign of the healing power of God, of the blessing of God. God gives us visible pictures to encourage our faith. What a sweet picture that God provides these resources of help so we would not fall into thinking that we are in these things by ourselves.
The Care of God's Leaders
God makes His care known by the care of His leaders that He has set up, who stand over us, who anoint us, who touch us with their hands, and in so doing, picture the love that God has for us. It says here, "And the prayer of faith will save the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up." God wants us to take advantage of this pastoral care with confidence. He says, "The prayer of faith will save the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up." Now, James isn't saying that this is sort of a mechanical vending machine where you put your prayer quarters and you automatically get a response, because a true prayer of faith surely does embrace the sovereignty of God.
Well, James wants us to know that prayer means something, that God does hear, and God does answer. It's not just a vacuous, religious exercise. It's not a theistic mind game. There is a God who hears and a God who answers. James goes on and says, "If he has committed sins, he will be forgiven." Think about what is being said here - that God hears intercessory prayers, and as a result, forgives sin. It reminds you of Abraham negotiating with God for the souls in Sodom, reminds you of Jesus praying for forgiveness of the people who were putting Him to death.
God hears those prayers; He answers. He's given us resources of help. And then verse 16 says, "Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed." James points us to another resource; it's the resource of the body of Christ, brothers and sisters in the Lord. If you look at the Pauline epistles, this is all over the teaching of Paul. Paul says that the body of Christ reaches full maturity in Christ as every joint and ligament does its part. Brothers and sisters, it's not just the elders that God has raised up to incarnate His love; it is literally every member of the body of Christ; it's meant to be part of what God is doing in the lives of every member of the body of Christ.
This church should not be just a place where you can find formal ministry. This church should be a place that is itself an organic ministering community. Now, James is not talking about indiscriminate confession. That would neither be helpful nor a glory to God. But brothers and sisters, I would exhort you with this - we must step out of the privacy of Western culture. We must reject the lifestyle where we are quite good at putting forth a public persona that is the only thing that people know of us, that denies the reality of the struggle of our lives.
We need one another's help, and it's appropriate to share in a proper way with a brother and sister in Christ, a struggle to seek their wisdom, to seek their prayer, to seek their accountability. I would ask you this evening, "Who knows you? No, who really knows you? No, I mean really knows you?" And again I say unto you, "Who knows you?" I don't mean that this husband's attached to this wife, and these kids belong to them and sort of the distant contours of your life. Who knows you? Who can intrude into your life with wisdom and prayer?
I think what James is pointing to is this kind of community, intensely intrusive, Christ centered, grace driven, redemptive community, where I've invited you to intrude in on my life; I'm afraid of that privacy; I'm afraid of the way that I am so good at deceiving me. And I want you to be part of my life, and I know, I know that I need your prayer. I would ask you this evening, "Are you living that lifestyle?" Is there humility of approachability in your life? Or, are you living smack dab in the middle of one of God's sweetest resources without ever taking advantage of what He's designed it to be.
The Prayer of a Righteous Person
And then James ends with a wonderful reminder: The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working. Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, 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 heaven gave rain, and the earth bore its fruit. (ESV) Now, when you hear the word of 'Elijah,' you hear the name 'Elijah,' what do you think? Great prophet! Amazing prophet! The things that Elijah accomplished and experienced were just amazing.
Here's the temptation, God answered Elijah, "Well, I'm no Elijah." It doesn't seem too comforting until you pay attention to the words, and it says this, "Elijah was a man with a nature like ours." I would invite you to just read a little bit about the life of this man; this was a real man. There were moments when Elijah demonstrated great courage. There were other moments when he panicked and ran for his life. There are moments when it seemed like Elijah believed that God could do absolutely anything.
There are other moments where this man is in a suicidal depression, telling God, "If you really loved him, he'd take his life." Now I love the range of Elijah's life because I can find me in there someplace. Because somewhere between great faith and suicidal depression, we all happen to live, right? This man is like us. Listen, the power in Elijah's life was not Elijah. The power in Elijah's life was God; that's the lesson. And when I come to God in faith, amazing things will happen. There's great comfort in these words.
God treats all of His children the same because all of us, all of our lives, depict the struggle of faith; and all of our lives are empirical evidence for the need of the grace of God. And the power that Elijah experienced is the power of God, and that power is available to everyone in this room. You can't think about prayer without thinking about Jesus. Prayer is an argument for Jesus. It was the life of Jesus, that perfect life of obedience, the death of Jesus where he took our sins on Himself, the resurrection of Jesus where He conquered sin and death and gifted us with life.
That is the reason, the only reason that we can receive this invitation from our God to come to Him in prayer. He welcomes us because of Jesus. Jesus is the door of entry to the presence of God. Have you trusted Jesus? Do you trust in Jesus? And does your trust in Jesus propel you to seek God in your time of trouble, in your time of celebration? I would ask you again this evening, "Do you pray; do you really pray? Do you live that radical life where you believe that there really is a God of sovereignty, and power, and love, and grace, who is near His people, who cares about Him, and who will never turn a deaf ear to their cry?
Are you taking advantage of the resources that He has placed in your life?" Your walk with God is a community project. Your God has come to make community with you. He has placed you in the community of His church so that you would seek and find the help that only He can give. Let's Pray: Lord, how radical and amazing it is to believe that the Creator and Controller of all that is has invited us into His presence, who cares for us, who listens to us, who responds to us. And we would recognize that we don't deserve any of that; that all of that is an argument for the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Lord, help us not to live naturalistic, mechanical lives. Help us not to buy into the individualism and privatism of Western culture. May we receive Your invitation; may we celebrate Your welcome, and may we avail ourselves of the resources that You've given us. In Jesus's name, Amen.
