27th September 2009 (Trinity 16)
James 5:13-20
James ends his letter with teaching about restoring people to emotional, physical and spiritual health.
Emotional health involves open lines of communication with God. ‘Trouble’ in v.13 covers a wide range of issues, which we need to talk to God about. (Paul gives more details in Philippians 4:6.) Happiness (v.14) can be present in good times and in bad (in Acts 27:25 Paul tells his shipmates to cheer up – same word – only the ship will be wrecked!); the proper reaction is to praise God.
Physical health also involves prayer – only this time James tells us to involve the church through its representatives (the ‘elders’ – James assumes there will be several of them). The sick person is to call the elders to come and pray over him or her and anoint them with oil in the name of Jesus. Notice the following:
1) Physical presence.
Whilst God can heal at a distance (Jesus did that several times) in
general healing in the New Testament took place through personal
contact. The elders had to be asked to come and visit the sick person.
2) Prayer. The elders were to ask God to heal the person, even though God already knew about the need.
3) Faith. The elders were to believe that God would heal the person in answer to their prayers. Note that James does not tell the sick person to pray in faith. Nor does he expect the elders to have gifts of healing – they represent the church, and the church has a gift of healing (which is often exercised through individuals who have healing ministries).
2) Prayer. The elders were to ask God to heal the person, even though God already knew about the need.
3) Faith. The elders were to believe that God would heal the person in answer to their prayers. Note that James does not tell the sick person to pray in faith. Nor does he expect the elders to have gifts of healing – they represent the church, and the church has a gift of healing (which is often exercised through individuals who have healing ministries).
4) Oil.
In those days oil was used as a cosmetic, as a sign of honour, as a
medicine, and as a sign of wholeness. It acted as a non-verbal prayer
which stayed on the sufferer for a little while.
5)
The Lord. Jesus was central to the whole process. The prayer and
anointing were done in his name, by the elders consciously acting as
his representatives. It was he who did the healing – not the
prayer nor the oil nor the faith.
Physical healing may also involve forgiveness. Sickness is not always a punishment for sin, but true healing always involves wholeness, and wholeness always involves the spiritual side of our natures, and therefore wholeness involves being right with God. If we as Christians are seeking healing, it is a good time to ensure that there are no issues between us and God by bringing any dark areas of our lives into the light. We need to confess any sin to God; James makes the point that it is also helpful to us to confess in front of trusted Christian leaders who are there to pray for us.
Prayer works! Not because of our spirituality, but because prayer is a request to Almighty God. He is the one who works! And while he can hear everyone’s prayers, he has promised to attend to the requests of those who are right with him. Elijah was an amazing example.
Finally, spiritual health also may involve rescue. A wanderer who returns to God avoids a load of evil! If we can help them, let’s attempt to do so.
Questions:
1) How would you try to help someone who doesn’t believe God can help them? Or that he doesn’t want to help them?
2) Is this passage relevant to us today?