Being the Body in Times of Trial and Joy – Part 1

 James 5

Today’s passage is one of incredible hope and direction for the Body of Christ, if we simply take the time to see what it is really saying, if we let God show us how to do what it says to do, then if we are obedient in following through with what it says.

In it, we find promises of wholeness, both physically and spiritually, power, salvation and redemption, joy and power over our circumstances.

In order to really dig into it, we’re going to take it a verse at a time.  But as we do so, let’s remember this within the context of where we started last week.  To review:

·        There should never be fear that a body of believers is without a leader, because Christ is to be the head of the church – and that is what we are seeking here at NLWC – Jesus is the head of this body.

·        We are all parts of the body – each called to a specific role or function – each one essential and important, necessary to the overall health of the body.

·        Part of what grows us from a body of spiritual babes into a mature body of Christ is the desire to, the willingness to, the ability to, and the practice of Speaking the Truth (of the gospel of Christ) to one another in love.

·        We must be determined to do this if we are going to grow in unity and maturity as a Body of Christ.  To go forward, we must be prayerfully seeking God to check us personally about our speech – both about what we say about or to one another and about what we left unsaid.  We must make a conscious effort to do this in order to grow in spiritual maturity. 

        So, with that frame of reference, we move on to today’s message in James 5: 13- 20.

 13Is any one of you in trouble? He should pray. Is anyone happy? Let him sing songs of praise. 14Is any one of you sick? He should call the elders of the church to pray over him and anoint him with oil in the name of the Lord. 15And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise him up. If he has sinned, he will be forgiven. 16Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.

 17Elijah was a man just like us. He prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the land for three and a half years. 18Again he prayed, and the heavens gave rain, and the earth produced its crops. 19My brothers, if one of you should wander from the truth and someone should bring him back, 20remember this: Whoever turns a sinner from the error of his way will save him from death and cover over a multitude of sins.

Kakopatheo which means to suffer (endure) evils (hardships, troubles).  It can be interpreted as what we would call “under attack” or what the world would call “between a rock and a hard place.”  It implies circumstances beyond our control, not necessarily brought on by our own actions, but in need of help of some kind.

When the answer to that question is “yes,” James says what we should then do is pray.  That means this is what I am to do – what you are to do – what each of us is to do.

Sounds simple enough.  But think about it.  Sometimes when we are in “trouble,” instead of praying ourselves, we ask others to pray.  Now, James is not saying to never ask others to pray. But I think what he is saying is that when you are the one under attack, you are the one who needs to speak to God about it first.

We need to go to God and ask if we’ve brought this on ourselves.  We need to ask Him if there is anything we’ve done which has displeased Him.  We need to make sure we are right with Him – first and foremost.  Then, we need to ask Him to make the situation right. 

Think about this.  I need to lose weight.  I realize it.  I know I need to do something about it.  So, what do I do?  Usually, I just ignore it and pretend it doesn’t matter.  But eventually, when it is something which I cannot ignore any longer, I will start to whine and complain and maybe ask someone to agree with me in prayer about this.

Well, that’s not what I need to be doing.  First, James says, I need to go to God about it.  Obviously, in my case with the weight, I need to repent.  I need to ask God to search my heart and show me what drives me to respond in sinful actions of overeating instead of turning to Him.  I need to ask Him to help me. 

And I also need to take the forgiveness and freedom which comes from this conversation with God and apply it to the “spiritual battle” which is coming over my desire to be free of this.  God didn’t give this freedom to my neighbor to pray for me – He gave it to me to claim it and proclaim it to the enemy.

The second part of this verse – “Is anyone happy, let him sing songs of praise” helps us realize that by praising God, we are letting others realize that we know our happiness and joy is from God.

How often do we spend time letting those around us know of our afflictions?  Now, compare that with the times when we just simply let others know of our joy – our happiness – our praise.

So, to recap, verse 13 addresses each of us individually and shows us how we are to react in our circumstances of joy or affliction – what our role is.

In verse 14, James transitions us to what we are to do when we are in need physically or spiritually – in a weakened condition.  The word Astheneo means to be weak, feeble, to be without strength, powerless, to be weak in means, needy, poor, or to be feeble, sick.  It would make sense that this condition would be realized after a person had already done what we are told to do in verse 13. 

In other words, when I have a problem – physical, spiritual, financial, etc – and I have first gone to God and made sure that I’ve done what I need to do, then I need to go to the elders of the church and ask for their prayers and anointing.

Who are the elders of the church?  In this passage, it is clearly understood that it is the collective body of leaders – not just an elder or a few of the elders, but the elders of body.  In our case, that is the LBA. 

Now, we need to understand that God gives His authority to whomever He pleases, but He outlines in Scripture who the recipients of that authority are.  Here, James is showing that the power to pray over and anoint those who are in physical, financial or spiritual need is given to the elders of the church, collectively, acting together as a body of spiritual leaders.

In response to their prayers of faith, the person in need is “sozo-ed” or “saved, healed, delivered, protected, preserved and made whole.”

Think this through.  First, the person in need asks God to examine his or her own heart, to assure that the situation is not one which God desires to deal with them on their own.  Second, the person in need asks the elders of the church to come and pray over him/her – and to pray in faith and anoint them in faith for their wholeness.

This is a lot more complex than what we see happening – which may be why we are not seeing the answers to prayers that we want.

Now, I am not saying that we can’t continue to come to the altar and ask others or the pastor or whomever to pray with us.  I’m not saying we can’t stand in and ask for prayer for another person.  And I’m not saying that what we’ve been doing is wrong.

What I am saying is that this is what James is saying should happen.

As part of a body, when I am in need, I first go to God on my own.  When I am full of joy, I praise God out loud and let others know it.  And, when I am in need, it is my job to call upon the elders.

Now, by inference, the elders themselves are to be in the position of being “right with God.”  There should be no question there.  Those in this type of spiritual leadership should be praying earnestly for God to reveal any unrighteousness in them and to convict them of it and lead them to quick repentance.

Why?  Because then as an elder, you are always in a position to respond when someone in the body calls upon you. 

So, when you have a body member who has done what they need to do spiritually and a body of elders who has done what they need to do spiritually and you bring them together to pray and anoint the person in need, guess what? 

God is going to do something.  It says so right here in verse 15: And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise him up. If he has sinned, he will be forgiven.

Now, let’s be perfectly clear here.  It is not the prayers of the elders or the person who is in need which forgives the sins.  It is the prayer of faith in the shed blood of Jesus Christ which puts the person in the position spiritually for the redeeming work of that blood to be applied to the situation and consequently, healing happens and sins are forgiven.

“Sozo” is a work of God which happens in response to our faith in that shed blood of Christ.  It is not anything we work up, we earn, we are entitled to.  It is a gift of grace, freely given, gratefully received.

But it is all the preparatory work which we have done – the seeking God, responding to the voice of the Holy Spirit, the desire to be holy and righteous, the repentance and the living in freedom of grace – which God works through and uses to bring about healing and wholeness.

Now, there is still much more here to be examined, to look at, to live.

But, for the sake of time and the fact that there may be a work which God desires to do here today, we will stop at this point and finish this passage next week.

But, the application of this principle and the potential for what it might do in this body of believers is tremendous.  It is something which we need to finish exploring, then prayerfully begin doing. 

But, for today, let’s give the Spirit room to work.

If you have a need, take time now to take it to God.  Ask Him to examine you and deal with you accordingly.

If you have joy, feel free to praise God.

If you are an elder, please ask God to examine your heart and to do whatever – if anything – needs to be done so that you are in the position to pray for and anoint others.  But, also remember that your actions are in conjunction with the actions of others – you are not a Lone Ranger here, but rather part of a spiritual SWAT team – always ready, willing and able to go to the spiritual rescue of this body of believers.

The altar is open – and I do believe today God wants to do business with us.

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