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Good morning!
It is good to be here with you today!
Last week we spent our time looking at James 5:12
As we discussed last week, there is a lot in this verse.
James isn’t talking about swearing in the sense of using foul language.
He is talking about the integrity of our words.
There was and still is a tendency to make “promises” that you really don’t intend to keep.
They are said out of obligation or perhaps a light desire, but we know that there is little chance that it will actually happen.
We have all certainly been on the receiving end of one of these kinds of “promises.”
James’ challenge and request to the church is that everything we say would stand with such integrity that there is no need to qualify it.
The point of swearing an oath in biblical times was to convey the seriousness with which a person was making the commitment.
James is saying that as the church, as followers of Christ, our words should carry that same seriousness, that same weight with no need of a qualifier.
A person of True Faith says what they mean, and they mean what they say.
Their words can be counted on.
This is our goal as followers of Christ, that those around us could know that we can be trusted with everything we say.
James then moves into the next section, but we don’t see the “dear brothers and sisters” denoting a change of thought.
This next teaching flows on from verse twelve.
I find this to be very interesting, and I’ll explain why after we read it.
Look at James 5:13-18 with me.
When Bethany was diagnosed with cancer years ago, my boss, Steve, said something to me that I will never forget.
He said, “from this moment on, when someone ask you to pray for them, you will.”
What he said immediately hit me right in the chest.
He had identified something that all of us are guilty of doing.
We find out that someone is sick and out of politeness we say what?
“I’ll pray for you,” but we don’t.
Just like we talked about last week, we have good intentions, but then life moves on, and we forget.
Now, don’t raise your hands, but are you guilty of doing that?
I know I certainly was.
But Steve was right; because of Bethany’s illness, I look at prayer for healing much differently.
The authenticity and integrity of a follower of Christ are foundational to the ministry of God.
Again, we are His representatives in and to the world.
If you tell a person that you will pray and then you don’t, it communicates to that person that they have little or no value to you.
Because you are God’s representative, they will associate that same value as if it were coming from God Himself.
I have a novel idea for us all.
How about when someone asks us for prayer, we just pray with them right then?
More than likely, that is what they wanted anyway.
As we are about to see, you praying for them is part of God’s plan for the world to see who He is.
And your prayers for them could play a significant role in their healing.
In the first several passages, James identifies three different prayers, and they are all significant.
When most people read this passage, they navigate to verse 14 and focus in on the prayer of the elders and anointing with oil.
We should not do this because that is only one of the three.
Look at this with me again, and let’s identify these three different prayers.
These three will be our main focus today, and then we will finish up by talking about what makes our prayers effective.
Praying for yourself, prayer of the Elders, and prayer of others.
I also want to say that these aren’t an either/or situation.
You can do any combination.
1. Praying for yourself.
Yesterday when I was talking with Pastor Juan Jose, he said that often, in the Latin churches, people will get mad and leave the church because the pastor didn’t come pray for them.
But they didn't tell the pastor they were sick.
Unfortunately, that is not unique to the Latin churches, because I know from personal experience it happens in American churches as well.
James addresses the importance of Elders praying, but it does not outweigh the other two.
This is why it is important for us to look at all of what James is saying.
Start by praying for yourself.
We often talk about how important it is that we all have our own personal relationship with God.
This is yet another reason why.
If you are sick, begin by talking with God about that sickness.
Pray for yourself.
In verse 13 James is encouraging the church to express their feelings, joys, and concerns towards God.
You can also ask the Elders for prayer.
2. Prayer of the Elders.
To pull back in JJ’s example, it says right there that they should call the elders.
We aren’t mind readers.
lol
There are several things that I want to point out about verse 14.
First, the Elders do not possess any special power of healing that anyone else does not.
The elders of the church are appointed as God as the under-shepherds of the church.
We work under Jesus, who did lots of healing, but I would remind you that Jesus said that He does nothing on His own but only what The Father does.
The same is true for elders, we only do what the father does, AND God is the one doing the healing.
Often you will see people quote 1 Cor 12:9
They will say that this is one of the gifts of the Spirit, but what they fail to see is that the word gifts is plural.
No one gets THE gift of healing, but rather, the Spirit gives the gifts of healing as He wills.
It isn’t like one person per church has the power of healing, and no one else does.
Rather, the Holy Spirit heals people as He wills.
Secondly, James says that the Elders are to “pray over him.”
This specification is believed to be speaking about praying, literally over, someone who is sick in bed, or it could be referring to the laying on of hands.
Most likely, James is talking about people that are not able to come to the church meeting due to their sickness, and therefore they should call for the elders to come and pray for them.
Thirdly, James says that we should “anoint him with oil in the name of the Lord.”
This is where people jump to and then ask, what is that?
Let’s talk about it.
This phrase is a subordinate clause which means it forms part of the main clause and is dependent on it.
What is the main clause?
“They are to pray over him.”
The anointing with oil is not an action that is separate from praying over someone.
If you go back and look historically, oil was often used for medicinal, hygienic, and cosmetic purposes.
The story of the good Samaritan from Luke is a good example of medicinal use.
It was also used for hygienic or cosmetic uses.
Obviously, these last three passages, which there are many more, aren’t using oil for physical healing.
So what is James referring to?
Consider the example set before James.
He saw Jesus physically heal many people, and it makes the most sense that this is what he would be talking about.
However, it isn’t the oil that is doing the work of the healing.
James says in verse fifteen that the prayer of faith will raise the person up.
So if the oil isn’t doing the healing, what is the point?
If we look back at the old testament and the use of oil for anointing, we will find that it was used ceremoniously.
Anointing frequently symbolizes the consecration of persons or things for God’s use and service in the OT.
Typical is Exod.
28:41: “After you put these clothes on your brother Aaron and his sons, anoint and ordain them.
Consecrate them so they may serve me as priests.”
The same usage is continued and expanded in the NT, where anointing is often a metaphor for consecration to God’s service (Luke 4:18 [= Isa.
61:1]; Acts 4:27; 10:38; 2 Cor.
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