Church in Action
The Church in Action[1]
James 5: 13-20
13 Is any one of you in trouble? He should pray. Is anyone happy? Let him sing songs of praise. 14 Is 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. 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. 16 Therefore 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.
17 Elijah 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. 18 Again he prayed, and the heavens gave rain, and the earth produced its crops.
19 My brothers, if one of you should wander from the truth and someone should bring him back, 20 remember this: Whoever turns a sinner from the error of his way will save him from death and cover over a multitude of sins.
The Letter of James has always been controversial. Famously Luther had no time for it – and down through the ages many have found its intensely practical teaching either awkward or odd.
As the letter closes James touches on at least two difficult issues – the anointing with oil for the sick, and the “covering of a multitude of sins”. Personally I do not find the idea of anointing difficult – and it seems to me that James closes his letter with encouragement to bringing sinners back to the Lord.
What these closing verses do offer is an interesting picture of the CHURCH IN ACTION.
Clearly James has much to say about PRAYER – so that is a mark of the Church in Action. James also shows us how the spiritual family that is the Church meets the varying needs of its people.
He says nothing explicitly about OUTSIDERS.
We ask two questions:
Who are the Church?
What do they do?
And suddenly the letter ends – almost as if the writer were interrupted. There is no benediction or grace – yet it ends with this picture of a great hope, and a great ministry.
Who are the Church?
(a) Ordinary people – like Elijah
Oh – you say – ordinary – Elijah? Yes – “Elijah was a man just like us!”
(b) Righteous people
“The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective” v16
Not by effort
Not by works
Not by unusual faith
But by the grace of God.
(c) People with changing situations
13 Is any one of you in trouble? He should pray. Is anyone happy? Let him sing songs of praise. 14 Is any one of you sick?
19 My brothers, if one of you should wander from the truth and someone should bring him back,
V 13 in trouble…?
o Happy?
V14 sick?
V19 wandering from the truth
What a range of experiences
In trouble
Happy (=deeply content)
Weak/sick
Or
Wandering from the truth
His phrase “if one of you…” goes nicely with “just like us…”
But there are figures of authority too:
(d) Elders of the Church
He should call the elders of the church to pray over him and anoint him with oil in the name of the Lord.
So someone is in charge then.
This is a mark of the Church in Action that there are spiritual leaders who exercise a range of ministries
(e) People who sin
If he has sinned, he will be forgiven. 16 Therefore 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.
Whoever turns a sinner from the error of his way will save him from death and cover over a multitude of sins. (v20)
The Church is made up of REAL PEOPLE
People with strengths and weaknesses
People like Elijah
Those in trouble
Those who are happy
Those in physical need
Backsliders
Elders
Those who sin
&
Those who restore…
This is a MIXED BAG – but POWERFUL BY PRAYER.
What do they do?
(a) They pray
13 He should pray
14 call the elders of the church to pray over him
15 15 And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well;
16 pray for each other so that you may be healed.
17 Elijah was a man just like us. He prayed earnestly
18 18 Again he prayed,
(b) They turn their circumstances into opportunities
In trouble = pray
Happy = sing songs
Sick = call for the elders
TWO of these reactions are personal – one is special
(c) The elders exercise a special ministry
1. they are AVAILABLE to be called in (v14)
2. they minister in a way that is:-
SYMBOLIC oil
POWERFUL prayer
PERSONAL coming close into the circumstances
Like the Samaritan in Jesus’ story they “come where the man was..”
3. Their ministry is : IN THE NAME OF THE LORD
(d) The Church exercises a range of SHARING and CARING MINISTRIES
16 Therefore 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.
CONFESS & PRAY
A ministry of SPIRITUAL HEALING AND LISTENING
19 My brothers, if one of you should wander from the truth and someone should bring him back, 20 remember this: Whoever turns a sinner from the error of his way will save him from death and cover over a multitude of sins.
It is interesting that this is not a ministry delegated to the elders. Out of the general body of the family of believers comes this ministry of inestimable value
Saves from death
Covers a multitude of sins
What an illuminating picture of the early Church – and the modern Church
Ordinary people transformed by God’s grace
§ By obedience
§ By sharing
§ By caring
§ By bringing back & turning
And above all BY PRAYING
It exercises a RESTORING MINISTRY
Are these the marks of our individual spirituality?
Are these the marks of this fellowship of believers?
Are these the marks of the Church of Today?
The key is PRAYER.
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[1] Possibly alongside a brief resume of the parable of the Samaritan.