Sermon Tone Analysis

The Prayer of Faith

13 Is anyone among you suffering?

Let him pray.

Is anyone cheerful?

Let him sing praise.

14 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.

15 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.

When Jesus sent out the disciples they were told to preach and teach and (Mark 6:12).

"anoint with oil" those that were sick

James 5, verses 13 and following, tells early Christians that if any are sick they are to 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 sick man, 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 prayfor one another that you may be healed.

The prayer of a right-eous man has great power in its effects.

Olive oil had symbolic meaning for the Jews.

In the Old Testament it represented God's election.

The kings were anointed when they took office.

They knelt down and oil was placed on their heads to symbolize that God had chosen them to serve him and the people (1 Samuel 10:1, 15:1, 16:1-13,2 Kings

11:12).

The term Christ or Messiah meant " anointed one.'.

Jesus was one chosen by God to be his anointed one.

Psalm 23 says:"He anointeth my head with oil, my cup overflows" (v.

5).Oil also represented healing.

The story of the Good Samaritan tells of the Samaritan tending to the wounds of the victim along the road, pouring on oil.

(Luke 10:34) " Me service of anointing as shared by Christ was practiced by the Christian church until the eighth century and then lost.

It began to be observed only as last rites for the dead.

When Pope John XXIII threw open the windows of his Roman Catholic Church and Catholic scholars began to open the Scriptures in a new way, they became convinced that anointing as shared in the New Testament was not a service for the dead but a service for healing and life, and they began to recover that ancient practice.

Anointing Today

As practiced by Brethren, a person who is sick or who faces serious surgery may ask to be anointed.

A pastor or deacon or lay person may participate in the service.

On occasion anointing may be done at a public service, but usually the service is very personal and includes only close friends or the immediate family.

A scripture is read: Psalm 23 or Psalm 139 which says that God has made us and knows us better than we can know ourselves, or Romans 8:18-39 which reminds us that " in every-thing God works for good with those who love him, who are called according to his purpose," or the passage from James 5.

The person in charge may share what anointing means.

Those present may talk about experiences which they or others have had.

Opportunity is given for the one to be anointed to share any feelings.

Sometimes the question is asked, "Is there anything in your life that might prevent healing?

Are there concerns you have or fears or burdens that you carry or sins which you feel have not been forgiven?"

Sometimes the sick person asks everyone but the person in charge to leave the room and then shares a particular burden which has been carried within.

After this time of sharing, a few drops of olive oil are placed on the leader's hand.

With a few fingers dipped in the oil, the oil is then placed on the forehead of the one anointed.

The leader says, "I anoint you for the forgiveness of sin," placing the oil on the forehead, "For the increase of faith," placing oil again on the forehead, "And for the restoration of

health," " again placing oil on the forehead.

Then the leader and another person lay hands lightly on the

forehead and each offers a prayer.

The prayer lifts up the special needs of the person.

It may ask

that all that prevents healing be swept away.

It places the person's life fully in the hands of God, to trust God for healing and strength.

Toward Wholeness

The Greek word for "salvation" means wholeness.

To be saved is to be whole, healed, well.

Sometimes wholeness comes to a sick person's life even though that person may die physically.

But there is complete peace and acceptance within.

I shared one time in the anointing for a person who had been

a Christian leader.

He was near death.

When the time for sharing came, he asked everyone else to leave the room.

Then he shared some deep bitterness which he had carried in his heart for many years.

The bitterness had gnawed away at him and sapped his strength.

After he shared and emptied out the spiritual poisons, we talked and prayed together.

He knew that his life was now free of that pain.

He knew that he was right with God.

He was at peace.

As a matter of fact, he died within a matter of weeks.

But he died whole and well before God.

If we hold a straw parallel to the Gulf Stream, the mighty Gulf

Stream will flow through it.

If we get our lives in line with the will and power of God, the very love and power of God will flow through them.

When we face an operation, we may be tense and under-

standably nervous.

Nurses can give us medicine to make us sleep.

But they cannot relax the worried mind and the tense muscles.

A woman in her eighties during her life had been operated

on many times.

Before each of these operations she experienced the anointing.

Surgeons who never knew her commented later that they never operated on anyone who was so relaxed.

Doctors do not heal us.

Doctors and medical science play an important role in healing: God gave us minds and expects us in use them.

But doctors do not heal.

* Doctors can create conditions where healing can take place.

They can set a broken bone.

They can stitch torn skin.

They can remove a tumor.

But the knitting of the bone or the healing of the cut or the restoring of the body after the removal of a growth is something no doctor, however skilled, can do.

God gives the healing.

Medical science now knows that there are factors within us which can prevent healing.

There is garbage in our lives which prevents the free flow of God's healing power.

We are each one person, body, mind, and soul.

Physical illness can affect the mental outlook.

Sometimes people who are dying a slow, painful death find their whole world is clouded.

Once-kind people can sometimes become impatient and angry.

Spiritual problems and mental turmoil can affect physical health.

In our time of physical need we must draw on all the resources made available to us.

We need all the understanding which medical science can give us.

We need all the insights into the human mind and its workings that are available.

We need to draw on the rich spiritual resources which God

puts in our hands.

Anointing is visualized prayer.

It is a way of outwardly symbolizing the great strength that can be ours.

It is not magic.