James 5:13-15 - Our Powerfully, Present God

Intro (2.5mins)

Grab attention

J. R. R. Tolkien - author LOTR

Essay “On Fairy Stories” - coined - Eucatastrophe - a sudden good turn despite tragic events - a truly good fairy tale does not/cannot end in ultimate defeat - good must triumph over evil - but it does it by triumphing through and despite wickedness in the world

listen to how he speaks of the sorrows along the way

A Eucatastrophe “it is a sudden and miraculous grace: never to be counted on to recur. It does not deny the existence ... of sorrow and failure: the possibility of these is necessary to the joy of deliverance; it denies (in the face of much evidence, if you will) universal final defeat and in so far is evangelium, giving a fleeting glimpse of Joy, Joy beyond the walls of the world”

God as ultimate author - story teller - penning every moment - eschatological goal of redemption, restoration, glory through his Son

In this story, how are we to understand our sorrows? - teach our people to understand their sorrows?

Surface a need (why they need to hear the text/what the danger is if they don’t)

Address the Frailty of the human condition - real people who live in a fallen world

You do not want to be unequipped - you do not want people in your church to be unequipped to handle this

Give Context

James writes a letter to help those in the early church to face persecution

Mainly Jewish audience

Begins this letter by telling them to count it joy when they face trials, and if they don’t know how the trial will be used to grow them - go to the Lord and ask in faith - ask for wisdom for how to deal with these sorrows and trials in life

He goes on to tell them that faith is more than a mere intellectual claim - it affects our lives - we live out our faith - it produces works in us

And he applies it to specific situations in this church - favoritism toward the rich

and we will be at the very end of the letter, Chapter five - where he addresses the whole church

Intro Subject Matter-Main Point

He tells them to Call upon our powerful, present God

Especially during times of suffering, call upon the Lord

Intro Main Points - He tells us How to call upon him:

1. In every circumstance (James 5:13)

2. In exceptional suffering (James 5:14-15)

Main Point 1 - Every Circumstance (5 mins)

James 5:13 “13 Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing praise.

Explanation

James lists two kinds of situations here - Someone who is Suffering, and Someone who is Cheerful

Suffering

facing religious persecution - Or as we will see later other kinds of suffering like physical suffering

We call upon the Lord in prayer

Let him pray - Imperative/Command - literally “they should keep on praying about it”

Calls back to James 1:2–3 “2 Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, 3 for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness.”.... “5 If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him.”

Dr. Vickers says about this passage “When you come to God, asking, pleading for the wisdom to understand how this trial in your life and the lives of your family, in the lives of others is supposed to produce perseverance when it feels like it’s going to break you in half…you need to understand and know that God will not fault you for not having the wisdom that you can only get from him”

So go to the Lord, in faith, believing that he has a purpose for your good and he can give you wisdom to endure it - and as you wait lean on him

Next circumstance - other side of the spectrum - Cheerful

If things are going well - if you are encouraged - generally happy disposition and circumstances right now

Praise the Lord

seems so obvious

Let him sing praise - Imperative/Command - “Let him keep on singing”

again calls back to the beginning of letter

James 1:17 “17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.”

The super obvious ones often are the most disobeyed - how often I fail at this - to stop and appreciate what gifts I’ve been given and thank God for them

Illustration

He is like a real father

when you first go off to college - you can talk to him about bad grades, difficult classes, not having money (and he may or may not let you learn your lesson about that)

but you also share your good grades, accomplishments, how much you are enjoying the new friends that you made

Application

so if you are suffering, keep calling on him in prayer

and if things are going well, keep on praising him

Main Point 2 - Exceptional Suffering (15 mins)

James 5:14–15 “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.”

Explanation

This is one example of not showing partiality James 2:1 “1 My brothers, show no partiality as you hold the faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory.” (Even the sick - the severely suffering)

later in the same chapter about works that flow from our faith - James 2:15–16“15 If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, 16 and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and filled,” without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that?”

Sick - Physical weakness - sickness

We should not misunderstand this passage to only be about spiritual healing and hope of the New Heavens and New earth - no more pain, suffering, etc. - That’s true, but James makes it clear that he is talking about physical suffering

James 5:16 “16 Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed.”

Mark 6:13 “13 And they cast out many demons and anointed with oil many who were sick and healed them.”

Only other time in the New Testament this is mentioned

“Let him call for the elders of the church” - Imperative/Command

His obligation is to call - receive help - not an extra burden but intended to relieve burden

Elders of the church

implies he/or she is a member of local church with specific elders

Notice - this is talking to future us

“and let them pray over him”- Imperative/Command

Notice the bulk of the action - the real weight of the responsibility here is placed on the elders

pray over him - literally physically - a bed ridden suffering person verse 15 - the Lord will raise him up

“Anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord”

Medicine? - Luke 10:34 Good Samaritan uses oil for his wounds - but speculative historical reconstructions about how its used, and it isn’t obvious why the sick person would need to call the elders for this

Freshen up? - Mt 6:17 - Jesus says anoint your head when you fast so people don’t notice and you aren’t flaunting the fasting

Some sacramental/magical power of the oil? - Well the emphasis in the passage is on the effective prayer not the oil itself

Remember Jewish Audience - what comes to their mind about anointing

Set things and people apart

Setting things apart for holiness - Ex 30:26-29 - tent of meeting itself, lamp, utensils, etc.

Prophets, Priests, Kings

1 Samuel 16:12–13 Samuel was about to anoint David “12 And the Lord said, “Arise, anoint him, for this is he.” 13 Then Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the midst of his brothers. And the Spirit of the Lord rushed upon David from that day forward. And Samuel rose up and went to Ramah.”

the Anointed one - literally what Messiah and Christ mean -all over the Psalms

the future king over God’s people who is coming to save

Acts 10:38 “38 how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power. He went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with him.”

Dr. Claunch - Trinity - John Owen notes that because every act of God is from the Father through the Son by the Spirit “in every great work of God, the concluding, completing, perfecting acts are ascribed unto the Holy Ghost.”

I think James wants us to understand anointing

setting them apart

with the oil symbolizing the Spirit as the one who perfects and effects the very act of healing we wish to see happen

we symbolically show the presence of the Spirit, and ask for God to bring healing - that is for the triune God to heal From the Father, through the Son, by the Spirit - the Lord and Giver of Life

“And the Prayer of faith will save the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up (Physically raise him)”

There are so many dangerous ways to misapply this text and hurt people, and we say a word about them in a moment, but for now, lets take it phrase by phrase

What is the prayer of faith?

James 1:6 “6 But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind.”

We ask with faith in the God who can save - who can heal - he is able

Will save?

Yes - the Lord will save him - if it is his will

There are obvious caveats that need to be given - James assumes them

To illustrate the point - just use the example he gives at the End of the same verse - James 5:15 “and if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven.”

plenty of Caveats implied - what if he doesn’t repent or hasn’t confessed - what if he isn’t saved/or elect - what if he is a random church member about to be disciplined on the way out because we don’t think he’s a christian but he gets sick and calls the elders

I think its a similar situation - Just imagine for a second that the church you pastor has a sinner in it - at least one - will the Lord forgive him? Yes! if he repents and trusts in Christ

Imagine there is a sick person, will the Lord save him? - Yes! If it is his will

This keeps us from many of the harmful misunderstandings about the passage

Word of faith/faith healing perspectives that say - if you had more faith

what a burden to put on them - its your fault you are suffering

A helpful illustration of this is found in this very passage context, James has just spoken about Job - James 5:11 “11 Behold, we consider those blessed who remained steadfast. You have heard of the steadfastness of Job, and you have seen the purpose of the Lord, how the Lord is compassionate and merciful.”

This verse is parallel with this section - mirror one another in the structure of this passage

that word of faith perspective - its essentially your own fault - that’s exactly what Job’s friends told him - and they were wrong!

Don’t be like Job

plus in verse 15 look at that word IF - small word doing alot of work

Nail in the coffin for any kind of word of faith

James makes it clear that sin doesn’t have to be involved - but it may

I mean 1 Corinthians 11:30 “30 That is why many of you are weak and ill, and some have died.” - it can happen so James addresses it - but it doesn’t HAVE to be the case

James’ point is not to downplay the healing - the point is hope and confidence in the Lord’s ability to save

So don’t read this/preach this/or apply this - as if the point is “well yeah but God SO OFTEN DOESN’T HEAL so don’t take any comfort in that”

In your teaching and preaching make it clear that God is good whether or not he heals - that he may allow suffering for his mysterious purposes

when you are praying over someone -I would encourage you to just pray for God to heal - John Piper talks about letting the rest of your ministry speak for itself on this front - don’t rob them of hope by well maybe not but please heal but probably not

That goes against the very reason James states it this way

to instill confidence in God’s ability to save

Illustration

Application - 2 application points

1. Use biblical names for offices - “Elder” “deacon” - not a strict sin issue, but there is a wisdom to it and clear benefit

Dr. Allison

My Dad

2. Teach about this and practice it

Don’t let this be a cessationist vs continuationist thing

Strauch “the predominate reason people don’t call for the elders of the church when they are sick, however, is that they have never been taught to do so. They have never seen it done” - DON’T DEPRIVE YOUR PEOPLE OF THIS

Conclusion (2.5 mins)

Going back to the idea of Eucatastrophe

look again at verse 15 - “the prayer of faith will SAVE (normally salvation word) the one who is SICK”

now look at verse 16 - “confess your SINS…pray…that you may be HEALED (normally a physical healing word)”

Andreas Kostenberger

when you would expect a physical word with SICKNESS - he uses the salvation word

when you would expect salvation word with FORGIVING SINS - he uses the physical healing word

and when the sick person is healed in verse 15 - “the Lord will raise him up” - that word is used in context of resurrection

James talks about physical healing scenario - with language suggestive of our eschatological hope - even changing the language to make the connection stronger

when we pray - we ask God to break into this age with the hope of the age to come

we ask him to undo now what he has promised to undo in the future

we ask him to defeat now what he will certainly and finally defeat

we ask him to do what we know he will do one day

For Tolkien, Eucatastrophe isn’t just for stories, it is for the real world - our world - these turns for ultimate good point us to the real final end of all things - “The peculiar quality of the ”joy” in successful Fantasy can thus be explained as a sudden glimpse of the underlying reality or truth. It is not only a “consolation” for the sorrow of this world, but a satisfaction, and an answer to that question, “Is it true?”... in the “Eucatastrophe” we see in a brief vision that the answer may be greater—it may be a far-off gleam or echo of evangelium in the real world.”

So we believe in Christ to save our souls, forgive us our sins, to redeem us, and bring us to glory

we believe that God is powerful enough to save - and to heal and so we are freely invited to call upon our mighty God and ask for his mercy

Because of the work of the anointed one, we have access to God and we have already overcome the trials and sufferings of this world, and he is powerful and present with his church through his Son by his Spirit - and we are freely invited to call upon our mighty God to act