Sunday, November 3, 2013

Daddy, HELP!

Daddy, Help!
James 5:13-20
Introduction: I remember a scene over twenty years ago when I was a pastor in New Jersey. Sarah was little, maybe four years old or so. She went into a little washroom off of our kitchen and suddenly I heard: “Daddy? Daddy? Daddy! DADDY!” With each “Daddy” her voice got louder and more urgent. First I Iooked up casually, then by the time her voice got to a scream I was running in the door. She had been cornered by a large, fearsome… ANT! I guess when you are four years old a black ant can look big and scary? Well, Dad, the hero, swooped in and smashed the attacking vermin. Sarah’s reply, “Daddy, where were you? Didn’t you hear me? What took you so long?”  When we cry to our heavenly Father for help, He is there, NOW. In fact He already knows our need before we ever speak. He knows the urgency of the moment. He understands our fear. And He is always at the door, ready to help, and here is the hard part: ready to help in the way that is best, every time. Why then are we so often hesitant to call on Daddy, why do we turn to prayer as a “last resort”? The hymn writer said it well: “Oh what peace we often forfeit, oh what needless pain we bear, all because we do not carry, everything to God in prayer!” That is really the big idea I want to focus on in this final paragraph of this beautiful, practical little letter written by James, the brother of the Lord…
The Big Idea: What peace we forfeit, what pain we bear, when we fail to carry our needs to God in prayer!
I. Prayer for our suffering (13). Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing psalms.”  
            Prayer, for the believer in Jesus, is like breathing, or it should be. It is the response of faith to the pressures and trials of life.  “Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray.” James had used the noun form of the same root word in 5:10, when he spoke of the prophets as an example of “suffering and patience.”  It speaks of enduring evil treatment by people. The apostle Paul used that verb three times in what was probably the last letter he wrote, toward the end of his second Roman imprisonment, the letter we know as Second Timothy. He used this word to describe both his own suffering for the Gospel (2 Tim 2:3,9) and to speak of the need to endure suffering by Timothy (2 Tim 4:5). Writing from a Roman prison, waiting for his day with the executioner, Paul knew something about suffering. Look at the passages…  
2 Timothy 2:3Share in suffering as a good soldier of Christ Jesus.”

2 Timothy 2:8-9  “Remember Jesus Christ, risen from the dead, the offspring of David, as preached in my gospel,  9 for which I am suffering, bound with chains as a criminal. But the word of God is not bound!”
2 Timothy 4:5  As for you, always be sober-minded, endure suffering, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.”
The reality is that we live in a world infected by sin, and the consequences of sin are all around us. The equation is unavoidable: A world of sinners + a world cursed because of sin = the certainly that we who seek to live as light in the world we will have tribulation. The good news for the believer in Jesus is that He has overcome the world (John 16:33). So as surely as we breathe to get the life giving oxygen into our bodies, we pray in the midst of our trials, because we know that life is in Him. When we suffer we cry out: “Daddy, help!”
“Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing psalms.” The word translated “cheerful” here doesn’t imply a time of fun and games.  It doesn’t necessarily mean that we will be “happy, happy, happy” from the world’s perspective. But we can be “happy, happy, happy” in truth because we have a foundation that is sure and a future that is secure. We have already been translated out of the domain of darkness into the kingdom of the Son. The word translated “cheerful” here is not used many times in the New Testament. Where is occurs, in one scene in the Book of Acts, it implies “Cheerful courage in the face of danger or difficult circumstances” (see Acts 27:22, 25). We find Paul using this word toward the end of Acts where he is in a ship, a prisoner, on his way to Rome to stand trial before Caesar. The ship is caught in a horrendous storm, and even the experienced crew is beginning to despair:
Yet now I urge you to take heart, for there will be no loss of life among you, but only of the ship.  23 For this very night there stood before me an angel of the God to whom I belong and whom I worship,  24 and he said, 'Do not be afraid, Paul; you must stand before Caesar. And behold, God has granted you all those who sail with you.'  25 So take heart, men, for I have faith in God that it will be exactly as I have been told.  26 But we must run aground on some island" (Acts 27:22-26).
Paul used this word to urge others on a ship with him in the midst of a storm, though they were headed for a shipwreck, to “take heart,” i.e. “cheer up,” despite the terror of the moment. Think of what Paul was saying, the storm was raging, the ship would soon be breaking up against the rocks, “Take heart,” “Cheer up!” The swim may be hard, the water may be cold, but you are going to make it. And all 276 onboard did make it to the shore alive. God is bigger than the storm you are going through, he will get you home safely, if you will trust Him.  What peace we forfeit, what pain we bear, when we fail to carry our needs to God in prayer.

II. Prayer for the sick (14-16a). “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 sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven.  16 Confess your trespasses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed…”
  This is one of the more debated passages in James (14). First of all, is James talking about physical illness or a spiritual need? The word “sick” or “weak” can be used either way.  Also, is the anointing with oil a ritual to be followed, or is it just using the available medicinal practice of the day accompanied by prayer?  For example in the parable of the Good Samaritan in Luke 10 we see that the Samaritan poured “oil and wine” on the wounds of the injured man. It’s probably not strictly an “either/or” situation.
First of all, all suffering and pain came into this world as a result of the sin of Adam: “By one man sin entered into the world, and death through sin…” James was also writing to the believing Jews who were scattered abroad after the martyrdom of Stephen, so they knew about trials. That’s been a theme throughout this letter: “Take heart, God hasn’t forgotten you and he is working in the midst of your pain, sustaining you and strengthening you.”
Secondly, believers get sick too, and it is as natural as breathing that we should pray to our omnipotent Father for healing. Sometimes it could be chastening, something which God is allowing in our life to teach us, to draw us back to Him (I Corinthians 11:30). In others cases, it can simply be the result of living in a fallen world, and then somehow God is working even in that situation for our good and for His glory (see John 9:1ff).
  The fact that the sick person is to call for the elders of the church to “pray over him” implies that he is unable to go to them, apparently sick in bed.  They also “pray over him” implying the sick person is in bed, so it’s a serious situation. By the way we do practice this in our church: when someone is sick and calls for the elders, we go to their home and pray for them, and anoint them with oil, which for us is neither medicinal nor mystical, but it is symbolic, affirming our recognition of God’s presence and our dependence on Him. He is the Great Physician.
  “And the prayer of faith will save the sick…” I don’t think we can interpret this to say that prayer offered in faith guarantees healing in this life (15). I do agree with those who say that healing is in the atonement, in this sense: ultimately, because of Jesus, we who know him will receive a transformed, glorified body.  That is certain, that is God’s promise to us.  We will indeed be “by His stripes, healed” (Isa 53) since one day, because of Him, “…this corruptible will put on incorruption, this mortal, immortality” (I Cor 15). And I do believe, that when it serves God’s purposes, He does grant healing in this life. So it is good and proper to pray for healing, not presumptuously, not thinking that we can “name it and claim it,” but recognizing his sovereignty, and, as always, praying in submission to his lordship. Whether now or then, He will answer.
  Some sickness is the result of sin, and confession will lead to spiritual healing (16a). This is one of those “one another” passages in the New Testament, and it pictures an interdependent body of believers, a family where we can be transparent, and truly “confess our sins” asking for the prayer of a brother or sister that we would get victory over that area of struggle.  This goes beyond the previous statement about calling on the elders for prayer and extends this ministry to the whole church.  Friends, we need to be that kind of a family, with relationships like this, able to speak to one another honestly and confidentially, knowing that our personal struggle is not going to be posted on facebook but that it is going to be personally lifted before the God of the universe on our behalf.   I think we need to exercise discernment here, we don’t want necessarily to “spill our guts” before just anyone, but if the sin affects someone, or if it is known to them, or (and this is important) if they are of sufficient spiritual maturity to be trusted with what we are struggling with, it is a truism that “confession is good for the soul.” I believe this is part of “bearing one another’s burdens.” There is blessing in praying together. What peace we forfeit, what pain we bear, when we fail to carry our needs to God in prayer.

III. Prayer in the will of God is effective (16b-18). “...The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much. 17Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed earnestly that it would not rain; and it did not rain on the land for three years and six months.  18 And he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth produced its fruit.” James turns to an illustration from scripture.
            James wants us to know that even a great prophet like Elijah was a mere man, no different than us, and he prayed to God and was used to tremendous effect. Well, he was surely a man of great faith, and God used Him to speak to the nation and its king.
             We can take from this a couple of things: 1) we should pray in faith, knowing that the believing prayer offered in accordance with the will of God will be heard and is effective. God works through the prayers of His people. That’s the main point. 2) We can also see by example that we should pray for needs beyond our immediate circle, and pray for our nation, for the church, for those in authority, for persecuted Christians in other parts of the world, and for the unreached who need to hear. It’s a mystery, but God works through prayer. What peace we forfeit, what pain we bear, when we fail to carry our needs to God in prayer!

IV. Prayer for the straying (19-20). Brethren, if anyone among you wanders from the truth, and someone turns him back,  20 let him know that he who turns a sinner from the error of his way will save a soul from death and cover a multitude of sins.” 
            Though prayer is not specifically mentioned in 19 and 20, it fits the context to consider the need to pray for those who might be wandering from the truth. It is certain that James would assume that “turning back” a sinner from the error of his way is a matter that cannot be attempted merely in our human weakness without asking God to work in the heart of the stray sheep we are seeking. The language here is very much that of the parables that speak of a lost sheep. The shepherd seeks to find it and bring it back. That is God’s heart, and it should be ours. The wandering can be doctrinal (notice they “wandered from the truth”). The implication is that they were forgetting sound doctrine and perhaps had been influenced by false teaching. He also speaks of “turning a sinner from the error of his way.” The two ideas are related as wrong thinking will inevitably be related to wrong living. James may once again have two groups in the community to which he is writing in mind.
            First, there are those who are saved but have drifted away – we need to pray for them and to look for opportunities to turn them back to Jesus.  Believers who try to live without recognizing God’s sovereignty in their life are inviting his discipline. We have that kind of situation referred to in I Cor 11:29-32 where Paul is discussing those who presumptuously partake of the Lord’s table:
29 For he who eats and drinks in an unworthy manner eats and drinks judgment to himself, not discerning the Lord's body.  30 For this reason many are weak and sick among you, and many sleep.  31 For if we would judge ourselves, we would not be judged.  32 But when we are judged, we are chastened by the Lord, that we may not be condemned with the world.

This is not punishment, but loving correction. Who the Lord loves, He chastens.
            Secondly, there may be some who have heard and not been genuinely converted. That need is urgent, and we should seek to bring them back to the One who is Life and Truth, the only Way to the Father (see John 14:6).  I want to leave some DVDs on the back table, produced by the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, My Hope for America. Take one only if you will watch it, and then prayerfully consider if there is someone who might benefit from watching it with you. I’d encourage you to invite them over to see and to consider the message of hope that is only found in Jesus (you can also check for the broadcasts of this message in coming weeks).  But first pray. Then pray more.
What is God saying to me in this passage? O What peace we often forfeit, what needless pain we bear, all because we do not carry, everything to God in prayer.
What would God have me to do in response to this passage? Are you in need of prayer? Do you feel burdened to pray for someone you care about? A friend who is sick, or a child who is wandering? Maybe like Elijah you are burdened with the big picture we face and need to pray for showers of blessing to fall on our country… we have the privilege of doing that personally, at home, with our family or small group, we can also pray here, as a church, so I invite you to come, to cast your burdens on Jesus, and to allow us to pray with you.    AMEN.