It is easy to be a Christian when the sun is shining. What do you do when it isn't? If your life begins to fall apart, perhaps fall apart in connection with your family, maybe it's your work, maybe it's your health, what do you do then? Now, as we've worked our way through this letter of James, we've seen that he's been helping us think this through. And today, in the final verses of his letter, he brings the various threads of his letter together to try to give us an answer of how do you keep going with Jesus when life feels like it's falling apart.
Now, the honest answer to that is that how we respond to Jesus when life is tough is a bit of a mixed bag. If you've had multiple times in your life when life has got very difficult and rocky, I suspect, as you look back, you will see some of those times where your response in your faith has been pretty good, other times where you've responded less well. And at any given moment within this church, there will be people going through trials and hard times, and some will be responding well, and some less well. Sometimes the trials of life can nearly wipe out your faith, and it's touch and go whether you will keep going. And James tells us that if we're going to keep going, we're going to need God, we're going to need one another, and we're going to need our pastors to help us.
Pause: Understand verses 14-16 correctly
But before we get to that, I want us to make sure that we are understanding these verses correctly because there is part of this passage that it would be possible to misunderstand. And the verses we need to look at quite carefully are verses 14, 15, and 16. We need to make sure we get them right, but we also don't want to get bogged down. That's because what the aim of the sermon—what are we here to do this morning? What do we want to get out of this 25 minutes we spend together? Now, we want to hear God's voice, we want to hear God speak, and we want to go away this morning having heard him speak. We don't want to go away going, "That was really interesting. We solved a really fascinating puzzle about three verses from the reading." No, that would be awful—interesting but not the point. Even worse, we don't want to go away going, "You know what? I've not got a clue what he was talking about." That would be an even bigger disaster—a puzzle that we then fail to solve. We want to get through the puzzle and hear God's voice.
So, I'm going to show you why I understand these verses the way that I do, enough for us to then move past solving that and hear what God is saying. So, I'm going to keep this brief, but then in the week that follows, what I'm going to do is I'm going to put together a little document that I'll email out to you, and I'll find other ways to get it to you as well, in which I will unpack in greater detail my thinking and my understanding and how I've got to where I've got, so that you can dig a bit deeper if that interests you. And if you then want to pick that up for a conversation to explore it, let's do that.
A note on how unexpected sermons affect our hearts
So, we're going to look together at verses 14, 15, and 16. But just before I get to that, there's just, there's an opportunity here that I noticed we had, and I want to just pause and make the most of the opportunity that this gives us. There's a chance to think together: what is going on in your head and in your heart as you read a part of the Bible or as you hear it preached? What are you thinking? What are you feeling? Because there's a danger with a passage like this that you hear it and you think, "I know what that's about." Then, if you get a sermon that doesn't major on the thing that you think should be there, you come away and you say either to yourself or to other people, "That was wrong." Let me give you an example, which is where we're going to be talking today.
So, there is a wonderful truth that God heals sick people miraculously today. Praise God for that. Alleluia. Now, that's a precious truth, and there are some of you whom that is a particularly precious truth—maybe because of your understanding of how God works in the world, maybe because of something in your own life story in the past or someone close to you. It is deeply precious to you that God heals people who are sick.
Now, if that's you and you hear this reading read, what are you thinking? You're super excited that you're about to hear on that topic. What if then the sermon that you get doesn't focus on that as much as you were looking forward to? You just feel massively let down, and this is, I say, a good opportunity just to think through this process. So, if that's where you find yourself, just a few thoughts for you.
Remember James 1:19: "Let everyone be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to become angry." To the extent that you come away from that sermon saying to yourself, "That was wrong," or even "How outrageous! That was wrong!" you're probably missing the opportunity to hear what God was wanting to say to you through that.
Another thing to say is we need to be people who are teachable. Sometimes what we think and what a particular passage is saying might be because our thinking was wrong, and God wants to change our mind. So, how do we make sure that we are those who are willing to bring before God with an open palm the ideas we already hold and say, "If you need to change my thinking, please do that"?
But also, it may be that what you thought before was true. It just doesn't come from this particular passage. It's true because other passages of scripture teach it, but not this one.
Let me tell you the story of a tree. It is pictured on your sermon outline. It's in black and white in small resolution, so I do not expect you to identify the species of the tree. It is not a large tree. In fact, it is a tree that grows across the savannah plains of East Africa. It has a beautiful powdery yellow bark, and its name is the Fever Tree. Let me tell you the story of how the Fever Tree got its name. When Western explorers began to venture inland from the East African coast, where they landed in their ships, they would look for places to camp and make a base, and frequently, they would choose places near water because you need a ready supply of drinking water. They discovered that whenever they camped underneath these trees, people got sick. They got an illness that gave them a really high fever, and some of their party would die. So, they did the obvious thing and they blamed the tree. And so, the tree is called the Fever Tree, and it's called that to this day.
The trees have really deep roots and need to live near a permanent year-round source of water, so they only grow near good supplies of water. There is something else that likes a steady supply of water in East Africa—that is the mosquito, the mbu, and that gives you an illness called malaria. So, what was happening was these people were contracting malaria because they had camped near the water. They couldn't see the mosquito. They could see the tree, so the tree got the blame.
So, here's a perfectly good truth: if you camp near water in East Africa without modern medication, you will get sick; you will get fever. That is true, but it's not true because of the tree, which is the obvious one. It's true because of the little insect that lays its eggs and its larvae in that water and that passes you the disease.
Just because you know something of God that is true, it doesn't mean that the reason why it's true is the one in front of you. So, sometimes there's a truth about God that is all good and true. It's just not here. Look elsewhere to where you learn that.
So, what we're going to do this morning: we're going to seek to listen humbly, willing to have our minds changed, but also willing to say, "My favourite truth remains true; it just isn't here." But if that's the case, we're not going to focus on the fact that we missed what wasn't here. We're going to seek to listen to what is.
What do verses 14-16 mean?
So, here's verses 14 to 16: Is anyone among you ill? Let them call the elders of the church to pray over them and anoint them with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well. The Lord will raise them up. If they have sinned, they will be forgiven. Therefore, confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.
Now, you might think it's really obvious what these verses are about. This is about God healing the sick, but in fact, there are four words you need to look at really closely, and I'll do this in the email I send out to you in the week. One is the two words to do with being sick: so the word in verse 14 "ill," and then the word in verse 14 translated here "sick." And then two words to do with getting better: the word translated "make well" (that's in verse 15), and then later in verse 15, the word translated "raise up." Ill, sick, make well, raise up—all of those words can be used of physical illness and healing. They can also be used of spiritual illness and healing, and they are used in both those senses elsewhere in the New Testament. We have to work out which.
Now, it may seem obvious to you this is about physical illness, and that's because when Bible translators have to pick English words, they have to go for something, and our ones have gone for words that slant you towards hearing it physically. If you got a different Bible translation, you may find that it is less the case. Now, as I've set out to look at this again this week, I've looked at this passage before. I genuinely did not know which way I was going to land. There are really strong arguments both ways, and I've looked really carefully at those arguments, and I've read lots of stuff that other people have written—recent writers and writers long ago—and my conclusion is that I'm now persuaded this is about spiritual healing. But that's not the same as asking, "Do I believe God heals people miraculously today?" I do. It's just not what this passage is about. And indeed, let me just say this: if you find yourself really sick—physically sick—and you want one of your pastors to come and pray with you, we would love to do that. Please ask us. We might even bring some olive oil. Okay? Just not because this passage tells us to.
So, we're going to move through these verses and draw the threads together of the letter of James. Here are three places we can turn when the trials of life test our faith.
1. Turn to God
Number one: we turn to God. That's to say, we should pray.
So, here's verse 13: Is anyone among you in trouble? Let them pray. Is anyone happy? Let them sing songs of praise. So, the first half of that verse, is life tough? As the song goes, take it to the Lord in prayer. Now, it's obvious, isn't it, to pray when life is difficult? But you know what? It's so easy to know you should do it but not actually do it. And actually, if you were here in James chapter 1, when we looked at wisdom, we suggested—Pastor Lee suggested—three things you might pray for when life is tough. You might want to pour your heart out to God and just tell him how hard life is. You might want to ask him to alleviate the difficulties and bring you into better times. But you might also want to ask him to give you wisdom and insight to see what it looks like to be faithful through that season. What lessons do you want to learn?
Then the second half of that verse says that life is not always hard. Is anyone happy? Yes, it does happen often. There are good times, and if it's easy to forget to pray when it's tough, it is even easier to forget to say thank you when it's good.
We are like children. Okay, it's nearly December. Those of you who haven't got children, let me just share something about them. If they want something for Christmas, they find ways to let you know again and again and again. And then the moment comes, and the wrapping paper is off, and they are off to play—until a little voice says to them, "Isn't there something you need to say?" at which point, as fast and as quiet as possible, a little voice says, "Thank you," and then they're back to where they were before.
And we are like that with God. So, God is one place to turn—but not only in the hard times. We need to pray.
2. Turn to our elders or pastors
Second, we can turn to our elders or our pastors. That's to say, we should call them to pray.
"Is anyone among you ill, weak? Let them call the elders of the church to pray over them and anoint them with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick, the weak, weary person well; the Lord will raise them up. If they've sinned, they will be forgiven. Therefore, confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective."
James has talked a lot in his letter about double-mindedness—this idea that we can try and have our feet in both camps: live a double life, live for the world and its standards and priorities, but also live for God—God with commitment to his people, to church, to sharing the gospel, to his priorities.
We can try and do both. What do you do if, over the course of the months and the years, you're drifting more and more so that the weight of your body is on the world foot, and less and less on the church and the God foot, until actually you're hardly coming? And then one day you wake up—to quote the parable in Luke 15—you come to your senses, and you realise what's happened, and you want to come back.
All kinds of questions go through your head at that point. If I was to return, would it stick, or would the old habits just come back and I'm going to drift again? If I pray and ask for God to help, will he? Will he still hear me, or have I drifted so far that he's closed his ears and doesn't want to know?
Now, those are right questions to ask, because the answer to both is, quite possibly, if you just try to come back, the chances are those old habits will just drag you away, and it may well be that that prayer feels like it bounces off the ceiling—whether it does or not.
So, here's what you don't do. You don't give up. You don't say, "It's too hard. I'll never do it. I'm a lost cause." No. But neither do you just, as we say, pull up your socks. You say, "Right, I'm going to make a really good—if I make a half-hearted go, I'm not going to get there. So I'm going to make a really good go of it."
"I can do this on my own." No. What you do—you call us. We'll come. We'll pray. And even if it feels like your prayers might not be heard, you can trust that God will hear us.
Now maybe you're thinking at that point, would the pastors want to come? They haven't seen me for a year. They're just going to come and tell me off—if they come at all.
The word "pastor" means shepherd, and in the Bible, the picture of shepherds—here’s one of the things that we do: if there's a sheep that has wandered away and is in trouble or danger and is lost, we go after it and we bring it back and restore it to the fold.
Let me tell you this: if my diary fills up this week and Pastor Lee's diary fills up this week because we get WhatsApp message and phone call after WhatsApp message and phone call saying, "Please come and do this with me"—nothing would thrill us more.
Or maybe you're thinking, it's not that the pastors wouldn't want to come—maybe God wouldn't want to know. There's a promise here, brothers and sisters. It is a promise. Verse 15: "The prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise them up." It's not a hope. It's not a wish. It's a promise.
And then verse 16: "The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective."
So let me just draw your attention to three little details in the way James develops this to show just how wonderful this promise is.
(i) A powerful miracle
Number one: there is here a powerful miracle. People read James 5 and they get excited because this is going to speak about powerful miracles. Yes, it will.
Verse 15: "The Lord will raise them up." That word "raise up"—that is resurrection language. That is the word used in the Bible for the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. That is the word used in the Bible for when someone becomes a Christian and God raises them to new life. They were spiritually dead, but now they are raised up and seated with Christ in the heavenly realms. This is a resurrection-scale miracle.
We've had hard times in at this church. We've had people who have been really, really seriously ill, and we as a church have prayed for them. I could think of at least three in the past year—two really sick people where it was touch and go whether they would pull around. And we've prayed for them. And it is no exaggeration to say our deep conviction is: God has done a miracle. Those people are still here and they are healthy. And wow, those miracles happen.
Picture someone before that miracle. Someone who is really, really sick, and we don't know if they're going to recover. It is touch and go whether the family need to come and say goodbye.
Now, we tend to think that if someone drifts from their faith, that that's a minor thing. It really isn't. You can get to the point spiritually where you are as sick as that. You're on life support and you are not sure if you're going to make it. But miracles happen. And there's a wonderful promise here that God raises people from that spiritual sickbed to a position of full health. There is a powerful miracle.
(ii) A pattern to follow
Next, there's a pattern to follow. So, verses 14 and 15 say: call the elders. Verse 16 says: "Therefore"—what? "Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed."
So knowing that God is a restoring and forgiving God gives us confidence to do this for each other. Now, this already happens. It is thrilling to see people after the service on Sunday quietly just praying for each other—or in other contexts in the week, just genuine little moments of prayer for each other through the challenges of life. It is wonderful to see that happening.
But James adds a little thing that you may not have thought of. Don't just pray for each other. He says confess your sins to each other. He's just saying, let's be honest. So it's not just saying, "Please pray for me," it's saying, "This is what I'm struggling with—please pray for me." Or—and this is the one that's even harder—"This is where I failed and messed up. I'm willing to be honest about that because then you can pray for me properly." If people don't know our struggles, they can't help us so well.
So, the pattern to follow.
(iii) A prophet to look back on
And then the third "P" to encourage us is the prophet to look back on. Verse 17: "Elijah was a human being, even as we are." Get that. Read the Old Testament. Go: "Elijah! I found me in the Old Testament at last! He's the one I'm like!" Yes, really—in regard to this:
"He prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the land for three and a half years. Again he prayed, and the heavens gave rain and the earth produced its crops."
Elijah was a great prophet, and he did great miracles. He healed the sick. He even raised the dead. But James tells a different story. He tells the story of 1 Kings 17 and 18, and we heard the end of that in our first reading this morning.
The nation of Israel, the people of God, had gone through a season of national apostasy. They had turned away from God and started to follow the false god Baal. And God, in his discipline to bring them back, said, "There will be no rain on this land for three and a half years." And so not a single drop of rain fell. Crops failed. Animals died. The people were hungry. And eventually, the drinking water dried up as well.
Until, three and a half years later, Elijah has this showdown on Mount Carmel, where he calls the prophets of Baal to come, and they each prepare a sacrifice—but they don't light the match. And they say, "We're going to pray to our god, and the real God is capable of sending fire from heaven to light the thing." And of course, Baal's thing just sits there as just a pile of rubble by the time they finish with it.
And then Elijah says to the people, "How long will you waver between two opinions? If the Lord is God, follow him. If Baal is God, follow him." This is double-mindedness with the dials turned up to max.
And then he prays: "That these people may know this day that you alone are God." And down comes the fire and burns up the whole lot—including the stones, and the water they poured on it—and everything is burnt. And the people say, "The Lord, he is God. The Lord, he is God."
And once they've said that, rain comes. And James's point is really simple. If a whole nation can become so double-minded that there needs to be a drought for three and a half years—but then God can bring rain when they return—he can do that for you.
So we need God's help. We need pastors.
3. Turn to each other
And lastly, we need each other. That's to say, we need to restore those who wander.
Verse 19: "My brothers and sisters, if one of you should wander from the truth and someone should bring that person back, remember this: whoever turns a sinner from the error of their way will save them from death and cover over a multitude of sins."
We live in a culture where people really don't like to interfere in the lives of others. To quote Cain in Genesis chapter 4, we regularly say of one another, "Am I my brother's keeper?" They're not my problem.
Let me encourage you to see both the peril and the hope when you see a fellow Christian wandering off and drifting. The peril is that the stakes here are eternal death. They're not just drifting aimlessly—they are sleepwalking towards the edge of a cliff. That is what is at risk.
But the hope is that there is forgiveness. We have a God who covers over sins—and doesn't just cover over a few. He covers over a multitude of sins.
So let me encourage us: look out for each other. And if you see people here wandering off, go after them. Bring them back. Because if you succeed, what you have done is wonderful.
We need each other. Being a Christian does not mean that life is easy. There are trials of many kinds. The full-colour chart of trials will still come our way.
Conclusion
If you're looking into the Christian faith and trying to decide whether to begin: if you become a Christian, it does not mean life will always be easy. We need to keep going until the end. But don't worry—the Lord's coming is near. It's not forever. And then he will come. And the end is good.
But you don't have to do it on your own. God will help—so ask him. Your brothers and sisters will help—so be honest with each other and pray with and for each other. And your pastors will help—call us around.
But if, either now or in the past, you've made a hash of handling life's trials, there is a God who loves to save from death and cover over sins. There is a God who heals the sick and raises the dead. Turn to him, and he will restore you with refresh and with new life.