Tuesday 18th
James 5:13-18
NIV (v14) – ‘Is anyone among you sick? Let them call the elders of the church to pray over them and anoint them with oil in the name of the Lord.’
ESV (v14) – ‘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.’
We have the third question that James asked, ‘Is anyone among you sick’ with his answer, ‘Let him call for the elders of the church . . .’
‘Is anyone among you sick?’ Within the context of these verses James points to one possibility of the cause of the sickness as being sin, verses 16 ‘Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed.’ But it is important that we do not equate every sickness as being a result of an individual sinning or falling into a particular sin, although it all stems back to the fall. We know that there are sins that lead to sickness and ultimately to death, but sickness comes in many ways, it comes through the aging process, the outward man perishes, it can come because of the way in which we live our lives, unhealthy eating habits, or even through contamination, accident, allergies etc. I do not intend to try to define every area, but some sickness can come from falling into sin, and we should look in our lives to ensure that that is not a reason for any sickness in which we may be suffering. I remember very clearly about 10 years ago being with a group of Church leaders and there were two of us who were undergoing tests at that time for health issues and one of the leaders turned on us both in front of everyone else to declare that we were suffering because of sin in our lives – sadly he had fallen into the group of those who claim that if a believer is sick they have either sinned or do not have faith, he was not willing to accept that sickness can befall us all, even the most righteous of people get sick! But, whatever the reason for our sicknesses, James brings a resolution, ‘Let him call upon the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord.’
I am glad that I belong to a company of God’s people who believe in this resolution as taught by James. I think that one of the difficulties of this pandemic has been our not being able to carry out this practise, but at the same time I know that the ministry of healing can still take place as we place our faith and trust in the name of the Lord as we call upon him. With the restrictions, the Lord is not restricted, he can still heal and deliver. But what if the sickness does not go away? Does it mean that there is a hidden sin? Maybe, in which case confession needs to take place and a definite resolution made not to fall back into it. Does it mean that I or the person praying does not have sufficient faith? Maybe, then we need to cry out to the Lord as the disciples did to increase our faith. We may conclude, I have no known sin to confess, I have faith to believe, the one praying for me has faith to believe but I am still sick, does it mean that I will have to live with the sickness? My answer would simply be that we leave it all in the hands of the Sovereign God, who has determined the course for each of our lives, he knows the way that we take, he knows the number of days in which he has allotted for us, and he is able by his grace to give us the strength to continue until that glorious day when all the inhibitions of living life here on earth will be over and done with and we shall be healed in every possible way as we receive the glorified body, that will be immortal and imperishable. That wonderful day when all suffering will be over, no more sorrow, no more tears and no more pain.
I have probably suffered with Crohn’s for over twenty years, after taking several years to identify the problem. I have been prayed for so many times that I cannot remember, I have had hands laid on me in such a forceful way that at times I felt that I was being used like a pneumatic drill and that my feet would poke up on the other side of the world in Australia, I have been anointed with oil on numerous occasions, I have gone through periods of attempting to identify if there is any sin in my life that needs confessing, I mention all this because I believe in divine healing, I have been used in healing, I have faith to believe – but at the end of the day I trust God, I trust in his sovereign purpose being carried out, I live by faith knowing that my life is in his hands, he knows what he is doing and I learn to trust in him alone. My hope is in him, my confidence is in him, my future is in him, if healing comes, then that will be amazing, but if not, then I rest in the assurance that it will come when I see him and be with him, and despite not knowing the healing myself I still stand on the word of God and believe in following this instruction which James is encouraging us to do in these verses, ‘call on the elders of the Church and let them pray over them, anointing with oil in the name of the Lord.’
Is anyone suffering? Then pray. Is anyone cheerful? Then sing praise. Is anyone sick? Then call for the elders of the church. Finally, ‘whatever my lot, thou hast taught me to know, it is well, it is well with my soul.’