Sept 30, 2018              Renew the Church                                         

               

One of my favorite stories about the power of prayer comes from a shut-in who I visited at my first church in Peru. He worked at Westclox, as a metal stamper, but he was also the go to guy whenever there was a problem on the line, or a new piece of metal needed to be invented for one of the clocks.

Whenever there was a problem the management would come to him, explain their problem, and then he would tell them to give him an hour to think about it. Then they would come back in an hour and he would have an answer for them.

One day, one of his coworkers noticed that when he was given a problem, he didn’t sit at his desk and work on it, instead he went down to the yard outside and would pace up and down, before coming back in. when his coworker asked him what he was doing, the man replied, he was praying – and that by praying, God would remove the clutter of his mind so that he could find a solution to the problem.

In my visits with this gentleman, I discovered that this was a regular routine for him, prayer in his daily life cleared away the clutter of his life, so that in his relationships with others, in his service to his church, in all that he did, he believed that God guided him and helped him to realize God’s purpose for his life. And I must say, he was one of the most joyful, thankful, happy, and peaceful people I have ever met

          This morning, James concludes his epistle by encouraging his church to pray. For James, prayer is the foundation not only of our personal lives, but also the foundation of a church’s spiritual life, and health. And so, in our reading this morning, James lists speaks of 4 types of prayer, and hints at the role of these types of prayers in the building up of the church.

The first prayer that James encourages is the prayer of intercession. “Are there any among you suffering – they should pray.  James recognizes that a great deal of our human suffering arises from the absence of God’s presence in our lives.

Prayers of intercession are an invitation for God to be present in our lives, to examine our lives, to guide our decisions, and to lead us back to God’s will and way for us when we have gone astray.  In those instances where human suffering is not our fault, prayers of intercession are an invitation for God to comfort us in our times of trial, and give us strength to face the evils and hardships of the world which oppress us, and to speak out against injustice in the world that creates human suffering. 

The second prayer that James encourages is the prayer of praise. “Are there any who are cheerful – they should sing songs of praise.” James as the leader of a Jewish Christian church, recognizes that songs are a form of prayer, and a very powerful one.

Prayers of praise remind us that God is our maker and the ruler of creation, who has a plan for the world and for our lives. Prayers of praise can remind us of the blessings that God has given to us, so that our lives can become focused on giving thanks. Prayers of praise can help us realize that we are not alone, that God loves us, and that God directs us to share this love with all the world.

The third prayer that James encourages is the prayer of healing for the sick. “Are any among you sick? They should call for the elders of the church to pray over them, and anoint them with oil in the name of the LORD.”

In our modern day world, illness is treated in much the same way that it was treated in Jesus day, with isolation from others. Prayers of healing, encourage us to remember those who are ill, to check in on them, to comfort and encourage them to health. In the days before medicine, gathering the elders to pray, visit and anoint with oil was often the closest thing to seeing a doctor, for the elders had often seen many illnesses and knew what treatments they had seen work for others. Finally, even modern day medicine recognize the power of the spirit, and the power of prayer to assist in healing of patients.

The fourth prayer that James encourages is the prayer of confession – “therefore, confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another, so that you might be healed.” 

It is not surprising that prayers of healing the sick and prayers of confession and forgiveness are intertwined in this morning’s passage. Confession of sins, and forgiving one another, is a large part of maintaining the health of a congregation. Not only do we need to be able to forgive others, but we also need to be able to recognize our own need for forgiveness, less we become arrogant and sin against one another in our pridefulness.

Finally, as I noted in my story about the gentleman from Westclox, prayer can also help a church to focus on it’s purpose and mission in the life of it’s community. For James, this mission was to call those who wandered from the truth of God’s love for them in Jesus Christ, so that they might be saved from the kinds of suffering, sin, and death that afflict humanity.

Churches, like people, can become filled with all kinds of clutter, all kinds of competing interests, quarrels over money, and all kinds of pridefullness. When this clutter fills a church’s life, it forgets it’s purpose, and becomes aimless in it’s ministry. The good news is, that through prayer, churches can clear the clutter from their lives, and be renewed. The can focus again on God’s love for us in Jesus Christ, a love for us that was meant to be shared so that those who wander from the truth of God’s love, may be saved from suffering, death, and a multitude of sins.

And that’s the Good News of Jesus Christ.