September 26, 2021

1: St. James wrote an open letter for all Christians to read. James assumes that the readers are all baptized believers and know the basic Gospel message of Jesus Christ who died on the cross to save us. St. James wants to help all Christians live out that faith in joy and steadfastness and love and peace. But Christians are humans living in this world. James takes it for granted that everyone, even Christians, succumb to sickness, suffering and sin and waywardness. The question becomes how to live better.

2: Today’s topic is prayer. What is the best way to pray? It's easy to get the wrong impression reading James that getting better depends on how we do it. It seems like performing a list of rituals. Number one: Pray. Number two: Call the elders. Number three: Anoint with oil, and so on. Do this, do that, and God will respond positively. Folding your hands, keeling, fasting, making the sign of the cross, holding someone’s hand or laying your hand on them, thinking positively while praying, etc., etc. If you do it just right, then not only will sickness get better, but other symptoms of disease and discomfort will improve too. This pragmatic attitude is reflected in the oft-repeated response we give when we hear someone is ill. We say, "I'll pray for you." Yes, we should pray for others when they are in need, but it sounds like magic, it sounds like something that we do. It is like a formula that if you do it just right, then God will do what you want him to do for you. It is like having power in your hands!

3: Look how powerful prayer is! Why, the Old Testament Prophet Elijah was able to stop the rain for three and a half years! “17Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed fervently that it might not rain, and for three years and six months it did not rain on the earth. 18Then he prayed again, and heaven gave rain, and the earth bore its fruit.” James says, “The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working” (v. 16). But what makes prayer powerful? Where is our trust located? In what is our trust located? In whom is our trust located? Do we trust ourselves? If we are a righteous person, then is God obliged to answer our prayers? Are some people better than others and so their prayers are better and so more apt to be answered by God? People say, “I believe in prayer.” But this is a misguided profession of faith. I believe in my washing machine, that it will get my clothes clean. Do you pray as if prayer is just an appliance or tool to get a job done? Is God and religion just a tool to get what we want in this world?

4: Faith is only as powerful as that in which (or in whom) it is located. Faith in money is only as strong as your bank account or credit score. Faith in a cult religion or pagan religion is as powerful as their lies. As far as God is concerned, putting faith in prayer rather than in Christ is mislocated faith. Granted, scientific studies have proven that prayer, even pagan prayer, has a positive effect on healing. Many do get "better" in the short run. But in the long run, their souls still end up dead.

5: And so the Gospel teaches us that it is not our praying which heals and saves us, but rather it is the One to Whom we are praying that heals us, namely, Jesus Christ. St. James wrote like this: “The prayer of a righteous person has great power.” The trouble is that we are all sinners and not righteous. There is really no one who is completely righteous except Jesus Christ. The prayer of Christ, the righteous man, had power when he prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane. “If it is possible, take this cup away from me. Yet, not my will but yours be done.” It is when he prayed on the cross for those who crucified him. “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” This is the prayer that saves us. It saves those who crucified him then and those who still crucify him with their sin today. It is the prayer of Jesus that forgives and heals us. By the way, the Bible word for "healed" is powerful; it can also be translated "saved."

6: The Holy Spirit brings us to true faith. The Holy Spirit pulls us away from false gods and brings us to faith in the True God. Those false gods are things like depending on ourselves, depending on how hard we pray, depending things like “the power of prayer.” In other words, it is depending on your own power. Rather than trusting in our own power, James tells us to "Confess your sins to one another" (v. 16). When we confess that we are sinners, we transfer our trust to Christ. We no longer say “I believe in prayer,” but rather, “I believe in Jesus Christ.”

7: James says, “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” (v 15). We understand that this prayer is rooted in trusting Christ and therefore results in healing/salvation. Because our sins are forgiven in Jesus Christ, we become that righteous person whose prayers have great power. Such confidence causes us to open our eyes to see those who need our prayers. We see the sick, the diseased, the discomforted, the sufferers, and those who have wandered from the truth of the Gospel. We see them and in sympathy and pity we become anxious and excited to spread God’s wonderful healing and salvation. And so we pray. And in faith, the righteous person’s prayer style changes. We speak not only TO God, but also FOR God. We tell our friend, “I’ll pray TO God for you.” And then we become bold, audacious speakers FOR God. We speak what God would say to that person. We both pray and speak in the Name of Jesus Christ. We pronounce, “Brother, Sister, your faith has made you well! You are saved!” There's plenty of power to be sure, but it is the power of the crucified and risen Savior.

Amen.

Michael Nearhood, Pastor
Okinawa Lutheran Church

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マイケル・ニアフッド、牧師
沖縄ルーテル教会

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