Sunday, September 30, 2018

Pray / Based on James 5:13-20 / Delivered September 30, 2018 to CCH

Pray / Based on James 5:13-20 / Delivered September 30, 2018 to CCH

Hymns: Lord, Listen to Your Children Praying
            Incline Your Ear, O Lord, to Me
            His Eye is on the Sparrow


James 5:13-20
5:13 Are any among you suffering? They should pray. Are any cheerful? They should sing songs of praise.
5:14 Are any among you sick? They should call for the elders of the church and have them pray over them, anointing them with oil in the name of the Lord.
5:15 The prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise them up; and anyone who has committed sins will be forgiven.
5:16 Therefore confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another, so that you may be healed. The prayer of the righteous is powerful and effective.
5:17 Elijah was a human being like us, and he prayed fervently that it might not rain, and for three years and six months it did not rain on the earth.
5:18 Then he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain and the earth yielded its harvest.
5:19 My brothers and sisters, if anyone among you wanders from the truth and is brought back by another,
5:20 you should know that whoever brings back a sinner from wandering will save the sinner's soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins.


Happy Sunday to you!  I am Darci Strutt McQuiston, one of the Lay Servants from the United Methodist Church up on the hill from here.  It is my joy to be with you today.


The ideas I’m pulling from this scripture on prayer are:
We need to ask
We need to pray
We need to believe


We need to ask
5:14 Are any among you sick? They should call for the elders of the church and have them pray over them, anointing them with oil in the name of the Lord.


I read a spiritual writing this week that just happened to talk about healing.  It advised the person praying to not just pray for the healing they thought the person needed, but to ask the person directly what they felt they needed or wait for them to ask.  The author said sometimes what we think needs to be healed may a lesson the person would grow from and taking it from them isn’t what they would choose.  We shouldn’t put what we think is right on another person.  Their healing is their choice.


I remembered Jesus had displayed that thinking.


Mark 10:48 - 52
And many rebuked him, telling him to be silent; but he cried out all the more, "Son of David, have mercy on me!"  And Jesus stopped and said, "Call him." And they called the blind man, saying to him, "Take heart; rise, he is calling you."  And throwing off his mantle he sprang up and came to Jesus.  And Jesus said to him, "What do you want me to do for you?" And the blind man said to him, "Master, let me receive my sight."  And Jesus said to him, "Go your way; your faith has made you well." And immediately he received his sight and followed him on the way.


Wasn’t it obvious that the blind man would want his sight restored?  Yet Jesus had him be specific about what type of healing he wanted.  The sick came to him.  He healed at the request of those who came.   There were times when someone came to him on the behalf of someone they loved, but he waited to be asked.


Of course, there are also Jesus direct words in Matthew on asking.
  

Mat 7:7 -11
“Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.  For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.  “Which of you, if your son asks for bread, will give him a stone?  Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake?  If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!


It is a reminder we need to ask and be specific about what we need.  The need to ask forces us to be self-aware of what our needs are.  That awareness can become the beginning to our healing.


We need to pray
5:15 The prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise them up; and anyone who has committed sins will be forgiven.
5:16 Therefore confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another, so that you may be healed. The prayer of the righteous is powerful and effective.


We are a community of believers.  The illness in our neighbor affects the community.  Praying for one another helps us as a community to be healed.  The Bible is clear about the need to care for each other as if we were caring for ourselves because we are.  This scripture reminds us that such prayers are powerful and effective.


We have a prayer chain at our church.  I’ve been a member since I moved to Hudson in ’89.  Praying for members and friends of our congregation is a way I can strengthen my connection both to them and to God.  Prayer always strengthens my relationship to God as well as to the person I’m praying for.  It allows me to become a connection between the two with healing energy flowing from one end to the other.  I have been on the receiving end of prayer and I remember it helping me feel less alone in my struggle.   I saw those prayers as an act of love for me.


We need to believe
5:17 Elijah was a human being like us, and he prayed fervently that it might not rain, and for three years and six months it did not rain on the earth.
5:18 Then he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain and the earth yielded its harvest.


Elijah laid it all on the line for God.  He risked his reputation and, given that many in his shoes had been killed, he risked his life.  He believed and acted on that belief with his prayers.  His result wasn’t a quick one either.  It was three years and six months before his faith saw results.


I pulled out a couple other scriptures that spoke to this.


Matthew 9:27 -30a
And as Jesus passed on from there, two blind men followed him, crying aloud, "Have mercy on us, Son of David."  When he entered the house, the blind men came to him; and Jesus said to them, "Do you believe that I am able to do this?" They said to him, "Yes, Lord."  Then he touched their eyes, saying, "According to your faith be it done to you."  And their eyes were opened.


Mark 5:25 - 34
And there was a woman who had had a flow of blood for twelve years, and who had suffered much under many physicians, and had spent all that she had, and was no better but rather grew worse.  She had heard the reports about Jesus, and came up behind him in the crowd and touched his garment.  For she said, "If I touch even his garments, I shall be made well."  And immediately the hemorrhage ceased; and she felt in her body that she was healed of her disease.  And Jesus, perceiving in himself that power had gone forth from him, immediately turned about in the crowd, and said, "Who touched my garments?"  And his disciples said to him, "You see the crowd pressing around you, and yet you say, 'Who touched me?'"  And he looked around to see who had done it.  But the woman, knowing what had been done to her, came in fear and trembling and fell down before him, and told him the whole truth.  And he said to her, "Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace, and be healed of your disease."


This scripture from Mark strengthens my belief that prayer allows us to be a connection between the person with the need and God.  Jesus felt healing power go through him to the woman.  Her belief in his connection to God was so strong that she knew he didn’t need to focus on her at all.  Just touching Jesus was enough for her.


It is hard when it feels prayer isn’t answered or isn’t answered in the way we wish it would be.  Sometimes I think we need to step back and check in.  Have we taken time to discern what we are asking for with prayer?  Are we praying for what we think others need instead of letting them seek what they discern they need?  Are our prayers in alignment with God’s being as we understand it through scripture?


The final verses of James feel somewhat out of place but if we remember these are the final lines of the book they make more sense.  Their place in his book show their importance.  Healing was physical but also spiritual and the healing of our relationship to God was the most important.


5:19 My brothers and sisters, if anyone among you wanders from the truth and is brought back by another,
5:20 you should know that whoever brings back a sinner from wandering will save the sinner's soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins.


Ultimately healing has to do with having a restored relationship with God.  Jesus combined forgiveness of sins with healing.  At times his healing was demonstrating his power to forgive sins.  Prayer is our way of connecting to God either directly through our prayers or through intercessory prayer by members of the community.


Prayer is powerful.  Communication is vital for relationship.  The relationship between our community and God is strengthened by communication.  Be clear about what you discern you need and bring those needs to your faith community.  Your love for each other is strengthened as a result.  Pray when you’re troubled and pray when you’re cheerful.


Just pray!


Amen



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