Who heals?

My church is going to have a service of prayer for healing in a couple of weeks. This isn't a "healing service" as popularly imagined, where we expect to see immediate, miraculous cures during the service (although I wouldn't rule it out, since the Holy Spirit works as He wills). Rather, we are attempting to put into practice the passage in James 5:13-16 on prayers for the sick.

We have many people in our church who are going through difficult physical challenges right now, and they ask us to pray for them. We certainly believe that every Christian can and ought to pray for those who are sick, and that you don't need an elder praying over you to get better. Still, there is a reason this passage was written by James and became part of our Bible.

 If you were part of the Wednesday night James study, we went over this is a little more detail, and I posted the notes in the Library on the Pastor Steve's Study web site. Here I just want to go over what we plan to do and how it fits together with what we studied in James.

In the service, we will have the pastoral staff (who are the elders in our particular church setting) praying, with the deacons assisting. While this isn't a direct application of James' injunction to "call for the elders," it does reflect the underlying idea that the elders of the church ought to be pastorally concerned for the needs of the church members. It does also require the one seeking prayer to let the elders know he or she needs prayer.

We will be using oil to anoint the sick. While some scholars argue that this was more for medicinal purposes, as oil was often used as a curative, I think in James it also has a symbolic significance. With the anointing done "in the name of the Lord," I think the oil, as often in the NT, symbolizes the Holy Spirit. Notice that this anointing mentioned in James isn't done as the person is dying; it is done with the expectation that the sick person will be made well.

James does not say that the anointing, the oil, or the elders are what makes the person well. It is the "prayer of faith," the prayer offered in  a full understanding of who God is and what He can do, that is answered by God and brings healing. This prayer is not a magic formula that forces God to do something He doesn't want to do. Rather, it is a prayer offered in full submission to God, and one which recognizes that physical healing isn't always the answer God wants to give us. Healing is accomplished by the work of the Spirit whom the oil represents, not by the oil, the words, or the people involved.

There is also a connection with sin and forgiveness in James. Not all sickness is the result of sin, but some is. Sometimes it is because of the consequences of sinful actions, but it may also be God's way of getting our attention. We should never focus so much on the health of the body that we forget the health of the soul. Healing involves getting the whole person right, and you can be perfectly healthy in body but terribly sick in your soul. You can also be struggling with a number of illnesses, yet be in good spiritual health if you continue to rely on the Lord in your struggles.

When you read all of James, it becomes apparent that he doesn't believe that Christians are delivered from all suffering. In fact, James tells us trials should be welcomed because of what God accomplishes through them. We don't have to like suffering, but we do need to recognize that it is often through our trials that grow more like Jesus.

So we will pray for the sick and suffering, but depend on the Lord to bring about the healing. We will pray for the body and the soul, we will use oil to symbolize the source of healing rather than as a healing agent itself, and we will pray in the knowledge that "the intense prayer of the righteous is very powerful."

A humble heart

James is at his fiery best in chapter 4 of his epistle. I can hear him in my imagination thundering from the "pulpit" about the dangers of sinful desires and trying to be friends with the world. In this chapter, I think there is a common thread that ties together the sections, and that is pride. It is pride that causes us to put ourselves and our desires ahead of serving the Lord, that makes us want to be respected by the world, that leads us to criticizing others, and that sets us up to boast about our futures as if we controlled history. Pride was the first sin, and it is often a root of many other sins.

What is James' solution to this problem? Naturally, it is humility. He quotes Proverbs 3:34, which states that God "gives grace to the humble." It seems like that means we hve to earn God's grace through our attitude, but I think there is a deeper truth here. The proud person will not receive God's grace, not because it is not offered, but because he sees no need of it. If I am in control, and everything is going my way, why would I want to ask God for grace? "I don't need God or His grace; I'm doing just fine, thank you." 

The humble person receives God's grace because he or she recognizes a desperate need for that grace. If I understand who I am before God, and just what sin means, I will not approach the Lord with pride asking for what I think I deserve, because I know exactly what I do deserve, and it's a fearsome judgment. If I am truly humble, I will ask for grace since it is the only thin that keeps me from hell. 

Submission to God is required, and talking about submission is not popular in our contemporary Western culture. If we look at James' call to submit to God in its context, wee see that in the very next verse he talks about drawing near to God. Submission to God is not an abject groveling at the feet of a cruel and exacting master; it is drawing near, with proper reverence, to a loving Father who is the almighty Creator of the universe. There's enough there that I won't approach God in a flippant manner, but I can be encouraged that He wants me to draw near.

Humility also helps us "resist the devil." We know we need help, we need grace, and we need a power beyond what we have to resist Satan's temptations. Satan himself fell because of pride, and he will use ours to goad us to serving ourselves rather than the Lord. As long as we are aware of our own penchant for sin, and constantly come to od for forgiveness when we do sin, we can maintain the kind of humble attitude that stills the call to pride.

Humility is really just recognizing who we are in God's sight: sinners, saved by grace, and beloved now as children of God. We won't think too highly of ourselves and our own goodness, nor will we wallow in depression over our sorry state. We will think of ourselves as God does, and each day gain an increased understanding of how He sees us and how we can serve Him. With that kind of humility, we can avoid a great deal of temptation to go our own way, and stay on the path God has made for us.

The fiery tongue

The images used by James in chapter 3 of his epistle to describe the tongue are striking: the horse and bit, ship and rudder. taming of wild animals. None is more striking, however, than the comparison of the tongue to a fire. While fire can be used for good, James doesn't have any of that in mind here. This fire is destructive, begun by a small spark but creating a wide swath of destruction.

I believe, despite not having any hard empirical data, that most church divisions and fights are caused by words. Most of these fights don't even involve fundamental theological or historical issues; they are caused when one person or group starts talking about another. Passions become inflamed, and things quickly spiral out of control, leaving behind the destruction of any kind of witness for Jesus and breaking apart ties of Christian family.

What we need to notice in James' use of this analogy is the source of the fire. He says in verse 6 that the tongue is "set on fire by hell." This certainly includes the work of Satan and the demons in tempting Christians to misuse their words, but I think it goes further. Hell, as the place of eternal judgment, is the place where each creature has itself as the object of care, concern, and worship. There is no need to bow to God or concede to His laws and commandments. That kind of hell, placing ourselves as the ultimate concern of ourselves, is reflected in destructive, selfish talk.

Reading James 3, you can sense the passion with which he might have preached this message. He urges his readers not to give in to self, not to allow their speech free reign, but to learn to control it. While the small tongue may change the entire course of our lives (as many translations render the unusual phrase in verse 6), it can be controlled by heavenly wisdom. That's the connection between the discussion of the tongue and the discussion of the two wisdoms later in the chapter.

How can we control what we say? We have to be changed from the inside out. We need the kind of wisdom described in verse 17, where is is called the "wisdom from above." This may be a reference to 1:17, where "every perfect gift" is said to come from "above." It is a wisdom that is heavenly, coming from a heavenly source. We cannot that is "first pure, the peace-loving, gentle, compliant, full of mercy and good fruits, without favoritism and hypocrisy" unless we have the Holy Spirit filling us with His fruit. But when we yield to the Spirit, we can gain control of our lives and our tongues through the strength He gives us.

Will we be perfect? Not in this life. I wish I had better control of my words and my speech (and so do the people who have to listen to me ramble on!). As we grow more like Jesus, and as we allow the Spirit to do His work in our lives, we will get better at it. Maybe only a little here and little there at times, but we will see our speech start to look like Jesus' words. When we do, we will be able to prevent those "fires" that our tongues may cause.

Demonic faith

Many people have "demonic faith" in God. No, I don't mean theithy worship demons. I mean they have the same kind of faith in God that the demons do. They believe in the existence of God, and maybe they even believe that there's only one God, but that's as far as their faith goes. It doesn't make any difference in their lives.

In James 2:19, we're told that the demons believe in one God. I think that Satan and the demons are entirely orthodox in their beliefs about God. In fact, it's more than faith to them-they know the reality of who God is and what He's like. I;m sure they are consistent Trinitarians, knowing the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. If you gave them a theology test on the existence and being of God, they'd ace it.

Despite their "orthodoxy," however, Satan and the demons are condemned to eternal judgment. Their correct belief in God didn't stop them from pursuing their own way, with Satan wanting to be like God and the demons following him in rebellion. As a result, they fell, and their knowledge of God only gives them reason to tremble at the thought of what's coming.

Having the facts about God straight is important, but those facts alone aren't enough. We have to take what we know about God and act on it. The first thing we must do is acknowledge who God is, and who we are in relation to Him. We need to accept Jesus as our Lord by faith. We need to have a faith that really makes a difference in our lives as well. Our knowledge should be matched by our commitment.

James is the NT book that stresses having a living faith. James is often criticized for putting an emphasis on works; in fact, some people accuse him of teaching salvation by works. That's not what his message is when you look at it closely. James sees works as evidence of a real faith, and the absence of any good works as evidence of a dead faith. He follows the advice of his older brother, who said, "By their fruit you will recognize them." (Matthew 7:20) If our faith is alive, it should be visible in the way we live our lives.

We do need to know the truth about God accurately. We need to have a strong grasp of the teaching of the Bible. But we also need to take what we know and put it into practice. If our faith is no better than that of a demon, we've missed the whole point about Jesus. So let's hold on to the truth, but let's also let that truth work itself out so the world can see the difference that faith in Christ makes in our lives.

Doing the Word

Awkward title, isn't it? Yet that's what we should be doing according to James 1:22:  "But be doers of the word and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves." (HCSB) The Greek words are nouns, so it's an accurate rendition of what James wrote. So what does it mean to "do the Word"? That's pretty much what James spends most of his epistle describing.

It must have been tough to be James. Maybe if you're a younger sibling you understand the issues he might have faced. Can't you see Mary saying, "James, why can't you be more like your older brother? Jesus always listens. He never gets into. You should be more like him." Maybe that's one of the reasons his brothers weren't immediate followers of Jesus; perhaps there was a little sibling-rivalry resentment to overcome. (That, of course, is just my speculation, not Scripture, so take it for wht it's worth.)

Yet James did ultimately believe in Jesus, and became not only a follower of His but a leader in the early church. He was called "James the Just' for his outstanding character. According to early accounts, he was respected not only by Christians but by many Jews. His advice at the Council of Jerusalem shows a man who seeks to be both just and fair in his dealings. James really did become a "doer of the Word," so his encouragement to his readers and to us is significant.

I believe one of the reasons so many churches have little impact on their communities and on the world at large is that they become so focused on being right in their beliefs that they forget to live out those truths before the world. I would be the last one to argue that having correct theology and a strong understanding of Scripture is unimportant. However, even if our theology is perfect and our grasp of the Bible deep, that knowledge and understanding is useless if not put into practice. If the truth of God doesn't make a difference in the way we live, then we are living by another truth and only going through the motions of being a Christian.

James certainly believed in the importance of reading and meditating on the Word. Just two verses later, after his illustration of looking into a mirror, he writes, "But the one who looks intently into the perfect law of freedom and perseveres in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but one who does good works—this person will be blessed in what he does." (1:25, HCSB) Our time and meditation on the Word is what gives us the motivation to do what is good. We cannot do what the Lord wants us to do if we don't know what that is, and we can't know what that is if we don't read, study, and understand what He tells us in His Word.

I'm a bit of an academic, and perhaps if you are reading this you are, too. I have to be careful that I don't get so caught up in an academic pursuit of Christianity that I forget to have a living, breathing, and active faith.

So by all means study the Bible, understand your theology, and listen to the Word preached and taught. Just don't leave it in the classroom. Make sure you take what you know and live it, and show your world what faith in Jesus looks like in action. Do the Word!

Tenebrae

As I stated in a previous post, my favorite service of the year is the Good Friday Tenebrae service. It's a solemn service, and very visual, but I find it the most striking and memorable service I participate in each year. I was introduced to Tenebrae at a Baptist seminary, attended for several years at a Reformed Episcopal church, and have organized or led the service at several Baptist churches since. It's not the kind of service most Baptists are familiar with, so I'd like to explain what happens so you can understand why the service is done the way it is.

"Tenebrae" is the Latin word for "darkness." As a separate service, Tenebrae arose from some medieval traditions of darkening the church during Good Friday services, but in the form we use it comes more from a liturgical Protestant tradition. It is a highly structured service, with a set form even of most of the words of the service; this is popularly called a "liturgical" service, from the word "liturgy" which means the form or order of worship. (In truth, all churches are "liturgical," but some are more structured than others!) There are times for the pastor to speak, and for the congregation to respond. The Tenebrae service anticipates active participation by the congregation.

The major focus of Tenebrae is the Bible. There are many Scripture readings related to the events of Good Friday. Many are from Psalms, and have verses that describe the experiences of Jesus during His sufferings and death. Others are of Old Testament prophecy relating to the suffering of the Messiah. There are also readings from the Gospels (Luke, in our case) and the Epistles (Hebrews). The words of the Bible tell us the story of Christ, and we immerse ourselves in God's Word during this service.

There is a highly symbolic aspect to this service, which is unusual in Baptist churches. The candles that are lit are extinguished and the lights dimmed to symbolize the encroaching darkness of Jesus' suffering and death. We recite the Lord's Prayer, but in a whisper to reflect our own awe at remembering the work of our Lord. The Christ candle (often from the Advent wreath) is extinguished and hidden to symbolize the death and burial of Jesus. Bells toll to drive home the finality of the death of Christ-at least, the finality the disciples experienced on that first Friday. We leave the church in darkness and silence, meditating on the fact that it was only through the suffering and death of Jesus that we are able to be made right with God.

The symbolism of Tenebrae is sometimes criticized as an effort to bring in "traditions" from other denominations into the evangelical church. (Seriously. You wouldn't believe what I read last night on some blog attacking Tenebrae.) Any symbol can be misused, so we do need to be careful that we are giving the proper meaning to those symbols. That's why I try to be very specific as to what we are doing in Tenebrae, and what all the symbols mean.

Ultimately, Tenebrae is a service that seeks to remind us, through Word and symbol, of the terrible price Christ paid for our sins. It is meant to draw our attention not to candles or symbols, but to the One whose sufferings they represent. If you leave on Good Friday thinking only of the "theatrics" of the service, you have missed the point. You should leave thinking of the grace of Jesus, and thanking Him for bearing the judgment for you.

The symbolism actually continues on Sunday morning. The church is brightly lit, there is joyous sound, and the Christ candle is there at the front of the church, lit again, symbolizing the Resurrection. We then celebrate the triumph of Jesus over sin and death. I just want to encourage you this week to take time to reflect on Jesus' suffering and death, and not skip too quickly to Sunday. We should recall what Peter wrote: "For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God." (1 Peter 3:18a, NIV) As the "unrighteous" who have been brought to God through Christ, we should respond with honor and gratitude for what He has done for us.

Preparing people to die

As we approach Good Friday, our thoughts are drawn to the suffering and death of our Lord. Many people want to rush right to the triumph of Easter, but if we brush past the occupied tomb to get to the empty tomb we miss what make the celebration of the Resurrection so joyful. We need to take time to meditate deeply on just what Jesus suffered to pay the price for our sins.

My favorite church service of the year is our Good Friday Tenebrae service. While it isn't one that most Baptists are familiar with, the focus on the words of Scripture and the visual aspects of the service create a moving and somber atmosphere that draws your attention to the cross. When you leave the church in darkness and silence, after a time of meditation on the suffering of Jesus, you are in a place from which the joy of Easter can truly flow. From dark and silent, the church on Easter Sunday will be full of light and joyous sound, reflecting the triumph of our Lord over sin and death.

I was listening to a podcast by Carl Trueman, professor of church history at Westminster Seminary, in which he stated that the role of the pastor is to prepare people to die. It's a provocative thought, but there is a lot of truth in it. Thinking about death runs counter to our culture, which is obsessed with staying alive (and preferably young). Yet we are all assured that one day, barring the return of Christ, we will all die. Are we ready for that to happen to us?

In His suffering and death, Jesus showed us how to be prepared to die. Jesus had a strong relationship with His Father, one that led Him to accept the Father's will above His own. He showed a human desire to avoid suffering and death if possible, yet faced His death with purpose. He went through physical, emotional and spiritual agony, yet in the end He knew triumph even in His pain. His sufferings were real (contrary to a variety of heretical teaching throughout history), but they did not break His confidence in His Father.

Before we can even begin to be prepared to die, we have to have a relationship with God. As sinners, we can't do that on our own, but Jesus made it possible for us to be right with God by taking our judgment on Himself. Through faith in Him, and by the grace of God, we can be brought into a right relationship with our Father. We continue to cultivate that relationship through reading and hearing God's Word, prayer, and service to others in the name of Jesus. As our relationship grows, we learn to trust God in everything, even in suffering and, yes, death. In the end, we are prepared to face death because we know it will bring us into our loving Father's presence.

Our churches can't be so focused on Christian living that they forget to prepare us to die. It is in preparing to die that we can really live, knowing that this life is only the beginning of a greater eternal life with our Lord. So think about the triumph of Jesus over sin and death, and the life He brings us through His victory, but don;t forget to think about dying, and what lies beyond death for you as you follow our Lord's example.

Sunday Sermon: "Call Me Bitter"

The book of Ruth, set in the background of the time of the judges, tells us a marvelous story that gives us a picture of even greater realities. The beginning of the story, however, is awfully dark. The family of Elimelech goes into a voluntary exile to Moab during a famine, leaving behind their home and their place in the people of God. While there, Elimelech's sons both marry Moabite wives, something not forbidden directly by the Law but certainly not completely in line with it. Then the greater tragedy occurs: Elimelech and both of his sons die. (The names of the two sons, Mahlon ("weak") and Kilion ("pining") may give us insight into their early deaths.) Who is left? Elimelech's widow, Naomi, and the two wives of her sons, Ruth and Orpah.

Naomi decides to return to Israel, perhaps just out of desperation. While her two daughters-in-law begin the journey with her, it may have been just the politeness of the younger for the elder. Naomi urges them to leave her, since there really is no future hope for them with her. Orpah follows Naomi's advice and returns to her home, but Ruth refuses to leave. She has decided to remain with Naomi, not only out of family loyalty but also because she has chosen to adopt Naomi's GOd as her own.

Ruth is the central character of the story, and we often focus on her choices when we look at this passage. I think we miss a big point, however, when we skip over Naomi's reactions  When we examine her situation, we see a woman who is older, with no husband, no place of her own, no financial support, and an extra mouth to feed in her foreign daughter-in-law.

How does she react? She acknowledges that it is the Lord who is in control, and accepts that what has happened to her is from Him. Her faith is shaken because of that, and she is in despair. She actually asks that her name be changed, from Naomi {"pleasant"} to Mara {"bitter"}. Her life has become bitter, and her spirit is bitter.

At the end of chapter 1, everything looks bleak for her and for Ruth. Since we tend to rush right into chapter 2, we see what's going to happen and how the Lord will provide, but I think it's important to see where Naomi is at this point. In our own lives, we often find ourselves in situations where we see the Lord moving in ways that make no sense to us, and that leave us at least close to despair. We wonder where God is, and why He isn't doing anything to help us. Yet we may only be at the end of "chapter 1" in our situation.

What does that mean for us? Before we fall into despair, and give up on God, we need to recognize that one moment in our lives does not tell our whole story. The Lord may be working out something that is greater than we expect, but we need to be prepared for it. I believe that we more often arow and move forward in our spiritual lives through our trial than through our blessings. We may need to be dislodged from things in which we have placed our faith, and learn to rely on the Lord.

So if you are experiencing challenges in your life, don't despair. You may just be at the end of chapter 1. The Lord is in control, and He knows what He has in store for you and will move you to that place in His time.