What we have before us is a text that is simple, straightforward, easily
understood. James mentions three situations that the Christians to whom he
was writing might have found themselves in and, therefore, gives them three
ways to respond. If any are suffering, the right response is prayer. If any
are happy, the right response is singing praises. If any are ill, the right
response is calling for the elders. This is simple, straightforward and
easily understood. However, you might miss something if you’re not careful.
What is James doing? Is he establishing three rules here? Absolutely not!
You need to step back and take a look at the bigger picture. What is James
doing? What has he been doing for most of this letter? He is encouraging the
saints. To do what? He is encouraging them to believe the Gospel in the
different situations of life. Here are three ways that Christians are to
respond to the ups and downs of life. Here are three ways that true faith
shows itself. James is saying, ‘If you are Christians – and I know that you
are – then be sure to live like one. Let me give you some examples of what I
mean.’ If you miss this bigger picture then you are going to misunderstand
our text. You’re just going to see it as a list of rules. And when you do
that you will always have problems. You’ll have two groups form. Religious
rules become a burden. So, the first group will be people who are crushed by
the burden of trying to keep the rules. As a result they’ll think that there
is no hope for them to have a relationship with God. The second will think
that they are keeping these rules just fine and, as a result, they will be
puffed up with pride convinced that God must be impressed with them. Where
is the Gospel in all of this? Remember to keep the bigger picture in view.
With that in mind, let’s take a look at the first two of James’ examples. We
’ll leave the third for next week.
James tells these Christians, ‘Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray.’
He’s just finished a section of his letter where he was exhorting the people
to patiently endure life as a Christian in a very fallen world. In that
section, he offered the prophets and Job as examples. So, James’ ‘if’ isn’t
suggesting that suffering is an unlikely situation. James knew that it would
happen. Suffering is part of being a Christian. You have been called to be a
holy people, to pursue what is right before God, to shine brightly with the
Gospel. And you are to do this in a world that is not at all sympathetic to
any of it. So, what is the result? Conflict. And suffering. Suffering is an
inevitable part of faithful Christian living. But understand that this
suffering isn’t only referring to those times when a Christian gets into
trouble for calling people to repentance and faith in Jesus. Christians
suffer as they try to do a good work on the job without compromising with
the evil that they find at that job. You feel the pressure from other
workers and supervisors who don’t really care about your desire to be
faithful to your God, your family and your church. Just get the job done!
Christians suffer when they speak up about some hot social issue, trying to
present a perspective faithful to God’s truth. People can get quite angry
when you do that. Christians suffer when they pursue a course that is a
little different from what is common but true to God’s word. Sometimes
relatives hear about their plans and give them all sorts of flak. These are
the kinds of things that Christians need to do. And these are the kinds of
things that result in suffering. Please understand that Christian suffering
is not limited to going to jail because you were preaching on the street
corner. If you do what is right, as God defines it, out there in the world,
you will face conflict. You will endure suffering. And so, James, being the
wise pastor that he is, wants to encourage these saints. So, he writes,
‘When you suffer, pray!’ That’s how someone who believes the Gospel would
respond.
Now, James’ advice seems clear enough – until you ask, ‘What should I pray?’
What if a Christian prays, ‘Lord, please make the suffering stop’? Picture a
soldier at the front line, battling the enemy. He’s been there for a while,
and he is tired of it all. He is weary. His great desire is that this war be
over. Now, there are only three ways for the war to be over: the enemy
surrenders, he surrenders or victory is achieved. In your war with Satan and
his hordes there are some things that are clear. Your enemy will never
surrender. Your surrender to the enemy will result in the loss of your soul.
Victory will most certainly be achieved. But that will only happen when
Jesus comes back. So, is it wrong to pray, ‘Lord, please make the suffering
stop’? No it’s not wrong as long as you understand that to mean, ‘Lord,
please send Jesus as soon as possible.’ That’s when the suffering will stop.
And you should fill out your prayer by adding some of these things. You need
to pray that your God would give you the grace that you need so that you won
’t to give in to the weariness that you feel. And by that I mean that you
need to pray that you would continue to patiently endure even in the face of
suffering. Along with that it would be wise to pray that God would protect
your heart from any bitterness. That can be one response to having people
make your life harder. And then, it would be good to give thanks to your God
for the privilege of suffering for the sake of the Gospel. That may sound
weird, but that is what the Apostles did when they suffered. [You can look
it up in Acts 5.] So, when Christian suffering comes your way – and it
will – remember to pray. But pray wisely. And remember as you pray that
your Father always hears the prayers of His children. Not one word is
missed. And having heard from you, rest assured that He will respond, and
that response will be molded by His wise love for you.
Let’s consider the second exhortation from James here. ‘Is anyone cheerful?
Let him sing praise.’ Life for a Christian is certainly not all down and
drab and difficult. There are plenty of times when life is going quite well,
you’re able to check things off your to do list and it’s a bright and sunny
day to boot. So, what is the response that James is calling for? Sing
praises. Now, James is still encouraging these saints to believe the Gospel
in the different situations of life. Do you see why I say this? The good
things that you enjoy, a schedule that is working, a pretty blue sky that
lifts your spirits and all the rest, don’t occur because of happenstance.
They are expressions of the kindness of the sovereign God to you. They are
His blessings being showered upon you. And so, James reminds these saints
that they should respond to these blessings as Christians. They should
praise their God for His goodness and return thanks for these gifts. This
makes sense especially when you remember that at the heart of what it means
to be an unbeliever is the failure to give thanks to the God who grants him
so many good things. Isn’t that how Paul describes the unbeliever in Romans
1? Now, at least they are consistent. They don’t worship the true God, so
who should expect them to be grateful to Him? But you are different. You are
Christians. You know the God who controls all the details. You call Him your
own. So, when He gives you a blessing of whatever sort, and He cheers your
soul, remember that that is a call to respond to Him. It is a call to give
thanks and offer praise. It is a way of professing your faith. This is not a
world of mere chance. Jesus rules this world. And He rules it with your good
at heart.
Now, it’s important to be careful here. Did you notice what it was that
James wrote? He didn’t write, ‘Is anyone cheerful? Let him offer praise.’
No, rather he wrote, ‘Let him sing praise.’ Now, why did he write that you
should sing? Isn’t it good enough just to offer your praise in prose? Well,
evidently not. If it were good enough, then James would have written it that
way. But he didn’t. James calls the saints to sing. And he isn’t alone. The
Scriptures are filled with commands to sing praises to our God, and it gives
lots of examples of believers singing their praise. Why? Try this on for
size. Singing gives you an opportunity to be much more emotional than mere
speaking. It’s fine to pray, ‘Lord, You are so good to me. Thank You for
this gift that You have given to me.’ But it’s a bit different if you sing
your praise. It gives you an opportunity for what ordinarily is a fuller
emotional expression. And that’s a good thing. The Gospel sets you free to
be emotional toward your God, to love Him with your whole heart. Singing is
a great way to freely express your emotions of praise. And that’s one reason
why we sing as a part of worship. Richard Baxter was a Puritan whom God used
to do a great work in the church where he was a pastor. There was a dramatic
turnaround in that church. And one sign of that great work of God was that
you could walk down the street and hear the families singing their praises
to their God. I think that there’s something for us to learn here.
The Spirit has spoken by His word. He is reminding you to respond to life as
a Christian. When life is hard and the sky is dark, pray. When the sun is
shining brightly, sing your praises. In this way it will be obvious that you
believe the Gospel.
