Last week I began the sermon by saying that the text was ‘simple,
straightforward, easily understood’. That is clearly not the case this week.
This week we have before us one difficult text. It is a text that has given
interpreters fits over the centuries. And, as a result, there are a
multitude of interpretations. And, in God’s good providence, it is the text
that I have to preach on next. So, let’s give it a go and see what the
Spirit will do. And even if I’m not quite right, I am confident that He will
do something good with His Word this morning.
Our text can be expressed as a formula: one sick person + (anointing with
oil and the prayer of faith) = that person being saved + raised up. Everyone
agrees on this. But now the fun begins. It’s here that we come to all of the
possible ways to understand each part of the formula. The word ‘sick’ has
the basic idea of weakness. This can be physical weakness, being ill, or a
spiritual weakness of some sort. Then there’s the ‘anointing with oil’. Is
this to be understood as a medicinal use of oil, which was popular back
then, a symbolic use of oil, which was common throughout the Scriptures, or
a kind of mystical use of oil, which some have assumed for a couple of
centuries? On the ‘prayer of faith’ there isn’t much disagreement except
that some will talk about the need for there to be enough faith for the
formula to work. Then we have the equal sign which, according to some, only
means sometimes the left side of the formula will result in the right side.
Sometimes, it just doesn’t work. Next is being ‘saved’. This can mean being
saved from a physical ailment. The Gospels often use it this way. Or it can
mean being saved from some spiritual problem. And last, being ‘raised up’
has been interpreted to mean either raised up from the bed of physical
affliction or raised up out of some spiritual plight. And there you are.
Lots of variables. Lots of ways to understand what James is saying. And it’s
all because each of the words can be understood in several different ways.
But that’s the nature of words. Do a simple experiment this afternoon. Get
out your desk dictionary, look up the word ‘turn’ and see how many different
ways it can be understood.
Well, what do we do with all of this? Before I give you my take on how to
understand the text, I want to answer a question that some of you might be
wondering about. Why are there these difficult, confusing texts in the
Bible? Why can’t God always be simple, straightforward and easily
understood? Here’s one answer. There are unclear things in the Bible to
remind us that understanding the Scriptures is not merely or even primarily
an academic enterprise. Most of you have been taught that if you apply
certain literary and historical skills to some passage of the Bible, you
will be able to understand what it’s about. That’s what I was taught. And
the more of these literary and historical skills that you can learn the more
of the Bible you’ll understand. You’re supposed to study the Bible in the
same way that you study any book. Or so we’re told. And what is the result
of this? You then have those people – those with an abundance of academic
skills – who are so proud of their ability to explain so many parts of the
Bible. You also have those people – without those skills – who beat
themselves up because they are ‘too stupid’ to understand the Bible. This is
all wrong. Understanding the Bible isn’t the same as understanding any other
book. It isn’t an academic venture as much as it’s a Spiritual one, that is,
something that you can’t do without the Spirit of God. If someone
understands God’s Word, really understands it, it’s only because the Spirit
allowed him to do that. ‘He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit
says to the churches.’
Now, let me give you my take on this passage. And, as usual, this is not
original with me. James is writing about someone who is physically ill. He
instructs this person to call the elders of the church. And why the elders?
Why not a doctor? It all depends on the reason for the sickness. Talking
about bacteria and viruses may not be a complete answer to why someone is
sick. Paul writes, ‘For anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the
body eats and drinks judgment on himself. That is why many of you are weak
and ill, and some have died.’ [1 Corinthians 11:29-30] There was unrepentant
sin in the Corinthian church. God’s response? Physical illness. Why? This is
God’s discipline. It’s something like spanking a child who hasn’t responded
to words of correction. So, the person in James 5 is sick and has come to
the point of acknowledging that the reason for his sickness is God’s
discipline of his stubborn refusal to repent of his sin. He’s ready to give
up his rebellion. He’s ready to repent. And so, he calls for the elders of
his church. What do they do? First, they anoint him with oil. This has
nothing to do with oil as a medicine. Neither is it about some mystical
power in the oil. The oil is being used symbolically. Anointing with oil is
a symbolic act pointing to the work of the Spirit in restoring this person.
With the anointing, the elders also offer a prayer of faith. It’s the elders
’ faith here, not the person’s faith. Bear in mind that faith is always a
response to something that God has said in His Word. Here, the elders are
responding to what God has said about their authority in the church. They
have Christ’s authority to apply and to remove discipline. Here, they are
removing the discipline that God has placed on this person. When they do
this the result is assured. The ‘equals’ of our formula is not ‘sometimes
equals’. It always ‘equals’ the result in the right side of the formula.
So, the sick person is ‘saved’. This doesn’t mean that he is converted.
Rather, he is saved from the threat of something worse happening to him. He
is restored to his Father. Discipline is being removed. ‘Raised up’ means
that he is healed from his physical illness. He is raised up from his bed of
affliction. Thus James writes, ‘And if he has committed sins, he will be
forgiven.’ Those sins that he had formerly refused to repent of, but now
has, are forgiven. Now, am I positive that this is the right way to
understand our text? No. There are many smarter, wiser and Godlier men than
I who see it differently. But I think it works. There are chinks in the
armor, weaknesses in this understanding, but that is true of every suggested
interpretation.
So, now what do we do? I could send you home at this point and we could all
say something like, ‘My, what an interesting interpretation.’ But what good
is that? The Spirit wants to do more than just fill your heads with
‘interesting’ facts. Instead, let me ask a question. Is any of you sick? Don
’t be so quick to assume that it’s something only related to germs and
bacteria. Could you be like the person in our text? Is your health problem
actually a matter of God’s discipline for some sin you are refusing to deal
with? This doesn’t mean that doctors are unnecessary. It just means that
sometimes the real problem is behind the germs. Sometimes the real problem
is something that antibiotics can’t touch.
Now, bear in mind the bigger picture. James isn’t just dealing with three
specifics in the larger text, suffering, happiness and sickness. These are
merely examples of his larger concern that these folk live as Christians
through ups and downs of life. And so, let’s adjust the question. Is anyone
here joyless? Is life just one hard day after another? Or is anyone here
feeling that God is so distant from you? And it’s been so long since you’ve
felt any sense of closeness that you just assume that this is normal? Do you
see the larger point in what James is saying? Examine your life. How are you
doing? What is God doing in you these days? The Scriptures tell us what
should be happening in the life of your normal, garden variety Christian.
Battles with evil? Yes. Temptations from Satan? Yes. Wrestling with sin?
Yes. But also joy in the Spirit, a sure confidence in the fatherly love of
God, an assurance that Jesus rules this world with your good at heart. Is
that you? If it is, then give thanks! If it isn’t, then you need to ask
yourself why not. And if there is a problem, James tells you what to do. ‘…
let him call for the elders of the church.’ The elders of this church are to
be involved in your life. And we are to be involved in your life more than
what we have been. James could have written about the need for sincere
prayer by the afflicted person alone, or just with members of his family. He
didn’t. He wrote about the role of the elders. The elders of the church have
a role to play in your lives. The office of elder is a benefit of the
Gospel. You need to take advantage of it. Maybe those seemingly continuous
health problems really are just a matter of germs and all the rest. In a
situation like that, one thing the elders can do is satisfy your conscience
that all is well. ‘There doesn’t seem to be any rebellious sin. There is no
reason to think that God is disciplining you. It really is just something
for a doctor.’ But that is something to discern with the help of the elders
of the church. And if there is a problem, whether that shows as something
medical or in some other way, we are called by Christ and gifted by His
Spirit to help you work through whatever it is. Let me urge you to take to
heart what the Spirit is saying from this portion of His Word.
