Pentecost 18 – Sept. 27, 2015 – James 5:13-20 “Healing In The Church”

Introduction: Grace be to you and peace, from God our Father, and from our Savior and Lord, Jesus Christ. Our text is the Epistle Lesson just read, from James 5. We begin with prayer.

Dear fellow disciples of our Savior and Lord, Jesus Christ:

The words and concepts found in our text for this morning have long interested people within the church. What we particularly find intriguing is the recourse and remedy suggested for those who are “suffering” and those who are “sick.”
We immediately think of the powerful healings of Jesus, and also of the miraculous healings of the apostles, and assume that such miraculous power of healing is here guaranteed to the church of all ages.
When we are sick or suffering, and especially when we have loved ones who are afflicted, we would do almost anything to relieve their suffering and deliver them from illness. Think of what we spend on insurance, doctors, and medications – and the length to which people are willing to go to stay healthy, all of the exercise and supplements and diets.
In these latter days, there have been many within the church who have “capitalized” on such desperation and have offered “healings.” However, their glitzy and entertaining shows and their efforts at self-aggrandizement have virtually nothing to do with the process described in our text – and their supposed “healings” have been demonstrated in virtually all instances to be fraudulent.
That they use Christian words – Christ’s name and the Holy Spirit’s name to perpetrate their theft and to wreak further destruction and despair upon gullible people guarantees that there will be some well-deserved place in hell for them.
Of course, we should remember that the apostle Paul had an illness, a thorn in the flesh, that he prayed for God to heal – and God’s answer was not healing and relief of his suffering but rather the promise that His grace would suffice for Paul. Others among the early Christian Church also died – how many 1^st century Christians [who would now be some 2,000 years old] have you heard of or met?
So it is obvious that we must look very carefully at these words – not asking them to bear more than they actually convey, but also not becoming skeptical and dismissing what they offer to the health and vitality of the church. Our sinful nature drives us to both extremes, as the devil seeks to destroy faith and denude us of the blessing of God!
So let us consider our text with an open mind so that we may receive from God’s hand, within the fellowship of His church, the blessings held out in our text from God’s Word. First, let us understand that:

I. The Blessings Of Healing And Comfort Offered In Our Text Are Principally Spiritual In Nature – Healing From Our Sin

Text: “If he has committed sins, he will be forgiven.”

A. The Principal Way That Such Forgiveness And Healing From Sin Is Offered And Provided Is Through Pastoral Prayer And Faith

Text: “Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the Name of the Lord. AND THE PRAYER OF FAITH WILL SAVE THE ONE WHO IS SICK, AND THE LORD WILL RAISE HIM UP. IF HE HAS COMMITTED SINS, HE WILL BE FORGIVEN.”

B. This Is Especially And Principally The Application Of Forgiveness By Pastoral Absolution

John 20:22,23 “Jesus breathed on His disciples and said to them, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you withhold forgiveness from any, it is withheld.”

Statement: It is hard for us to believe just how therapeutic forgiveness truly is, and how much sickness and malady is in fact brought on or exacerbated by sin and guilt. Not always, but often sickness is used by the Lord to call attention to our sin and guilt and our need to repent of our sin and to do so more honestly and intently. We add to our sickness and we refuse to receive the healing James writes about in our text when we refuse to acknowledge the connection, dismiss thought of greater repentance, and just “deal” with the illness hoping the doctor will give us some medicine that will work quickly.

Likewise, because of all the “hocus-pocus” and fraud that has been perpetrated upon humble believers within the church – for the purpose of gaining wealth, gaining prestige, or manipulating others – by pastors, priests, preachers, and other supposed “charismatic” healers, we have become quite wary, and even skeptical, about allowing anyone to “heal” us or even to “forgive” us. We echo the complaint of the Scribes and Pharisees to the absolution that Jesus Himself pronounced, that “only God can forgive sins.” So we reject the reality that Jesus Himself put into place that when the servants of His Word pronounce His forgiveness “they are forgiven.” We should remember that Luther taught the same on the basis of God’s Word in his catechism – to which we all have committed ourselves in our Confirmation.

Application: So if we wish to receive the healing promised in our text, let us remember that it is principally spiritually healing from sin, through pastoral prayer and absolution. This is not to deny that physical benefits flow from this forgiveness. But let us remember these three facts in our text: first, that elders, that is pastors [there was no office of “elder” like ours in the church until about a century ago; when Scripture uses the term “elder” it is referring to pastors], are the instruments of the healing; second, that “the prayer of faith will save the one who is sick,” and third, that it is “the Lord Who will raise him up.” If this is “hocus-pocus,” then it is Divine “hocus-pocus.” But be assured – it is not the man who heals but God, though He uses human ministry, pastoral ministry; this is what pastors are called to do, and there is to be no “enrichment, personal aggrandizement in respect, or manipulative power” that is earned. Perish such thoughts, and shame and damnation on anyone who attempts to pervert God’s gifts in such a manner.

Transition: So again:

II. Healing In The Church Comes By Mutual Confession And Prayer – Again, Forgiveness And Reconciliation

Text: “Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed.”

Statement: Likewise, we struggle to believe how important reconciliation and loving relationship is to the Lord, and therefore how therapeutic and healing mutual confession, absolution, reconciliation, and prayer for one another actually is. Because of our lack of faith, and our self-righteousness, we are fearful to confess our sins to one another or to admonish one another. So we live with guilt, and we make accusations of others without having forgiveness and reconciliation as our goal – but we rather have other motivations and agendas, to do evil and harm. Obviously we are not praying for those we seek to harm!

Application: The refusal to reconcile, the refusal to confess and receive admonition, and the refusal to forgive, is wretchedly contrary to God’s will and His love, and negates the healing He wills to give us within the fellowship of His church. This is hideously tragic – that as individuals and as a congregation we would do this – but we see these unhealthy and destructive dynamics within the church all the time. Lord, have mercy on us!

Transition: There is healing available within the church, through the ministry of the church, even physical healing – when and if it is God’s good and gracious will. But it is certain that there is spiritual healing within the church – and God wills always to grant this to us through confession and absolution and reconciliation! And this is God’s main concern, that:

III. Healing In The Church, Restoration To Repentance And Faith, Should Come To Us Through The Ministry Of The Church, And Through Mutual Admonition And Care For One Another

Text: “My brothers, if anyone among you wanders from the truth and someone brings him back, let him know that whoever brings back a sinner from his wandering will save his soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins.”

Statement: This is the principle task of pastoral ministry. It is also our first obligation to one another as brothers and sisters in the faith! The “wandering” is described as being “from the truth.” This includes both “believing” and “behaving” – wrong thinking and wrong doing. The goal and purpose is to bring such a one to repentance and back to faith in God’s gracious mercy and forgiveness in Christ Jesus. There is to be no other purpose – not to make him feel bad, not to elevate ourselves, not to put him in his place, not to gain greater prerogative or power in the relationship or with others, not to “cleanse” the church or to get rid of someone. All of these are quite damnable motivations – and because of them we no longer have faith and trust in one another to actually engage in this kind of “healing” and restoring ministry to one another. And we often reject it even from the pastor – after all, “just who does he think he is?”

Application: But in all of this we risk others “losing his soul to death” and we leave a multitude of sins uncovered. And this is patently and blatantly contrary to the will of God and contrary to Christian love. So we might want to consider first our own need for healing, and how we might bring this kind of healing ministry back into the church. And all of this is far more important than the kind of superficial physical healing that we are often most interested in – physical healing that leaves the disease of our sin and guilt untouched.

Conclusion: So, there is healing available within the church – in accord with the dynamics that James sets forth for the church. But we should expect no healing outside of this protocol. There is physical healing – perhaps even miracles performed still by the Lord, but there are also times when the Lord blesses us to remain afflicted. There will be ultimate healing in the end, in our resurrection.

But more importantly there is spiritual healing and reconciliation in love here now within the church, and this is even more important than physical healing, for this is eternal healing that saves a “soul from death.”

So let us think about these things – and hopefully consider carefully how blessed it would be to have this kind of “HEALING IN THE CHURCH” in our own congregation. God wills it; may we pray that His will be done in this matter especially! Amen.