Are You Suffering?

My primary concern these past two weeks has been to lift up the central task of the Christian church, namely the ministry of reconciliation. This is so very important in a world of suffering, sickness and death. Jesus came among us out of deep compassion to  bring healing, power, new life and joy. Listen to James, son of Mary and Joseph, brother to our Lord and witness to His resurrection (Mark 3:21-34; 1 Corinthians 15:7).

"Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing praise. ¹⁴Is 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. ¹⁵And the prayer of faith will save the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. ¹⁶Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working" (James 5:13-16).

In this chapter James constantly reminds us that the Lord Jesus is coming. We who believe in Him are ever aware of His promise to return to complete the great work of salvation and the renewal of all things (Romans 8:18-25). In this interim we must not be surprised at suffering, sickness and sin. Even in the midst of all that, the Lord is present with His great power to heal and restore. He who is coming in power and glory at the end of the age is also present with us even now to heal and save. Let's look closely at what James teaches. 


He addresses those of us who are suffering. Something bad has happened in your lives. Things have not gone as you anticipated. The Apostle Paul wrote of this to Timothy. He said he was in jail and bound by chains, unjustly accused of being a trouble maker (2 Tim. 2:9). As a pastor, I have known of that kind of suffering. People misunderstood what I did. I failed to communicate my intentions. I acted on my own without discussing it with the congregation leaders beforehand. As a consequence, for reasons of their own, even acting out of fear, several of them accused me of false teaching. They began to slander me and gossip in the congregation. They called a secret meeting of like minded leaders to discuss what they might do to stop me from bringing further damage to the congregation. They even sent out letters. When I learned about their clandestine meetings and their slander I was deeply troubled in my heart. Why did they say what they said? Why had no one come directly to me to talk about it? I suffered great pain inwardly. 


James urges such sufferers to pray. Oh I did that. I prayed long and fervently, but the pain did not go away. The suffering intensified. I was no longer cheerful. It was most difficult to sing praise. It was nearly impossible to carry on with my work. I was, as James says, sick! I felt like the poor wretches that lay paralyzed, weak and helpless at the pool of Bethesda in Jerusalem (John 5:1-9). I desperately needed help. Yet I was the pastor of the church, the one James calls an elder (Acts 14:23). Who was I to call out to for help? I had no one. I had no pastor or elder of my own. I recall that during that time I tried to reach out to one of the pastoral leaders of our church body, but he too misunderstood and offered me no help whatsoever. I longed for someone to come to me, to discuss my problem with me, to pray over me and to lay healing hands upon my shoulders in the name of Jesus. But there was no one. 


So I offer to anyone who is suffering, be it from a physical illness or from a weakness and pain of the heart, this wise counsel of James. Do not suffer alone. Please, please reach out to your pastor or to his lay assistants, those we often call in our day the elders. Through them the Lord Jesus will act. He has not forsaken you. He longs to raise you up again and to fill your heart with cheer and hope. He longs to pour the healing power of His Spirit into your heart. All you need to do is ask (Luke 11:1-13). 


More on this another day.