The Lord Raises Up The Sinner

In earlier Blogs I wrote about the need for reconciliation and the suffering that often happens to pastors and their families. This applies, of course, not only to pastors and other professional church workers. It happens to all Christians as they struggle with sin in their and others' lives. Here's what I wrote:

. . . self-centered desires destroy lives. There is but one road to healing. The Apostle James writes about it this way:
 Reconciliation is a difficult process. It involves confessing our sins to one another. It involves confessing our sins to God. It involves the giving and receiving of absolution and forgiveness from God. And it involves forgiving one another for the sake of what God has given us in Jesus Christ. It involves accepting that forgiveness from others. It involves accepting forgiveness in your own heart. This is the ministry of reconciliation.

"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. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. 

"Therefore, 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 5:14-16).

 In my blog immediately before this one I wrote about a long past incident in my own life as a pastor. I shared the suffering I experienced at the time because of slander and gossip. I also mentioned how weak and sick I became because of my internal pain. 


The big question is always, How does one and his or her family move beyond all this? I believe that St. James has given us the answer. I will put the answer in an ordered way, even while I know that things do not usually progress step by step, but rather move back and forth, up and down. Yet I know from personal experience and from what I have seen, there is, by God's grace, a way out from under the guilt and suffering to a new life in Christ. 

1. . . . Is anyone among you sick? Life is not working for me. I'm weak, helpless and suffering. I can see no way out. It seems that people all around me know what I am, what I have done. They mock me, make fun of me, despise me. I'm ashamed and alone. I am sick. If hell is like this, I'm already there. Because of my sin, I am in a living hell.  
2.  if he has committed sins. In liturgical Sunday worship Lutherans acknowledge that "we are by nature sinful and unclean." Not only have I not loved our Lord with all our heart, I have not loved my neighbors, my friends, yes my family as myself and now I must admit it. This is a step I realize I must now take. I can do nothing but confess my sins: I have had a part in this mess. Instead of the Lord, I have bowed at the feet of several idol or idols. I have worshipped my pride, my sexual desires, my love of money, my overwhelming ambition to succeed, my love of power, you name it. It's there. I have broken the first commandment and I am ready to acknowledge this, but I'm scared to death of what will happen if I do. 
3. Let him call for the elders of the church. Freedom from guilt and shame is a gift. I cannot earn it. I do not deserve it. I cannot give it to myself. It can only come from beyond me. Where is such a gift? If no one owns it, where is it? Only the church of Jesus has it! Jesus called it the keys of the kingdom of heaven (Matthew 16:18-20). All the powers of hell cannot prevail against this power. Satan, demons, other friends or enemies, as well as my conscience cannot stand up against this power. It is the forgiveness of sins! I am set free. Why? Because of what Jesus Christ accomplished by His perfect life and His suffering and death upon the cross. This power to forgive sins belongs only to Christ. And He has put it in the hands of His church. Thank God, His church calls men to administer this power in Jesus' name. The elders or pastors administer and share this Good News, this grace of God publicly, but each Christian has the keys to heaven in his or her own hands to administer and share privately with the penitent sinner. 
4. ...and let them pray over him. The pastor will ask you to tell your story. He will invite you to pour it out in as much detail as you can. Only as you bring it out into the light, only as you drag out all the details, only then can it be dealt with. This is what confession is all about. And then the pastor will invite you to pray with him as he prays over all of it in the blessed and powerful name of our Savior. He will go with you to lay your sins at the foot of the cross. He will join you there to ask Jesus to make your sins His. He will ask Jesus to send you His Holy Spirit so that you may have the power and strength to accept what long ago happened when Jesus died. This will probably not all happen in one hour, maybe not in one week or even in one month. But as you and he pray over all that has been said and done you will sense the presence and power of your Savior. 
5. ...anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. Why oil? It isn't that oil has any power to heal your heart sickness. It is often soothing for the body, but sin is a matter of the soul. What then? It is simply that you—all of you, body and soul together—must know that Jesus loves and forgives you. For some of us, the touch of the hand, the smell and feel of the oil, helps us to hear this gracious word from Jesus, "Man, your sins are forgiven you. . . I say to you, rise, pick up your bed and go home" (Luke 5:17-26). It is true. Jesus says it. I feel it, both on my forehead and in my heart. I am forgiven. Praise God!  
6. ...and the Lord will raise him up. Only Jesus can heal us when paralyzed and made helpless by the sickness of our sins. The one who hears Jesus speak in his heart finds new power, new strength. He is able to pick himself up and go home. 

This is the beginning of healing. There is usually much more to do. Others have been harmed, made sick, caused to suffer. The process of reconciliation must continue. More on this another day.