Spiritual Formation James_5_13_20.docx-1.pdf

LIBERTY UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF DIVINITY

James 5:13-20

Adam McClendon, PhD

in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the completion of

DSMN 520-D02

Spiritual Formation

Casey Roden

August 26, 2017

Contents

Introduction .....................................................................................................................................1

Conclusion.......................................................................................................................................5

Bibliography....................................................................................................................................6

I wanted to pick a verse that really spoke to me, which ended up being James 5:13-20. It

is speaking on the power of prayer and faith. James 5:13-20 speaks on the prayer of faith, which

says

“Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing praise.

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.

Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed fervently that it might not rain,

and for three years and six months it did not rain on the earth. Then he prayed again, and

heaven gave rain, and the earth bore its fruit. 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.”

James walks the reader through the power of prayer, which can be overlooked. He doesn’t want

us to just pray to God, but for others and their sins. James starts by asking a bunch of questions.

The answer to each question is prayer.

As Christians we like to think about our own eternal salvation, but God has put us here to

take care of each other.1 We are responsible for our actions and our inactions. Western

civilization has become a very private society, which relies mostly on self-preservation. The

1 Dan McCartney, James, Baker Exegetical Commentary On the New Testament (Grand Rapids,

problem with this thinking is that it can lead to a very inwardly loving society too. One that will

let people starve, even though it doesn’t have to be that way.2 James shows us that suffering,

sickness, cheerfulness all should be answered the same way, with prayer. James even goes on to

say that you should be praying to God of faith and God will heal and raise them up. Prayer

forgives sins, so confess your misdeeds and be without worry. James also tells us that a man with

faith, can fix a lot through prayer. He also goes on to remind us of Elijah, who had passions as all

men do. This is James allowing the reader to understand that Elijah wasn’t of any special origins.

He was born of sin, had fleshly temptations, and is no better than anyone else.3 James makes this

distinction so that Christians can see that there is a bridge between themselves and Elijah. It is

easy for readers to disassociate themselves from a person if they have nothing in common with

them. James builds a relational bridge for the reader to cross over and understand who Elijah

was.4 This relationship James forms between the reader and Elijah is to help the reader know that

God listened to Elijah for his faith and not his works.5

2 Douglas J. Moo, The Letter of James, The Pillar New Testament Commentary (Grand Rapids,

Mich.: Eerdmans, 2000)

3 Dan McCartney, James

4 V George Shillington, James and Paul: The Politics of Identity at the Turn of the Ages

(Minneapolis, Minnesota: Fortress Press, 2015), 1, accessed August 26, 2017,

https://muse.jhu.edu/books/9781451496741/.

5 John Barton and John Muddiman, eds., The Oxford Bible Commentary (Oxford: Oxford

University Press, 2001)

James calls on the reader to share their joys and problems with not only God, but each

other. This will allow the body of Christ to not only work together, but also heal through God’s

blessing. James wants the reader to understand that this is another answer to hardship, not just

having faith. If we can band together in times of turmoil, then we will heal each other in His

name. James says that we can not only confess our sins to God, but also to other Christians. He is

telling the reader that they should be humble enough to air their sins to get help with.6

Throughout the book of James, he likes to point out the different forms of faith and prayer. James

seems to always break things down to the most elementary logic. “If any of you lacks wisdom,

let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him” (James

1:5). This is very easy to see that James points out that you just need to ask God for your needs

and He will bless you. James also likes to point out that faith is always the key to each situation.

“But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that

is driven and tossed by the wind” (James 1:5). James does a great job of explaining that God will

do just about anything for anyone that has faith in Him, but nothing for those that do not.7

James then jumps to talking about those that wander from the Lord. He uses the words to

paint the picture of someone that didn’t just leave the Lord. Wandering is something that can

cover any length of reasons that a Christian might fall from the Lord. It paints a picture of a child

or animal that unknowingly got itself lost by stepping away, which is very appropriate for most

Christians. Statistically most Christians say their faith lapsed when they were too busy to go to

6 Luke Timothy Johnson, The Real Jesus: The Misguided Quest for the Historical Jesus and the

7 Moo, The Letter of James

church and not some major event that broke them away.8 James also informs the reader that God

uses believer and non-believer the same. God does not need the person to believe for Him to use

them as a tool, He has power over all. James doesn’t go on to say that the person will get

anything from helping a sinner turn away from their sinful ways, but explains that it is a selfless

act. James does not sugar coat it, he explains that this is life or death.

James was trained in Jewish religion, because his parents were Hebrews. This allowed

James to speak to readers that are more educated in the Jewish faith, bridging what gaps there

may have been. James loves to speak on faith and works, which he points out do not conflict

with each other. James even points out that they complement each other. He also explains Faith

as a living breathing thing that proves itself through actions.9 The message of be your brother’s

keeper is echoed all throughout the Bible, but James continues to stand on his soap box to get the

message out. This shouldn’t be a world that we watch the lost stumble around without guidance.

We should try to help those that are lost, not for gain, but to know what is waiting them if they

don’t. James does a great job at not only showing why this isn’t just a good idea, but is a need.

James has a lot of wisdom and can read a little like the book of Proverbs, but always keeps it

very loving.

Some scholars discuss that the book of James was written in response to an overzealous

reading of Paul’s teaching regarding faith. James stresses that good works will flow from

8 Ibid.

9 Scot McKnight, The Letter of James, The New International Commentary On the New

2017, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/ucm /detail.action?docid=4860069.

Christians that are filled with the Spirit. James doesn’t want Christians to be ‘all talk’ and have a

“dead” faith. In fact, he challenges people who claim to have faith that does not spawn good

works.10 He tries to put to bed the ideology that anyone can become a Christian and yet still be

living in sin. James tries to show how faith and saving faith are two different things. Faith alone

is dead, but a saving faith pushes the Christian to do good deeds and preach the Word. Good

works are not the cause of salvation, but they are the result of it.11

James wrote to all the Jews that had been scattered across the world in other countries.

This posed a problem of disseminating information to Christians, especially when Christians and

Jews divided themselves from each other. James 5:13-20 isn’t about removing the problem from

the Christian, it is about praying for them. Sometimes God allows us to suffer so that we can give

back to those who suffer. Christians are lighthouses to other non-believer, guiding them away

from the rocks and to Jesus. James pushes Christians to turn to God in both good times and bad,

not just when you are in need or sick. He also shows that some illness comes from sin, but not

all; which was a major misunderstanding later in Christianity.

In conclusion, we can see the passion in James’ writing trying to get the message of

saving faith out. Praying to God is a Christian’s first line and last line of defense. James explains

that the sick should call upon elders, not someone else. A righteous man can change the weather

with just a prayer, but they are just words coming from anyone but a devout Christian. Oil holds

no power, but is a symbol of God’s strength over the world. Sinners just need to ask for

10 Ibid.

11 George Albert Wells, The Jesus of the Early Christians: A Study in Christian

Origins (London: Pemberton, 1971), 1.

forgiveness and God will wash them clean. Humble yourself, confess your sins to your brothers

and sisters. We are our brother’s keeper and we should treat them as we would want to be treated.

When they wander from the truth, we should feel their absence in the Body and seek them out.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

McCartney, Dan. James. Baker Exegetical Commentary On the New Testament. Grand Rapids,

Moo, Douglas J. The Letter of James. The Pillar New Testament Commentary. Grand Rapids,

Mich.: Eerdmans, 2000.

Shillington, V George. James and Paul: The Politics of Identity at the Turn of the Ages.

Minneapolis, Minnesota: Fortress Press, 2015. Accessed August 26,

2017. https://muse.jhu.edu/books/9781451496741/

Barton, John, and John Muddiman, eds. The Oxford Bible Commentary. Oxford: Oxford

University Press, 2001

Johnson, Luke Timothy. The Real Jesus: The Misguided Quest for the Historical Jesus and the

McKnight, Scot. The Letter of James. The New International Commentary On the New

2017. http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/ucm /detail.action?docid=4860069.

Wells, George Albert. The Jesus of the Early Christians: A Study in Christian Origins. London:

Pemberton, 1971.

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