CALL TO WORSHIP | Psalm 146:4-10
Praise the Lord! Praise the Lord, O my soul! I will praise the Lord as long as I live; I will sing praises to my God while I have my being. Put not your trust in princes, in a son of man, in whom there is no salvation. When his breath departs, he returns to the earth; on that very day his plans perish. Blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the Lord his God, who made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, who keeps faith forever; who executes justice for the oppressed, who gives food to the hungry. The Lord sets the prisoners free; the Lord opens the eyes of the blind. The Lord lifts up those who are bowed down; the Lord loves the righteous. The Lord watches over the sojourners; he upholds the widow and the fatherless, but the way of the wicked he brings to ruin. The Lord will reign forever, your God, O Zion, to all generations. Praise the Lord!
Song #1 – I Will Sing by Sandra McCracken
Song #2 – I Will Sing of My Redeemer by Coram Deo/Trad.
Dismiss Kids
INTRO
Thigmomorphogenesis. That was the word that began our journey into the letter of Jesus’ brother James to those faith-filled who had been dispersed from the first ecclesia in Jerusalem several years after their arrival and transformation at Pentecost. They had “devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers” (Acts 2:42) and now found themselves home but different—circumstantially, socially, and spiritually. It is to this community that James describes the thigmomorphogenesis of the believing person.
I am sure that you remember that Thigmomorphogenesis refers to the observed phenomenon in plants in which exposure to “physical disturbances such as wind and touch generally [result in a] reduction in the rate of stem elongation and shoot height, and [an] increase in stem diameter... [When a plant experiences external stimuli, calcium ions and ethylene production [within the plant] are activated, especially at the core and base of the plant.] This response is purely adaptive and allows individual plants to compensate for the different levels of stress that occur in their natural environment. The advantage of this is… stronger plants [that] are less easily damaged by natural mechanical stresses (especially wind) than their… counterparts.”[1]
Essentially, the idea is that if you want sturdier plants, and in the case of James’ audience, sturdier people, and thus, by extension, plants and people that reach maturity and the fullness of their purposes (fruitful) potential, you should not shelter them from the disturbances of the natural environment and, to various degrees, you should induce stresses to ensure their sturdiness.
James, in a sense, describes this phenomenon in the life of faith, even arguing that this process is the life of faith. James draws on ancient wisdom that holds that when we face disturbances in our natural environment, especially in the context of our relations and responsibilities, something within us, namely faith, is activated and developed so that we might be complete, reaching the end of our potential in God.
Indeed, James contends that life's disturbances help ensure our maturation and completion. God-orchestrated exposure to the trials of making life, good activates and purifies our faith, ensuring we reach our purposed end (telos): the work of God being completed in history through our maturation.
And James does not want us to miss out on this process but rather to participate in it with full devotion. Unlike plants, we have a spirited, embodied soul, which means the experience of the process depends on our conscious, willed response to stimuli from without and the workings of faith within.
This is why James began his letter by saying,
“Count it pure (unalloyed) joy, my brothers and sisters, when you meet trials (process of testing) of various kinds (all sorts), for you know that the testing (purifying) of your faith produces steadfastness (perseverance, resilience). And let steadfastness perfect its work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.” (James 1:2-4)
Over the summer, James has invited us to both understand and participate with faith at work within us, strengthening, steadying, and persevering us, so that we might, as we have concluded each week:
“Be patient, therefore, brothers and sisters, until the coming of the Lord. See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, being patient about it, until it receives the early and the late rains. You also, be patient. Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand.” (James 5:7-8)
Over the weeks, James has been rather direct in his admonition not to fight against the process of faith, but rather against those internal attributes and external actions and unseen adversaries, which would perhaps allow us to grow tall in stature or in possessions, but would keep us thin, susceptible to being broken when the normal daily disturbances are heightened or persist overwhelmingly, unable to bear the fruit of maturation.
James has repeatedly knocked the wind out of us, laying us flat on the mat, not to take us out of the fight but to let the Spirit fill our lungs and rise us up into the true and good fight for life complete, good and true and beautiful, a life with God.
It has not been an easy journey through James’ letter, but, Lord willing, it has been grounding, giving us a picture of how faith works and how we might participate in faith at work within us. A picture of a life of complete faith that we will round out today.
Please open your Bibles to James 5 and pray with me as _______ comes to read the final words of James’ letter.
PRE-SERMON READING | James 5:13-20 (ESV)
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.
SERMON | Complete Faith
As Douglas Moo notes, “An encouragement to pray is typical of the concluding sections of NT letters. Also typical of Hellenistic letters in general is a concluding ‘health’ wish.”[2]
It would be easy to dismiss James’ closing sentences as a typical sign-off, a rote custom, as if these concluding words were nothing more than a mother’s final, fading words as her children rush out the door: “Have a good day, do your best, and behave!”
While there is more than well-wishes in our mother’s pleas, and over time they sink in—I promise and pray(!)—in the moment, the words wash over us children as we speed into our lives ahead, and so are given little thought. It would be a mistake to give little thought to James’ parting exhortations.
What we have seen in James’ letter, which has many unique characteristics that make it atypical, is that each word, each line, each idea is densely packed with allusion, imagery, and meaning. James has been deliberately and precisely judicious in his words, and remains so as he concludes the letter, in the same way he began it.
Let’s look again at how James started so we might see what he is doing as he finishes. James 1:1,
“James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, To the twelve tribes in the Dispersion: Greetings.
Count it all joy, my brothers and sisters, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.
If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously [singularly: simply, undividedly] to all without reproach [without finding fault], and it will be given him.
But let him ask in faith, with no doubting [without division], for the one who [is divided] is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind [never finding its shore or reaching its crest].
For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded [double-souled] man, unstable in all his ways [not just in his faith, but in his identity and purpose… how could you know what is wise if you have no compass, no true north].” (James 1:1-8)
James began by explaining how faith is activated within us (through the troubles of living), and what faith at work will produce, most abundantly for those who “receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls” (James 1:19): life perfect and complete, lacking nothing.
Still, the wisdom to understand what is happening within us and to know how we are to respond to the stimuli without and the entanglements within is something we, if we are honest, feel we lack. And so James began by telling us that the life of faith, of participating with faith at work within us, is not a matter of action first but of attention. To whom do we turn to relate rightly? Where do we look and ask?
Asking God to understand what is going on both outside and inside so that we might persevere, recognizing what is being tested (purified) and what is being tempted (fighting against faith), sounds a lot like how James ends his letter, yes? Let’s read it again.
“Is anyone among you suffering [experiencing trouble or trials of various kinds (1:2)]? Let him pray.
More specifically, pray as a means of enduring and of participating in faith until steadfastness has its full effect. When we experience difficulty, faith awakens and trains us not to resist but to pray, to anchor ourselves to the Father of lights, with whom there is neither variance nor shadow of change. Anchored and grounded, there is wisdom.
But life is not all and always difficult. So how do we participate in faith when we are not troubled, or, more aptly, when amid the stimuli of life, we have joy?
Is anyone cheerful [happy, possessing peace of mind]? Let him sing praise.
Singing praise is praying too. The Psalms are both a book of prayer and a songbook. Keeping our attention on God by speaking truth to and about God in times of trouble and happiness is the work of faith. Prayer and praise are the means of participating with faith at work within us, and the end of it too.
Still, as in the opening lines, so in the closing. While we might know and even believe what is true, we often feel we lack the inner fortitude and health to live what we know and believe. So how do we avoid double-mindedness and double-souledness in our impoverished and immature moments? Well, James has an interesting answer for us.
Is anyone among you weak?
The word reads “sick” in many translations, and for good reason. But the word literally translates as “to be weak” and carries references to all kinds of compromised conditions: mental health, spiritual health, physical health, even weakness of conscience. Sickness, as we know, is not limited to a physical illness, to being physically vulnerable, distorted, or lacking. Rather, we can be sick of mind and sick of soul and so unwell in how we relate to ourselves and others. To be weak, in this sense, is to be in the very opposite state of life that is complete, perfect, and lacking nothing.
We said last week that the wise recognize what they lack, who has it, and are meek enough to receive it. And here is where James’ exhortation gets interesting. When we feel our weakness and recognize that something is not right within us, we invite others to speak to God for us and to speak of God to us…to tell us the truth and call us back to it.
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.
When James says, “elders of the church,” this certainly distinguishes a group within the body. Yet, as James has done throughout, what he exhorts some to do, he exhorts all to do, as we’ll see momentarily. But what we see here in this ceremonial action is humility, dependence, and a reminder of who we are in Jesus, the Messiah, the anointed One: “in the name of the Lord.”
This is not an incantation; it is a physical representation of our unseen reality, in which we are coated in the life of Christ. And so it is the prayer of Christ, encompassing both faith in the Lord and the Lord’s faith, the Christ who intercedes for us even now (having ascended to the right hand of the Father), who does and will save (heal) the weak, restoring what is ill to health, including, most importantly, our relationship with Life Himself.
And the prayer of faith will save [heal] the one who is sick [weak], and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven.
The saving is total, a resurrection, so we know the weakness is not only physical but total as well. Is this not what Jesus did for the paraplegic? He healed his body and forgave his sins. This is what Jesus continues to do for us through His life and voice in those with whom we share life, as His body.
Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed [saved]. The prayer [of faith] of a righteous person has great power as it is working.
Not because it is magic, but because when we pray in Christ, Christ prays in us, leading our prayers to be the will of God (4:13-17). In case you forget, this is how God has been working throughout history, which Jesus the Christ brings to fulfillment and completes.
As he did in the preceding verses, James reminds us of the stories that reveal to us our story.
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.
So, since this is how faith works, persevering us as we participate with it through attentive speaking, responsive speaking, relational speaking until our life and God’s life are in perfect union, remember this as you walk back out into your days,
My brothers and sisters, if anyone among you wanders from the truth [of faith at work] and someone brings him back, let him know that whoever brings back a sinner [someone whose living “misses the mark” of the complete, the perfect life] from his wandering will save his soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins.” (James 5:13-20)
Faith at work keeps us asking God not only for ourselves but also for others, speaking the truth to one another (anointing one another) in the truth and grace of Jesus Christ our Lord. Such faith changes us and the world, even if by one wanderer at a time.
Will we live by faith? Will we participate in faith at work within us? Will we bring each other back in faith and help one another remain faith-filled amid the troubles of various kinds, the ups and downs of daily life, together? Will we experience the joy of life, complete, perfect, lacking nothing, amid the trials of various kinds by participating with the work of faith within us?
REFLECTION |
Process with the Lord any emotions, thoughts, doubts, or affirmations that arise as you reflect on the following:
James contends that life's disturbances help ensure our maturation and completion. Indeed, God-orchestrated exposure to the trials of making life, good, activates and purifies our faith, ensuring we reach the end of our potential: the work of God being complete in history through our maturation.
What would look different tomorrow if I responded joyously to faith at work within me?
CORPORATE CONFESSION & COMMUNION[3] |
(Celebrant)
The table is ready,
here waiting for your arrival.
It is the table of company with Jesus,
and all who love him.
It is the table of sharing,
with the poor of the world,
with who Jesus identified himself.
It is the table of communion with the earth
in which Christ became incarnate.
So come to this table,
you have much faith
and you who would like to have more;
you who have been here often
and you who have not been for a long time;
and you who have tried to follow Jesus,
and you who have failed;
come.
It is Christ who invites us to meet him here; on the day made for us, at the table he prepared for us.
Invite People to the Table to Receive the Communion elements
(ALL)
Loving God,
through your goodness
we have this bread and juice to offer
which has come forth from the earth
and human hands have made.
May we know your presence
in this sharing,
so that we may know your touch
and presence in all things.
We celebrate the life that Jesus has shared
among his family of faith through the centuries,
and shares with us now.
Made one in Christ
and one with each other,
we offer these gifts
and with them ourselves,
a single living act of praise.
Amen.
Song #3 – What a Friend by William Benjamin Hastings
Song #4 – What a Friend We Have in Jesus by Trad. / SingTeam arr.
BENEDICTION | James 5:7-8
As we rest in the day made for us, we prepare to enter into the work for which we are made [LIGHT THE CANDLE], remembering to…
Be patient, therefore, brothers and sisters, until the coming of the Lord. See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, being patient about it, until it receives the early and the late rains. You also, be patient. Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand.