This week we bring James to a close. James has had a powerful message to a church that has gone down a poor path, and honestly as we’ve looked at this book it seems more and more like he is talking directly to the modern Christian church just as much as he was talking to a specific church in the time of early Christianity. I apologize for the delay in getting this out, but I promise the next one will come much sooner!
1 Come now, you rich people, weep and howl for your miseries which are coming upon you. 2 Your riches have rotted and your garments have become moth-eaten. 3 Your gold and your silver have corroded, and their corrosion will serve as a testimony against you and will consume your flesh like fire. It is in the last days that you have stored up your treasure! 4 Behold, the pay of the laborers who mowed your fields, and which has been withheld by you, cries out against you; and the outcry of those who did the harvesting has reached the ears of the Lord of armies. 5 You have lived for pleasure on the earth and lived luxuriously; you have fattened your hearts in a day of slaughter. 6 You have condemned and put to death the righteous person; he offers you no resistance.
This is carrying over the message from Chapter 4. This actually digs a bit deeper in to the lifestyles of the wealthy class of this church community and the way they’ve dealt with those in their community who have less. It’s important to note that James is not calling their wealth the problem; he is focusing on the lifestyle of greed, gluttony, vanity, and pride. He foreshadows the torment and pain that these sins will bring upon them after death. It is important to note that there were many of the early church who were also wealthy and used that for good; to house churches and serve communities and further God’s kingdom. The sin James is striking out at in this letter is not of being wealthy, but of being horrible human beings as a side-effect of that wealth. They serve false gods…those of riches, and of the self. This is James calling them to repentance.
7 Therefore be patient, brothers and sisters, until the coming of the Lord. The farmer waits for the precious produce of the soil, being patient about it, until it gets the early and late rains. 8 You too be patient; strengthen your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is near. 9 Do not complain, brothers and sisters, against one another, so that you may not be judged; behold, the Judge is standing right at the door. 10 As an example, brothers and sisters, of suffering and patience, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord. 11 We count those blessed who endured. You have heard of the endurance of Job and have seen the outcome of the Lord’s dealings, that the Lord is full of compassion and is merciful. 12 But above all, my brothers and sisters, do not swear, either by heaven or by earth or with any other oath; but your yes is to be yes, and your no, no, so that you do not fall under judgment.
I think this segment is interesting. It’s a call for patience, fortitude, and sincerity. The people of this church have clearly been going through some things, as should have been evident from the first chapter and the calls for joy in the face of trials. The letter is bringing back home the idea that perseverance will get the people of this church through this time. They are to take heart, not groan or complain, not go after each other. They are to be united as a community and to let their word to one another be their word that they stand on. If you’ve ever played sports, sometimes when a team is going through a rough patch it’s time to strip it back down to basics. To be together as a team, learning to trust and rely on each other and find positives, not complaints. That can be the difference between pulling out of a funk and turning a season around, or going all the way in the tank. This is James’s rallying cry to his team within this church. It’s time to get back to basics…which he continues in the closing.
13 Is anyone among you suffering? Then he must pray. Is anyone cheerful? He is to sing praises. 14 Is anyone among you sick? Then he must call for the elders of the church and they are to pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord; 15 and the prayer of faith will restore the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up, and if he has committed sins, they will be forgiven him. 16 Therefore, confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another so that you may be healed. A prayer of a righteous person, when it is brought about, can accomplish much. 17 Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the earth for three years and six months. 18 Then he prayed again, and the sky poured rain and the earth produced its fruit. 19 My brothers and sisters, if anyone among you strays from the truth and someone turns him back, 20 let him know that the one who has turned a sinner from the error of his way will save his soul from death and cover a multitude of sins.
Getting back to basics and taking everything to prayer. Are you suffering, sick, living in sin and straying from God and the truth? Take it to the elders and to the church and take it to God in prayer. Lift it all up to the Lord and put your community and your faith in His hands for healing and forgiveness. And rejoice when you are cheerful and things go well. Thank God for what he’s done. The story of Elijah and the rain is one of many that would have been known to anyone with a Jewish background, but the early churches pulled from gentiles as well, so including that would speak to all in his audience. Prayer carries power, and not just in Old and New Testament Biblical times. We see the power of prayer all of the world. Miracles still happen. Prayers are constantly answered. Sometimes the answer isn’t the one we’re wanting… but they are always answered in His time and by His methods. And there is blessing to be found in that answer if we’re ready for it. “A prayer of a righteous person, when it is brought about, can accomplish much.”