"Come Apart So You Don't Come Apart" - James 5:13 - 20
A Sermon by Alex W. Evans, Pastor
Second Presbyterian Church, Richmond, VA
From Sunday, September 26, 2021
Text: James 5:13-20
“Come Apart So You Don’t Come Apart”
When the world gets too much for Jesus - like in Luke 12:50, Jesus says “what stress I am under!” - when things simply get too hectic and stressful, Jesus takes off. How does Jesus deal with stress - with the stress of fatigue, rejection, misunderstanding, uncertainty, despair? He changes focus. Rather than take out his frustrations on others, he takes off. Jesus allows time apart, time in prayer, time in nature, time nurturing another faithful framework to re-shape and re-center his life. (see L. Sweet, The Jesus Prescription for a Healthy Life, p. 152)
For several of the recent Sundays in worship, we have been listening to words from James - James the short letter near the end of the New Testament, James the pastor who wrote to his congregation in the first century mostly about how to be God’s people in the world. James says “be doers of the word.” James also says, be careful what you say - words are powerful, and words matter. And then we have this passage. Listen to these final words - James 5:13-20:
13Are any among you suffering? They should pray. Are any cheerful? They should sing songs of praise.14Are any among you sick? They should call for the elders of the church and have them pray over them, anointing them with oil in the name of the Lord. 15The prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise them up; and anyone who has committed sins will be forgiven.16Therefore confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another, so that you may be healed. The prayer of the righteous is powerful and effective. 17Elijah was a human being like us, and he prayed fervently that it might not rain, and for three years and six months it did not rain on the earth. 18Then he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain and the earth yielded its harvest. 19My brothers and sisters, if anyone among you wanders from the truth and is brought back by another, 20you should know that whoever brings back a sinner from wandering will save the sinner’s soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins.
This is the Word of the Lord. Thanks be to God.
Come apart before you come apart. I think that might summarize well what James is urging. As he closes his letter full wisdom and encouragement for his congregation: Come apart before you come apart.
Just before we have these words, in Chapter 5, James has a long section about money. He warns rich people that misery is coming. He speaks some harsh words about how riches eventually fail and rot: our fine clothes get moth filled and gold and silver do not save us. James echoes Jesus: we cannot store up treasures. James exhorts justice for the workers and life for all people.
James also urges his people to be patient, especially in their suffering. The farmer has to wait for the precious crop to emerge from the earth. We also have to be patient with our longings. James says, “strengthen your hearts; do not grumble against each other; . . . the Lord is compassionate and merciful.” James urges us to endure what comes our way.
Then we get to this passage - “Are any among you suffering? They should pray. Are any cheerful? They should sing songs of praise. Are any sick? They should call the elders and have them pray.”
Come apart before you come apart. James reminds us that our lives are rooted in God, held forever in God’s care, sustained and blessed by God who is compassionate and merciful. When we suffer, when we feel overwhelmed, when we are stressed - what is our framework? James says - pray. When are a cheerful, when life goes great, we sing songs of praise. Life is held by God - nothing can separate us from God’s love. This is the framework that intends to give us balance and peace and perspective in all moments.
Recently, I watched an interview - the very well-known Anderson Cooper interviewed the equally well-known comedian and TV show host Stephen Colbert. These two share a bond - both of them lost their fathers when they were 10 years old. Stephen lost not just his father, but two brothers as well. So this tragic accident had a huge impact on his life. The two famous TV personalities talk about grief and healing - such an important topic in these days - with so many suffering loss from the pandemic, and struggling with other grief.
So, Anderson Cooper and Stephen Colbert are talking honestly and sincerely. Anderson says to Stephen: “You recently said that we are to ‘Love the thing that you most wish had not happened.’ Do you really mean that? Love the thing that you most wish had not happened?” And as Anderson asks this, he clearly gets emotional because of his own loss and grief. And Anderson continues: “You also said, ‘What punishments of God are not gifts?’ Do you really mean that?”
Stephen Colbert pauses and . . . gently responds: “Yes.” Then he follows up: “it is a gift to exist, and with existence comes suffering - there is no escaping that.” Then he follows with some amazing insights about gratitude and life and God. He says that he seeks to live with gratitude for his life. And if he is grateful for his life, he knows he has to be grateful for all of it - losses and failures, setbacks and heartaches. Colbert says that when we have losses - it teaches us to be aware of other people’s losses. In all of this, he shares how his life is rooted in a particular framework - faith and gratitude for God. (cnn.com - “Full Circle” - Colbert and Cooper)
How rare and wonderful that two well-known personalities can share so helpfully . . . . and faithfully.
This is what James seems to be encouraging - a centered life. Are you suffering? Pray. Are you cheerful - sing songs of praise. Are any among you sick? Gather the community and pray. Life is rooted in a particular framework - with God. We keep focused on God’s primary care - with us and for us. God is in all things. God is always at work. God never lets us go. We seek to be shaped and sustained in prayer and praise. Come apart . . . before you come apart.
Then this passage gets a bit more complex and deserves some deeper reflection. James says, “The prayer of faith will save the sick.” And he mentions Elijah and the importance of prayer, and how prayers can work. This is part of James’ wonderful encouragement that life is rooted in God. That is the loving framework in which we all live - we belong to God.
But that line - “the prayer of faith will save the sick” - when taken literally, and not just as a pastor’s strong encouragement to root our lives in God’s love - can become quite problematic.
Here is what we know far too well: many times, the sick are not saved. In many situations, the sick do not get better, but succumb to disease and death. The scripture is meant to be encouraging. And yet it can also be turned against us - or against those who are struggling - when our prayers don’t create the outcome for which we are most longing.
When we pray, we often pray for things that do not come about. We may pray for healing from cancer, but the cancer snatches a loved one’s life from us, as some of you know far too well this week.
We pray for better test results, and they keep going in the wrong direction.
We pray for our parents, or our children, and yet the heartaches continue.
We pray for reconciliation in relationships, but the relationship stay broken. We pray for the raging fires to subside, or the storms to turn away, but the devastation comes anyway. We pray for just resolutions to geopolitical situations, and relief from climate crises. We pray for an end to gun violence, and equity and fairness for all people, and we do not see the end of these horrors. We pray - and Jesus and so much of Scripture urges us to keep our lives connected to God and to one another through prayer - but we do not always see the hoped for outcome from our prayers.
The prayers of faith do not always save the sick. So, this verse is not meant to be taken literally - but as encouragement for living life fully with God.
Prayers are a primary means that we live life with God and with one another. Prayers help us trust God. Prayers help us relate and commend our lives to God’s care. Prayers connect us to one another - when we share our prayer concerns and remember each other in our prayers. So we pray - fervently, even unceasingly, as another scripture teaches us. Our prayers help us and keep us bonded together in community - and with God. Prayers remind us that we are not alone, or on our own. Prayers teach us that God is near, that God is always at work. Prayers deepen our faith. We draw near to God and God draws near to us. But - and here is the nuance - we do not believe IN prayer. We believe in God. God is the One who sustains us, and God invites us to pray - to come apart - before we come apart. So we pray.
We pray sincerely. We pray with devotion and care. We pray for ourselves, our loved ones, our friends and neighbors. We pray for our church, our city, our world. We pray for everything on our hearts. God gives us prayer. God instructs us to pray. James teaches - are you suffering? Pray. Are you celebrating? Sing songs of praise. But, our prayers are not magic. Our prayers are not - as I have said before - like feeding a vending machine - and out comes just what we requested. Our prayers are not what is efficacious. God is. We believe in God - so we pray. We bind our hearts to God’s heart and to one another in prayer. But we believe in God, Who never leaves us, Who always prevails, and Who holds us forever. Our lives are always rooted in the compassion and mercy, the hope and promises, the peace and purposes of God.
“Teilhard de Chardin wrote that we must "trust in the slow work of God." Ours is a God who waits. Who are we not to? It takes what it takes for the great turnaround. Wait for it.” (see Greg Boyle, Tattoos on the Heart)
We keep living in challenging times - many of us with very challenging circumstances. We seek to be faithful and resilient people amidst all that comes along. But we have to practice what we focus on. When we focus on the dark stuff - our lives become darker. When we focus on things that we cannot control, we become more paralyzed and life gets more problematic. But, when we focus on God’s abiding care, God’s promises, and keep our lives related to God in prayer and service, focus on the good stuff, the possibilities that might be before us, gratitude emerges, depression is abated, and we become more resilient.
Remember - if you focus on being religious people, all you will become is religious. If you focus on becoming successful people, all you will become is successful. But if we trust our lives to God’s care, let God enfold us in all things, and live with compassion and commitment, we will find ourselves in the full realm of God’s love and light. Our framework is God’s love and light. We come apart before we come apart. May this be our way, today and forever. Amen.
Prayer of Commitment: Pour out your Spirit upon us, O God. Increase our faith; deepen our love; mold us in the ways of discipleship; we seek to follow Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen
Alex Evans, Pastor, Second Presbyterian Church, Richmond, VA preached this sermon during Sunday morning worship in the Sanctuary on September 26, 2021. This is a rough manuscript.