A Church that Prays Together, Stays Together

Sermon as Preached 8/26/12 at Evington United Methodist Church

Scripture James 5:13-20


This week we begin a five week sermon series on what it means to be a Christian steward. For many this word is unfamiliar to us, we never really use the term steward outside of church, and in many churches, the word is still even rarely used. Others of us have preconceived notions about what this word means. Some may hear it and think about being stewards of God’s creation, talking about our need to take care of the environment. More commonly however, when most church folks hear the word stewardship, especially when it comes from the pulpit, they think about money, and how the church is trying to ask them for more. While our offering is part of what makes us faithful stewards in the church, if this is all we think about when we think about stewardship, we are falling far short of the mark. So what is expected of us, as members of Christ’s church, in order for us to be faithful stewards?  Our United Methodist liturgy may be a helpful guide for a better understanding of our responsibilities. You can find on page 48 of your hymnals, that when entering into the United Methodist church, we are asked by the pastor, “Will you be loyal to the United Methodist Church, and uphold it by your prayers, your presence, your gifts, your service, and your witness? These five areas: prayer, presence, gifts, service, and witness, are a wonderful and concise guideline for us to follow in order to be better stewards. These guidelines are not just randomly made up, but have been inspired through the reading of scripture. Therefore in the next few weeks we will see what the Bible has to say about each one these areas of stewardship, as well as see how they can transform our lives and the life of the church.

            That brings us to our first topic, and that is prayer. Prayer is something that most of us are accustomed to; we pray before we eat, be pray before we go to bed, I know that I will usually say a little prayer before I go on long trips, and of course we say prayer in worship. Prayer is a vital part of everyday life that guides us and shapes us, so much so that our new Bishop Cho, has made prayer one of the priorities of pastors and church members alike.

            Bishop Cho grew up in South Korea, and was planning to be a lawyer, until he was diagnosed with tuberculosis and had numerous medical treatments trying to heal him of the disease.  During this time he grew in his spiritual journey and felt a call to ministry. He came to America, and was appointed as a minister to a church in Mclean, VA. He was an extremely successful pastor at that church, helping it to grow exponentially, however he tells the story of one member who in middle of this success caused Bishop Cho to seriously reflect on himself and his ministry. The member came up to him and asked him the blunt question of, “How long and fervently do you pray? Because of this simple question, Bishop Cho really had to step back and think about the importance of prayer, and realized that he and the church needed to do more. He created prayer groups that would meet in the mornings and the church grew even larger, to become the largest in the Virginia Conference. Now as a new Bishop, Cho is encouraging all of us to keep a commitment to prayer, and has challenged both pastors and laity to participate in an hour of praying every day for the first 100 days of his term. 1 hour a day! That seems so difficult to us, but if we think about how much time we spend doing other things, then we see that we actually do have the time for it. In fact, say you sleep 8 hours a day, that means that if you pray for 4 minutes every hour you are awake, you will have prayed for more than an hour! This challenge is one that I have taken on and I encourage all of you to attempt as well.

             All of this encourages a personal prayer life, which is important for our own spiritual growth and well being, but how does prayer help us to be better stewards, why is prayer a requirement of being a United Methodist member? How does prayer become more than just a personal devotional, and become something that can transform the entire church? Let us turn to our scripture lesson today, because James shows us the importance of prayer within the life of the church. James starts our passage for today by talking to the church and telling them to pray. Now some translations such as the NIV says if you are having trouble, you should pray, and if you are feeling good, you should sing praises. This may make us think that James is talking about a personal prayer life, but this is not the case. In the Greek, the you is actually a plural you. I like to think of James as almost a good ol’ country boy because what he is really saying is, are any of ya’ll having trouble, ya’ll should pray, and are any of ya’ll feeling good, then ya’ll should sing praises. You see James’ message of prayer is centered first and foremost around the community of the church. We see so many different types of prayers, all done in the company of the people of the church. We see prayers for those who are suffering, we see prayers of joy and celebration, we see prayers of healing, we see prayers of confession, we see prayers of dependence of God, and we even see that prayer can lead to evangelism; and all of this is done together as one body, the body of Christ.

            Why does James spend so much time talking about prayer within the church, and more importantly why does he find it so important that he ends his whole letter with communal prayer? Well to answer this question we need to do a bit of a recap (Don’t worry, there will still be plenty to talk about during our Bible study, consider this a little appetizer.) Much of the book of James is moral advice and sometimes moral condemnation, however it is a little different than what we are often used to. The focus of the book is not primarily on the self, but more on the community of believers. The moral advice is therefore less about personal morals, we do not see much talk about sexual immorality or personal welfare, that we have come to expect from many of the books of the Bible, but rather the James focuses more on communal morals and communal ethics. For instance he talks about how we should speak to one another, he talks about our service as Christians, and he warns against judging others. Throughout the book he makes a distinction between the world and the church. He asks are we friends of the world or are we friends of God? In other words, do our actions reflect that we are children of God, or do we act like, and participate in the same sins as the rest of the world? All of this shows that what is most important to James, is the unity, health, and vitality of the community of believers; church.

            And so with that in mind, he closes his whole book with a passage on prayer. That should tell us something. It shows us that James thinks that the best way to live as a unified, healthy, and vital church is through prayer, and lots of it. You may have heard of the old saying, “The family that plays together stays together.” Well James seems to be a believer of, “The church that prays together stays together.” This still leaves us wondering how communal prayer works, and why it is so important for the church. As I mentioned earlier, we are so used to prayer being a personal thing, in fact to be honest for much of my life I struggled to pray in public because prayer had been so personal for me. Prayer is a personal thing, but in personal prayer in is all about a one on one connection between you and God, it is a time for you to tell God your deepest thoughts, and to see how God guides your life. Personal prayer is often the time when we can truly express how we feel, our pain and our joys, all of the things that we keep bottled down deep inside of us. When we pray publicly we can’t do that, When we pray together as a church that changes everything! Or does it?

            Let’s read the beginning of this passage again, It says, “Are any among you suffering? They should pray, are any cheerful, They should sing songs of praise. Are any among you sick, you should call for the elders of the church and have them pray over them.” James seems to indicate that corporate, communal prayer is actually not that different after all! James is suggesting a radical prayer for a church, a prayer that allows us to express our deepest pains and our greatest joys publicly. It’s  prayer that allows the church to hear our cries and to weep with us, a prayer that allows our fellow Christians to rejoice with us in times of joy, a prayer that allows us to be vulnerable around each other and still feel safe, knowing that they praying these things with us. James is showing us that this radical power of prayer, really does have the ability to unite us as one people, God’s people.

            This prayer also keeps us accountable to being God’s people. As I mentioned earlier, one of James’ concerns in this book is that we are too influenced by the sins of this world and not influenced by the grace and love of God. Fellowship is capable outside of the church; close friends may even share in each other’s joys and pains, but prayer, as James shows us, keeps us following God’s will and not our own will. This is best understood in his example of prayer for healing. James understands that weakness, that hurt, that pain, and that illness is all things that most people try to avoid. We often go to lengths so that we do not come in contact with people going through these situations. In the time of James the ill were sequestered, especially lepers, who were sent off to live by themselves or with other lepers. Those who were in power stepped on the backs of the weak to keep their position. We see this in the parable of the Good Samaritan with the priest and Levite walking on the other side of the road, but James shows us that this is the way of the world, not of God, and that as Christians we are to be there for the sick and the weak. That is why he tells us to call the elders of the church together and pray over the sick, which is not metaphorical, but he means to physically be there praying over the ill. This is the way of God, to be responsive to all of those who are in need, to be present with them, to feel their pain, to cry their tears, and to shout and laugh with their joy, and all of this can be done through the wonderful power of prayer.

            The beauty of prayer however, is that we are connected to each other not by our own power or will, but that we are connected to each other through God. That when we celebrate the joys in someone else’s life through prayer, we not only celebrate with them, but we celebrate with God. When we take on the hurt and pain of others through prayer, we do not take on that burden alone, but that we share in our pain with the one who suffered and died on our behalf. When we pray for the healing of another, we know that it all lies in God’s hands and that burden is taken from our backs. Finally when we pray for the soul of another, we know that we cannot save another’s soul, but that God has that power, and that God is present with us. Through prayer we are united to each other and to Christ, bound together in the embrace our savior’s arms, and in  the hearts of each other. A church that prays together, stays together.