James 5:13-20 (NRSV)
Read James 5:13-20 on biblegateway.com
Verse 13Are any among you suffering? They should pray. Are any cheerful? They should sing songs of praise. Verse 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. Verse 15The prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise them up; and anyone who has committed sins will be forgiven. Verse 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. Verse 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. Verse 18Then he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain and the earth yielded its harvest. Verse 19My brothers and sisters, if anyone among you wanders from the truth and is brought back by another, Verse 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.
Devotion
This passage is a recipe for the stew that is a congregation. Everyday our community of faith has people in each of the situations James identifies in the concluding words of his letter. It’s a full pastoral care agenda for a congregation, complete with the assets that God provides to do that care.
Here is a lively, healthy mix of suffering and prayer, of cheerful songs of praise, of ministering elders anointing and praying over the sick, of people boldly confessing their sins to one another and confidently receiving forgiveness, and of people who have strayed from the community not being written off, but lovingly pursued.
This is a description of a healthy congregation. These verses paint for us the reality of the lives we live in the real world. They invite us to bring the whole delightful mess into the healing presence of the God whom we worship and serve.
Prayer
Gracious God, we thank you for placing us in congregations where we find companions in our pilgrimage on earth. Among your beloved people we are privileged to share our suffering and our cheerfulness, our sickness and our sin, your healing and your forgiveness. Help us be communities of compassion reaching out to those who have wandered away. May we receive the gift of community with thankfulness. Amen.