Taking the Offering

Delivered October 28, 2012

ICorinthians 16:1-4; Romans 15:25-29

There is a cartoon that shows a crowd of people streaming out the doors of a church sanctuary dressed only in their underclothing: men in their boxer shorts, women in their slips . . . One parishioner turns to another and says, "That was the best stewardship sermon I ever heard."  I am afraid that is the way that many people approach Pledge Sunday. They come to expecting the preacher to try to get them to give the shirt off their back. Therefore people might be on their guard on this Sunday, feeling the need to protect their wallets and bank accounts from the rhetorical skills of that crafty fellow in the pulpit who is trying to get them to give more money than they would like. I won’t lie to you. I do hope that as a result of my efforts and the Stewardship Board’s efforts that people might open their checkbooks and pledge a little more to the church than they were originally planning to do. But I am not a manipulator, and I don’t browbeat people or try to make them feel guilty. I certainly do not want people to give more than they are able. I trust this congregation to do the right thing when it comes to financial giving.

I also think that it is helpful in this regard to understand what the scriptures say about offerings. So today we are going to examine one particular offering in the Bible. There are lots of offerings mentioned in the OT, and those are worth looking at. But today I am going to look at one offering in the NT that the apostle Paul mentions in his letters. It is mentioned in the text that is the theme for this year’s stewardship campaign – I Corinthians 16:1-4. It is also mentioned in a couple of other places in Paul’s letters, so I will be referring to those passages as well. This was an offering that the apostle was collecting from several churches. You could call it a special mission offering. He was going around to the churches in Greece, Macedonia and Turkey and encouraging them to contribute to one particular mission cause. In promoting this offering the apostle tells us some important things about all church offerings. There are five things he says about the offering.

1. First is the Purpose of the Gift. The purpose of this offering is to minister to the saints. This is the phrase the apostle Paul uses in his Letter to the Romans. “But now I am going to Jerusalem to minister to the saints. For it pleased those from Macedonia and Achaia to make a certain contribution for the poor among the saints who are in Jerusalem.” He uses the same phrase in 2 Corinthians 9. “Now concerning the ministering to the saints, it is superfluous for me to write to you.”  This particular offering was a collection taken for the poor in Jerusalem. We don’t really know much more about it than that. We know from the Book of Acts that the early church in Jerusalem had a special ministry to the poor. They had an extensive food program where they served meals to people in need – especially widows who did not have families to support them. In fact the first deacons of the church were chosen for the purpose of waiting on tables at this food ministry.

Urban areas always have a larger number of poor folks. At the Dinner Bell ministry that our church does at Saint Andrews Church in Tamworth, we serve perhaps a dozen people or a bit more. When I pastored a church in Lowell Mass we regularly served well over a hundred people at the Soup Kitchen we had at the YMCA. We serve at the Dinner Bell, we supply the local Food Bank, and we have a discretionary fund to help people in town. We also do ministry to the larger world through the CROP walk and Blanket Sunday and things like this. So we have a respectable ministry to the hungry, but it is not a large ministry in our rural area.

Jerusalem was an urban area with a lot of poor. The church in Jerusalem was not a huge congregation, especially after persecution started, which was very early in the Book of Acts. A lot of people had to flee for their lives after the persecution started. In fact it says that those first seven deacons had to leave Jerusalem when the persecution began because as leaders they were targeted for death. One of them – Stephen - was killed by an angry mob. The apostle James was killed. Even though Jerusalem was the church of the apostles, after persecution broke out it was not a big church. And it was not a rich church. A lot of the church people were poor, and they also ministered to other poor folks. Therefore the apostle Paul took it upon himself to help them out; he tried to raise some money from other churches for the poor in Jerusalem. He called it “ministering to the saints.” I think that is a good phrase to describe all types of church work. Basically a church worships God and ministers to people in our congregation and the community. We minister to the saints – to people’s spiritual, emotional and physical needs.

2. Second is the Motivation for the Offering. Why do we give money to the work of God through the church? One reason is Gratitude. Paul says in 2 Corinthians 9, “you are enriched in everything for all liberality, which causes thanksgiving through us to God. 12 For the administration of this service not only supplies the needs of the saints, but also is abounding through many thanksgivings to God….” So we give out of gratitude. The liberality of God’s giving to us prompts a liberality of thanksgiving in us.

Think of what God has done for us. Think of how God has blessed our lives in spiritual ways. And he has been doing this for a couple of centuries through the Baptist and Methodist churches in Sandwich that now make up the Federated Church. There were also Congregational churches in Sandwich which in time closed and the people became part of this Federated Church. This church has been carrying on a Christian witness in this community for many years. It has blessed our lives and countless generations of lives in this town. Giving our offerings to the work of this church is our way of showing our gratitude with our material gifts for what God has for us spiritually in our live and in others’ lives over the years through the religious community in Sandwich. 

The apostle Paul uses the word “indebted.” He says in Romans: “27 It pleased them indeed, and they are their debtors. For if the Gentiles have been partakers of their spiritual things, their duty is also to minister to them in material things.” Paul was saying that the Christians in Greece and Macedonia felt an obligation to the Jerusalem church. They had received spiritual riches from the apostles and those early Christians in Jerusalem. So in gratitude for the spiritual things, they shared their material things. It is a good reason for us as well.

Another motivation is zeal. This is mentioned in 2 Corinthians 9 in another passage where this offering is mentioned. “Now concerning the ministering to the saints, it is superfluous for me to write to you; for I know your willingness, about which I boast of you to the Macedonians, that Achaia was ready a year ago; and your zeal has stirred up the majority.” The Christians in Greece had a zeal for giving to ministry. They had a great willingness to share their financial resources. This is not something that we can manufacture by ourselves or even something that a preacher can incite in a congregation. This is something that God creates in our hearts and souls. The financial giving that we do for the work of God comes from deep in our hearts and souls.

Paul talks a little bit later in this passage about how God loves a cheerful giver and not a begrudging giver. He writes: “So let each one give as he purposes in his heart, not grudgingly or of necessity; for God loves a cheerful giver.” This is why I don’t not to make people feel guilty in order to get them to give more. Our offerings need to come from joy and love that overflows from our hearts. If God is working in our lives, then one of the fruits of that divine presence is a joy in giving generously. Paul describes it in 2 Cor 9 as a “matter of generosity and not as a grudging obligation.”  

3. Next is the Timing of the Offering. (We have talked about the Purpose of the Offering and the Motivation of the offering. Now is the Timing of the Offering.) Paul says in 1 Corinthians 16, “2 On the first day of the week let each one of you lay something aside, storing up as he may prosper, that there be no collections when I come.” The offering is set aside on the first day of the week. This has significance in two ways. First, we do it early. We do not give to God what is leftover at the end of the week. You don’t give God the leftovers. Leftovers from Thanksgiving or Christmas dinner, might be good. In fact I like them. We would not offer to a guest in our home food that has been sitting in the refrigerator for a week or so. We may eat leftovers ourselves for a few days, but after a week it probably getting pretty ripe.

But when it comes to bringing something to God when we come to his house to worship Him, we offer the best we have. We put aside something on the first day of the week. The OT offerings were the firstfruits of the field and the firstborn of the flock and herd. We give to God the first and the best. Our offering to him is the first thing on our list financially– not last. We don’t wait until we get to church and then see how much we happen to have in our wallets. We plan our gift to God ahead of time. Just like we would plan a gift to anyone we love. If I am going to give my grandchild or child or wife a birthday present, I don’t wait until the birthday party and see what I might have sitting around the house that I can regift, or give the two year old a few bucks out of my wallet. I plan my gift and give it some thought. I wrap it and present it with love. Should not our gift to God be as thoughtful and as planned?

I work on my finances every Saturday morning. I sit down at my computer with my Microsoft Money program and I pay my bills, balance my checking account and credit cards monthly, and update my investment accounts quarterly. Jude knows that examining our income and expenses can put me in a very bad mood. I ask her for any receipts she has in her wallet from that week, and if I need a suitcase to carry them to my office she knows to tread lightly the rest of the day. I confess that money can disturb my normally even-tempered personality. But regardless of the state of our finances that week, I always write out my tithe to the church first. I don’t say, “Sorry, Lord too many bills this week. There is nothing left. I’ll catch you next time around.” God is faithful to me, and I strive to be faithful to God.

Another reason why we are to put aside our gifts to God on the first day of the week is because it is Lord’s Day. The first day of the week is Sunday, the day that early Christians gathered together to celebrate the resurrection of Christ. This is why we worship today on Sudah and not on Saturday, which is the OT Sabbath. So there is a theological connection between the offering and the first day. The Bible calls Jesus’ the “firstborn of the dead’ and “the firstfuits of those who have fallen asleep.” He wrotes, “But now Christ is risen from the dead, and has become the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.”  Every Sunday when we come to church we are reminded of the resurrection of Christ. Every Sunday is a little Easter. We remember that we have been redeemed from sin and death at a great price. Sunday reminds us that our salvation was not cheap. It cost Jesus his life, given in pain and suffering and much sacrifice. What is that worth to us? That is what the first day of the week means.

4. Fourth is the Amount of the Offering. I know this is what you have been waiting for! You want me to tell you how much to give. Sorry, I won’t do that. That is up to you and God. I will tell you the guidelines the Bible gives for our giving. The guideline is the tithe. Tithe means one tenth of our income. If you want a percentage amount – that is the biblical benchmark by which we measure our giving. Whether you give that much or not is up to you and God. No one here is looking over your shoulder or judging you. I certainly don’t. No one can judge another person’s financial condition or resources. If you want to give a partial tithe or gradually work up to a tithe or just forget the tithe altogether, that is your choice. But the tithe is the scriptural standard.

At lot of people think that 10% is way too much too give. People can get as agitated about giving a tithe to the church as do about the Federal tax rate. You listen to the presidential debates, and you think the election is all about taxes. There is even a constitutional amendment this year on our New Hampshire ballot to outlaw a state income tax permanently in our state. Tax is an emotional issue; so is the tithe. But the tithe is not a tax. A tax is a law. As Christians we are not under the OT law of the tithe. But if we are trying to decide how much to give, then the tithe is a good number to start with when we are planning our giving to the church.

I have had people ask me if that ten percent is based on gross income or net income. Before taxes or after taxes? Does that tithe include the amounts they give to other charitable giving that they list on their taxes? I don’t answer such questions. If we are too calculating in our gifts, something gets lost. I see people pull out a calculator at restaurants to figure out the tip to leave the server. Maybe you are bad at math and you have to do that. Personally I estimate it in my head. I always give somewhere between 15-20%, and I always err on the side of generosity when it comes to the tip. Why not do the same when it comes to God?

5. The final point is the Presentation of the Offering. I have a niece who is a professional chef in downtown Boston. She got a culinary degree from Johnson & Wales. When we were in England a few years ago doing a sabbatical at Oxford University, she was doing an internship at an upscale hotel outside London. We got to meet up with her in England and do some sightseeing together; that was fun. Her specialty is desserts. In desserts, as in all the culinary arts, presentation is important. In the religious life, presentation of the offering is important. It is part of our worship of God. We could raise money in other ways like other organizations do, but for us it is about more than money. It is about worship.

In this Jerusalem offering, Paul wanted to present it personally to the church in Judea. He also thought it was important that the Corinthian church send someone with him. He says in our passage: “And when I come, whomever you approve by your letters I will send to bear your gift to Jerusalem. But if it is fitting that I go also, they will go with me.”  Paul thought it was important that the gift be presented personally. It is not just about the money. God does not need money; all the riches in the universe already belong to God! He wants us. And he does not want us by force or coercion or manipulation. He wants us to offer ourselves freely to him. And one way to do that is to offer our gifts freely and personally to him. That is how a church should take an offering. 

Sewing With Camels

Delivered October 21, 2012

Mark 10:17-31

You have probably heard of the Western film back in 1990 starring Kevin Costner entitled “Dances With Wolves.” Well today’s message is about Sewing with Camels. That is not my Indian name, but perhaps it might have been Jesus’ Indian name if he had lived in the American Plains instead of Roman Palestine. In the film Costner plays a soldier stuck alone on the frontier at a military outpost.  He passes the time by feeding and eventually befriending a wolf who visits his small cabin. The wolf becomes almost a pet, and Costner eventually is able to play with him as we would play with a dog. The Native American tribe which later accepted him into their tribe gave him the name “Dances With Wolves.”

In our passage for today Jesus talks about whether it is possible to be his disciple and wealthy at the same time. That should be of interest to us Americans since we are very wealthy when compared to most of the world and certainly when compared to average person in Jesus’ day. A rich young ruler approached Jesus and asked him how to inherit eternal life. After talking a little about ethics, Jesus tells him he has to do one thing: to sell everything he has, give it all to the poor and follow him.  The man – not surprisingly - cannot find it in his heart do that. The passage says, “But he was sad at this word, and went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions.” Jesus uses this encounter with the rich young man as an opportunity to warn his disciples about the dangers of wealth when it comes to living the spiritual life. He says, “Children, how hard it is for those who trust in riches to enter the kingdom of God! It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.” That is our text for today, and we will look at it in the context of the surrounding verses.

I First, let’s look at the Metaphor. You might think picture Jesus is describing is straightforward. A literal understanding of Jesus’ words seems to describe the ridiculous image of a huge Arabian dromedary trying to go through the tiny opening at the head of a sewing instrument. It is commonly understood that Jesus is employing hyperbole and exhibiting a sense of humor. It is a silly thought that a huge animal could go through the eye of a tiny sewing needle; therefore it is a silly thought that a rich man could enter the kingdom of God. But this may not be what Jesus actually said.  There are at least two other possibilities.

One is that he was not talking about a camel but a rope. The NT was written in Greek, but Jesus originally spoke all these teachings in his native languor of Aramaic. In Aramaic, the word for "camel" (גמלא - gamla) is spelled identically to the word for "rope" (גמלא), suggesting that the original phrase used by Jesus might have been "rope through the eye of a needle" rather than a “camel through the eye of a needle.” That would make a lot more sense. The picture of a person trying to put a rope through the eye of a needle is just as humorous. If you have ever threaded a needle, then you know what it is to try to thread needle when the thread is a bit too large. It is very frustrating. Jesus would then be exaggerating this by using the hyperbole of a rope instead of a thread. You can at least picture somebody trying to do something like this. But why would a person ever try – or want to - to put a camel through the eye of a needle? That doesn’t make any sense.

A third possibility is the Sabbath gate. Back in Jesus’ day they observed the Sabbath very strictly, especially in the holy city where the temple was located. To enforce the Sabbath in Jerusalem they used to close the main gates of the city at sundown on Friday so that merchants could not bring in their merchandise on the backs of their camels or donkeys on the holy day of Saturday. To enforce this law they had what they called the Sabbath gate. They would close the big gates to the city, which were huge. But located in the big door was a smaller door – a door within a door. That small door was just big enough for a human being to walk through – but not big enough for a camel to walk through. Indeed it was not even big enough for a man to carry a load on his own back, much less a camel with a load of goods.  The nickname for that narrow and low Sabbath door was the “eye of the needle.” In fact if you go to Jerusalem today you can see such a door at the Jaffa Gate, which is the southern entrance to the city. Jesus may have been referring to this “eye of the needle,” picturing a huge camel trying to fit through this tiny Sabbath door. You can just imagine a camel putting his head and neck through the door and trying to squeeze the rest of his huge body and long legs through that small opening.

Which of these metaphors did Jesus actually say and intend? We don’t know. But the good thing is that we don’t really have to decide. They all are communicating basically the same idea with slightly different images. Personally I think it possible that Jesus had all three ideas in mind. Just like humor in English is often based on double meanings of the same word or words that are pronounced the same, so perhaps Jesus was employing the same device. Maybe Jesus intended double or triple meanings to his words, which would make the teaching very memorable.

II. Let’s move on now to the message. We have talked about the metaphor; what is the message of the metaphor? Primarily it has to do with money and possessions.  That is one element in favor of the Sabbath door option, because that also had to deal with money and possessions. It could be Jesus’ variation on the idea that you can’t take it with you.

Trying to disprove the saying “You can’t take it with you,” a stingy man, diagnosed with a terminal illness, thought he figured out how to take at least some of his fortune with him when he died. He instructed his wife to go to the bank and withdraw enough money to fill two pillowcases with cash. He then told her to take the bags of money up to the attic and leave them directly above his bedroom. When he passed away and his soul left his body, he could reach out and grab the bags as he ascended through the ceiling on his way to heaven. Several weeks after the funeral, his wife was up in the attic cleaning, and she came upon the two pillow cases still there stuffed with cash. “Oh, that old fool!” she exclaimed. “I knew I should have put the money in the basement.” You can’t take it with you – either to heaven or hell!

That is the message that Jesus was trying to communicate to the rich young man who wanted eternal life. The young man wanted all his money and eternal life, and Jesus told him he couldn’t have both. I am sure you know Jack Benny’s old comedy sketch on the subject. Thug: This is a stickup! Now come on. Your money or your life. [long pause] Thug: [repeating] Look, bud, I said 'Your money or your life.' Jack Benny: I'm thinking it over! Jesus told the young man it was his money or eternal life. The young man thought it over and walked away.

That does not mean that we have to sell everything we have and give it to the poor in order to go to heaven. If that is the case none of us are going to make it; I certainly wouldn’t make it. He was speaking in hyperbole, just like with the camel through the eye of the needle. Jesus was trying to pry the young man’s hands and heart from his possessions. Jesus is trying to do the same thing with us. God doesn’t really need our money. Everything in the universe is God’s anyway! God gave it to you and when you die it will return to God.  You really can’t take it with you. Jesus doesn’t care how much you pledge to our stewardship drive or give to the church.

But I won’t lie to you. I care! Because I want this church in Sandwich to be financially viable with a balanced budget, and I wouldn’t mind getting paid my salary either! What Jesus really cares about is our heart’s attachment to money and things, and whether that gets in the way of spiritual things. He wants to know whether we have our hearts set on earthly riches or spiritual riches. Money got in the way of spiritual riches and even eternal life for that young man that Jesus met on the road. The question is “Does it get in the way of our spiritual life?” Jesus said that you can’t serve both God and Mammon. The apostle Paul says that the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil. Wealth can be a big stumbling block to a lot of people’s spiritual growth. Jesus said, “No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.” Money is the message of the metaphor.

Another part of the message is salvation. Remember that the original question asked by the rich young man. He asked Jesus how to inherit eternal life. That is the question that eventually prompted Jesus to give the teaching about sewing with camels. The message that Jesus was communicating through the metaphor is that salvation is impossible. For man to inherit eternal life is impossible. Just as impossible as Jesus knew it would be for that young man to sell all that he had an give it all to the poor. Jesus was not surprised at the young man’s choice. He knew that he loved his things so much that he could never give them up, even if it meant the loss of his soul. “For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?” Jesus asked. It turns out that people will very often exchange their souls for earthly treasures.

Jesus is saying that salvation is as impossible at it is for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, or for a packed camel to go through a Sabbath door, or to thread a needle with a rope. It is impossible. The reason Jesus made this point was so that later on in verse 27 Jesus could follow up with this point: “With men it is impossible, but not with God; for with God all things are possible.” The young man’s question was “Good Teacher, what shall I do that I may inherit eternal life?” The answer is that there is nothing he could do to inherit eternal life. There is nothing we can do to inherit eternal life. An inheritance is not something we get by doing something. An inheritance is a gift given to you by someone who died. The young man should have known that. If he was young, he probably did not earn his great wealth; it was probably left to him. It is the same way with us. There is nothing we can do to inherit eternal life. It is not something we earn. It is a gift given to us by one who died. The Christian gospel says that the one who died was Jesus Christ. He gives us eternal life not based on anything we do, not even how much money we give away to the poor or to the church. He gives us eternal life purely as a free gift to be received by faith. 

This idea blew the disciples’ minds. This was not part of the worldview that they grew up with. Their worldview said that the rich would get into heaven. The worldview at the time said that earthly wealth was a sign of God’s blessing. If a person was right with God, then God bestowed all sorts of material blessings on him. Furthermore the wealthy person demonstrated his/her righteousness by being generous to others. So their worldview said that if anyone would be saved it would be the rich. Jesus comes along and says that is not true. He says that it is harder for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God than for a camel to go through the eye of a needle. The disciples are shocked. “26 And they were greatly astonished, saying among themselves, “Who then can be saved?”27 But Jesus looked at them and said, “With men it is impossible, but not with God; for with God all things are possible.”

Eternal life is impossible in the eyes of the world. For one thing increasing numbers of people do not believe in an afterlife any more. They think it is a religious fairy tale for people who are afraid of death. For them eternal life is scientifically impossible according to their naturalistic  worldview.  And it is impossible when seen from that perspective!  But what is impossible for men is possible with God. That is the whole point of the parable of the camel and the needle. From a human perspective it is impossible for us as physical animals of flesh and blood to continue to exist after death. The idea seems silly to many people today – wishful thinking with no basis in reality. 27 But Jesus looked at them and said, “With men it is impossible, but not with God; for with God all things are possible.”

III. My third point, which I will make very briefly, is the ministry. We have talked about the metaphor and the message. Now I want to mention briefly the ministry. By that I mean, how are we to live our lives in light of Jesus’ teaching? Jesus tells us twice in this passage. He tells the rich young man that after he sells all he has and gives to the poor that he was to “come, take up the cross, and follow Me.” The subject comes up again when he is explaining his teaching to his disciples. Peter says, “See, we have left all and followed You.” 29 So Jesus answered and said, “Assuredly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife[c] or children or lands, for My sake and the gospel’s, 30 who shall not receive a hundredfold now in this time — houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, with persecutions — and in the age to come, eternal life.” For both the rich young man and for Peter and the other disciples it was all about leaving the other stuff behind, either physically or spiritually, and following Christ.

That is what it is always about. It is not about the money; it is about the ministry - whether we care more about things or about following Christ and serving Christ as his disciples – regardless of whether it means prosperity or hardship. That is hard to do. Indeed it is impossible to do – as impossible as sewing with camels. “With men it is impossible, but not with God; for with God all things are possible.” 

More Than We Can Handle

Delivered October 7, 2012

Job 1:1; 2:1-10

I dislike spiritual clichés. Unfortunately there are a lot of them. As a pastor I hear them more than most people do. It is all I can do to bite my tongue and not contradict those who voice them. One saying I have heard many times. I am sure you have heard it; perhaps you even voiced it. “God never gives you more than you can handle.” Or alternately, “God will never give us more than we can bear.” I don’t believe it, and in a moment I will tell you why. 

For me it ranks right up there with other statements like “Whatever doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.” Not so! Sometimes it makes you weaker! Another one is “I know exactly how you feel.” No you don’t! I have learned the hard way never to say that. People in my churches have gone through terrible things that I have not been through. I can imagine somewhat what they are going through, but there is no way I really know exactly how they feel. It is better not to say things like that, but instead just be with them in the pain. Unless of course you really have been through the same thing and therefore really do know how they feel. Then – and only then - you can say it. I think that God brings us through some things so that we can comfort others who are going through it. 

The Bible says, “3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, 4 who comforts us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort those who are in any trouble, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. 5 For as the sufferings of Christ abound in us, so our consolation also abounds through Christ. 6 Now if we are afflicted, it is for your consolation and salvation, which is effective for enduring the same sufferings which we also suffer.”

Another one is “Time heals all wounds.” No it doesn’t! Time helps heal some wounds somewhat in some people, but not all. Some wounds never completely heal. I think grief due to the death of one very close to us for many years never completely goes away. You just learn how to live with it.  But I want to get back to the statement that “God will never give you more than you can handle. I don’t believe that because God never promised that. When Christians say this with good intentions, I think they have in mind 1 Corinthians 10:13 which reads, “No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to man; and God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond that which you are able, but he will make with the temptation a way of escape in order for you to be able to endure.” That is true! God will never allow us to be tempted more than we can bear. That has to do with temptation to sin. But that is very different than saying that God will never give us more hardship or suffering than we can bear.

In fact there is a passage of scripture which says that sometimes God does give us more than we can bear. The apostle Paul tells us in 2 Corinthians: “For we do not want you to be unaware, brothers, of the affliction we experienced in Asia. For we were so utterly burdened beyond our strength that we despaired of life itself.” He says clearly there that it was more than he could bear. Then he goes on to tell us the reason why God sometimes gives us more than we can bear. “Indeed, we felt that we had received the sentence of death. But that was to make us rely not on ourselves but on God who raises the dead. He delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he will deliver us. On him we have set our hope that he will deliver us again.”  (2 Corinthians 1:8-10 ESV) God does give us more than we can bear, and the reason is so that we will not try to bear it alone, but will rely on God’s strength and not our own.

Paul talks about another occasion when God gave him more than he could bear in the same letter in 2 Corinthians 12. “7 And lest I should be exalted above measure by the abundance of the revelations, a thorn in the flesh was given to me, a messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I be exalted above measure. 8 Concerning this thing I pleaded with the Lord three times that it might depart from me. 9 And He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. 10 Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ’s sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”

God does give us more than we can bear! But never more than He can bear. Job is an example of a person who got much more than he could bear. Most of the book is Job telling us exactly that! People who say that God never gives people more than they can bear have never read the book of Job. And Job is who I want to talk about this morning. I want to say three things about what Job’s experience of suffering teaches us.

1. First is that bad things happen to good people. I know that Biblically speaking you can make a case that cannot call anyone good but God. Jesus said that. On one occasion someone came up to him and called him “Good teacher,” and Jesus responded by saying, “Why do you call me good. No one is good but God alone.’ I understand that in that sense there are no perfectly good people. But I am talking in relative terms here – the way most people use the term good.  There are bad people in this world, and there are good people.  I have known a lot of good people who have had bad things happen to them. Bad things happen to good people - spiritual religious people who have never done anybody any harm and who have gone a lot of good in the world. Sometimes the world dumps on them. Bad things happen to innocent people – to children who have never caused anybody any harm. Evil people sometimes do terribly evil things to innocent people.  Bad things do happen to good people.

Job is an example. The book of Job opens with the words: “There was a man in the land of Uz, whose name was Job; and that man was blameless and upright, and one who feared God and shunned evil.” This is the Bible’s way of saying he was a good man. But a lot of bad stuff happened to him. Chapter one tells us what happened. He had a large family – seven sons and three daughters. And he was wealthy – wealth earned by his own hands. Then in one day he lost everything. Raiders came and killed all his workers and stole all his possessions. Fire burned up what the thieves did not steal. Then a tornado struck the house where all of his kids were gathered together and killed them all. He lost all his family and all his possessions. But at least he had his health. That is another cliché that I don’t like. When bad things happen, people say, “Well at least you’ve got your health.” Well Job didn’t have his health either. If the loss of his children, his money and possessions were not enough, on top of that Job became very ill with painful boils that covered his whole body. Here was a good man who had everything, and suddenly he lost it all. Bad things happened to this good person.

Bad things happen to good people; that is what scripture teaches. In fact the Book of job directly contradicts the idea that God will protect religious people from bad things. So if you are using your faith as an insurance policy against trouble, then you are in for a surprise. That is called the hedge theory. It is voiced by Satan in Verse 9-11 “So Satan answered the Lord and said, “Does Job fear God for nothing? Have You not made a hedge around him, around his household, and around all that he has on every side? You have blessed the work of his hands, and his possessions have increased in the land. But now, stretch out Your hand and touch all that he has, and he will surely curse You to Your face!” The idea is that God puts a hedge of protection around his people so that really bad stuff won’t happen to us. The book of Job throws that idea out the window. God hands Job over to Satan with the only stipulation being not to touch his body. But later he takes away even that restriction with the only stipulation being that Satan cannot take his life. Which is not such a good stipulation when you think about it. Sometimes death is a blessing when it puts an end to suffering. There are some things worse than death. I think that is one cliché I do accept.

2. The second thing that Job’s suffering teaches us is that we cannot see behind the curtain of eternity to understand why bad things are happening to good people. We can trust that all things – even bad things - somehow work together for good - that somehow the sufferings and evil works together for a greater good and a higher purpose for God’s people.  Scripture does teach that. One of my favorite bible verses is Romans 8:28 “And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.”  I believe that, but we can’t see HOW it all fits together. In the Book of Job bad things happen to Job, but he does not understand why.

But the reader of the Book of Job is let in on the secret; we see what Job cannot see. The narrator of the story tells us that there is a contest going on between God and Satan. They are fighting over the soul of Job. Job I being tested.. Satan says that the only reason Job is good and worships and serves God is for the rewards he receives from God. God says “No, Job is good for entirely selfless reasons.” To prove who is right, God allows Satan to do terrible things to Job - killing his family, taking away everything he has, and inflicting him with a painful disease. This is all a test, but Job doesn’t know that. All Job knows is that a lot of bad stuff is happening to him all at once. This is the position we are in during this life. We see that bad stuff happening to us and those we love, but we can’t see behind the scenes; we can’t see why the bad is happening.

To be honest with you this whole scenario in this book is disturbing to me theologically. I don’t like the idea that humans are pawns in a heavenly wager between God and Satan, which is the way the Book of Job presents it. But one thing I do like about the book. It clearly teaches that there is evil and the suffering experienced by man is evil. Suffering is not right. God may allow suffering, but he does not cause it. It is evil that causes it. Satan is the personification of evil. The book of Job is basically saying that all these bad things that happen to this righteous man Job is caused by evil!

There is evil in the universe. Another cliché that I don’t like (if you need to hear another one) is that all people are intrinsically good. People will say, “There is good in everybody,”  “I believe in the essential goodness of humanity” or “I believe all people are basically good.” That is not my experience. My experience is that most people are decent, but some people are not. Some people are cruel and brutal and sadistic and do terrible things to innocent people. The only words strong enough to describe this are evil or sin. I don’t think you have to look further than the headlines of the daily paper to see the evidence of the sinfulness of man. G. K. Chesterton wrote that original sin is the only doctrine of Christian theology that can be empirically verified. I don’t know if I would go that far, but it seems like a lot of people are doing a good job in demonstrating it.

3. The third thing we can learn from this story of Job is how to respond when bad things happen to good people. One response is that of Job’s wife. As we read this story about Job we have to remember that all this is happening to Mrs. Job also. These are her kids who died; not just his. These are her possessions as well. Even though she does not have the physical affliction that Job had (as far as we know) she was his caregiver. She had to put up with his constant complaining. All the calamities happen to Job in the first two chapters of the book. The other 40 chapters are Job complaining about it.  In our passage we see how Mrs. Job responds to the suffering that came her way. 2:9 “Then his wife said to him, “Do you still hold fast to your integrity? Curse God and die!” When bad things happen, some people respond like Job’s wife. They turn away from God. In My study of the New Atheist movement of this 21^st century, it seems to me that this theological problem of evil and suffering – called theodicy – is the chief argument that atheists have against God. Basically they say that any God that would allow such evil and suffering to happen in this world is not worthy of worship. So they reject God. It is not too strong to say that some of them curse God and die.

Another response to the suffering is acceptance. This is Job’s initial response in the first two chapters. It is described both in chapters 1 and 2. Chapter One ends with this response from Job. “20 Then Job arose, tore his robe, and shaved his head; and he fell to the ground and worshiped. 21 And he said: “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, And naked shall I return there. The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; Blessed be the name of the Lord.” 22 In all this Job did not sin nor charge God with wrong.” Chapter Two ends with Job’s wife telling him to curse God and die, which is apparently her plan of action. But Job replies to her in verse 10 “You speak as one of the foolish women speaks. Shall we indeed accept good from God, and shall we not accept adversity?” In all this Job did not sin with his lips.” So Job’s initial response is acceptance. And a lot of people are able to do this. They can in faith accept everything bad that happens in the world. But some of us are not built that way. And it turns out that Job is not built that way either. Even though this is his initial response, it is not his final response.

The third response to suffering – and this is the subject of most of the book of God  - is struggle. Job accepts his situation in faith until his three friends show up on the scene with their self-righteous platitudes. And apparently Job cannot stand clichés any more than I can. Because the whole rest of the book is Job arguing with all the pat answers that his friends give about why this is happening to him. Job fights and struggles and argues – and I love it. Because that is what I do. In the end of the book this struggle brings Job face to face with God. Job never gets an answer to his questions, but he meets God in the whirlwind – in the tempest of his struggle. That is the only answer. Job’s final response is in chapter 42 “I have heard of You by the hearing of the ear, But now my eye sees You. 6 Therefore I abhor myself, And repent in dust and ashes.” The only answer to why God sometimes gives us more than we can bear is God himself – an encounter with God. In God’s undeniable powerful presence our only response can be repentance and faith. God gives us more than we can handle in order to drive us into his arms and find there something deeper than answers. We find the living God.

Healing Prayer

Delivered September 30, 2012

James 5:13-20

Does prayer work? More specifically, does prayer for the sick work? Is it effective in bringing about healing? My answer as a Christian pastor is “Yes.” But I also admit that I can’t prove it. The scientific studies that have been conducted on the effectiveness of prayer are inconclusive. I am one of those people who trusts science as a way to cut through a lot of the baloney in the claims of faith healers and alternative medicine. A lot of the claims I would say at best are anecdotal evidence and at worst magical thinking, religious superstition or pseudoscience. I want my religious faith to be open to available evidence and be consistent with medical science. 

Therefore I am always on the lookout for scientific studies on the efficacy of prayer. There have been quite a few of them in recent decades. Some experiments show that prayer helps; those are the ones most often quoted by religious people in articles on prayer. Other experiments conclude that prayer has no effect; it makes no difference one way or the other. There are even studies – believe it or not - that seem to indicate that prayer is actually harmful to the sick. These are the ones quoted by religious skeptics. These results are explained by saying that those who are being prayed for feel pressure to get better and when they see no improvement they get depressed. They feel like they are letting people down and they actually get sicker. In any case, the consensus at the present time is that science has not proven the case one way or the other.

But as I said a moment ago I believe that prayer works because of personal life experiences - even though I can’t prove it. I have also become convinced that it is very difficult to study prayer scientifically. Good scientific experiments have to be double blind studies. That means that when studying the effects of prayer, no one can know who is being prayed for and who is not. The patients can’t know if they are part of the group that is being prayed for or if they are in the control group that is not being prayed for. Isn’t knowing that people are praying for you part of the power of prayer? Even the idea that you can have a control group of sick people who are definitely not being prayed for is untenable. Who is to say that the family members and friends of that person in the control group are not praying for them or that the person themselves are not praying for themselves? 75 percent of Americans say they pray every day. Can you tell me none of those millions are praying for these sick people in the control group?

Furthermore, what is considered prayer in a scientific study? One study done in the nineteenth century by Francis Galton assumed that since state churches in England and other countries regularly prayed for long life and health for their king or queen, then kings and queens must be the healthiest and most long-lived people in their countries. But the statistics showed that royalty did not live on average any longer than others of the upper classes. Does that disprove prayer? Or does that simply mean that reciting a required prayer in church is not really prayer?

C.S. Lewis took a great personal interest in healing prayer while his wife was dying of cancer. He said on this subject, "The trouble is that I do not see how any real prayer could go on under such conditions. Simply to say prayers is not to pray; otherwise a team of properly trained parrots would serve as well as men for our experiment." He argued that this approach to prayer treats it "as if it were magic, or a machine—something that functions automatically." The Bible says that not all prayers are equally effective. It depends on what is being prayed for and the motives of prayer. James 4:3 “You ask and do not receive because you ask amiss, that you may spend it on your pleasures.” It is also dependent on person doing the praying. James says in our passage that it is the fervent prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective. How do you scientifically define fervent and righteous?

Rev. Raymond J. Lawrence, director of pastoral care at New York Presbyterian Hospital, said in 2005 regarding the scientific study of prayer, "Prayer can be and is helpful. But to think that you can research it is inconceivable to me. Prayer is presumably a way of addressing God, and there's no way to scientifically test God. God is not subject to scientific research." As much as I would love it to be proven scientifically that prayer results in a higher percentage of people healed, I can’t conceive how one would design an experiment to prove this. Science has been able to demonstrate beneficial physical changes in the bodies of the one praying or meditating – such as the reduction of stress that has health benefits. Statistics also show that religious people are healthier and live longer on average than the nonreligious (this is especially true of groups that have dietary restrictions and a healthy lifestyle like Seventh day Adventists and Mormons), but that is as far as science can go. But the testimony of scripture and of generations of praying people is that prayer works. That is what the apostle James says. In our passage James speaks about eight types of healing prayer.

1. First he talks about the prayer of petition. Verse 13 “Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray.” This is the type of prayer we have been talking about. A sick person ought to pray, and the word used for prayer here means request – asking for something. Here it is clearly asking for healing. I don’t know about you, but this comes naturally to me!  What else would I do when sick or when someone I love is sick? God is the great Physician. It is clear from the gospels that one of the major ministries that Jesus had was healing.

2. But James quickly moves beyond the prayer of petition to another form of prayer in this same verse: praying the psalms.  James says, “Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing psalms.” James might be talking about different circumstances. When we are sick, we pray prayers for healing; when we are well and cheerful, we sing psalms of praise. But even if you are sick and feeling miserable, you can still pray the psalms. If you read the OT book of Psalms you will find that there are a lot of psalms that are anything but happy. A lot of the psalms are spoken by people who are in desperate situations physically and emotionally. That is why the psalms are so beloved by Christians. Often the NT and psalms are bound together. They are arguably the most favorite part of the OT for Christians.

I love the psalms for this very reason. They are messy – just like real life. They don’t always have happy endings – just like real life. They are not neat and predictable. We can read psalms that praise and glorify God in the good times, and we can read psalms that cry out in struggle in the bad times. Jesus prayed the psalms when he was in agony dying on the cross. When he cried out “My God, my God Why hast thou forsaken me?” he was praying the opening line of Psalm 22. It continues with these words: “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me? Why are You so far from helping Me, And from the words of My groaning? ² O My God, I cry in the daytime, but You do not hear; And in the night season, and am not silent.” That is the way he was feeling. The psalm continues with a description of one being crucified, which has lead people to think this was a prophecy of Jesus’ death. Also later it has words of faith. The psalmist says, “You have answered Me.²² I will declare Your name to My brethren; In the midst of the assembly I will praise You.” Whether we are cheerful or in distress, we can always pray the psalms.

3. The third type of prayer mentioned by James is intercession. Verse 14 “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.” This describes the community praying for a sick person. It also includes personal visits and private prayer from the leaders of the church. This is what I do and this is what we do as a church. I don’t do the anointing with oil part. But I don’t think that the oil is the important element here. We are not talking about magical oil here. I remember years ago Oral Roberts used to send you healing oil … if you send him a large enough contribution. I don’t buy into that type of thing. It is the prayer that heals, not the oil. That is clear in the next verse, “And the prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise him up.”

4. This leads to the next type of prayer – Prayer of faith. Faith is an essential element of healing prayer. Jesus said, “Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them.” There is a scene in the gospels were a woman who had been ill for twelve years was healed by faith. “And suddenly, a woman who had a flow of blood for twelve years came from behind and touched the hem of His garment. For she said to herself, “If only I may touch His garment, I shall be made well.” But Jesus turned around, and when He saw her He said, “Be of good cheer, daughter; your faith has made you well.” And the woman was made well from that hour.” Faith obviously has an important role to play in healing prayer.

James himself says in the first chapter of this letter, “But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind. 7 For let not that man suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; 8 he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.”  He is talking about praying for wisdom in this ontext, but I think it is true of praying for anything. But we have to be very careful here in connecting healing and faith. Jesus healed people who did not have faith. And just because you have faith doesn’t mean you will be healed. The apostle Paul is a good example of that. He asked three times to be healed of his mysterious ailment he calls his “thorn in the flesh.” He says, “Concerning this thing I pleaded with the Lord three times that it might depart from me. And He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.”

Faith and healing are connected, but just because you have one doesn’t mean you will have the other. Many people with great faith are not healed, and people with no faith are healed. We certainly do not want to lay a guilt trip on sick people, insinuating that if they only had faith they would be healed. That is not true. I come from a family of practitioners of Christian Science. In fact I have an old photo of a Christian Science gathering of about twenty people who met in the barn of my great-grandparents in Tamworth and it is almost all my family. I know firsthand that Christian Science can lay a real guilt trip on people – implying that if you are not healed then somehow it is your fault – that you don’t have enough faith. That is not good. The last thing sick people need is to feel guilty about being sick. But still we are instructed to pray in faith.

5. Fifth James mentions the prayer of confession. Verse 15-16 “And the prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. Confess your trespasses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed.” Here James connects physical and spiritual healing. Sometimes a person is healed both physically and spiritually, like James refers to here. Sometimes a person is not healed physically but they are healed spiritually. Sometimes an illness wakes a person up to their spiritual condition. They find spiritual wholeness in God which was better than any physical healing. Sometimes a person is healed physically and not spiritually. I have seen a people pray for healing and get better, but immediately forget God. There then was no gratitude to God. They continue to live their life without God. That is physical healing without spiritual healing.

6. Sixth is the prayer of the righteous. The most famous verse in this passage is the last part of verse 16 which says, “The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.” Another translation: “The fervent prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.” I could preach a whole sermon just on this verse … and I have! This verse tells us the type of prayer that is effective. It is fervent prayer. There are a lot of half-hearted prayers. We should not expect any response to insincere prayers. James says that the prayers of a righteous person are effective. My mother-in-law was the most effective prayer I have ever known. It was a loss when she died last year, and part of that loss is that we no longer have her to pray for us. I can see why Roman Catholics have developed the idea of praying to Mary and saints, asking them to intercede for you. I don’t believe in saints or Mary, but I can see why people would like to believe that they can intercede for us. I wish we still had Jude’s mother to pray for us. But we don’t. That means that we need to be the righteous ones who pray fervently and effectively for others.

7. Seventh is the prayer of Elijah. If there is anyone in the Bible who knew how to pray effectively, it was Elijah. James uses him as an illustration here. “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 land for three years and six months. 18 And he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth produced its fruit.” I couldn’t get it to stop raining for one day for our son’s wedding a few year ago, but Elijah got it to stop raining for three and half years. Why he would want a drought like that is a whole OT story with its own problems, which thankfully I do not have the time to get into. But the point James is making is that some people know how to pray effectively. And it says here that Elijah’s praying style is that he prayed earnestly and repeatedly. Prayer is not just something you do in times of crisis. That is foxhole prayer. It is fine to pray when the bombs are dropping around you, but that should not be the only time we pray. I can’t tell you how many people I have known people who have come to a time of crisis in their lives and they have no idea how to pray to God for help because they have ignored God all their lives. Elijah knew God and served God and walked with God. So when it came time to pray, he knew how to pray earnestly and effectively.

8. Lastly, James talks about the prayer of restoration. He says in verses 19-20 “Brethren, if anyone among you wanders from the truth, and someone turns him back, let him know that he who turns a sinner from the error of his way will save a soul from death and cover a multitude of sins.” James ends the topic of healing prayer talking about spiritual restoration, because this is most important. Physical healing is important, but the truth is that we some day we are not going to be healed. At some point we will all get sick with an illness that will not be healed regardless of how many earnest fervent righteous persons we have praying for us. Our bodies are going to give out some day and we are going to die. Better later than sooner, but eventually it is going to happen. What is important is that we are spiritually ready for it whenever that happens. That is why James talks about truth and sin and saving a soul from death and covering a multitude of sins.

Healing of the body is important, but the healing of the soul is more important. There is physical illness but there is also soul sickness. The sickness of the soul is called sin. The solution to sin is Christ. The gospel says that sin and death has been dealt with my the death of Christ on the Cross - that his death covered a multitude of sins. In him we have eternal life even when our mortal bodies succumb to physical death. The cure of soul sickness comes through prayer. Praying to God for cleansing from sin through Christ and for eternal life that we have through faith in Christ. That is the perfect healing. That is the ultimate healing prayer.