Honest to God—and Everyone Else
Living, active faith is always evident. It is demonstrated through what we do and do not do, by the strength of our character, our commitment to prayer, and our concern for others. There should be no question in people’s minds as to whether we are followers of Christ.
Transcript
I read about a pastor who was going to preach on the subject of honesty on the following Sunday. So, he told his congregation to prepare for his sermon by reading Joshua 25. The next Sunday he began by asking how many had read Joshua 25. Half the hands in the church were raised. He said, “Great. Now you’re the ones I want to talk to. Joshua has only twenty-four chapters.”[1]
Your faith does not automatically guarantee you will tell the truth. But this should be the mark of a believer’s life—to be honest to God and to everybody else.
As we sail one last time into the book of James, the author begins with a bold challenge in chapter 5, writing, “Come now, you rich, weep and howl for the miseries that are coming upon you” (verse 1). As we have said before, being wealthy itself is not a sin. It is the wrong use of wealth that is sinful. James describes some rich people here as refusing to pay their employees (verse 4), indulging their selfish appetites with no regard for others (verse 5), and treating people unmercifully (verse 6).
Now Christians can be guilty of all of these actions. But since we have an announcement that judgment awaits them,[2] it seems this is a description of the unbelieving world. Let me put it this way: James is condemning the unbeliever’s selfish dishonesty, and he is warning the believer not to adopt it.
Then in verse 7, James begins to address the “brothers”—that is, believers—and he writes, “Be patient . . . until the coming of the Lord.” This word for “patient” describes a refusal to retaliate. These brothers may be the employees who are not being paid by the wealthy.
James is telling Christians not to strike back at those who are mistreating them. Retaliation—getting even—is what the world does. If you are mistreated, it is not easy to resist getting even, but just wait. And you can wait, knowing the Lord is going to return one day and make all things right.
Verse 7 takes us out to a farm to illustrate this point:
See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, being patient about it, until it receives the early and the late rains.
The farmer cannot make it rain—that is in God’s hands. All he can do is wait.
However, James says we are not going to have to wait long: “The coming of the Lord is at hand” (verse 8). Christ may come for His church at any moment.
In the meantime, we need to be characterized by honesty. James refers here to people who made oaths, or promises, but used them to trick people. We would call it today “creating a loophole” to get around a promise.
James writes in verse 12, “Let your ‘yes’ be yes and your ‘no’ be no.” Do what you say you are going to do. Let your “yes” really mean “yes,” not maybe, or if it doesn’t rain, or if I feel like it.
Beloved, the world is characterized by lying. Christians should be characterized by honesty.
Now, James has one final subject to address, and it concerns someone becoming honest about his sin. Look at verses 14-15:
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. And the prayer of faith will save the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven.
There has been a lot of confusion over this particular passage—and a lot of mystical nonsense as well.
If you have a pencil, you might circle the word “sick” used two times here. In verse 14, the word “sick” is the Greek word, astheneō, which refers to spiritual weakness. Paul uses the same word in Romans 5:6: “For while we were still weak, Christ died for the ungodly.” This is not talking about physical illness. You might write in the margin of your Bible at James 5:14 the words “spiritually weak.”
Now, in verse 15 the word “sick” appears again. This is a different word, and it refers to being physically weary. This Greek word appears only one other time in the New Testament in Hebrews 12:3, which says to consider the example of Christ, so that “you may not grow weary or fainthearted.” You might write “spiritually weary” in the margin of your Bible here at James 5:15.
James is telling someone who is spiritually weak and weary to call for the elders. That the elders are called indicates that their prayer meeting is related to this person getting right with God.
The issue of sin is clearly the context behind this person’s spiritual weariness, which is no doubt accompanied by physical weariness as well. James writes, “And the prayer of faith will save [restore] the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up” (verse 15).
That is a guarantee, beloved. How can James guarantee restoration? Because this is restoration that comes from getting honest before God about sin.
In fact, James continues in verse 15, “And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven.”
Greek students understand this as a third-class condition. “If he has committed sins” means, “since he has sinned, he will be forgiven.”
This is what is happening here. This person’s sins have caught up with him. He is like King David, who wrote, “When I kept silent [about my sin], my bones wasted away” (Psalm 32:3).
This person calls for the elders so he can confess his sin and they can pray over him. And 100 percent of the time, when there is genuine confession and repentance, there is forgiveness and restoration.
Now what about the anointing of oil mentioned in verse 14? This has become very mystical for many people today. Well, this was not a little dab on the forehead; this was a full-body rubdown—which any weary person would appreciate. This was a trip to the spa.
There is no mystical power attached to olive oil or, for that matter, water from the Jordan River. That televangelist who sells little bottles of supposed sacred water from the Jordan is lying about it. He got it from his kitchen sink. And if he did get it from the Jordan River, then he stole it and illegally transported it out of the country. So, he is either a thief or a liar.
We know from history that olive oil was the best of medicines in that time. The wealthy in James’s day would literally bathe with olive oil to rejuvenate themselves and overcome weariness.[3]
Spiros Zodhiates, a Greek scholar raised on the Island of Crete, knew this custom from experience and saw it practiced as he was growing up in the early 1900s. He writes that it was used for both physically and emotionally weary people.[4]
So, confession restored these repentant believers who finally owned up to their sin and got right with God. And the best medicine brought physical restoration to their weary bodies.
What about the believer who has wandered from the truth and has not sought forgiveness? Well, keep praying for that one. We have no idea what God has in mind, but like Elijah of old, as James reminds us here, God takes into account our faithful prayers.
Do not give up on some prodigal for whom you might be praying today. James writes in verse 20, “Whoever brings back a sinner from his wandering will save his soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins.”
Our mission includes reaching out to them and praying for them. Praying for them to do what? To join us as we together live lives that are honest to God and to everyone else.
Add a Comment