Is Anyone Among You…? (A Reflection on James 5)

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Be patient, therefore, brothers, until the coming of the Lord. 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. You also, be patient. Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand. Do not grumble against one another, brothers, so that you may not be judged; behold, the Judge is standing at the door. As an example of suffering and patience, brothers, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord. (James 5:7-10)

Patience is hard for Americans. We want everything immediately because our lifestyle is characterized by hurry. At some point, technology stopped making our lives better and just raised the expectations for how much work we could accomplish in a day. In terms of spiritual formation, we would like to get there today, without continuing to wait and walk through the cycle of seasons—plowing, planting, watering, and reaping. We would like to shortcut the process in our lives and want others to do the same. It is extremely easy to grumble about the lack of maturity in others as a way of distracting ourselves from self-reflection. We have little patience for the failings of others, and so they (and we) have learned to cover them up or withdraw from the community. 

However, we are on this journey together—something that James realized long ago. We are relational creatures made in the image of a relational God. So, we should not be surprised at the “Is anyone” questions in James’ epistle. 

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James 5:13-16, 19-20 

Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray.

Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing praise. 

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. Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. 

The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working… My brothers, 

if anyone among you wanders from the truth and someone brings him back, let him know that whoever brings back a sinner from his wandering will save his soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins.

As a seminary professor, I love to interact with students and hold it a high honor when they share something of their story with me. In the last couple of years, in a spiritual formation class, I have asked students to do an exercise entitled, Where Am I and How Did I Get Here? Our Journey with God. While I do not intend it to dredge up the pain and failure of the past, it does do that and exposes it to the light of God’s love.

I am amazed by two things: first, the level of brokenness many students bring with them from their families of origin, and second, their willingness to share their stories with me and others. I just finished reading this year’s batch, and they reminded me of the passages above from James 5 and of Paul’s statement in Romans 12:14-15,

“Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them.                                 Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep.”

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Well, the truth is that there are many “anyone” people—not just around us, but among us, who might share their stories if we would listen without rejecting them or grumbling about them.

The list here in James 5 is not exhaustive but representative, so whether anyone is suffering, cheerful, sick, or wandering, the Spirit encourages us to help them draw nearer to Jesus rather than allow them to think they must shrink back in shame. What other "anyones" might we find in our midst? Those who suffer at the hands of others—the abused, the abandoned, the betrayed, the shamed, the falsely accused, the tormented, the lonely, the misunderstood, the unappreciated, the invisible ones. There are also those who, by their actions or inactions, are the cause of their own suffering and that of others. Compassionate comfort and correction should always be offered to others with great care to follow Christ’s example of not snuffing out the smoldering wick or breaking the bruised reed (Matt. 12:20). Jesus’ desire is to bind up the brokenhearted and set the captives free (Psa. 34:18; 147:3; Isa 57:15, 61:1) which, more often than we know, includes us and those near to us. And in Christ, by the Holy Spirit, this work is done. Paul, in 2 Corinthians 1:3-4, used an affectively descriptive name for God and offered the hope of healing.

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.

Pastors and Christian leaders are no exception. Even in James' representative list—suffering, cheerful, sick, or wandering—only one in four examples might be desirable. We need to have our brothers and sisters come alongside us in our joy and in our pain, in our certainty, and in our doubt, no less than anyone else. If it seems that nobody cares, then check one of the first posts on this blog that touches on Psalm 142, A Cupbearer is a Brother (or Sister) in Arms.

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I would suggest that our spiritual formation/maturity is not about our curating an external “appearance of godliness” but about our enthusiastic response to the love of God that has been poured into our hearts by the indwelling presence of the Spirit (Rom. 5:5). Our repentance is not merely external/behavioral but internal/relational in that it is a return to the Father, Son, and Spirit who loves us completely. 

Is anyone among you… thankful? Yep, I am too.

Hearts Guarded by Peace (A reflection on Philippians 4 and Isaiah 31)

Philippians 4:5b—8, 13

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The Lord is at hand; do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.

These are very well-known verses. However, it does us good to be reminded of God’s nearness and power on our behalf. These are anxious days, and so many people suffer from various forms of anxiety, some to the point of needing medication and other therapies. However, in this passage, we have a great weapon against the fears, anxieties, and ineffective coping behaviors that we might face. This passage says that we are neither alone nor separated from God by any distance. The Lord is “near” or “at hand,” and that should calm us down. We can talk to him about everything…and remember how much we have to be thankful for. In a post on Col. 4, I talked about thanksgiving/gratitude functioning like a vaccination against, and an antidote for, PTSD. No matter what we face, if we focus on what we can be thankful for, we will come out better than if we just get mad. Today I want to also add that v. 8 contains a positive replacement for all the worries and other concerns that might want to overwhelm us. There are so many wonderful things for us to think about, but they make for poor ratings on a news show. In the end, news media is geared to produce anxiety, and prayerfully practicing the presence of God guards against it.

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The question is, will I turn to the Lord in prayer when faced with a moment of anxiety and fear or will I run somewhere else? Isaiah 30-31 warns Judah about how they should respond to a real threat. Isaiah was dealing with Judah’s desire to run to Egypt for help against the invading Assyrians. 

Though written some 25 centuries ago, the words of Isaiah 31:1-3 are still powerful!

Woe to those who go down to Egypt for help
    and rely on horses,
who trust in chariots because they are many
    and in horsemen because they are very strong,
but do not look to the Holy One of Israel
    or consult the Lord!
And yet he is wise and brings disaster;
    he does not call back his words,
but will arise against the house of the evildoers
    and against the helpers of those who work iniquity.
The Egyptians are man, and not God,
    and their horses are flesh, and not spirit.
When the Lord stretches out his hand,
    the helper will stumble, and he who is helped will fall,
    and they will all perish together.

While we have more advanced technology today, the principle is the same. Will we relationally return to the Lord, resting/trusting in him for direction, correction, and protection, or will we try to find a different way? Why would we turn away from the Lord for a merely human solution? Sadly, we, like Judah, are stubborn and unwilling to admit that we need God’s help.

For thus said the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel,
“In returning and rest you shall be saved;
    in quietness and in trust shall be your strength.”
But you were unwilling, (30:15)

Gustave Dore (1832-1883),
Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Even so, though we suffer for our stubbornness, God in his love still works on our behalf.

Verse 8 says that when we cast away our idols (false trusts) and return to the Lord,

“And the Assyrian shall fall by a sword, not of man;
    and a sword, not of man, shall devour him…”

We know from history (2 Kings 19:35) that the Assyrian army (185,000 soldiers) was destroyed in a single night.

O Lord God, Holy Father, Son, and Spirit, I cry out to you now and renounce the false trusts that lobby for my heart’s attention. You are near, and that makes all the difference. Let me sense your nearness amid the challenges I face today, and may I see your might at work in marvelous ways. I don’t want to settle for human solutions like horses and Egypt and the false confidence they bring. Please restore an attitude of quietness and trust in my heart that will strengthen me to stand and bear witness to your steadfast love for an anxious generation. Blessed be your name, Jesus, for you are strong to save, even today!

Triumphant Thankfulness (A SOAP Journal from Exodus15 and Romans 1)

In addition to regular articles, I regularly post some simple SOAP journals that were produced during a regular small group gathering to read, journal, pray, and encourage one another. These are not exhaustively studied as they are generally the work of 20 minutes of reading, 20 minutes of writing, and 20 minutes of sharing with each other what we have written. Whether we are Christian leaders or new believers, this collective approach to Bible journaling is encouraging.

If you are not familiar with the term, we used the SOAP acronym as a simple devotional guide... standing for:

• Scripture—what verse or short section caught my attention today? 
  
• Observation—what can I briefly notice that the passage specifically says?
• Application—what will I do differently as a result of having read this today?
• Prayer—what will I ask the Triune God to do for, in, and through me today?

Where God Looks (Isaiah 66:1-5)

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Thus says the Lord:

“Heaven is my throne,
    and the earth is my footstool;
what is the house that you would build for me,
    and what is the place of my rest?
All these things my hand has made,
    and so all these things came to be,
declares the Lord.
But this is the one to whom I will look:
    he who is humble and contrite in spirit 
    and trembles at my word. (vv.1-2)

As humans, we tend to be impressed by great buildings and monuments to our accomplishments. Here, God says that even the greatest building (the Temple) cannot compare to what he has made in the act of creation. Anything we have built is ultimately dependent upon what God has done anyway. The encouraging part is in verse 2 when God reveals what captures his attention and what brings him near.

But this is the one to whom I will look:
    he who is humble and contrite in spirit
    and trembles at my word.

God is paradoxically drawn to those who are “humble and contrite in spirit” for life in God’s love is not about our impressing him with our "great" accomplishments but about our humble yet eager response to his presence with us. Do we tremble at his word? Are we quick to respond, or are we like those who reject both God’s word and God’s people?

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Hear the word of the Lord,
    you who tremble at his word:
“Your brothers who hate you
    and cast you out for my name's sake
have said, ‘Let the Lord be glorified,
    that we may see your joy’;
    but it is they who shall be put to shame. (v.5)

While in this life, the humble may be rejected and mocked by influencers and instructors, they will not be rejected nor distanced from the Lord, and in the end, the Lord will render to the mockers and trolls their recompense (v.6) while the humble will be filled with joy!

This passage reminds me of an incident from the ministry of Jesus that is recorded for us in John 9. It tells us about the fallout from a miracle...of a time when Jesus healed a man who had been born blind. After the healing, because its timing violated the Pharisees' interpretation of the sabbath rules, the man was repeatedly questioned by the Pharisees. Finally, they "cast him out" when his insightful responses hit too close to home. Thankfully, the story doesn’t end there. Jesus heard about it and went to find the formerly blind man who had been banished by the religious leaders. It was then that the man’s eyes were opened to believe in Jesus—he was able to see spiritually as well as physically! It is in the hard times that Jesus invites us to believe in him, to trust him enough to cast our cares/anxieties on him, and he will exalt us as he draws us close!

Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you. (1 Peter 5:6-7)

Today, as I humble my heart before the Lord, I will remember that he is near and that he is for me. He sees my situation; he loves me anyway. He does not require or desire sacrifices but only a humble heart that longs to obey. When I read the Bible today, I will lean into the tremble, the challenge, and the wonder of what God has said!

O Lord, you know my weaknesses and my failures, and yet as I am humble before your presence and your word, you look to me like I am a great building. You do not come to me because I am sanctified and lifted up, but the opposite. You sanctify me and lift me up because you have come near, because you have brought it to pass. Thank you for your love and the transformation you bring! Cause me to care more for the humble and contrite in spirit than for the supposedly great works of human pride. 

"What Do You See?" A Pastoral Reflection on Jeremiah 1.

Photo: Greg K Dueker

I teach students preparing for Christian ministry. Some share that they struggle with the lack of opportunity in the church for younger leaders, and it causes them to doubt their calling. At the same time, I see other more experienced pastors and ministry leaders who are struggling with their own long-term ministry resiliency. So many sense a calling, even having some kind of "vision" for how they will participate in the work of the kingdom, at the beginning of their ministry, but then they seem to lose clarity and confidence over the years. The last couple of years (2020-21) have been especially hard on ministry students and established pastors alike. So many of us have been in survival mode. However, in seasons of difficulty, when other needs and noises are stripped away, we may hear God reassuring us of his invitation and empowerment, if we will listen! He has not stopped working. 

At the beginning of the prophetic book of Jeremiah, we have a record of how God first called, then confirmed, and encouraged the young priest Jeremiah to step out of his comfort zone into a world-shaking prophetic ministry. As I read this passage afresh, this week, I was moved to consider how it might be applied in our contexts today.

Let's take a look at Jeremiah 1:11-14 together in light of ministry in difficult times...

And the word of the Lord came to me, saying, 

                           “Jeremiah, what do you see?”

                                            And I said, “I see an almond branch.” 

    Then the Lord said to me, “You have seen well,                                                                                                             for I am watching over my word to perform it.” (v. 11-12)

Blooming Almond Trees
Photo by Steffen Lemmerzahl on Unsplash

This first vision comes after the Lord has spoken that he had put his word in Jeremiah (v.4-10). It almost has the feel of a trial run or a practice swing before something more complicated comes. Not only was it a simple vision, but the Lord gave Jeremiah immediate feedback. Is it not that way with the gifts and calling of the Lord, that first, when we are asked to be faithful in a little, before we are entrusted with much?  

Once it has been established that Jeremiah had both seen and spoken the vision correctly, we see that the Lord is “watching over his word” …to bring to pass what he has said. Has the Lord given us a vision that we are supposed to share with others? A message of repentance calling his wandering children home to the God who loves them? A message of hope that God is working through the very difficulties that we are facing? I am convinced that we all have a part to play if we will lovingly trust and obey. 

Do you wonder why God started Jeremiah off with a vision of an almond branch? Well, it is a homophone that sounds like the word for watching. The almond is also the first tree to bloom in that part of the world and is referred to as the "wake-up tree". This is powerful as a metaphor for the prophetic role. However, doesn’t this remind you of something else that was inside the ark of the covenant? Is it possible that the vision of the almond branch might have reminded Jeremiah of Aaron’s staff that budded in Numbers 17:8? That staff was a sign that God had chosen Aaron and his sons for the priesthood (as opposed to Korah, Dathan, and Abiram et al) and should have encouraged Jeremiah, the uncertain young priest, that God’s choice to use him to speak a wake-up call to the people was settled.

The word of the Lord came to me a second time, saying, “What do you see?” And I said, “I see a boiling pot, facing away from the north.” Then the Lord said to me, “Out of the north disaster shall be let loose upon all the inhabitants of the land. (v. 13-14)

Photo by 🇮🇳Saif Ali on Unsplash

The second vision God gave to Jeremiah was also pretty straightforward. It was a simple, "See the vision and report what you see" type of assignment. As a teacher, I can appreciate the Lord's pedagogy here. Jeremiah was being given the prophetic equivalent of baseball’s Spring Training before he would have to preach these messages to the public. In the process, the Lord dealt with any possible fear or dismay that might have discouraged Jeremiah.

As we try to recover from more than a year of viral conflicts and Covid-19 challenges, and we wonder about the future of our ministry and calling and whether we have the strength to press forward, I hope that we can all find a bit of hope in the commissioning of Jeremiah. He was called to a task that required resiliency. He would be attacked, both verbally and physically, and yet he was commissioned to speak the truth to the people. He was not alone in this mission, and neither are we.

And I, behold, I make you this day a fortified city, an iron pillar, and bronze walls, against the whole land, against the kings of Judah, its officials, its priests, and the people of the land. They will fight against you, but they shall not prevail against you, for I am with you, declares the Lord, to deliver you. (v. 18-19)

When I think through this narrative of a young and somewhat reluctant prophet, there are many ways that it resonates with me… though I am no longer young. I think that as Jeremiah leaned into the call of God, he must have been moved by more than duty. He must have been responding to the amazing love of God! My mother’s favorite Bible verse, which she regularly slipped into letters and cards over the years, was,

I have loved you with an everlasting love;
    therefore I have continued my faithfulness to you. (Jer. 31:3)

Now that she is no longer able to send such encouragement, that verse means more to me than ever. Jeremiah certainly was privy to the affective-relational heart of God's message, but too often we lose sight of love in our pursuit of success and the subsequent boasting related to our efforts and programs. Yet the Lord calls us back to what is most important...

Thus says the Lord: 

    “Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom,

      let not the mighty man boast in his might,

      let not the rich man boast in his riches, but 

      let him who boasts boast in this,

                            that he understands and knows me,

                            that I am the Lord who practices steadfast love,

                                                                                 justice, and

                                                                                 righteousness in the earth.       

   For in these things I delight, declares the Lord.” (9:23-24)

So I am encouraged by passages like these to see my calling and my success in terms of faithfulness in response to his steadfast love rather than in more crassly economic measurements. 

As the Lord speaks into our lives by the Spirit through his Word, what is it that we see? What will we speak about? When we speak does it sound like Jesus? Will we be moved to respond relationally to God's wonderful love? I hope so. In such love, there is great resiliency.

By the way, there is one other place where God asked, “What do you see, Jeremiah?” (Jer. 24:3-7ff). If you want to do a little homework, ask yourself how the context of that final passage relates to what we have experienced in recent months, and how it might speak to the way that we respond to the current ministry challenges we are facing. How does it contrast self-reliance with surrender? I will leave those answers up to you. But feel free to chime in through the comment section with your helpful suggestions!

Unexpected (A SOAP Journal from Job 9 and Acts 13)

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Job 9:16

If I summoned him and he answered me,
    I would not believe that he was listening to my voice.

 v.32-34

For he is not a man, as I am, that I might answer him,
    that we should come to trial together.
There is no arbiter between us,
    who might lay his hand on us both.
Let him take his rod away from me,
    and let not dread of him terrify me.

Job’s cry in his distress was that he might be heard by God, yet amid his great pain, shame, and grief, he could not believe or expect that God would actually hear and answer him. He longed for there to be an advocate, a mediator who could take away his fear and reconcile his relationship with God. A real-life man of peace. His words remain the profound longing of honest men and women in their pre-relational faith. I'm referring to those people who know that God must exist, and they feel like he is angry with them, and have no idea how to fix it. This is a common condition throughout the ages. Yet God, in His great love for us, has sent the promised savior. As Paul announced in Acts 13:32-33a, 38-39,

And we bring you the good news that what God promised to the fathers, this he has fulfilled to us their children by raising Jesus… Let it be known to you therefore, brothers, that through this man forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you, and by him everyone who believes is freed from everything from which you could not be freed by the law of Moses.

Photo by Mateus Campos Felipe
 on Unsplash

I know that there are times that I ask God to come through with something or to answer my prayers, but deep down don’t expect him to do so. And when he does answer, help, comfort, and deliver, then I can doubt that my prayers had anything to do with it. Lord, have mercy!

The good news is that he heard the cry of suffering and confused people like Job, as well as those sinful and slow-to-believe people like me, and sent Jesus Christ. God the Son came in the flesh to save us from our sins, to spread his arms on the cross to put his hand on our shoulder and his other hand on the Father so that we might be restored to a right relationship with the God who loves us.

Lord God, thank you for hearing and answering my prayer in Christ before I even asked it. But Lord, I pray that you would also bless me with faith to believe that you do answer so that I might live my life expecting that you are near and that you are at work even when I can’t see it or feel it. May you not be unexpected. Hallelujah! Amen.

Psalm 21 — Humble Glory & Deliverance from the Proud

This post originally appeared on my Honest2God blog in 2014. I am reposting it here because it is still relevant today, for we are surrounded by the manifested selfishness of a society of fallen souls. We all seek to establish and expand our own kingdoms, and in the process, we treat others with disrespect. This psalm is a powerful reminder that those who exalt themselves will be humbled and those who humble themselves will be exalted (Luke 14:11). As we lead the people of God, we should do so in a way that best reflects the love of Jesus!

Psalm 21:5-7, 11-12

This is a psalm of David, presumably written by or for King David and using the third person "him" most likely to refer to himself and any godly descendants to follow. I like his statement in v. 6b and desire that I, too, might be glad today with the joy of the Lord's presence. So having sorted out the pronouns, the author is speaking of the king (David), and by extension of the people of the king, to God,

⁵ His [David’s] glory is great through your [God's] salvation;
    splendor and majesty you bestow on him.
⁶ For you make him most blessed forever;
    you make him glad with the joy of your presence.
⁷ For the king trusts in the Lord,
    and through the steadfast love of the Most High he shall not be moved.

The king’s glory was not in his own achievements so much as it was great through what God had done to save and deliver him time and time again. David didn’t have to promote himself, but it was God who bestowed splendor and majesty on him. God’s consideration of us is usually better than anything we would honestly think of ourselves. Self-glory is always at the expense of others and, in the end, poisons our own lives. But the humble glory that God gives to those who trust in him and are “glad with the joy of your presence” results in our being firmly established. Following the plan of God is not some dour task demanding grim determination, though often difficult (as it was for David), it is filled with joy and the greatest of loves.

In this psalm, David, the king, represents all who would trust the Lord for their honor and glory. David worked diligently as a shepherd in obscurity even within his own family—until the time that the Lord chose to elevate him. Saul persecuted David for years, and yet David spared Saul’s life several times (see 1 Samuel 16-31), and though a proficient warrior, he refused to take things into his own hands (his military advisors told him to kill Saul), trusting in the plan of God. Why? Because he knew the steadfast love of the Lord for him! The steadfast love of God is something we all need to be reminded of amid a culture of self-promotion, self-esteem, and selfishness. Amazingly, we matter more to God than we do to ourselves!  

I wrote a major paper in the first year of my doctoral program about the “humble glory of God,” and this passage fits into that model. In that paper, I included an original poem, Scent of Glory, that begins like this,

Born to share glory, not seek it.

Yet sniffing, climbing, grasping, fighting, expecting,

We hunt along a different path

Twisted we claim it, kill it, and die

Poisoned by pride.

And then later,

Glory is given not grasped,

Belonging to God—Father, Son, Spirit—

Shared in Trinitarian community of love.

Yet he invites us in as family, to eat once again

What we once lost by taking.

His invitation to “come up” is far better than the humiliation of falling from our self-claimed glory (Luke 14:7-11). 

The second section of this Psalm that stood out to me, in this reading, was v.11-12. While the king/person that trusts in the Lord is established and unmoved, the person who is filled with the pride of self-promotion will not ultimately succeed. These verses contain some very military language that we would like to be true of us in our conflict with our enemies today.

Though they plan evil against you,
    though they devise mischief,

                they will not succeed.
For you will put them to flight;
          you will aim at their faces with your bows.

When I read the phrase “aim at their faces with your bows” I can’t help but picture the humorous scene in the movie, Fellowship of the Ring, where Gimli the Dwarf covers his own fear of the forest by bragging about how stealthy he is, only to look up to see a bunch of Elfish bows pointed at his face. It seems that prideful people are like that…surprised to learn they’re not “all that.” 

The humble glory of God has a much better shelf life than any works of human pride.

God is still in the business of confronting the pernicious idol of our own pride. In the midst of cultural discord, political campaigns, and sadly, even in church conflicts, pride is not absent. I pray that we might be delivered from the attacks of the proud, yet often that means we need to be delivered from ourselves. 

We are to be different, following the example of our gift-giving Savior, Jesus Christ, and considering others first. 

Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. (Phil. 2:3-4)

Lord, have mercy, Christ have mercy!