For the Coming of the Lord is at Hand
James 5: 13-20
Pentecost 19 (Proper 21)
Grace, mercy, and peace from God our Father and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ amen. The sermon text for the nineteenth Sunday after Pentecost is the epistle reading James 5. In order to fully understand what James is saying in our reading for today it would be helpful to look at the verses before our text. In verse seven James said these words. “Be patient, therefore brothers, until the coming of the Lord.” He is referring to the visible return of Christ on the last day. He has reminded us that Jesus will indeed return to bring us into the full presence of God. James then compares our waiting for the Lord to the farmer who waits for the harvest. The farmer patiently waits for the rain at the proper time knowing that the harvest will eventually come. Even more certain than the harvest coming is the return of the Lord. Christ is coming again. Of that we can be sure! Throughout the Scriptures, we hear this assurance. Jesus said these words in Matthew 25: 31-32. “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne. Before him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats.” The Lord will return to judge all people and when He returns all believers will receive a glorified body at the final resurrection. Paul describes this for us in 1 Corinthians 15: 51-54. “Behold! I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed. For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality.”
The Lord is coming and so we keep our eyes focused on Him. This is important to understand as we dive into the words of James in our reading for today. His words in our text are always in light of the second coming of Christ. We wait for the Lord with patience and as we wait, we live the life that James describes. But how do we acquire such patience? It is a fruit of the Spirit, granted to us by God through the Word and Sacraments. Knowing that Christ has come for us, that He gave His life on the cross as a once and for all sacrifice for our sins, we can live by the Spirit. We can confidently face each new day, knowing that Christ will return for His Church, to bring us to His eternal Kingdom.
So as we wait for the Lord with patience what does James say to us about our Christian life? James describes a life of prayer, rejoicing, confessing our sins, and reaching out to those who are drifting away from the faith. James encourages us to pray. We especially pray for those who are suffering and sick. “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.” When the Bible speaks about elders it is often refereeing to pastors. He is saying that the pastor should go to the sick member of the congregation and pray for them. This happens to this day. Pastors do indeed go and visit those who are sick and pray for them. The anointing with oil is to remind the sick person that they have been set aside as a child of God through Christ Jesus. Pastors today may not always use oil, but they do remind the person that they belong to God and that they have been saved by Christ. James also calls upon the whole congregation to pray for the one who is suffering and sick. This also happens today. For example we often pray for the sick in the prayers of the church.
James goes on to explain the importance of prayer. “The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working. Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed fervently that it might not rain, and for three years and six months it did not rain on the earth. Then he prayed again, and heaven gave rain, and the earth bore its fruit.” What James is saying is that God hears and answers the prayers of those declared righteous in Christ. There are many other examples like this in the Bible. James mentions Elijah but there is also the prayers of Abraham, David, Elisha, and Hezekiah.
When we pray for the suffering and the sick, we are certainly praying that the Lord will give them physical healing. But that is not the most important thing we are praying for. Even if the Lord would grant physical healing, we know that the person at some point will get sick again and eventually die. The most important thing that we are praying for is that the Lord would strengthen their faith. We are praying that the Lord would draw the person closer to Him. Ultimately, we are praying “Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” Prayer is powerful because of who we are praying to. We call upon the name of the Lord trusting in His good and gracious will.
As we wait for the return of Christ we pray. We pray and we praise God. Remember what James said. “Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing praise.” Indeed we rejoice in the Lord, and we sing praises. We have true joy because we know that we are blessed and loved by God. We rejoice that Jesus died to atone for our sins and that He rose from the dead thus defeating death for us. We sing praises and rejoice because every good thing that we have comes from the hand of God. We remember what the Lord has done for us, and we are strengthened. We join together on this day, calling upon the Lord in praise and giving thanks.
As we patiently wait for Christ to return, we pray, and we praise God. We also confess our sins and receive absolution. In our reading James speaks about confessing our sins and he speaks about God’s forgiveness. The Christian life is one of repentance and forgiveness. We are moved by the Spirit to turn from our sins and confess them before the Lord. We turn to God, and we receive His forgiveness. We have the assurance of God’s grace and forgiveness because of Jesus. Through faith in Christ we receive forgiveness, life and salvation. We are also moved by God’s love to forgive each other. Paul said it well in Ephesians 4: 31-32. “Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.”
As we wait for the Lord’s return we pray, praise, and receive forgiveness. We also reach out to those we know who are drifting away from the Lord. We go back to the words of James. “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.” We understand that it is the Lord who calls people to repentance and faith through the power of the Gospel. Yet we also understand that the Lord works through us to reach out to people with the Gospel. James is calling upon us to reach out to others and point them to Christ.
The Lord Jesus is going to return and so we patiently wait for Him. As we wait, we call upon the name of the Lord in prayer. We praise His holy Name. We confess our sins and receive forgiveness as we forgive each other. We notice those who are falling away, and we call them back to Christ. The Christian life that James describes is always in light of our Lord’s glorious return. While we wait, we keep our eyes on Jesus. He has done great things for us, and He has great things in store for us. Let me conclude with the words of James from verse 8. “You also, be patient. Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand.” Amen.