Steadfastness of The Saints As Our Model of Faith
A Reflection On James 5:10-19
BRETHREN, take as an example of suffering and patience the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord. Behold, we call those happy who were steadfast. You have heard of the steadfastness of Job, and you have seen the purpose of the Lord, how the Lord is compassionate and merciful. But above all, my brethren, do not swear, either by heaven or by earth or with any other oath, but let your yes be yes and your no be no, that you may not fall under condemnation.
Is any one among you suffering? Let him pray. Is any cheerful? Let him sing praise. Is any 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 sick man, 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 man has great power in its effects. Elijah was a man of like nature with ourselves 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 the heaven gave rain, and the earth brought forth its fruit. My brethren, if any one among you wanders from the truth and some one brings him back, let him know that whoever brings back a sinner from the error of his way will save his soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins.
RSV James 5:10-19
Today, we celebrate the feast day of the Prophet Elijah, a significant figure in our faith. This day is not just a historical commemoration, but a time to reflect on the virtues and teachings of this great saint. For this reason, we hear a different Epistle reading than the one typically assigned for the sixth Sunday of Matthew. The reason for this is that the Church emphasizes certain feast days. When we remember great saints like Elijah, it draws our attention to them, allowing us to have their example in our lives.
The Epistle reading that we have today is taken from the fifth chapter of the Universal Letter of St. James, so even though we have been familiarising ourselves with the letters of St. Paul, now we turn to another saint of our Church. This shift in focus reminds us that we are part of a larger community, united in our faith.
Why is this letter used for the Feast of the Prophet? We may ask ourselves. Practically speaking, we see that the letter explicitly refers to Elijah towards the end; yet, more specifically, we see that the instructions of this letter address the character of Elijah and, by extension, all the saints. So for the sake of this reflection, we shall look at how the steadfastness of the saints relates to their yes being yes, and their no being no. The unity of the saints as reflected in the order James refers to in the middle of the Epistle. Finally, we will examine the power of the prayers of a righteous man, such as Elijah, as we explore the nature of prayer and how it connects us to cooperation with God's will.
When St. James calls us to take as an example the sufferings and patience of the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord, he drew our attention to their example. At the same time, we also recall our own sufferings. We all suffer, and when we look at the history of those who have come before us, we see that their state in this fallen life is the same.
Yet, the difference we see in the example of the prophets is that they are not stuck or fixated on their suffering; rather, they exemplify patience. Speaking in the name of the Lord, they recognize that the gain they receive in the promises of God is greater than any suffering. We must never forget that Christ is always with us, even in suffering, for He has come to liberate us from the effects of sin, through His entering into sin and death. This is why those who are steadfast are called happy, for they are persistently centered in this truth.
Thus, after presenting us with the example of Job, James instructs not to "swear, either by heaven or by earth or with any other oath, but let your yes be yes and your no be no, that you may not fall under condemnation." We may wonder what this has to do with swearing oaths. Yet, upon examining this statement, we see that it directly relates to the point James has been making. When an oath is sworn, external forces are used to bind the statement; yet, we see that James states, 'Let our yes be yes, and no be no. 'The reason for this is that the example of steadfastness that is given from the lives of the saints is their oath, for in the lives that they live, God confirms in them His promise to us. Thus, we are not called to make oaths and promises citing God, for God has presented us with the greatest promise of all, that we may be eternal participants in the salvation He offers us through our steadfastness, that He will always provide for His people. This is the example that all the saints give witness to, so amid our suffering, we must know that we can always call on the saints to aid us in our patience and steadfastness as we struggle alongside them towards the kingdom of God.
Continuing to tie our lives to the examples of the saints, St. James provides a further list of instructions. He first states, "Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray." When we pray, we call on God for aid, for prayer is our verbal communion with Him. "Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing praise." We offer up praise to God in our joy, for He is the very source of joy itself in His loving and saving presence. Then we hear St. James speak of the anointing of the sick with holy oil in the name of the Lord, along with prayer. James explicitly states, "The prayer of faith will save the sick man, and the Lord will raise him up." It is essential to note that St. James is not claiming that the oil will save or even heal the sick person; instead, what is stated is that the prayer of faith will ultimately save us, and the Lord will raise us up. Ultimately, the Lord has raised all of us into His loving and saving presence. That means even if we fall ill and die, we have the true hope of life in His loving and saving presence, for even in death the Lord will never abandon us.
This is why, as James concludes this section, he speaks of the forgiveness of sins, for when we present our sins to the Lord, He is the one who transfigures them. We are hopeless in our fight against sin alone. Sin and its consequences are the direct result of our turning from God. He is the mark we miss, and so when we come before Him and recognize our helplessness without Him, then we allow Him to enter into our life, offering us His gifts of true life in His loving and saving presence.
In the conclusion of this section, we are also reminded that we are called to confess our sins to one another and pray for one another, that we may be healed. What is being relayed here is that we are all in this together. Salvation is the source of our true healing, but salvation is not between us and Jesus alone; instead, we are all on this journey as one body in Christ.
Does this mean that we need to arbitrarily confess our sins to everyone around us? It does not seem that this is what St. James is speaking of at all. Instead, what it seems he is referring to is the vulnerability that ties us all together in Christ. When we show our vulnerability and sin to those we love with a spirit of repentance, this allows for proper connection. The reason for this, I believe, is that we are placing Christ at the center of the relationship, simultaneously presenting to Him what lies heavy on our hearts, and allowing Him to transform our sin, which divides all of our relationships. This is what we see at the very heart of the sacrament of confession, for the priest is our witness, but ultimately the one we are speaking to is Christ. We all fall short of the kingdom of God, but God fills all that is lacking in us nonetheless. As we all strive in the same direction towards salvation, we must recognize we are in this together and pray for one another as we continue on this journey.
Finally, we hear James return the power of prayer, and to do this, he uses the example of Elijah. James states, "The prayer of a righteous man has great power in its effects." The righteous man is the one who is made right in the eyes of God by God. Thus we see that Elijah, in his steadfastness and all the saints for that matter, are made right through their cooperation with the will of God. Therefore, it is through the cooperation with the will of God that we see through the prayers of Elijah that it does not rain, and the same is then said for the rain that came from his prayer.
Prayer is not magic; it is not a formula or ritual that conforms God to our will. Rather, prayer is our communion with God, allowing us to cooperate with His will for our lives. This is the example given to us by Elijah, in his fervent prayers, and, by extension, this is the example of all the saints. Cooperation with the will of God is the source of our salvation, for salvation is a free gift offered to us all, so let us open our hearts to His will.
Thus, when James concludes this reading by stating "if anyone among you wanders from the truth and someone brings him back, let him know that whoever brings back a sinner from the error of his way will save his soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins," we see a final affermation that we are all in this together with the saints. Yet how is it that one brings another who has wandered from the truth back?
Referring to last week's reflection, as well as the example of the saints, it is not through convincing them through debate, but rather through the example of our faithfulness. We see this with Elijah, for in his time, many of the faithful had wandered away. Yet he accepted the faith nevertheless, and the result of his steadfastness was that the will of God and the faith of His people continued. Thus, we need to take to heart that our example of steadfastness in faith not only binds us to Christ and His will for us, but it exemplifies His loving will to those who may have even forgotten Him.
We all became witnesses of Christ and the good He offers us when we live lives in total devotion to Him and His will for us. We all suffer, yet in our steadfastness of faith that Christ is with us in our suffering, we receive the true gift of salvation He offers us. We are never alone in this journey we call life, for Christ is always with us. Yet, we must also never forget that we are all on this adventure together as one body in Christ. We offer the good and the bad to Him as one, and He provides us transfiguration in His loving and saving presence.
When we struggle, we must never forget that we have our brothers and sisters beside us, for we are all members of the same body. This reality extends to the living, the dead, and those who will come after us, for we are all one in Christ. So when we suffer, let us call on our brothers and sisters, let us call on the saints, as we hold them as our example of steadfastness, and all the while, let us offer to Christ all we are suffering through, so He may offer us salvation in His presence, in this life and in the life to come.
When we pray and live righteous lives, we conform our will to God's will, cooperating with His will and making His will known in a world that often forgets Him. So may Elijah the Prophet intercede for us as we discern how we are called to be steadfast in our faith, and may we always remember that Christ is the source of our salvation. We are called to call on Him to aid us in our steadfastness in the face of suffering as we embody His will for our salvation, simultaneously offering the gift He presents to us all through our steadfast example of faith.
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