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Mark Wheeler
James 5:19-20
07/30/2023
“Preach Practicing: Bringing Salvation, Burying Sins”
Lidgerwood Presbyterian Church
Welcome to worship, friends! Thank you for a time away in southern Oregon last week. We had a great time visiting Jennifer’s family there. And I saw LPC’s worship service in the early afternoon – Vern did a wonderful job emceeing the service, and my friend Brad gave a beautiful message on the Lord’s Prayer – and you got out early enough to beat the lunch crowd to The (new) Sportsman Restaurant.
Much progress has been made in our construction, but we don’t have our new A/C yet. If you need a fan, let us know and we’ll get one for you.
In Luke 15 Jesus tells 3 parables about how much God loves us. One is about a shepherd who lost a sheep and leaves his 99 other sheep to go look for the one that is lost. This lost sheep just sort of wanders away from the herd and gets lost. When the shepherd finds it, he brings it home and throws a party to celebrate.
The Second is about a woman who lost a coin. This coin just sort of “falls through the cracks”. When you see what the floors might have looked like in 1st century Israel, it’s pretty easy to see how that could happen. The woman sweeps out the house until she finds the lost coin, and then she throws a party to celebrate.
The Third is a story about a family: a widower and his 2 teenage sons. One is older and responsible; the other is younger and a little less respectful. You know the story, the younger brother tells his dad to drop dead and he gets his share of the inheritance. He goes off and spends his whole wad, and ends up on the streets and living with the pigs. He realizes how much better “home” would be, so he practices his apology and heads home. His dad sees him coming in the distance and hollers for his staff to prepare a party for his son who “was dead and is now alive again.” The older brother gets mad that their dad went to all this trouble for the young rebellious brother when he had been so obedient. One brother stormed off in the opposite direction and got lost; the other stayed put and never really understood how lucky he was, lost in self-pity.
All of this is to teach us that Christians can fall away from God! It is possible for us to get lost. I don’t think we can actually lose our salvation, but our closeness to God can be blocked. Our reception can be interrupted. We can backslide away from God.
Today we finish our trek through the New Testament Book of James, and this is the theme of today’s passage – Let’s listen to James, to God’s Word, together:
2 Join in as Vern leads us in our Call to Worship – from Paul’s letter to the Church in Philippi
3-7 And our Prelude of Praise and Worship –– #95 … All Hail the Power of Jesus’ Name –
8 Good morning Friends! Welcome to worship at Lidgerwood!! Shalom Aleichem!
Welcome, friends, from around the world, to this worshipping community!
Let’s take a second to welcome each other, those in the room and across the globe, to a moment of Sabbath in God’s presence and peace, and with others whom we love and with whom we grow together. Friends, may “The Peace of Christ be with you – and also in you!!”
Welcome to this “gathering” in God’s name. We are assembled in NorthEast Spokane, WA, along with people from all over the world. We are very glad you are “here” with us.
Be filled with God’s Holy Spirit presence and power, in your homes, through your phones and computers, in this building here, and in your lives. Pray with us … and hear and be transformed by God’s Word.
9 Our Summer Special Music today comes from Dick McCarter – “Be Not Afraid”
10 Thank You, Lord, for Dick’s gift and his courage and the wonder of the lyrics in this song. Bless him and Julie, and hold them close and safe. Amen.
11 Vern opens our Prayer time in Confession and Thanksgiving
12 Gloria Patri
13-16 Mark receives the praises, thanksgivings, adorations, concerns and [The Lord’s Prayer]
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18-20 Please stand as you are able as we sing ourSong of Devotion and Preparation to receive God’s Word – #114 – Alleluia –. I know this song is repetitive – use that repetition to not have to read the words – just sing, and rest in the prayer of praise – in the last verse we sing the Aramean word Maranatha – that is a proclamation meaning, “Our Lord comes/is coming”
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The Promise and the Power of Your vision for us, O God, is brought to Life as we recognize Your resurrection! Challenge us to make the changes Your vision requires. Call us to Your passion for living lives that are full and abundant! Christ the Lord is risen today! Praise God. Amen.
Today we read the final words in the book of James, his final thoughts. Last time’s paragraph was about prayer, and especially about prayer for the sick; and then last week Pastor Brad preached on the Lord’s Prayer and talked about how this prayer holds us all together. In today’s passage James writes about what the Church’s responsibilities are when our members “backslide”, or just wander away, or fall through the cracks. Please follow along with me as I read James 5:19-20… —
21 19 My brothers, if anyone among you wanders from the truth and someone brings him back, 20 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.
Like a great novel or a great movie, James’ letter to the early church closes in a way that ties its different themes together and leaves the reader with a sense of satisfied completion.
James was intensely interested in helping Christians stay on track spiritually. He didn’t want believers to adopt a double-minded way of thinking that could lead them back into sin. He clearly warned against the dangers of allowing evils like prejudice, greed, gossip, and worldliness to infiltrate the Church or her members.
In short, James offered a series of tests by which his readers could prove the authenticity of their faith. And having written all that he did about the nature of true faith, James closes his letter with a plea that Christians practice a ministry of restoration for fellow saints who have wandered from the path.
Jesus’ Great Commission was to go into all the world making disciples, baptizing in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you (Matt. 28:19-20). James’ great commission is to go and bring back the ones that have left! (BRING BACK OUR CHURCH COMMUNITY)
Paul wrote, “Brothers, if a man is overtaken in any sin, you who are spiritual should restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness, considering yourself lest you also be tempted” (Gal. 6:1).
And Jesus also said, “If your brother sins, go and show him his fault in private; if he listens to you, you have won your brother” (Matt. 18.15).
By now, we shouldn’t be surprised when we hear James call a believer a “sinner”. Christians are capable of falling into sin, and the consequences of sin can be deadly if something isn’t done. The Church in the city of Corinth is Exhibit A of this fact. Some of the members had suffered physical death because of gross sin (I Cor. 11:30). In last time’s reading from James 5:13-18, James even says that sometimes sickness can be the result of unconfessed sin.
Saving a fellow Christian from discipline this severe is something any member of Christ’s Body ought to be ready to do. Notice that James gives no commands here. The structure of verse 19 suggests that wandering from the truth is a distinct possibility for any Christian. When he says “someone” needs to bring the person back, James leaves the door open for any Christian to act. This is not directed at the elders or the deacons or the pastor. Everyone is qualified to perform this responsibility.
How do we go about bringing salvation to a lost, wandering, fellow believer?
This is different from “judge not lest you be judged”. James tells us, once again, that we do have a responsibility to watch after each other. When we observe a lifestyle of sin it becomes our responsibility to help our brother or sister in Christ.
But how we carry this assignment out makes all the difference. I find at least 4 places in Scripture that give wise counsel for how we bring salvation.
- Jesus gives us what we have come to call the Golden Rule: “Treat others as you would have them treat you” (Matt. 7.12), that means we do what we do with motives of help and love.
- Paul tells us to “speak the truth in love” (Eph. 4.15), that means we don’t shy away from what we observe, but we approach the subject because we want the best for our erring friend.
- Remember the passage inPaul’s letter to the Galatians: “If a man is overtaken in any sin, you who are spiritual should restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness” (Gal. 6.1).
- And Peter encourages us to “never give up”! (II Pet. 3.9).
The mention of death as God’s final discipline for a sinning saint suggests the seriousness of this scenario. The fact that the erring believer, once rescued, will stop the sin that caused the problem is another benefit James calls “covering over” sin.
This is different from trying to deny, or cover-up, or sweeping under the rug a sin. Instead, the “covering” James is talking about involves dealing with the sin head-on and moving toward forgiveness and restoration.
Killing the sin, burying it six-feet deep, and start living again. A rescued, forgiven brother or sister then needs to be restored to fellowship. James was in the business of developing mature saints, and putting sinners back on the path to righteous living.
Chuck Swindoll tells of a young man who once described going astray from God “like he was at sea in deep water, deep trouble, and all his friends were on the shoreline hurling biblical accusations at him about justice, penalty and wrongliving … but [he says] there was one Christian brother who actually swam out to get me and would not let me go. I fought him, but he pushed aside my fighting, grasped me, put a life jacket around me, and took me to shore. By the grace of God, he was the reason I was restored. He would not let me go”.
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Is there someone you love who has wandered? Would you like to see that dear friend restored? We have the responsibility to bring salvation and bury sin.
It’s hard to invest this much time in the book of James without coming away a changed person. I hope this James-series has had some of that impact on you. The whole book is only a couple of pages long in your Bibles at home. I invite every one of us to read it again this afternoon, and pray for God to impress His Word on your hearts. Make a note of the verse or passage that touches you, and put that passage someplace where you’ll see it every day – for me that would be the refrigerator.
… Now is the time of God’s favor! Today is the day of salvation! Amen!
23 Receive our tithes and offerings as symbols of our very lives and livelihood, given as response to Your life given for us! Bless it, and by it bless the world around us. In Christ’s name, Amen.
– Offering (4449 N Nevada St, Spokane, 99207 ; or Click HERE, or text 833-976-1333, code “Lidgerwood”)
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As our Communion Servers, bring the Communion elements to you, we invite you to take one piece of bread from the center tray, and one cup from the outer rings – or just one self-contained COVID-friendly cup – the wafer is under the cellophane wrap, and the grape juice is under the foil wrap – then hold your broken bread and poured cup of the fruit of the vine until we partake together.
25-27 Communion Hymn #776 – Let Us Break Bread Together –
28 Sacrament of Holy Communion
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30-33 Expedition Song #227 – Rock of Ages!
34 Benediction: May we Grow in the grace and knowledge of Jesus Christ.
Be filled with God’s Holy Spirit. And give glory to God, today, and forever! Amen.
“May the Lord bless you and protect you; may the Lord make his face shine on you and be gracious to you; may the Lord look with favor on you and give you peace.”
35-36 Announcements
- Thru-the-Bible Check-in – TOMORROW, 12noon, at church on Zoom
- Worship in the Park – NEXT Sunday, 10am, @ Harmon Park
- Breakfast Fellowship – in TWO Saturdays, 9am, @ Frankie Doodles Restaurant
- Furnace Fundraiser
- Garden o’ Feedin’ – Thursday afternoons – or whenever!
Resources:
Hodges, Christ; Bringing the Wanderer Home; sermon preached; August 2002.
Holwick, Dave; What about those Backsliders?.
Today in the Word; Moody Bible Institute; August 1999; P. 38.
Wheeler, Mark; “Bringing Salvation, Burying Sins”; Lidgerwood Presbyterian Church; 07/02/2006.
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