My neighbor used to go for a walk with his old dog every day, and when he stopped showing up one day, it turned out he hadn’t fallen ill: there was just an empty leash hanging on the hook, and he was home alone. This scene opens a sermon on loneliness, which has many shades, and all of them are gray (James 5:13-20). James leads us through the home of a rich man, the shack of a cheated laborer, a hospital bed, and the ordinary home of a man weighed down by a hidden sin. Each time he says the same thing: you don’t have to be alone in this; you can pray, ask others to pray for you, and confess your sins, because God lifts you up and forgives you. Listen, if you’re looking for someone to whom you can open up about what’s really going on in your heart.
Discussion questions
For your small group or for personal reflection after the sermon.
- In James 5, James shows us a rich employer, cheated workers, a sick person and someone struggling with sin. What do these pictures tell us about the world of the letter's first readers, believers scattered abroad?
- James urges the sick to call the elders of the church to pray over them and anoint them with oil. What did this practice mean in that culture, and what does it say about combining prayer with medicine?
- The advice "if you're in trouble, pray; if you're happy, sing" can sound like a religious cliché. How does the sermon show that it actually describes a friendship with God who is present in good times and bad?
- The words "save" and "raise up" can also mean salvation and resurrection. How does the story of the man who wasn't cured but found peace in his last days change the way you understand praying for the sick?
- Why does sin isolate us so much from God and from other people, and why does James treat silence as the worst strategy? What makes it hard for you to confess your struggles to someone?
- Who in your life could you trust enough to ask for prayer in suffering or to confess a sin to, and what step toward that do you want to take this week?
