See Feel Touch Heal

James 5:14-16

Are any among you sick? They should call for the elders of the church and have them pray over them, anointing them with oil in the name of the Lord. The prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise them up; and anyone who has committed sins will be forgiven. Therefore confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another, so that you may be healed. The prayer of the righteous is powerful and effective.

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See me
Feel me
Touch me
Heal me

"See Me, Feel Me/Listening to You" from Tommy by Pete Towneshend recorded by The Who. This version recorded at Woodstock

There are times when some of the liturgy of worship may seem like so much voodoo. Healing is one of them. We ask ourselves just what can oil do? What kind of oil should be used in this anointing? Prayer as healthcare?

Tommy screams these words as a prayer to the world, a world he can hardly sense at all. The deaf, dumb, and blind kid has few senses left. He has little way to communicate. Language must be very difficult for someone who cannot process it by any sense. I can't know. But in The Who's rock opera, Tommy screams for contact. See me! Feel me! Touch me! Heal me!

James reminds the elders to anoint with oil. Olive oil, the oil of the day, does help sooth and clean wounds. Burns would be salved by this oil. The feel of the oil would be cool to the touch helping to heal a wound.

Prayer is surely a communication with the Almighty, but in this case it is also a communication with the afflicted. The person who is ill has someone or a whole crew of someones caring for them. Seeing, feeling, touching, and healing. There is care in contact that is lost when we keep our distance. Being close helps heal. Even when our touch does not have the skill of the surgeon, being close helps heal.

And when we have hurt one another, whether physical, psychological, or emotional, confession makes healing begin. So as James directs, confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another, so that you may be healed. Only when we acknowledge our pain, and the pain we have caused can healing begin.

Prayer of the righteous is powerful and effective.

Religion Worth Losing

James 1:19-27

You must understand this, my beloved: let everyone be quick to listen, slow to speak, slow to anger; for your anger does not produce God’s righteousness. Therefore rid yourselves of all sordidness and rank growth of wickedness, and welcome with meekness the implanted word that has the power to save your souls.

But be doers of the word, and not merely hearers who deceive themselves. For if any are hearers of the word and not doers, they are like those who look at themselves in a mirror; for they look at themselves and, on going away, immediately forget what they were like. But those who look into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and persevere, being not hearers who forget but doers who act--they will be blessed in their doing.

If any think they are religious, and do not bridle their tongues but deceive their hearts, their religion is worthless. Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to care for orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world.

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Oh, life is bigger
It's bigger than you
And you are not me

"Losing My Religion" by Bill Berry, Peter Buck, Mike Mills, Michael Stipe from the REM album "Out of Time"

The question, what's the difference between religion and faith? Is there a difference? Yes, there is a difference, and it's bigger than it might seem. Perhaps one simple way to put this is that religion is how we practice our faith. Religion helps define the theology and liturgies and priorities of how we frame faith in God. If faith is a suit, religion is a hanger. Then again, if faith is a suit that's trouble. It should be tougher to remove our faith than it is to take off a suit.

The book of James tells us about faith and warns us about being religious. James calls us to take our faith and be active with it. We are to be doers of the word, not just hearers. It's like having a key; it's great, but if it isn't used to open the door or unlock the chains it's useless. So too is religion that doesn't put faith into action. Sitting in church on Sunday morning isn't a bad thing, but if that is the extent of faith, it's not that good either.

It is especially bad when religion takes its cues from anger. The faithful are called to be quick to listen and slow to anger because anger does not lead to righteousness. If anger causes the tongue to lose its bridle, then the religion is useless. Useless religion is religion worth losing.

It is important to remember that God is bigger than we are. God is bigger than our religion yet or faith should reach toward that bigness. People create religion, hopefully as empowered by the Holy Spirit. Still, religion is a human endeavor, thus laden with the sin of all human creation. Faith must be bigger.

God is bigger than we are so faith must be bigger than we are. I can imagine God singing to creation and to religion, "life is bigger than you and you are not me." When we fail to open our faith to the greater things of God then our religion is worthless. When we are quick to anger then our religion is worthless. God is bigger. Faith should be bigger. When religion limits this truth, we have created a religion worth losing.