Today is a special day for Leonel and his family as he is baptized and welcomed into the fellowship of the church. We hope and pray that as he grows up Leonel will learn to put his trust in God and to follow Christ for himself. Leonel will need the guidance of the Spirit, but he will also need the support of other Christians. None of us can be a Christian on our own. That is why all of us are involved in this baptism service. Leonel's parents and godparents make special promises to nurture and encourage him to grow in the Christian faith, but all of us will make the promise 'to welcome Leonel and uphold him in his new life in Christ'.
How can we do this? We can make sure that Leonel and all his family are warmly welcomed in the church; that, in time, Leonel joins Junior Church where he can learn and grow in his faith by listening to stories about Jesus. But one of the main ways we can 'uphold Leonel in his new life in Christ' is through prayer. At several points in the service this will be emphasized: Leonel's parents and godparents are to pray regularly for him, and so are we all. And, in time, we are to teach him to pray.
Prayer lies at the heart of the Christian life. We are called to bring the whole of ourselves, our lives, our world, to God in prayer; we are to be a people who pray, both as individuals and as a church community.
Our reading from the letter of James this morning emphasizes the importance of prayer in all kinds of situations.
'Are any among you suffering? They should pray. Are any cheerful? They should sing songs of praise.' Whether we are going through a hard time, or are in good spirits, we should pray. James first speaks of praying when suffering. It may be that rather than thinking about suffering from illness, which James later goes on to talk about specifically, he is here thinking primarily of those suffering because of their faith. Whatever kind of suffering we may be facing, we are to bring that to God and seek his help. We are not promised that because of our prayers our suffering will necessarily be taken away, but we will certainly find resources to help us.
Perhaps many of us do pray earnestly for help when we face a difficult time. However, it may be easier to forget God when things are going well for us. James reminds us that we are to come to God in prayer and praise when we are cheerful too. Prayer is equally important in the good times and the bad.
James goes on to mention the sick specifically. '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.' When we are really sick, it can sometimes be hard to pray for ourselves; James encourages us in these situations to ask for others in the church to come and pray with us. Of course, we pray regularly in church for those who are sick among us; I and others also try to visit those who are sick and pray with them. When James mentions 'praying over them' he may have in mind the laying on of hands. It remains common Christian practice today to lay hands gently on a sick person while praying for them, and also to anoint them with oil.
This is very much in my mind at the moment as this week I visited Claire, a member of this church who was drawing near to the end of her very long life, to pray for her, lay hands on her, and anoint her with oil. I was very humbled by Claire's calm faith and trust in God in the midst of her extreme weakness. She knew God's grace was with her, and new resurrected life lies ahead of her. I do believe, as James says here, that 'the prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise them up.' This of course does not necessarily mean that the person will be cured of their illness in this life, though sometimes they will; but it does mean that God's saving grace will be at work and they will certainly be raised up to new life in his kingdom.
James goes on from talking about praying for those who are sick to urging the community to 'confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another, so that you may be healed.' He suggests some kind of link between sickness and sin, and between healing and forgiveness. This is of course not a straightforward link; sickness does not prove that someone has sinned in some way; neither does forgiveness necessarily heal us of all our infirmities. Jesus specifically warns against assuming that those who are sick must have done something wrong to bring this sickness on themselves. (John 9:1-13; 11:4). Nevertheless, a guilty conscience can sometimes make us physically or emotionally unwell and we all know that anger, resentment and bitterness can contribute to physical conditions like ulcers. On the other hand, through forgiveness we can find spiritual and emotional health.
We might be horrified by the idea of confessing our sins to one another; certainly, if this leads to an over-zealous interest in the sins of others, this could be open to abuse. However, on the other hand, it is good to be reminded that we are a community of sinners. We all fail and make mistakes. If we regularly confess our sins, being honest about our failures before God but also with one another, receiving forgiveness from God and forgiving one another, then we will certainly be a more spiritually healthy community.
On Tuesday some of us gathered over zoom for a very interesting session on the Lord's Prayer with Clare Amos, Director of Lay Discipleship in the Diocese. She reminded us that the prayer involves the whole of our lives as we pray to 'our Father', in union with Christ. A central element of the Lord's Prayer is of course that we pray 'forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us.'
In his letter, James encourages the Christian community to pray in all kinds of situations, reminding them that prayer is 'powerful and effective'. This does not mean we always get what we want. Again, as we are reminded in the Lord's Prayer, we are to pray as Jesus himself prayed: 'Your will be done' not 'my will be done.' And Jesus didn't just teach his disciples the Lord's Prayer, he also lived it out, and so must we.
Of course, we do not pray only for ourselves and for one another in the Christian community. We are also called to pray for a suffering world. We do this in our intercessions every Sunday and hopefully at other times. During this Creation Season, we are encouraged to pray for all who are most affected by climate change and environmental disaster. We are aware of the terrible injustice that it is always the poor and powerless who suffer the most, despite the fact that they have contributed the least to this crisis. As we consider ways we can act to make a difference, we are also called to pray as well.
Perhaps we find praying about such things more difficult. It's interesting that, in our reading, James mentions Elijah, who prayed that it would not rain, and then that it would rain, and his prayers were heard. Now, of course, we are not promised that our prayers can control the weather or the climate! But this is still an encouragement to pray about these concerns. We don't just pray for our own needs and those of the people round us; we also bring before God the big issues of our world. We do not understand what difference our prayers may make but by praying we share in some mysterious way in God's purposes for his world. Recently three Christian leaders from different churches (Pope Francis, Archbishop Justin Welby, and Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew) urged Christians everywhere to pray for those involved in the coming Climate Change Conference in Glasgow, so let us take that to heart. In praying and acting over these issues we are praying and acting for those in need now but also in the future. This will certainly include Leonel and other children in our church, and our own children and grandchildren.
Today, let us remind ourselves that we are called to be people of prayer both in good times and in bad. Let us commit ourselves to pray for Leonel and the children of our church, to pray for one another, for those in need, and for our world and its future. In union with Christ and in the power of the Spirit, we trust God our Father with everything. Prayer is to involve the whole of our life, from its beginning, as with Leonel, to its end, as with Claire in hospital. Let me end with some words of Origen, one of the church fathers, quoted at our Bible study on Tuesday:
'The whole of our life says "Our Father".'
Amen.
Helen Marshall