A First Responder

James 5:13-20

13 Is any among you afflicted? let him pray. Is any merry? let him sing psalms.

14 Is any sick among you? 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:

15 And the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him.

16 Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.

17 Elias was a man subject to like passions as we are, and he prayed earnestly that it might not rain: and it rained not on the earth by the space of three years and six months.

18 And he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth brought forth her fruit.

19 Brethren, if any of you do err from the truth, and one convert him;

20 Let him know, that he which converteth the sinner from the error of his way shall save a soul from death, and shall hide a multitude of sins.

A FIRST RESPONDER

If you have been watching the news, you probably heard about the shooting at the church in South Carolina. A young man walked into a bible study, surrounded by others who were studying God’s word. He sat there and heard discussions about how God is working in their lives and may have been asked to chime in with his thoughts about the scripture being presented. I can imagine that he was offered a bible when he walked in and given some loving hospitality. He sat there for around 30-45 minutes. I don’t know what was going on in his mind but the spirituality of the situation was clear. This man had an intent to kill folks just because they were black. He didn’t seem to care about the word of god even though these folks may have tried to love and accept him. Who knows what was going on in his mind. It is clear that this is a senseless tragedy. Afterwards, some folks showed up. Of course you have your political types who try to make this another issue. But I think there was something that was missed by the media just hours after this happened. There was a brief shot of some folks praying. They were men of god in the midst of the confusion, praying. They weren’t out complaining. They weren’t trying to make this about something else. They were praying. I call these folks first responders. There was, and still is, a spiritual battle going on that none of the folks around could see, save these folks who were praying. There was an attack on the spiritual fiber of this church. There was chaos going on but the real battle was happening in those spiritual realms. These folks who were praying knew this and got on the battle field. These folks were first responder. What is a first responder?

A job description of a first responder looks like this: With a limited amount of equipment, the CFR answers emergency calls to provide efficient and immediate care to ill and injured patients. After receiving notification of an emergency, the CFR safely responds to the address or location given, using the most expeditious route, depending on traffic and weather conditions. The CFR must observe traffic ordinances and regulations concerning emergency vehicle operation. The CFR:

¨ functions in uncommon situations;

¨ has a basic understanding of stress response and methods to ensure personal well-being;

¨ has an understanding of body substance isolation;

¨ understands basic medical-legal principles;

¨ functions within the scope of care as defined by state, regional and local regulatory agencies;

¨ complies with regulations on the handling of the deceased, protection of property and evidence at the scene, while awaiting additional EMS resources.

In a spiritual sense, this need to describe a saint of god who believes. This applies to a saint of god who has a heart for the people. This applies to Christians who knows to love their neighbors. James puts like this: Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing psalms. Is anyone 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. Those who are suffering need to pray and the cheerful should sing psalms of praise to God. The sick should call for the elders of the church, asking them to pray for their need. First responders. James has the same advice for both the suffering one and the cheerful one: take it all to the Lord. In fact, the two commands could be reversed: sufferers should sing also, and the cheerful should also pray.