Altar
Call – Opelika-Auburn News
Walter
Albritton
August
4, 2013
An
explosive idea: that we can endure hardship with joy
I enjoy dissecting a passage of
scripture. One way to do that is to study several different translations. Often
a beautiful new insight will jump out at me as modern words shed new light on
old truths.
My copy of The New Testament in Modern English by J. B. Phillips is a bit
tattered now. It was a gift from a dear friend and fellow pastor, Jim Connor.
He wrote in the flyleaf kind words and thanked me “for being my Christian
friend and companion in ‘The Way’ of Christ.”
The date was June 2, 1967.
Jim ran on ahead of us to the
Father’s House a few years ago. I hated to see him go but I know where he is
and I plan to see him before long. I want to tell him again how much I have
treasured his gift.
J. B. Phillips was an excellent
preacher but his greatest gift to the world was his translation of the New
Testament. He started translating the Old Testament but the Lord called him
home before he could complete it. If he had finished translating the whole
Bible I imagine it would have been called the “Phillips 66 Translation.” (That’s
only funny if you remember how many books are in the Bible!)
Recently I had fun digging in the
truth of Colossians 1:11-14. In any translation that is a powerful passage. I
began my study by reflecting on the New International Version and found it a
little cumbersome. See if you agree:
“being
strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may
have great endurance and patience, and joyfully giving thanks to the Father,
who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the kingdom
of light. For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us
into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the
forgiveness of sins.”
I underlined the
striking words “endurance,” “patience,” “joyfully,” “rescued,” and
“forgiveness.” With these significant words Paul is showing us how to pray for
one another.
Then I turned to J. B. Phillips and
my heart began to sing as I read his version:
“As you live this new life, we pray
that you will be strengthened from God’s boundless resources, so that you will
find yourselves able to pass through an experience and endure it with joy. You
will even be able to thank God in the midst of pain and distress because you
are privileged to share the lot of those who are living in the light. For we
must never forget that he rescued us from the power of darkness, and reestablished
us in the kingdom of his beloved Son. For it is by his Son alone that we have
been redeemed and have had our sins forgiven.”
My eyes fastened on the words “pass through an experience and endure it
with joy.” I got excited. The
concept of “passing through” a hardship is good theology. When times are tough
we want grace to get “through the night” rather than get stranded in the pain.
In the 23rd Psalm David speaks of walking “through” the valley of
the shadow of death. My heart says Yes! This tells me that God wants to help us
“pass through” a hardship and get victory over it.
But the best phrase of all is the
next one. Phillips has Paul praying that we will not only pass through a
hardship but “endure it with joy.” I
underlined those words twice! This is a new way to suffer misfortune – to do so
with joy! The word “endure” had always conjured up the idea of tolerating a
problem, suffering through it, and gritting your teeth to the bitter end. But
Phillips injects “joy” into the ordeal!
That marvelous idea was suddenly lit
up on the billboard of my soul – God can help me endure difficulty with joy! I
want that kind of faith. I have some of it. I want more! I need more!
Well, that is one example of what
can happen when, with an open mind, you begin searching for truth in the Holy
Scriptures! + + +