02-24-26

ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGS
February 24, 2026
On Sunday, I based our first Lenten Grab Bag of Verses sermon on the words from Philippians 4:13, “I can endure all these things through the power of the one who gives me strength.” Those words from the translation known as the Common English Bible were put over and against translations like the New Revised Standard Version, “I can do all things through him who strengthens me” and the New International Version, “I can do all this through him who gives me strength.” Some might look at those three translations and say, “It’s some insignificant differences in semantics, nothing more.” That’s a fair conclusion, yet I personally find the differences in these translations and others like them to be fairly dramatic. In fact, I have been in a hospital room where a family member called upon the version of doing “all things” with the expectation that her prayers would heal her family member because God should give the faithful person the strength to make the prayers effective for healing. Though, sadly, when no healing came, there was more than disappointment, but deep questions around WHY: Did I fail? Did God fail? This can produce grief exacerbated by guilt and self-blame. But if you read the “I can endure all these things…” through the context of Paul’s long list of challenges, beatings, arrests, alongside the animosity of those who disagreed with him, there is great hope and strength found in those words. Even in a time of deep sorrow as we watch a loved one move toward the end of life, those words can inspire the conviction that I will be able to endure all this painful stuff through the power of the One who seeks to give me strength. It’s not going to erase the usual grief or despair, but suddenly there is life to be found on the other side of this loss, even if I cannot imagine it in the moment. I trust the One who seems to make a way when I can’t yet imagine a way. With that in mind, I have been using it as a sort of prayer: 

I trust you, O Powerful God, to help me endure all the stuff coming my way, for I believe there is great strength found in my relationship with you. Amen.