The Other 3 in Holy Week If you ask a Christian what does "3" have to do with the events of Holy Week, the disciple would probably tell you that three is the number of times the disciple Peter denied Jesus. They are right! However, in my reading this year, I realized there was another 3 in the Holy Week story. Three is also the number of times Pilate pronounced Jesus innocent of any offense worthy of death. (See for yourself in Luke 23.) Today, Peter is celebrated as a man of great faith, the first pope, while Pilate is regarded as a villain who killed Christ. (How many children are named "Pilate"?) Yet the holy one denied Jesus three times and the cursed one defended Jesus thrice. I'll never hear the phrase "You can count on him" the same way again.

by PeacePlusOne on Flickr

During the week Christians remember the sinless one who died for the sins of all, may these two threes remind us that there is sinner and saint in each of us.

The Other Three Times

Then Pilate said to the chief priests and the crowds, "I find no basis for an accusation against this man." - Luke 23:4

and said to them, "You brought me this man as one who was perverting the people; and here I have examined him in your presence and have not found this man guilty of any of your charges against him." - Luke 23:14

A third time he said to them, "Why, what evil has he done? I have found in him no ground for the sentence of death; I will therefore have him flogged and then release him."-Luke 23:22

The New Revised Standard Version, copyright 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

This work by J. Christy Ramsey is licensed under a
Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.

Even if the Piano Goes to Pieces The music stopped before the song ended Sunday. Our sound board operator turned off the music at what he thought was the end of the song. It wasn't. Our singer powered on through finishing A cappella, without instrumental accompaniment. It was a thrilling witness of musical talent and perseverance. I talked to the soloist, sound operator and music director later. The music director told me, "I tell them if the piano goes to pieces and the sheet music falls to the floor; keep singing."

by HurleyGurley on Flickr

Did you know that "a cappella" is Italian for "in the manner of the church"? Humans making music when there was none was the only way Christians did church for nearly a thousand years. Even today, congregations of the Church of Christ continue this tradition.

Lent is the time when Christians consider the cross. We face the death of Jesus and our own death. The Lenten story includes a follower's betrayal, tragic misunderstandings, false accusations, mob rule, religious persecution, denial of relationship, bribery; everything goes to pieces. Those pieces form a cross.

Yet the Easter song doesn't stop when the music ends on the cross. On Easter morning we found out that Christ is alive! Singing that song has been the manner of the church ever since.

I hope your singing doesn't end when the music stops.

Jesus Keeps On Singing

While they were talking and discussing, Jesus himself came near and went with them, but their eyes were kept from recognizing him. And he said to them, "What are you discussing with each other while you walk along?"

They stood still, looking sad. Then one of them, whose name was Cleopas, answered him, "Are you the only stranger in Jerusalem who does not know the things that have taken place there in these days?" He asked them, "What things?"

They replied, "The things about Jesus of Nazareth, who was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people, and how our chief priests and leaders handed him over to be condemned to death and crucified him. But we had hoped that he was the one to redeem Israel. Yes, and besides all this, it is now the third day since these things took place. Moreover, some women of our group astounded us. They were at the tomb early this morning, and when they did not find his body there, they came back and told us that they had indeed seen a vision of angels who said that he was alive. -Luke 24:15-23

The New Revised Standard Version, copyright 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

This work by J. Christy Ramsey is licensed under a
Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.

Bible Quoters May Not Be Bible Readers On Comedy Central's The Colbert Report Mary Matalin told viewers that "Jesus also preached 'Teach them how to fish, not/don't give them fish', right?" Jesus did have a lot of fish sayings, but if you thought that one seemed a little fishy, it is because it is mangled Chinese proverb not a saying of Jesus. There are plenty of good places and ways to study the Bible. I'm partial to your local neighborhood church, but whatever your choice, I hope your Bible exposure goes deeper and wider than supposed quotes from cable shows.

If you want to check out a quote, you can ask your pastor or check an on-line Bible. They let you search by words, not just book, chapter, and verse. I usually use bible.oremus.org for the NRSV but also look at the versions at www.biblegateway.com.

While you're there, read around the verse and see if you can get a sense of the context of the quote. My favorite example of an out of context Bible quote is from Luke 12:19, "...relax, eat, drink, be merry". It is in a middle of story that Jesus told. The next verse has God saying, "You fool!" in Luke 12:20. Someone could honestly say that Jesus said, "relax, eat, drink, and be merry" without sharing God's judgment on the wisdom of such self-centered behavior.

Hear a quoted verse and you're entertained for a moment, read the Bible and your life is changed forever.

You can quote me on that.

Jesus Gives Thousands Fish, FREE!

When it was evening, the disciples came to him and said, "This is a deserted place, and the hour is now late; send the crowds away so that they may go into the villages and buy food for themselves." Jesus said to them, "They need not go away; you give them something to eat." They replied, "We have nothing here but five loaves and two fish." And he said, "Bring them here to me." Then he ordered the crowds to sit down on the grass. Taking the five loaves and the two fish, he looked up to heaven, and blessed and broke the loaves, and gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowds. And all ate and were filled; and they took up what was left over of the broken pieces, twelve baskets full. And those who ate were about five thousand men, besides women and children.
-Matthew 14:15-21

The New Revised Standard Version, copyright 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

This work by J. Christy Ramsey is licensed under a
Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.

From our Song and Service
A Light to the Heights worship
Sunday, March 14

Bible Reading:
Luke 15:1-3,11b-32

This week we look at the Godly task of forgiving without forgetting.

Videos:

“You Had Me At Hello”

from the film Jerry Maguire[/]




In Jesus' story the younger son didn't get a change to give his rehearsed speech of apology to his father. What is the reason for forgiveness in Jerry Maguire?

______________________________________________________________

“Potential” from The Christmas Wish

The Christmas Wish on WingClips



How is forgiveness made real in this story about how Will's grandfather, the previous owner of Martin Real Estate, treated Inead Cook?

______________________________________________________________

“I Forgive You”

From the film Pay it Forward




Helen Hunt's character Arlene McKinney “does something big” without forgetting or denying the offense. We only watched the first 4 or 5 minutes of this clip, stopping at the birthday party.