The Apostles Love Song - The Rev. Joanna Leiserson

Sermons from the Episcopal Church of the Redeemer

I don't remember when I started seeing the oval decals on cars that say just 26.2, but for a long time, it puzzled me. I assumed it referred to a Bible verse, so I looked up all the "26.2's" in the Bible to see what message was being proclaimed. There was Exodus: "The length of each curtain shall be 28 cubits, and the width of each curtain 4 cubits; all the curtains shall be of the same size." 1 Chronicles: "Meshelemiah had sons: Zechariah the firstborn, Jediael the second, Zebadiah the third, Jathniel the fourth..." And then I came to the one I thought was the right one, from Proverbs 26:2: "Like a sparrow in its flitting, like a swallow in its flying, an undeserved curse goes nowhere." On the back of your car, that's the message for the guy who swears at you when you cut in front of him in traffic. I finally found out that it's the number of miles in a marathon and that the sticker is bragging rights you earn when you've run a marathon. But don't blame me for thinking 26.2 is a Bible verse. I was raised with the number 3:16--John 3:16, that is, which I had to memorize at the church I attended in my youth, along with the books of the Bible and the 23rd Psalm