Your Biggest Fan
I grew up sleeping with an oscillating fan. The gentle whir lulled me into dreamville every night. My brother had a box-fan – the kind that tips over so easy. So many fan memories though… My little brother Shawn thought it would be fun to drop a cracker in my fan. The result was more than he’d hoped for. Stone Wheat Thin fragments shot through my room like shrapnel. He kept reloading as I inched forward with my hands in front of my face. Then, it happened. In the kafuffle, someone knocked over my guitar and a neat little chip was missing from the soundboard. I like to think it was Shawn, but it may have been me. I wasn’t too happy then. Let’s just say, I wasn’t a big fan of Shawn at that moment.
Where did that word come from anyway? Oh ya, right… fanatic. Short form. Ok. It’s late. But there is a connection (as usual, bear with me) between an electric wind-maker and an adoring admirer. They’re both fans. They both have something to do with air. Cool air in the one case and mostly hot in the other. Fans of celebrities tend to inflate their idols until he or she is practically floating above this mass of low-density pressure. Fanatics are a virtual weather system for the egos of athletes, actors, and rock stars. They think they really are something because so many people are holding them up. They’re crowd surfers to the beat of a looped laugh-track. And they’re not going anywhere. No matter what sphere of life you’re orbiting there is always a flashy comet or two streaking through your sky. We fired them off from our canons. We put them there.
A man simply called a “rich young ruler” came to Jesus one day and asked him what he must do to enter the kingdom of heaven. He started his pious question by saying, “Good teacher.” That was a mistake. Christ stopped him short and said, “Why do you call me good? There is no one good, but God alone.” This young man came as a kind of fan. He’d probably heard about Jesus’ wisdom, as well as his miracles – who hadn’t? He addresses him as “good teacher” like saying, “oh grand sage” and Jesus stops him. Isn’t Jesus God? Why did he not take that praise? Well, Jesus is smart. What an understatement. He is incomprehensibly omniscient. That’s closer. He knows that this young man doesn’t really know who he’s talking to. So, being the good teacher that he is, he addresses something that this young guy – we’ll call him Joseph from now on – is assuming, and shouldn’t. No one is good. Don’t ever think it. The World will have you think otherwise, but down deep we are hopelessly sinful and like it. Christ wanted to make this clear before going on to address the actual question. Think about that the next time you are praising someone for their athletic prowess or musical proficiency.
But Jesus did not always brush adoration of him aside. Many are seen worshipping him. Like the one leper out of ten that came back to thank him for giving him his life back. He is seen on his face at Jesus feet. I think that’s appropriate. Mary is seen with that flask of costly fragrant oil that she breaks and anoints her Saviour with. The woman in Simon’s house who comes in weeping and kissing Jesus’ feet – giving him the honour he was denied by the Pharisee. Then there’s Nicodemus. We meet him at night coming to talk to Jesus – being sarcastic about the necessary rebirth Christ proclaims. But we find him again later defending Jesus. After the crucifixion, he is seen again helping to prepare Jesus’ body for burial. He’s helping a man from Arimathea. It’s a place just north of Jerusalem. It’s the same place the rich young ruler was from. It may be the same guy. Didn’t Jesus say, “with God all things are possible” after he went away sad? I can’t prove it, but I like to think they are the same. Fans tend to do that kind of thing.
BJ
Where did that word come from anyway? Oh ya, right… fanatic. Short form. Ok. It’s late. But there is a connection (as usual, bear with me) between an electric wind-maker and an adoring admirer. They’re both fans. They both have something to do with air. Cool air in the one case and mostly hot in the other. Fans of celebrities tend to inflate their idols until he or she is practically floating above this mass of low-density pressure. Fanatics are a virtual weather system for the egos of athletes, actors, and rock stars. They think they really are something because so many people are holding them up. They’re crowd surfers to the beat of a looped laugh-track. And they’re not going anywhere. No matter what sphere of life you’re orbiting there is always a flashy comet or two streaking through your sky. We fired them off from our canons. We put them there.
A man simply called a “rich young ruler” came to Jesus one day and asked him what he must do to enter the kingdom of heaven. He started his pious question by saying, “Good teacher.” That was a mistake. Christ stopped him short and said, “Why do you call me good? There is no one good, but God alone.” This young man came as a kind of fan. He’d probably heard about Jesus’ wisdom, as well as his miracles – who hadn’t? He addresses him as “good teacher” like saying, “oh grand sage” and Jesus stops him. Isn’t Jesus God? Why did he not take that praise? Well, Jesus is smart. What an understatement. He is incomprehensibly omniscient. That’s closer. He knows that this young man doesn’t really know who he’s talking to. So, being the good teacher that he is, he addresses something that this young guy – we’ll call him Joseph from now on – is assuming, and shouldn’t. No one is good. Don’t ever think it. The World will have you think otherwise, but down deep we are hopelessly sinful and like it. Christ wanted to make this clear before going on to address the actual question. Think about that the next time you are praising someone for their athletic prowess or musical proficiency.
But Jesus did not always brush adoration of him aside. Many are seen worshipping him. Like the one leper out of ten that came back to thank him for giving him his life back. He is seen on his face at Jesus feet. I think that’s appropriate. Mary is seen with that flask of costly fragrant oil that she breaks and anoints her Saviour with. The woman in Simon’s house who comes in weeping and kissing Jesus’ feet – giving him the honour he was denied by the Pharisee. Then there’s Nicodemus. We meet him at night coming to talk to Jesus – being sarcastic about the necessary rebirth Christ proclaims. But we find him again later defending Jesus. After the crucifixion, he is seen again helping to prepare Jesus’ body for burial. He’s helping a man from Arimathea. It’s a place just north of Jerusalem. It’s the same place the rich young ruler was from. It may be the same guy. Didn’t Jesus say, “with God all things are possible” after he went away sad? I can’t prove it, but I like to think they are the same. Fans tend to do that kind of thing.
BJ
posted by BJ at 9:49 p.m.
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