12th Man Fever

I have a confession to make.  It's a dark and uncomfortable secret that I've carried with me my whole life.  I know it will completely disgust some of you, but it's probably best if I just come right out and say it.  Okay (deep breath) here goes:  I am not much of a sports fan.

Whew!--glad that's out of the way.  Now, those of you still reading, hear me out for a minute.  After all, one can't just go around saying they're not a sports fan in this day and age without offering some sort of explanation.  I should clarify a couple of tings.  First, I do like playing sports.  I'm terrible at it, but it is fun for me.  Second, I like attending sporting events, particularly if I don't have to pay for it.  Being in the ball park or at the football or soccer game in the presence of all that energy, there's nothing like it.  What I don't understand is watching endless hours of games on TV, or worse, listening to endless hours of games on the radio, that really have very little value in the scheme of things.  It all seems like a lot of time and resources spent on something that is here and gone with very little impact on anything except possibly the wallet and the waistline.  I'm really not trying to be insulting.  I'm sure there are people who see my obsessions as wastes of time and money, too.  And that's cool.  They're wrong, but that's cool. ;)

But in spite of all that--I've caught the fever...and even cowbell can't cure it.

A variation on the "Go Hawks" wall spelled
out in 12 packs

I live in the Seattle area and, as I'm sure many of you know, our little football club has done pretty well for itself this year.  12th Man Fever has been everywhere around here all season long.  T-shirts, jerseys, hats, flags, tattoos, theme days at my kids' school, all sorts of things.  I went to Wal-Mart a few weeks ago and 12 packs of Pepsi products were stacked into a giant blue (Pepsi) wall with "Go Hawks" spelled out in green (7-Up) and Grey (Diet Pepsi).  It was really something, I must admit.  And then the Seahawks made it to the NFC Championship and things really went crazy:  I WATCHED THE GAME!!!

Not only did I watch it, but I found myself yelling at the TV--and when they won, I jumped up on my coffee table and yelled, "we're going to the Super Bowl!!!!!!"

So, what would cause me, the most apathetic non-sports fan in the history of non-sports fans do such a thing?  12th Man Fever.  I do believe it is contagious.  If you live around here, sooner or later, you're going to catch it.  It's a disease of Northwest Community.  This part of the country is divided by a lot of things:  urban and rural, left and right, it rains a lot so we spend a lot of time indoors rather than in community settings, union and non-union, pro-life and pro-choice, Starbucks and Tully's.  But, in spite of all those things and more, 12th Man Fever unites us all.  It reminds us that (to liberally paraphrase John Donne) "no Hawk is an island."  We are all connected to the whole:  the eleven men on the field and the single, massive entity called "The 12th Man," which exists everywhere Seahawks fans are found.

Yes, it is all wrapped up in one little buzzword:  "community."  We have varying beliefs, opinions, gifts, interests, social status, financial status, and political leanings, but we are one 12th Man.  Sounds an awful lot like Paul's descriptions of the Church in Romans 12 and Ephesians 4--one body, many members.  The Church is full of differences.  Here are a few examples translated into 12th Man terminology.

Some of our very loud hometown fans.

• Worship:  some paint their faces half blue, half green and supply half of the 127dB level at the CLink (that's Century Link Field here in Seattle to the uninitiated).  Others quietly wear their Hawks t-shirt on the couch at home.

• Theology:  some know every stat for every player dating back 50 years and every minor rule down to the smallest detail.  Others are glad there are refs and sportscasters who know all of that so they don't have to.

• Fellowship:  Some love being in the presence of 65,000 fans (very, very loud fans).  Others prefer a small gathering of a few close friends.

• Evangelism:  some appreciate the in your face style of Richard Sherman.  Others prefer the classy, humble approach of Russell Wilson.

Richard Sherman

Russell Wilson

Naturally, as the church, we are to be individual as well as one large entity or community.  If a region as diverse as the Pacific Northwest can find itself united around something that, in the scheme of things, is really not that important--search your feelings, you know it to be true--then surely, the Church that claims to be the Bride of Christ can unite around something that really does matter:  the Savior Jesus Christ Himself.

So, can we lay aside our petty bickering and focus on the things that really matter?  We will have differences of non-essential theology and practice and that isn't necessarily bad, but we need to keep perspective.  We must keep the essentials essential and the non-essentials non-essential.  Let's not confuse the two.  We may worship in different buildings with different styles of music, methods of baptism and communion and views on pre-destination, but we are ONE BRIDE of Christ.

So, even though I don't rise and fall by the season record of our local team, I am still happy to see "Go Hawks" spelled out in Pepsi products.  To see 12th Man flags flying from cars on those stupid little poles that attach tot he windows.  To see region wide "Blue Day" celebrated at school and work.  To see the 12th Man united in one voice "Go Hawks!"  My greatest hope is that the Bride of Christ will be as united as the 12th Man.

The 12th Man flag flying over the CLink.

HOLYwood Surprise for 2014

You gotta love that tagline!

I enjoy taking a look at the big upcoming movies for any given year.  2014 has its share of interesting offerings, about 80% of them sequels and remakes (okay there might be some hyperbole there, but check out imdb.com for more info on that.)  In looking through the lists of the most anticipated films of 2014, one thing absolutely shocked me:  there are TWO major biblical epics coming out this year. 

These are not hole-in-the-wall films by nobody filmmakers either.  The first is Noah (The end of the world...is just the beginning) directed by daring and innovative Darren Aronofsky.  He is best known for the films Requiem for a Dream, the Wrestler, and the very weird Black Swan.  The other director, Ridley Scott, has tread the historical territories before in Gladiator and Kingdom of Heaven, (as well as the future with Alien, Prometheus, and Blade Runner) but goes back farther than he ever has before with Exodus, the story of Moses.  Together, these guys have rounded up a truckload of Oscar nominations over the years (though neither have ever won), and both have received massive critical acclaim for many of their films.


Russell Crowe as the title character in
Darren Aronofsky's Noah.



Christian Bale as Moses in Ridley Scott's Exodus.

So, why is this surprising?  Well, considering that the last major biblical film, The Passion of the Christ, was released ten (yes, ten!) years ago to massive controversy and even more massive box office with barely a grain of ancient holy land sand since that time, it’s pretty amazing.  The only other bible movie of any note to come out in those ten years is The Nativity Story, which is a nice little movie, but has had very little impact culturally.  Biblical films have not been quite so absent from television, particularly the very successful “The Bible” featured on the History Channel last year.  Personally, I had a hard time getting past the kung-fu angels rescuing Lot and his family from Sodom and Gomorrah, but that’s just me.


A Kung Fu angel in "The Bible" on
The History Channel.

An all-star cast coudn't make The
Greatest Story Ever Told more than mediocre.

Biblical films have been around since the dawn of film making.  A few of them are pretty good.  Most of them are very, very bad.  Even those made by very good filmmakers haven’t always fared so well.  The great John Huston (The Maltese Falcon, Treasure of the Sierra Madre, The African Queen, and many, many others) made quite a turkey with The Bible:  In the Beginning and George Stevens (Shane, Giant, A Place in the Sun) made one of the worst Jesus films with The Greatest Story Ever Told, starring Swedish Ingmar Bergman favorite Max Von Sydow as the blondest, bluest eyed Jesus ever on film.  Other bits of, shall we say, unusual casting include José Ferrer as Herod Antipas, Pat Boone as the angel at the tomb, Jamie Farr (Klinger from M*A*S*H*) as a disciple, Telly Savales as Pontius Pilate, Charleton Heston (in an especially scenery chewing performance, even for him) as John the Baptist, and...wait for it...John Wayne as the Centurion at the crucifixion.  His big line is- and you have to imagine it in John Wayne's voice, "surely this man was the Son 'a God."  And, let’s face it, even Cecil B. DeMille’s The Ten Commandments doesn’t hold up all that well anymore, but I suppose that film is still loved by many.


Director John Huston as Noah in The Bible: In the Beginning

Biblical films have often sparked major controversies.  Some of the earliest films about Jesus were condemned for even depicting such a holy life on such a “vile” medium.  More recent controversies have been over content; the two biggest being over Martin Scorsese’s The Last Temptation of Christ and Mel Gibson’s The Passion of the Christ.  I’ll go deeper into these controversies in future posts, but it’s interesting that each of these films essentially put an end to biblical film for years (decades in the case of Last Temptation.) 

Personally, I’m happy to see new biblical films being made.  Whether of not they are biblically accurate, they get people talking and thinking about biblical issues.  This isn’t a bad thing in my opinion.  Even the “anti-christian” films like Last Temptation and The DaVinci Code open the dialogue.  They are great ways to start a conversation.  It remains to be seen what the effect of Noah and Exodus will be, but I’m looking forward to the discussion.

                                                                                                                 

Having An Epiphany

Believe it or not, yesterday was Christmas.  Okay, yesterday was the twelfth and final day of the Christmas season according to the ancient church calendar.  In many places around the world, the old church calendar is still followed and celebrated, though in the United States, the practice has somewhat gone out of fashion.  Two seasons are still celebrated in many mainline denomination churches:  Advent and Lent, but the other seasons are generally limited to one day celebrations including Christmas, Easter and Pentecost.  Though in reality Christmas lasts twelve days; Easter, fifty days; and Pentecost, the rest of the year up to the first week of advent.  So, where are we now?

Today, we stand in the gap:  Epiphany, lasting from January 6 until Ash Wednesday, the first day of Lent, or to some of you, the day after Mardi Gras. 

So Epiphany, what’s that all about?  Well, it generally celebrates three events:  the visit of the Magi, the presentation of Jesus at the temple and Simeon’s declaration of having seen God’s salvation in Jesus, and the baptism of Jesus by John the Baptist.  All three of these are pretty cool things, but I want to focus on one in particular:  the visit of the Magi.

We’ve all heard the song, “We three kings of Orient are, bearing gifts we traverse afar.”  (Or, the elementary schoolyard version, “we three kings of Orient are, tried to smoke a rubber cigar, it was loaded and e  So, the song calls them kings, many translations of scripture call them “wise men,” but the word in Greek is “magi.”

xploded, now two kings are we.”)

So, who were these guys?  From the scriptural text, I think it can be assumed that they were not “kings” in the sense that we think of.  Wise men-well, let’s face it, that’s just dodging the question.  The term “magi” is the root of our English word “magician.”  It is believed by many that these people (not necessarily even men) were astrologers from the east, possibly in or around modern day Iran.  They could even possibly have been Zoroastrian priests!  Can you imagine it!  See how shocking this is and why it is only included in ONE gospel!  These people were not just Gentiles, disliked but tolerated, but Pagans who believed that life on earth was determined by the stars!  Not only that, but they consulted the hated King Herod whose very name was an affront to Judaism because of his murder of the innocents (Matthew 2:16-18) and his willing cooperation with the Romans. 

In my former life as a church worship director, I built a Christmas Eve service around the idea of the great gifts of Christmas and linked them to Christmas Scriptures.  The first gift was God comes in human form, the second was God comes to the least-the shepherds, and the third, represented by the Magi, was God comes to us all.  This is remarkable.  The only begotten Son of God leaves His throne to provide a way of salvation for His friends, but also His enemies…and let’s face it, we’ve all either been or still are enemies of God.  But He came for all of us.  Not just the righteous, or the wealthy, or the learned, or the religious among us, but in Jesus Christ, God shows us His unique care for the unrighteous, the poor, the uneducated and the unreligious of this world.

There’s an interesting section of the text of Matthew 2, where the story of the visit of the Magi is found.  I think it’s my favorite line of the passage, “they returned to their country by another route.” (v.12b NIV)  Okay, I know the text is talking about a physical return to their country by another physical route, but I can’t help but thing they returned to their country a different way; that their encounter with the young Jesus and family changed them.  The verses previous say they were “overjoyed,” they “worshiped Him” and “presented Him with gifts.”  What a miracle, God created an astrological event that called these stargazers to Himself.  They are so moved by it all, that they worship, probably for the first time in their lives, the one thing worthy of true worship.  God gifts these magi with the opportunity of being among the first to gaze upon His plan for the salvation of all humanity.  How could they not go home different?  I can't help but believe that the magi had an epiphany.  (You see what I did there?)

So, it’s Epiphany, is it just for the religious?  I would say not!  It’s a celebration of the gift to all of humanity in the person of Jesus Christ.  A gift of truth and it’s true whether you believe it or not, it’s true whether you like it or not and it is true whether you even know about it or not.  The hand of God is extended with the gift of true freedom, will you take it?