The Commisioner's Trophy is given out to the World Series Champion
The Tampa Bay Rays' first MLB season was in 1998, they were known as the Devil Rays.
The Oakland Raiders' logo portrays a piratesque type figure with a eye patch.
With that...I give you, The Annoying Ballcap Buyer
A full tank of gas at the nearest Marathon filling station: $39.46
A Dasani water bottle $1.25
12 chicken nuggets at Chic-fil-a $4.83
An afternoon to see a cousin you have gotten to know your whole life get married from five feet away as you stand up as one of the groomsmen, in honor, on her wedding day...
$155.85
And that's without the tuxedo insurance. Forget all the shanigans about priceless. Nothing comes without a great cost today. I remember when you could get a fancy hat, a tie, and a tuxedo for two digits, and most of the time, the ones getting married would pay for it. Okay, I really don't remember those days, but my uncle was smiling as he was telling me all about the days in which this was true. I went to the Men's Wearhouse in Greenwood, Indiana this past Monday to pick up this suit that seemingly expires at midnight (or at least the cost goes up) and my cousin offered to pick up the tab at Chic-fil-a.
$4.83 of thoughfulness.
I asked Men's Warehouse if they would wrap the receipt so I can make sure Sarah knows that I actually DID get her something on her wedding day; should've kept the gas ticket as well.
So after recieving the credit card from the Men's Wearhouse girl after from her "you just spent too way much on a rental" smile, I ate my Chic-fil-a with the ounce of joy I had and told my cousin Sarah thanks for the talk and the time.
She left me at the food court in the mall, unknowing that a thought process of great mall justification was about to occur. I don't experience this much or really knew it was real until I was there in a mall, by myself, for the first time.
Mall Logic: After spending more than $100 on a friend, family member, or coworker, it is completely natural, and even deserved, for a person to spend money that is equal to or slightly greater than on themselves. After all, you did a selfless act. It must be balanced.
It's real. I never knew it was real.
So I traveled over to the Finish Line where I spotted an awesome Oakland Raiders hat. The logo winked at me (another justification, any logo of a man with a patch covering his left eye would seemingly be winking at you), and the price tag was only a semi-ridiculous number.
Just then, a man walked to me from behind the counter, lessening my chances of leaving the store with honor and perseverance since I can't say no (I would have bought a nice pair of Skechers at the shoe store nearby, but it was suicide. The lady probably could have sold me footies for the price of the tuxedo).
"Can I help you sir." I end it with a period rather than a question mark because he was really saying, "Buy everything we have".
"Yeah, do you have any quarterbacks my team could have?" I was disabling him from making any snide comments about my poor performing Raiders by making insults of my own team. A great strategic move. You Colts fans might need to start learning these tricks of this trade...or just trade.
"Haha, I'm afraid we are out of those man. You guys squeeked it out this week!" said Mr. $7.50 an hour.
"Did you see that kick!? 57 yards! Last couple times I saw a bunch of Raider' jerseys all jumping on each other was on COPS." With me seconds away from purchasing my Raider cap and he wearing his Cubs hat, we had ALOT to talk about. The conversation came up..."Let me ask you something, do you ever get really annoying customers that try fifteen different hats on and leave paying for absoultely nothing."
"Actually, man, I don't mind people doing that. You need to make sure you find the hat that fits you best and you like the most," insisted the well-trained up-and-coming assistant day manager. "But you know what, it's the people that come in here and buy three different hats, spend all sorts of money, and don't know a lick about their team. They are just trying to look like a real fan. Imitators."
I was shocked by his answer, and before responding, I thought to myself if Janikowski really did kick a 57 yard field goal.
People that..don't know a lick about "their" team.
They are just trying to look (the part).
Imposters.
Strong words against a sport fan. But I know some, I know alot actually.
- I know some people whose favorite NFL team have won the last 7 Super Bowls, a feat not even the New England Patriots can accomplish.
- I know some Cub "fans" who have asked why it seems their neighbor campaigns for George W. Bush after every Chicago victory. (after a "w"in Chicago Cub Fans are big on flying flags with a big blue "w").
- I even know some people who have been a Tampa Bay Rays fan for 25 years, which is amazing given the fact that the Rays inaugural season was 1998.
Impostors, you can find these people at your nearest Finish Line!
But you can also find them at your nearest Conseco Fieldhouse, Gymnasium, Buffalo Wild Wings, Water Supply, or even, your nearest church.
The first three are easy to explain, let me be difficult.
In the first case of the more challenging venues, you have the Water Supply. The water supply I am referring to is thousands of miles away and many centuries ago.
"After this, Jesus and his disciples went out into the Judean countryside, where he spent some time with them, and baptized. Now John also was baptizing at Aenon near Salim, because there was plenty of water, and people were constantly coming to be baptized.
This was before John was put in prison.
An argument developed between some of John's disciples and a certain Jew[a] over the matter of ceremonial washing. They came to John and said to him, "Rabbi, that man who was with you on the other side of the Jordan—the one you testified about—well, he is baptizing, and everyone is going to him."
To this John replied, "A man can receive only what is given him from heaven. You yourselves can testify that I said, 'I am not the Christ[b] but am sent ahead of him.'
The bride belongs to the bridegroom. The friend who attends the bridegroom waits and listens for him, and is full of joy when he hears the bridegroom's voice. That joy is mine, and it is now complete.
He must become greater; I must become less.
"The one who comes from above is above all; the one who is from the earth belongs to the earth, and speaks as one from the earth. The one who comes from heaven is above all. He testifies to what he has seen and heard, but no one accepts his testimony. The man who has accepted it has certified that God is truthful. For the one whom God has sent speaks the words of God, for God[c] gives the Spirit without limit."
This passage in John 3 speaks on so much. It states in order for Jesus to become great, we must become less. It mentions that earthly products come from earth and heavenly products are from heaven. It deals with the Spirit of God being limitless.
It also brought up the question in Tuesday night's young adult Bible Study, "How close was John the Baptist and Jesus?"
John seemed to have a real strong grasp on who Jesus was, and the disciples of John the Baptist had seemed to be a couple nails short of a crucifixion, or as we would come to find out in chapter six, a few dozen fish shy of a picnic.
John, a man who was spiritually filled since birth, a man that wore the grummiest of grum while concentrating on what God desired of him to do, a man who proclaimed, "their will come a man whose thongs of his sandals I am unworthy to untie", knew Jesus.
John was a biblical all-star! John would recieve the Commisioner's trophy year after year after year back in the first century. (Sorry, no Tampa Bay Rays that season either).
But he knew the trophy would have to be given to him by the guy it was named after, the Great Comissioner.
Wow! The COMMISSIONer! Ring a bell. Or, dare I say, smack any grand slams?
John knew the great commission before having to hear Jesus say what his job was, "Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and the Son and the Holy Spirit, and teaching them everything I have commanded you." The rabbi they called John The Baptist was teaching whom he was studying, Jesus Christ.
And the disciples didn't get it. They didn't pretend to either. However, they were starting to play on the defensive end against Christ.
"John, you know that guy over there you were with, his stats are becoming great than yours....he is filling up the coastline, the valley, Yankee Stadium!"
"You're being ridiculous."
"Okay, maybe not the Stadium, but he has a whole lot more going on than you do."
They didn't understand, and if John had been imitating and just buying merch to look legit, John would have never been a great example of one who was born with the spirit at birth and one who had been "a voice of one calling out in the desert, preparing a way for the true Messiah".
The revelation that struck me during Tuesday night bible study and the answer I am collecting from the question asked is,
John The Baptist could only know Jesus as much as He knew His God.
He knew Jesus through prayer to God and by abiding to God's will in his life.
To truly not be an annoying imitator, He had to be passionate about his team.
In order to know to be passionate about his team, he had to know who his team was.
In order to know who is team was, he had to research, spend time with, keep up with His team.
And he did.
And he carried the cross of Christ on his shoulders, Herodias just thought he needed a bit more room. But in order for that to become a loose analogy, someone had to carry the cross first.
Do we know God as much as we know our Jesus. If not, how can we love our God more than we love what we do not know. And if that, why are we annoying ballcap buyers and support something that we don't know much about. And why is it sometimes we only go when he plays on Sunday. We don't like going to the away games sometime.
And in the Judean countryside one afternoon, the disciples questioned John on why he seemed so comfortable and even possibly unknowing of the fact that "some man" was establishing a larger audience, more publicity, a greater crowd. This "man" was outing their rabbi. John replies of this "some man".
"The friend who attends the bridegroom waits and listens for him, and is full of joy when he hears the bridegroom's voice. That joy is mine, and it is now complete. He must become greater; I must become listen."
You see, it's because he knows, he sees; And because he sees, he is complete.
And this complete follows the pattern and no other pattern can lead to true joy. We sometimes buy the caps and the pennants and the yard signs and the tickets before knowing how many years a team has played, or how many years a king has been on earth, or how only by truly listening to Him we receive joy, and our joy will be complete.
We tell people we are of Christ yet can't give account to what he has done.
But there is grace and forgiveness,
healing and rest,
knowledge and salvation....
...everyday in Jesus Christ. Because since we believe, we see. We see a gospel message in a trip to the mall. We see a joy in the hearts of those hearing the word at a Tuesday night bible study. We see an overwhelming smile on the face of one reading an online blog.
It's important to note that he never talked about becoming joy-filled when simply researching God's Word. Now, God's Word can and does bring about joy, peace, patience, and all that great stuff, but he mentions that he experiences the joy shortly after believing, the part where he visualizes. We often stop short and wonder why we don't recieve joy everytime we open the book. It's not that our Bible needs batteries or only works in the sun. It is our experiences and our mindset that changes and helps us see who He really is and what this is all about;
Him becoming greater and us becoming less.
It's remarkable!
"The one who comes from above is above all; the one who is from the earth belongs to the earth, and speaks as one from the earth. The one who comes from heaven is above all. 32He testifies to what he has seen and heard, but no one accepts his testimony. 33The man who has accepted it has certified that God is truthful. 34For the one whom God has sent speaks the words of God, for God[k] gives the Spirit without limit. 35The Father loves the Son and has placed everything in his hands.
Thank God that heaven came down!
Thank God that he has given us the ability to certify!
Thank God for a limitless Spirit!
Thank God we hear the voice of the bridegroom! (And doesn't charge us $155 for a rental)
Thank God that we don't have to be imposters, but rather, to"Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children 2and live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.
I left the store joyfully, knowing that I bought a cap from a team I know much about...renting a tux for a cousin I love and care for deeply (in that cousin sort of way), and read about a God with a bunch of young adults eager to know what he has done, is doing, and has yet to do.
Maybe I will go tell the lady at Skechers all this.
Amen.
