Tycoon Shower on Jesus

A tycoon shower, in the original sense of the term, is when one shows up at a nightclub and throws a huge wad of money in the air. This can also be called making it rain.

It is done to express affection for a particular person, or just as a way of announcing one's enthusiasm about being at the club, about to have a lot of fun. It's a totally extravagant gesture. No one has ever blessed me with a tycoon shower, despite my great bartending, but scripture does tell us about a woman who made it rain on Jesus.

That's right, Mark 14: 3-9 recounts a time when Jesus was in Bethany at his friend Simon's house, just "reclining at the table" when a woman comes in and pours perfume on his head. Not just any perfume, but a "very expensive perfume, made of pure nard." And she didn't just pour out a drop or two, no no, "she broke the jar and poured the perfume on his head." That is to say, she dumped an entire jar, not a bottle, of the costliest perfume right on Jesus' head without anybody asking her to do it. The value of this perfume, we learn, was "more than a year's wages,” putting it on a whole other level from Chanel No. 5. Imagine walking into a party and just throwing $60,000 cash into the air with no intention to pick it back up. This woman was clearly channeling the spirit of the tycoon shower in an outrageous and extravagant expression of enthusiasm for her Savior.

But, as they say, haters will hate. Some of the other people there got on this woman's case saying that that jar could have been sold for a lot of money, which could have been given to the poor. But Jesus shuts them up, saying that the poor will always be around but they only have Jesus around for a little while. "She did what she could," Jesus says about this woman. This seems like a ridiculously greedy thing for him to say, but he's really just trying to deflect the self-righteousness of the people around him and recognize this woman for her generosity, which was clearly sincere. Indeed, in Luke's telling of this story, the woman even washes Jesus' feet... with her tears (see Luke 7: 36-39).

So what would it look like for us to display generosity toward Jesus in our day and age? Matthew 25:40 offers an answer, where Jesus says “whatever you did for one of the least of these, you did for me.” So if we are to follow the example of the woman, we should seek “the least of these.” They are people who are hungry, sick, homeless, beaten, lonely, imprisoned, hated, abused, misunderstood, heartbroken, oppressed, world-weary, sad. A spitting image of Jesus. We are called to bless all such people with extravagant, over the top love and affection, bringing whatever kinds of gifts we can, unashamed of how we must look and unafraid of the consequences of such irrational generosity. Christians are thus called to make it rain.

Today's drink celebrates that spirit of extravagance. It is a perfect winter drink and is thus also perfect for a “rain”y day.

The White Canadian

The title is not a racial statement but a reflection of the fact that this drink is similar to a white russian.

Ingredients: 1-3 teaspoons brown sugar, 1 tablespoon maple syrup, 1 shot Canadian whisky (other kinds will work but come on), whole milk.

Put the brown sugar and maple syrup in a glass and muddle them together with a spoon. It may help to heat up the syrup slightly first. One this is accomplished, pour your shot in and vigorously mix (a whisk can work well) until you have a fairly homogenous solution. Now put ice in and top with milk. Transfer to a shaker or to an empty mason jar so you can vigorously shake it and then strain it back into your glass without the ice.

A finished White Canadian in front of my informal altar

 Sip slowly, remembering that sugar and dairy are hangover threats. God sustains those who give freely so that they may not worry about their future, but those who drink freely have to deal with the consequences.