Happy Father’s Day!
I was a child of the ‘50’s – it was the golden age of television. And it was television that taught us what fatherhood was all about.
Of course, there was the flagship show “Father Knows Best.” But there were many others that taught us about the ideal father figure. There was Ricky Ricardo in “I Love Lucy”: his favorite toy to give his son, Little Ricky, was drums, which Little Ricky played with day & night, much to the delight of their neighbors in the apartment building…. And who can forget the father in “Lassie”? Every episode, Lassie would run up to him, barking in great agitation. “What’s that, Lassie? Timmy fell down a well? Again? That’s the third time this week!” And my personal favorite, Andy Griffith as the sheriff of Mayberry, whose down-to-earth, common-sense wisdom drove his son, Opie, to run off to Hollywood as soon as he was old enough.
Of course, TV continues to bring us iconic father figures: Fred Sanford, Al Bundy, Homer Simpson - with all these wonderful television examples, what else could there possibly be to know about fatherhood?
Well, it turns out that there is a story that’s almost 2,000 years old, that gives us a different insight into fatherhood.
It’s the parable called “the Prodigal Son.”
It’s always important to put Scripture readings in context. What we call The Parable of the Prodigal Son is the third in a series of stories about finding something that was lost. The first is the Parable of the Lost Sheep, the second is the Parable of the Lost coin, and the third is the Prodigal Son story. All three of these parables focus on the joy of finding what was lost. But the third is about much, much more.
For my thoughts today, I am deeply indebted to a book I read about the Prodigal Son, written by John MacArthur. It’s a real eye-opener, and I highly encourage you to read this book. Because, as the author explains, the entire message of the Scriptures, the entirety of Jesus’ ministry on earth, is all summed up in this one Parable.
Because this Parable is not really about the wayward son.
Jesus never used the term “Prodigal Son.” He simply begins the story with “There was a man who had two sons.” And there was a very good reason for that, but I don’t want to get ahead of myself.
The story starts with the younger son demanding his inheritance – and he wants it now. Do you understand what he was saying to his father? He was telling his father “I wish you were dead! Then I could have my inheritance. But I’m tired of waiting for you to cooperate, so I want it now!”
Now, I must confess, I myself get a little uneasy when, from time to time, my wife asks me if my life insurance is paid up. “Um, yes, dear, it is – [warily] and no-o-o-o, I don’t want a cookie right now…”
But there was nothing subtle in this son’s request. So how did the father react? Not like I would have – I would have said, “I’m gonna live to a hundred just to spite you!” But no, this father did as his son asked.
We need to understand what that cost the father. He was obviously well off – he had flocks and fields, and he had accumulated a fair amount of wealth during his lifetime. And because of this, he was a well-respected member of his community. By selling off half of his possessions, his standing in the community was shattered. Can’t you imagine the gossip? “Why is he selling so much property? He must be in some serious financial trouble – maybe he’s not the success we all thought he was? Maybe he’s fallen out of favor with God?”
Why did the father go along with this? We’ll see as we go further along.
The bottom line is the father was injured, in more ways than one, by his son’s demand. And yet he suffered this, and let his son have his way.
Well, the Scripture tells us how that worked out for the son: he blew through everything he had on pleasures of the moment, and wound up in miserable circumstances of his own making. That forced him to come to his senses. He realized what he had thrown away. And he realized that even his father’s hired hands had it better than he did now. And so he decided to go back home, knowing he could no longer be his father’s son. But he would ask to be hired on to work for his father, so at least he would have something to eat.
And so the son journeyed back home. But this is when the next interesting development occurs. The Parable tells us that “… while he was still a long way off, his father saw him…”
In other words, after all this time, the father was watching for his return. The father probably went out every day, and looked down the road, scanning the horizon, waiting for his son to return to him.
And when he saw his son in the distance, the father didn’t just wait for him to get there, he ran to meet him, embraced him and kissed him! The son acknowledged his guilt and shame – he repented of what he had done to his father. The son was ready to receive the punishment he deserved. But his father called out to the servants: “Bring him the best robe! Put a ring on his finger! And bring the fattened calf and kill it, because we are going to celebrate. For this my son was dead and is alive again, he was lost, and now is found!”
By the way, about the fattened calf. For most of their lives, cattle graze on the grass of the field. But grass-fed beef is very, very lean. In order for the meat to be tasty, tender & juicy, there has to be a decent fat content. As any nutritionist or dietician will tell you, “It’s fat that makes food taste good!”
The standard way to fatten up beef is to feed them a diet rich in grains. In that father’s day, it would take about two months to sufficiently fatten up a calf. Feeding grain to cattle entailed considerable cost, so it wasn’t normally done.
So why was there a fatted calf all ready and waiting when the son returned? Because the father didn’t just hope his son would return. He prepared for it. The whole time the son was gone, there was always a fatted calf, just waiting for the homecoming feast! Such was the love of this father.
And we’re told how the older son reacted to all this: he heard the commotion, was told what was happening, and he was royally ticked off. He refused to come into the house – he was going to have no part in this.
The father came out to him, and pleaded with the older son to join the celebration, but the older son refused. He was the dutiful one, he did everything he was supposed to do, and he was incensed that his righteousness was being eclipsed by the return of this wastrel. You see, he, too, turned his back on his father.
It’s important here to keep in mind who Jesus was talking to. Jesus brought his message to the poor, the downtrodden, the suffering, the outcasts and the sinners. And they were listening to every word of his message of faith, hope, and salvation. But there were others listening as well: the Pharisees. The self-appointed, self-righteous keepers of the kingdom of God. They were the ones who knew and followed all the rules. To them, the kingdom of heaven was their private club – outsiders need not apply. They did all the outward things required, but in their hearts, there was no love of others, no compassion, no mercy, and no forgiveness.
The crowd Jesus was addressing would have instantly known that the older son – the self-righteous one – he represented the Pharisees. And the Pharisees picked up on that too. They were not pleased.
And the “prodigal son”? Who did he represent? All of us. We all, from time to time, in one way or another, have decided that we’re going to do what we want to do – that our plan was better than God’s plan. We all fall short of the glory of God; we all are sinners in need of repentance and forgiveness.
By now it’s obvious that the father in this story represents God, our Father in heaven. All knowing, all loving, all merciful, and all forgiving. And He lets us go our own way, because sometimes that’s the only way we’ll learn. You can tell a child the stove is hot over and over again, but he won’t believe you until he touches it.
Jesus tells us in this story that our Father in heaven not only longs for us to return to Him, but He is always preparing the banquet for our return. In the Parable of the Lost Sheep (Luke 15:7), Jesus concludes with “…there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine who need no repentance.”
I personally take great comfort in that: there’s gonna be one heck of a party when I get there! All the saints are going to be shouting, “Hey, it’s Don!! Who’d have believed that was possible!?”
And I’m going to say: “God did….”
So, on this Father’s Day, let us remember the one father figure we truly should try to emulate: our loving and merciful Father in heaven. Amen.
