LIKE FATHER, LIKE SON: HEART OF THE FATHER
“Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God!”
~ 1 John 3:1 (The Bible)
What comes to your mind when you hear the word “father”?
Is it good? Is it bad? A source of inspiration—or disappointment? Do you cringe from unwanted memories or do happy tears fill your eyes? Perhaps nothing comes to mind because you never really had one, or perhaps you are one and you’re still trying to figure out exactly what that means? This past Sunday was designated and duly celebrated as “Father’s Day”, yet I wonder how many of us actually had something to celebrate? In a world riddled with phrases like “toxic masculinity” and “male chauvinism”, a holiday set aside for honoring a man’s role as Head of the Family seems a bit ironic. Yet the question remains, and it must be answered: what comes to our mind when we hear the word “father”?
For me right now, it’s Lucas McCain.
For you poor unfortunates who grew up in a world where you never watched anything black and white, Lucas McCain is the hero of a classic t.v. western entitled The Rifleman (aired on CBS from 1958 to 1963). A crack shot with his modified Winchester rifle (hence, the name of the show 😊), what sets Lucas McCain apart from other Hollywood cowboy stars is that his main focus in life is not to drive cattle, woo saloon girls, or catch outlaws: his main focus is raising his son to be a good man. A widower and single Dad, Lucas (brilliantly portrayed by Chuck Connors) bears the full weight of taking care of young Mark (portrayed equally brilliantly by Johnny Crawford), not only physically but emotionally and morally as well. It’s a responsibility he never takes lightly. Where many Dads would just “check-out and go watch the game”, Lucas engages with Mark episode by episode: teaching him, loving him, correcting him, defending him, even including him in their work on the ranch or in helping out their community of North Fork, New Mexico. Whatever the situation, Mark’s tall, rugged “Pa” uses it as an opportunity to help his little boy learn to face life—and face it well. Like the show itself, Lucas McCain isn’t perfect (I would suggest screening each episode before watching it with children), yet he’s the kind of father everyone dreams about: that powerful blend of strength and tenderness, wisdom and love that makes all of us want to celebrate Father’s Day whether we have a Dad or not.
Why?
Because we were all made for a Father like that.
It’s really incredible how God has been sealing this truth home for me more than ever before. It’s why He led me to watch about 30 Rifleman episodes in two days; why He wouldn’t let me write a blog post for over two weeks. He’s been nurturing my soul, fastening and strengthening the reality of His Fatherhood into my heart before I tried to share it with anyone else’s, and what He’s showing me is simply blowing me away. It would be impossible to try and capture it all on one simple web page (which is why this is the first of a series 😊), but I pray the little glimpse you get here will make you hungry and thirsty for more of the Father’s beautiful heart.
For the heart of the Father is beautiful, indeed!
It’s why I ask the question: “What comes to your mind when you hear the word ‘Father’?” Very few of us, even those who grew up in good homes with strong, loving fathers, have a clue of the depth and glory of the nature of God as Father. We just have no idea! And in this culture, where fatherhood is so often only a joke or a byword to be interpreted however one pleases—including being able to call a woman “Dad”—we are confused beyond measure. We talk about knowing God as our Father—we sing about it, preach about it, buy Hallmark cards that say it, print t-shirts, plaster bumper stickers—yet, somehow, the very term and concept have become so irrelevant, so “religified” (a new word I invented to mean “religious rhetoric with absolutely no impact on reality” 😉) that we really are clueless. There’s no majesty, no power, no love left in the word, or if there is it is usually at a distance: God the Father on His great throne far away in Heaven waiting to reward His obedient children with golden streets and punish His bad ones with, well, whatever makes them miserable. Thus, many of us who call ourselves Christians live with a terrifying amount of performance-driven religion: trying desperately to please our Heavenly Father while knowing, deep down, we are failing. After all, with so many of us never feeling like we pleased our earthly fathers, what hope do we broken, sinful humans have of pleasing a perfect, holy Heavenly Father—let alone, actually having a healthy relationship with Him?
But, oh, the heart of the Father!
I wish I could transplant what the Holy Spirit is doing inside of me right now into you as well. I wish I could spill out some of this fullness and glory and help you understand what it means that God wants to be your Father! Perhaps if you binge-watched The Rifleman for 48-hours and then went and read the Gospels and Letters of the New Testament you might start to catch a glimpse, too: the Father, the Son, the Spirit and love of the Trinity; the “Good News” of salvation and message of John 3:16; the fierce, powerful, jealous, tender, weeping, pure, red-hot, true, unflinching, uncompromising, overwhelming…good, good, good heart of God goes beyond all comprehension! It truly “passes knowledge” (Ephesians 2:14-21).
And yet, it is exactly what we were made for!
To be Mark McCain riding beside our “Pa” into new territory and endless possibilities. To run into our father’s arms when we’re frightened and feel his strong embrace and tender kisses all over our small face. To sit around the dinner table laughing and swapping stories in between homework. To hear his firm reprimand after calling someone a name just because they looked different, followed by a patient conversation to try and help us reason out why we were wrong. To feel those large, reassuring hands on our shoulders when standing at the front door staring out into the night; to sleep soundly knowing he’s watching over us by lamplight with a smile. To know no matter how busy he is, he will take the time to listen; to know no matter how silly the question, he’ll find it important to answer. To never doubt he’ll tell us the truth—even if it hurts—and that we can trust his word, no matter what. To know if bad guys carry us off, he’ll pursue like a lion and fight to set us free; to know if someone warned him not to enter the room where the enemy held us hostage he’d simply reply, “My son’s in there, Mister!” and charge in anyway. And to be able to look at him after we’ve run away, tell him we’re sorry, and ask if he missed us…
“Did I miss you?” he replies, “Well, let me put it this way: I love you more than anything else in the whole world!”
That is the heart of a father! A love that has no limits, never “checks-out”, never disengages. A permanent love that never changes, the same “yesterday, today, and forever” (Hebrews 13:8). A protective love that only forbids something because it is dangerous and only disciplines to make sure we won’t keep making choices that will hurt us in the long run. A force to be reckoned with, a wrath to be feared—but only by those who would dare hurt his kids. A generous spirit always giving the very best to his children, holding nothing back: not his time, not his treasure, not even his very own life. Everlasting and intimate and always “right now”…
This is the heart of God towards us!
This is the heart of the Father!
Yet all these words just barely scratch the surface, because within the infinite wonder of the Father’s heart lies another relationship, another heart, another Person, without Whom we can never hope to experience His love for ourselves.
Which is why, next time, we’ll be talking about “The Heart of The Son”…
EMBRACE ADVENTURE,
CHRISTIS JOY
